CLIVE PALMER THE WOLF IN SHEEP CLOTHING.
MASTER OF DECEIT
A Climate Created by The Abbott of Clive
When Clive Palmer stood beside Al Gore (God only knows why Gore
did it) in the Great Hall at Parliament House to announce his party’s
voting intentions regarding the Carbon Tax, I like many others watched
with daunting anticipation. After all he had, in his own typically
flamboyant way, created an event (or an illusion) of world importance
worthy of a major speech at the UN.
The former Vice President gave the occasion celebrity value. For me it
was not just an announcement. It was about a decision vital to my
country’s future. What might this man of singular self-importance do?
Then Palmer announced the terms and conditions for his party’s
support for dropping the tax, one of which was that it be linked to the
implementation of an ETS, albeit without a price. Well that’s what I
thought I heard and I said to my wife:
“I think Clive has Tony by his Crown Jewels”.
What I thought I heard was not what I had heard at all after Palmer
later clarified his remarks. It was not linked at all. I was somewhat
devastated when, after doing some quick intellectual gymnastics, I
concluded that Clive had pulled a swifty. Then I angered to write but
prudence got the better of me and I decided to canvas some thoughts from
those like me who are concerned and opine on serious matters such as
this. It was as well I waited because the subject has taken more twists
and turns on a daily basis than the Albert Park Grand Prix circuit.
I can guarantee that a read of these articles might tip your sanity
over the edge, confuse you, make you more aware, disappoint you, or even
infuriate you. But hopefully they might convince you that we are being
led by a moron of unbelievable stupidity and myopia. Closely followed by
a businessman who only wants two things. Anything that will advance his
business interests and revenge against those who wouldn’t give him what
he wanted.
But hopefully the last article by the ever astute Peter Martin will put things in perspective for you.
First off the grid was former Gillard Minister, Craig Emerson.
”Lots of carbon-emitting smoke and sideshow alley mirrors
were on display yesterday when Clive Palmer and Al Gore announced a
major environmental breakthrough. Now that the smoke is cleared and a
light is shone on the mirrors, here’s what was actually announced. It
confirms what I wrote last night.”
PUP Senators will vote with the Government to repeal the existing
Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) law, including the present fixed price
and the future floating price. PUP will seek to introduce its own ETS
with a zero price. However, it will not insist on the Government voting
for its bill. Even if the new ETS bill were to make it through the
Senate, it must then go to the House of Representatives where the
Government has a majority (that’s how it became the Government). Unless
PM Abbott has a massive change of heart, the Government will defeat
PUP’s ETS Bill in the House. The bill therefore will not become law.
Palmer is insisting on the Government retaining the Renewable Energy
Target, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Climate Change
Authority. He has also announced PUP will vote against the Government’s
Direct Action legislation.
As announced, the net result is that Australia’s existing ETS will be
scrapped and not replaced with any ETS. Direct Action will be defeated.
The Renewable Energy Target, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and
the Climate Change Authority will be retained.
While this is better than nothing, it is hardly cause for celebration
for anyone who believes an ETS is vital to reducing carbon emissions.
Unless Clive Palmer or Tony Abbott change their minds, there will be no
ETS and therefore no effective action on climate change.
Mark Kenny in what I think is one of the best pieces on the subject said this:
The understanding here is that Abbott’s real priority is –
and only ever has been – the destruction of the carbon ‘‘tax’’.
Everything else, including the $2.5 billion direct action plan to pay
large polluters to cut emissions, was merely put forward because the
Coalition feared that offering nothing was electoral suicide.
Barry Tucker. Blogger for THE AIMN had this to say:
By voting for abolition of the carbon price (“tax”),
Palmer saves millions in future payments for pollution from his mines.
He still has to pay for overdue carbon price bills, plus fines and
penalties of about $63 million and growing almost exponentially.
He may do another deal to get some relief for that liability. Ultimately, he’s just in politics for his own benefit.
James Clancy a Facebook friend commented on the guaranteed reduction on his power bills:
Well today I received a letter from Energy Australia that
Electricity prices will increase from 1st July 2014. The weighted
average price increase to Qld customers will be $4.58 per week. So it
looks like they are going to charge first and give a little off if the
carbon tax is repealed. I seem to recall that Electrical suppliers had
written to the Federal Government saying that they will give consumers
the savings they make. So we Pay $294.00 extra a year, how much will we
get back when the carbon tax is repealed I bet it is not around $550 as
Tony Abbott has claimed.
Ross Garnaut
Economist and carbon pricing expert Professor Ross
Garnaut says the Palmer United Party’s position to vote to retain the
RET and other key climate change bodies will have “important” and
positive effects.
Doug Evans another writer for this blog said.
Abbott and his band of hateful sidekicks are a disgrace.
Even if they become a one term blot on our political landscape we still
have three years of their carnage to endure. On the bright side they are
not getting it all their own way. Their first budget is in tatters
raising the question of whether or not there will be a second ‘horror’
budget next year, further cementing their unpopularity. The really
important elements of the Clean Energy legislation (CEFC, ARENA) look as
though they will endure as does the RET. No-one in government or the
MSM seems to be able to fully evaluate the meaning of the loss if the
price on carbon. Thanks to Labor’s insistence carbon price was always
set too low to drive meaningful change and when linked to the global
carbon market was going to come much lower (hence the Greens’ insistence
on the fixed price period). The carbon price hasn’t been and was never
going to be the major element of this legislation driving the clean
energy transformation. Axing the tax will have very little effect on the
rate of growth of our carbon emissions.
