Today is a great day not only in Australian history, but also in world history. It marks the day when people of character and sensibility pushed back against an overwrought and pointless green agenda, and pushed back in a big way. They’ve had enough, and they’ve scraped the Krudd off their shoes and are moving forward.
Tony Abbott has won the Australian election in a landslide, and vows to abolish the carbon tax as a first order of business. Abbott has declared Australia is “once more open for business” in claiming victory in Saturday’s election.
It is a huge blow to the Rudd-Gillard labor party and their green goals, which were built on a lie foisted on the Australian people. In 2010 when Gillard said “no carbon tax” in a videotaped speech that has been seen as the key moment Australians lost trust:
Then, shortly after she was elected prime minister, she acted as if those words were never spoken, and implemented a carbon tax anyway. There’s nothing worse than a liar who is oblivious to their own lies, and in my opinion, this was the catalyst that set the stage for the end of labor’s green dream as well as their dominance in government.
Abott says he will abolish the carbon tax. In an August 5th Herald Sun article:
If elected, the coalition on day one would suspend the CEFC (Clean Energy Finance Corporation) and prepare legislation to shut it down permanently. It’s vowed to introduce legislation within a fortnight designed to abolish the carbon tax, and all government climate agencies associated with Labor’s clean energy laws.
From the Herald Sun today:
“Today the people of Australia have declared that the right to govern this country does not belong to Mr Rudd or to me or to his party or to ours but it belongs to you, the people of Australia,” Abbott said.
“And you will punish anyone who takes you for granted.”
Andrew Bolt wrote on his blog: “Finally, a man worthy of the office of Prime Minister – and humble enough to hope it.”
Congratulations to my friends in Australia, the Krudd is kaput and the carbon tax is going away, and almost certainly Flim Flam Flannery too. What a great day!
Cook, Ove, and Sou, this Krudd’s for you!
Meanwhile, back in the USA, the Washington Post seems oblivious to this loud message from down under (h/t to Steve Milloy):
The first thing to do is to build the cost of pollution into the price of energy through a simple carbon tax or other market-based mechanism. Though the tax revenue could be rebated right back to people, higher sticker prices for fossil fuel-derived energy would still give them reason to change behaviors and demand more energy-efficient appliances.
It’s like deju vu all over again, because Australia’s carbon tax was setup just like that, and it was flatly rejected by the people of Australia today. Let’s hope we don’t have to deal with the same madness here in the States.
UPDATE: Australian Eric Worrall writes in a short story submitted to WUWT just moments after this was published says:
Tony Abbott, the man who once described climate change as crap http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Abbott#Climate_change , has won a landslide victory in the Australian election, an election which has seen substantial swings against Labor and the Greens.
While we Australians have been disappointed by Abbott’s genuflection towards green dogma, with his promise to replace the hated carbon tax with a watered down form of carbon pricing, we live in hope that it is simply window dressing, to appease greens within his party. Abbott has given us grounds for such hope, with statements to the effect that his budget to mitigate climate change will be capped, regardless of whether the allocated funding achieves its stated goals, and a promise to tighten up the allocation of the national science budget. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/abbott-vows-to-cut-futile-research/story-fni0cx12-1226710934260
Abbott has also spoken out against Tim Flannery http://joannenova.com.au/2013/04/jobs-and-junkets-are-on-the-line-abbott-could-axe-flannery-and-the-climate-commission/ , the government doommonger general, who did more than anyone to deliver Australia’s white elephant desalination plants, with his strident support for predictions of permanent drought (end of snow, anybody?).
So its exciting times for climate skeptics down under – and potentially, a global warning for the ambitions of politicians and political parties which are getting too cosy with the greens.
A memorable statement by Bob Hawke during his time as PM was: “By 1990, no child will be living in poverty”. Real wages fell by 25% during his reign. ‘Nuf said…
Something for all to consider. There is a a saying in HR that ” the best indicator of future performance is past behaviour”.
