Is Bob Katter the Mad Hatter on Climate?

Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Matthew Warren urges Federal independent MPs to back whichever party will deliver a carbon price as soon as possible and provide the optimal conditions for investment in renewable energy, as there was a rare opportunity to negotiate a win for their electorates, regional Australia and the environment. Even though key independent Bob Katter says he did not bother to attend briefings on offer by prominent economists Ross Garnaut and Nicholas Stern because they are “lightweights”.

31 August 2010

By online political correspondent Emma Rodgers, ABC News 1 September 2010:

Key independent MP Bob Katter says he did not bother to attend briefings on offer by prominent economists Ross Garnaut and Nicholas Stern because they are “lightweights”.

In outspoken comments on ABC Radio this morning, Mr Katter also branded climate change scientists as “stupid” and said he was within a “hair’s breadth” of deciding which party to throw his support behind.

Mr Katter and his fellow independents are attending dozens of meetings with department officials and ministers this week before deciding which party they will support to form a minority government.

Ross Garnaut authored the Government’s climate change review, which formed the basis of its emissions trading scheme, and Sir Nicholas Stern released a landmark 2006 report for the British government on the impact of climate change on the economy.

Crossbenchers Robb Oakeshott and Tony Windsor met the pair yesterday but Mr Katter says he skipped the meetings.

“I think their positions are fairly lightweight,” he told AM.

“I’ve heard their viewpoint many times, and I simply disagree with them dramatically.

“Just to indicate how stupid those people are, there is a very unassailable scientific case that there will be a problem arising in the oceans. They don’t mention that.”

The three independents will today meet with heads of several departments before spending the afternoon with Treasury and Finance secretaries Ken Henry and David Tune.

Eleven days have now passed since the election, with neither major party yet able to secure a 76-seat majority.

Mr Katter says he is within a “hair’s breadth” of making a decision but Mr Oakeshott and Mr Windsor have warned that a final resolution will still take some time.

Mr Windsor says the trio are working through the process they set up last week.

“I know everyone wants a quick result but the poll hasn’t been declared yet,” he said.

“Even if we made a decision today there wouldn’t be a government formed for some weeks.”

Mr Oakeshott says draft formal agreements are “bouncing around” but it is still “early days”.

The fourth independent from Tasmania, Andrew Wilkie, has received an offer from Prime Minister Julia Gillard but is yet to make up his mind.

Newly elected Greens MP Adam Bandt is more than likely to support a Gillard led-government.

Source: www.abc.net.au

Independents crucial to breaking climate change deadlock

Australia’s clean energy industry urges Federal Independent MPs to back whichever party will deliver a carbon price as soon as possible and provide the optimal conditions for investment in renewable energy.

Clean Energy Council Chief Executive Matthew Warren said the independents had a rare opportunity to negotiate a win for their electorates, regional Australia and the environment.

The Clean Energy Council has welcomed positive comments by Independent MPs on climate change policy, particularly those made by the member for New England Tony Windsor who described an emissions trading scheme as an opportunity for the bush, rather than a problem.

Mr Windsor told media yesterday that climate change policy has been the ‘elephant in the room’ throughout the campaign. All four independents have also supported more investment in renewable energy.

“An emissions trading scheme is widely recognised as being the most efficient way of reducing emissions across the country,” Mr Warren said, “It is a policy that has been supported by Professor Ross Garnaut, Former Prime Minister John Howard, former Coalition Leader Malcolm Turnbull, the National Farmers Federation, the Greens and the Labor Party.

“This is about risk management. We have to stop speculating about the validity of climate science and see this issue for what it is: an insurance policy for our future.”

Mr Warren said it was crucial there were no major changes to the Gillard Government’s renewable energy target, increased investment in the grid and emerging technologies and a clear pathway to a price on greenhouse emissions.

“Most new jobs and more than $20 billion of new investment in clean energy will be located in regional and rural Australia,” he said.

Northern NSW and Queensland are well placed to expand clean energy generation using bioenergy and large scale solar, along with other clean sources of electricity such as wind, wave and geothermal.

“Renewable energy is great news for country Australia,” he said. “It will create growth, greater economic diversity and help drought-proof farms and regions.”

Source: www.cleanenergycouncil.org.au