From Watts Up With That?
Essay by Eric Worrall
I was in the room when former Aussie PM Tony Abbott said “I am a climate skeptic” at the last Aussie CPAC, and received wild applause from the audience. He joins a growing list of politicians, academics and environmental activists who have come to realize there is no risk of catastrophic climate change and believe that to the extent temperatures may rise civilization is entirely capable of adapting, as it has to the severe changes in climate that has occurred over the past 11,000 years. Former prime minister Abbott joins over 45 academics and policy makers at the GWPF.
Tony Abbott, former Australian prime minister, joins the GWPF
Press ReleaseLondon, 6 February – Tony Abbott, former prime minister of Australia, has joined the Board of Trustees of the Global Warming Policy Foundation (GWPF).
Tony Abbott was Australian prime minister from 2013 to 2015 and served as the member of the Australian parliament from 1994 to 2019. He is a director of the Ramsay Centre for Western Civilisation, serves on the council of the Australian War Memorial, and is an adviser to the UK Board of Trade. He is patron to several charities, including Soldier On, the International Sports Promotion Society, and Worldwide Support for Development.
Dr Jerome Booth, the GWPF chairman, said:
“I am delighted to welcome Tony Abbott onto the board of the Global Warming Policy Foundation. As a former prime minister, he brings a global perspective and policy insight at the very highest level. He will further assist our objectives and help our efforts to foster a culture of debate, respect and scrutiny in policy areas that are currently dominated by intolerance, high emotions, moral reasoning and confusion.”
Tony Abbott said:
“I’m pleased to be joining GWPF because it’s consistently injected a note of realism into the climate debate. All of us want to save the only planet we have but this should not be by means which impoverish poorer people in richer countries and hold poorer countries back. Right now, in countries like Australia, the impact of climate policy is to make electricity less affordable and less reliable rather than perceptibly to cool the planet. We need more genuine science and less groupthink in this debate – that’s where the GWPF has been a commendably consistent if lonely voice.”
About the Global Warming Policy Foundation
The Global Warming Policy Foundation is one of the world’s leading climate and energy policy think tanks. The Foundation is committed to providing a platform for educational research and informed debates on these important issues. Its aim is to raise standards in learning and understanding through rigorous research and analysis, to help inform a balanced debate amongst the interested public and decision-makers and to foster a culture of open debate, tolerance and learning.* GWPF Academic Advisory Council
Contact
Dr Benny Peiser
Director, Global Warming Policy Foundation
m: 07553 361717
e: benny.peiser@thegwpf.org
Link: https://www.thegwpf.org/tony-abbott-former-australian-prime-minister-joins-the-gwpf/
One thing I found fascinating about the last CPAC is a senior conservative who on stage appeared to be a centrist, but in private admitted they wanted Tony Abbott back.
I wonder how many other Aussie conservative politicians yearn for the days when they could show their face at CPAC without getting booed by the audience for their weak policy positions?
Appeasement just looks dishonest. Honesty is a rare and valued trait in politics.
If Tony Abbott ever throws his hat into the ring again, the green extremists who currently run Australia will have a real fight on their hands. Last time Australia had a carbon tax, Tony Abbott delivered a landslide victory for conservatives, against the incumbent Green Labor coalition.