Tony Abbot, at his core, is a true servant of the people. His early consideration of the priesthood indicated preparedness for a life of service. His continuing community service as a volunteer Bush Fire Brigade member, volunteer Surf Lifesaver, Volunteer in various Aboriginal communities and his annual rides for charity mark him distinctively as a man of commendable values and character.
His opponents, by contrast, have revealed themselves to be self-serving and dishonest.
I sense a whiff of integrity in Government will be at last restored.
Thanks to all well wishers in the US, UK etc.
And thanks to you, Anthony for posting various comments of things down here. I met you a few years back when you arrived in Narrogin with Bob Carter and David Archibald on tour and was impressed that three “Wise Men” should even bother with us. But then again we had a couple of great TexAussies in Matt and Janet Thompson here who have a strong connection to Jo Nova and David Evans and Bob Carter.
Good news from the Australian election!
And note that while Labor’s primary vote from 38.0% to 33.9%, a drop of 11%, the Greens vote dropped from 11.7% to 8.4% – a drop of almost 30%.
In an earlier comment I mentioned Denmark. I meant Norway. Norway is voting on Monday and it looks like the center left is going to get booted from power there, too. Just as it did in Sweden a while back.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/09/03/uk-norway-election-idUKBRE9820GS20130903
Reblogged this on Illuminutti.
Hooray, Australia! Maybe this will put the fear of God into some of our greenies and their sycophants here in the U.S. and across the pond in Europe.
SasjaL says:
“Unfortunally, simular (sic) things happened when G. W. Bush was reelected …”
Citations, please. Be specific.
I am not a Republican. But it seems that about 99.9% of voter fraud is carried out by Democrat Party operatives.
noaaprogrammer:
Thanks for the correction. I was writing from memory, which @65 isn’t what it used to be…
Tony Abbott has never said Climate Change was crap.
He said the consensus was crap.
Those of the left (including your Wikipedia) quote were manufactured for political reasons. He has stated that human are having an effect on the climate but is unsure by how much.
Paul Evans said @ur momisugly September 7, 2013 at 9:09 pm
He did say the climate was warmer “at the time of Julius Caesar and Jesus of Nazareth” than now. That is, during the Roman Warm Period. KRudd said: “No scientist would say that!” Is it really only historians that believe the Roman Warm Period was.warmer? I seem to recall that IPCC’s FAR said as much!
I congratulate the Aussies on COMPLETELY throwing out the scoundrels, eviscerating them like I have asked you to do before. You checked the facts, you saw how your Labor government messed up policy-wise, and you acted accordingly. I wish we in this country could do the same thing; we will have the same chance next year. In addition, I can only hope that this is the beginning of the end for the Greens, not only in Australia, but in our own country, in Europe, and elsewhere.
How can anyone trust a priest who had what he thought was an illegitimate child? Seems to be against any personal values.
Abbott may be a Rhodes scholar but understands very little economics. He rides his bike very well wearing lycra .Women are fearful that he will stop a woman’s right to an abortion as he is a strong supporter of the Catholic fraternity. Rudd lost the women’s vote particularly in Victoria when he deposed our first female prime minister –there are misogynists on both sides of the Australian parliament.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard introduced excellent legislation in education, health and paid parental leave and raised pensions for the elderly. She did what no God fearing man has dared when she established a Royal Commission into Child Sexual Abuse.
You Americans could well follow some of these initiatives for the betterment of your unhappy country.
barry says:
September 7, 2013 at 12:57 pm
J Martin,
What a load of nonsense Barry. 61% want action on climate?? I don’t think so – probably 61% of the voters in Melbourne electorate. The rest of your essay was also nonsense.
neasdenparade says: September 7, 2013 at 7:17 am
…
Yes, you are right, you know nothing about Australian politics and I can assure you that there a chasm of difference between the socialist scaremongers of the Labor Party and rationalists of the Liberal Party … Other than a few tokens and adaptation policies, warmism in Australia is DEAD !