The media with their unshakeable fixation on THE CARBON TAX have taken
to repeating that without the (very small) stick of our ETS we are
without any mechanism for driving down emissions. Not sure why they
ignore the (somewhat larger) carrot that is the combination of RET and
CEFC.
For those of you who (like me) love to hate Greg Hunt, Mark Kenny
( a journalist for whom I normally have no respect at all) has written a
very interesting speculative piece for Fairfax on who wins and who
loses from Palmer’s carbon tax machinations The article bears strongly
on assessment of what matters and what doesn’t in the wash up of
Abbott’s shock and awe onslaught on our climate policy. It is worth
reading and reflecting on, not least because it reveals tensions within
the government around this issue.
Similarly I found Lenore Taylor’s
piece on the background leading to Palmer’s stunning appearance beside
Al Gore pretty interesting also. It also explains why Gore having agreed
to appear with Palmer still looked so very uncomfortable about being
there.
Lenore Taylor in an interview with Palmer last weekend.
“Our amendment makes it a requirement that people will
have to pass on the power cost savings … not a voluntary situation, it
doesn’t leave it up to the ACCC to decide at its discretion whether or
not it wants to enforce this”.
“But I’m not in business, I’m serving the Australian people, so knowing
that I am going to make sure this legislation goes through to protect to
protect our pensioners and everyone like that”.
“Palmer has given up several directorships but remains the owner of a
number of companies, including a nickel refinery, coal leases and an
iron ore holding”.
Annabel Crabb in her usual stoic style.
“Direct Action is about as popular within the Coalition as a peanut at a
preschool, and not having to make sense of it in practice is something
of a lucky break for the government”.
“Anyone building hypothetical future scenarios based on Clive Palmer
continuing serenely as the new face of emissions trading might want to
exercise caution”.
Michael Pascoe in The Age.
“Clive Palmer is being hailed in several quarters as a
jolly green giant saving Australia’s carbon emissions trading scheme,
not to mention lauded as a master political strategist. Hold the phone
at least on the first part of that”.
“One of the problems with Clive is working out what he’s saying, what he might think he’s saying and what he actually means”.
“They can all be quite different things. For businesses having to plan
and invest around carbon policy, that’s not very helpful”.
Bernie Fraser former Governor of the Reserve Bank.
“Policymakers need to look beyond short-term economic
considerations in the interests of some of the big companies to
longer-term community interests. That’s what governments are supposed to
do, but unfortunately it’s not happening at the present time”.
Laurie Oakes in Melbourne’s Herald Sun.
“Palmer himself? It’s only a couple of months since he was proclaiming
disbelief in the whole idea that human activity contributes to global
warming. Scientists, he claimed, could be paid to say anything.
Now he adopts the stance of an environmental warrior, committed to
retention of the Climate Change Authority and opposed to any change in
the Renewable Energy Target designed to ensure 20 per cent of
Australia’s energy comes from sources such as wind and solar by 2020″.
“The Prime Minister has held every position there is on climate change,
from branding the science “absolute crap” to claiming before his recent
Washington visit he accepts it, and from supporting an ETS when John
Howard embraced it to asserting a price on carbon would destroy the
economy”.
And this from Australianpolitics.com
Palmer has demonstrated today that he has a deft and populist
political touch, even though his political positions don’t withstand
close scrutiny. He has positioned himself to be seen to be sympathetic
to climate change policies, although nothing he has proposed will ever
come to pass. The carbon tax will be abolished, with a direct financial
benefit to Palmer’s companies.
Mark Kenny again.
“Just before the House adjourned on Thursday, there were jubilant scenes
on the floor of the House of Representatives as the Coalition passed
the carbon tax repeal bills for the second time”.
“Mr Abbott met Mr Palmer on Thursday morning and emerged happy that the
minor party’s four upper house votes would support the abolition of the
fixed price, subject to just one condition – a guarantee that the
package would contain legislated assurances of cheaper electricity for
households”.
Mike Carlton in his usual full on journalistic style got right to the point.
“His idiocy would not matter a toss but for the fact that
Newman is chairman of the prime minister’s Business Advisory Council
and, therefore, presumably in Tony Abbott’s shell-like ear. Publicly,
Abbott has held more positions on climate change than there are sexual
acrobatics in the Kama Sutra but you know that, deep down, he believes
it’s “crap”. His word.
Abbott is appalling and will no doubt do plenty of damage but he is
not getting all his own way. With any luck this will be the dominant
theme of his one term government.
Richard Dennis on the cost of power.
‘The main reason that electricity has been getting dearer is the over
investment in poles and wires, and the fundamental inefficiency in the
way that the national electricity market’s working,’ says Richard
Denniss, executive director of the Australia Institute”.
Peter Martin
“For six glorious wild and wet days last week, South
Australia sourced 67 per cent of its electricity from wind. Needless to
say, it’s an Australian record. So fast were the turbines turning from
early Monday to early Sunday that the entire national grid sourced an
extraordinary 14.5 per cent of its electricity from wind”.
But the last word goes to the Prime Minister in this article from Philip Correy:
“Tony Abbott has sparked a war with the renewable energy
sector by claiming their product was driving up power prices “very
significantly” and fostering Australia’s reputation as “the unaffordable
energy capital of the world”.
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