Religion over science: Malcolm Turnbull slams government's climate change response
Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has taken aim at the government’s “fundamental problem in dealing with climate change”.
The politician was part of the panel on ABC’s final Q&A for 2019 on Monday night, alongside opposition leader Anthony Albanese, and took a swing at the coalition government.
Mr Turnbull, who was the first to receive a question from the audience, was asked about the need for a better bushfire crisis management plan in light of the fatalities and hundreds of homes lost around Australia.
The former PM agreed there was a better plan that must be put in place and was necessary as the country continues to see “more fires and hotter fires” due to global warming.
He agreed a better plan was necessary as we’ll see “more fires and hotter fires” due to global warming.
“And will oppose to the point of essentially blowing up a government, my government in this case, if there is action taken to reduce emissions. And we saw that.”
Turnbull said the National Energy Guarantee “dared to contemplate that climate change might be real” and became “the lever that the insurgents used to blow up the government”.
Another audience member asked the former PM if he regretted not standing by his beliefs on climate change while leading the country and going down “fighting” back in August 2018.
“I guess I did go down,” he replied.
“I lost the support of the party room.”
He further went on to say Mr Morrison and Treasurer Josh Frydenburg had been “enthusiastic” for the energy policy as he had been but knew the government's position was being “held to ransom by a group of deniers within the party”.
This extended to some people in the media and other sections outside parliament, he said.
“Therein lies the problem,” Mr Turnbull said.
“What the problem is, is that people … on the right, they are treating what should be a question of physics and science and economics and engineering as though it were an issue of religion and belief. And it’s nuts.”
Prime Minister Scott Morrion’s christian faith is widely known and earlier this year he invited the media into his Pentecostal Christian church in southern Sydney.
In recent months, the politician had been slammed on Twitter for sending “thoughts and prayers” to those impacted by the devastating bushfires.
Hundreds of users replied to Mr Morrison’s tweet, with many describing it as doing “absolutely nothing” to fix the situation.
Labor leader, Mr Albanese agreed with Mr Turnbull on Monday night that a few people had held the “environment to ransom”.
He also went on to say Australia should be pushing to be “the clean energy super power for the world”.
“The real tragedy is that good policy on climate change can create jobs, can reduce prices, as well as reducing emissions at the same time,” he said.
Mr Albanese mentioned he had written to Mr Morrison three weeks ago, urging that a national response was needed.
“He wrote back to me saying it wasn’t required,” Mr Albanese said.
“I agree with Malcolm this is an issue that needs leadership but it also needs co-ordination.
“Yes, the state governments will be responsible for emergency services, but fires don’t recognise state boundaries.”