Don’t paint all Australians with a sceptic brush

Two weeks ago, the Australian Senate – with an opposition party majority – threw out a proposal from Kevin Rudd’s Labor government to implement an emissions trading scheme (ETS) before 2012. The Liberal Party’s former leader, Malcolm Turnbull, supported the government’s ETS, and was subsequently dispensed with in a manner reminiscent of countless Australian sporting foes. The party opted to replace him with a new leader, Tony Abbott, who has said, in his own inimitably Australian way, that climate change is “absolute crap”.

Australia is not used to being the centre of attention, but with this tumultuous turn of events there’s suddenly a very real possibility that the little land Down Under will be the first country to fight an election over climate change, thrusting it into the spotlight. As an Australian, I think it’s important this fight takes place. Here’s why:

This whole situation has raised questions over Australians’ commitment to tackling climate change. In a Washington Post article last week, former US Vice President candidate Sarah Palin used our example to support her case that “people are questioning climate change schemes”.

Others simply choose only to remember the 12 years of former-Prime Minister John Howard’s rule, ignoring the resounding defeat he suffered in 2007, the worst of which came on the back of climate concern.

Ballot box battleground
You can argue as hard as you like that the ETS would be the battleground of a snap election if Rudd called it, but the real issue would be whether or not we Australians believe that climate change is a threat, and whether or not we feel compelled to do something about it. Were we to go to the ballot box over the environment, I’m in no doubt the majority view would be a rejection of Abbott’s faecal view of climate change.

Every country has its sceptics, perhaps Australia more so than others. But with every drought, bushfire or record temperature high, more Australians are realising that position is untenable. The world’s first climate change election would prove that.