I know it is a bit of a bore but here are the facts as opposed to some of the factoids and fantasies paraded above. These facts are all publicly available and verifiable. Make of the facts what you will but please, do not make stuff up:
(1) Abbott’s party policy platform position is that the climate change is real and that humanity is helping to cause the change.
(2) Abbott has allocated over $3 billion of taxpayers funds to his CO2 reduction spending programs. They don’t come from something called a ‘carbon tax’ but they do come from ‘general revenue’ aka our taxes. By not calling it a ‘carbon tax’ he is just being a bit smarter than the other mob.
(3) Abbott has as his target the same emissions reduction target (5% by 2020) as the erstwhile government. No change.
(4) Abbott has promised to maintain the mandatory renewable energy targets.
(5) All but one single major newspaper endorsed Abbott for prime minister in their editorials. The ‘left-wing MSM’ in Australia hardly exists except in the fevered imaginations of the credululous.
(6) In relation to Worrall’s hope, wtte – if I read it right – , that Abbott has secretly deceived Australian voters and will get rid of his CO2 reduction expenditure of $3billion once he gets in, I have heard this said by quite a few people. But Abbott has promised ‘no surprises’ as a keynote bottom line in his campaign.
(7) The Greens percentage of the national vote dropped from double to single figures.
(8) The Greens have lost the BOP in the Senate.
In terms of opinion as opposed to verifiable facts:
(1) IMHO Gillard promising not to introduce a carbon tax followed by the introduction of a carbon tax was a very significant reason for the defeat of the Labor Government.
(2) IMHO, a lot fo things that were said by Abbott about the likely bad economic impact of the carbon tax simply did not happen. For example, the city of Whyalla was not wiped out. The economy was not destroyed. The Australian coal industry is still a humungous export earner.
(3) Abbott now has a significant mandate for a large suite of reforms, including getting rid of the carbon tax along with maitaining mandatory renewable energy targets and changing carbon reduction programs from a market-based carbon pricing mechanism to big-government direct spending on carbon reductions schemes including planting trees and soil carbon sequestration.
(4) This election represent a major power shift from left to right in Australia. Lacking a balance of power in the Senate, the Greens will have zero impact on government policies for at least the next three years. In fact, everything that happens in Australia will be a consequence of a right wing government which will have to negotiate with further right holders of the balance of power in the Senate to get measures through.
IMHO Abbott will do his best to stick to his bottom line: No surprises, no excuses.
Can’t_stand_Rudd_or_Abbott says: September 7, 2013 at 9:21 am
…
See ya ! Careful the door doesn’t slap you on the backside on the way out !
Jennifer Lovering said @ur momisugly September 7, 2013 at 9:54 pm
Gillard also promised us no carbon tax. When she broke her promise, she said that the carbon tax would not disadvantage low income earners. That too was a lie. As a low income earner (~$10k p.a.) I receive no compensation; I just have to pay more for almost everything. Clearly Gillard must believe that people in my position (i.e. not on the government teat) deserve to suffer. A pox on her misandry!
Nothing will change. Gillard was always going to go back on her word because that’s the New World Order agenda. Abbott will try to postpone axing the carbon tax and will definitely engage in an emissions trading scheme which is much more valuable as they can set the floating price of carbon arbitrarily. The EU globalist bureaucrats can manipulate and crash economies at will more easily.
I’m afraid both sides are owned by the bankers
climateace said @ur momisugly September 7, 2013 at 10:11 pm
I couldn’t agree more. A point of detail, however. It is certainly true that journalists in Oz, by and large, are left-wing hacks[1]. OTOH, the newspapers & TV stations are owned and operated by people of opposing politicz. Their interest is advertising revenue; the editorial direction is to keep that rolling in. As that revenue stream has diminished in recent time, the MSM’s owners have taken a slash and burn approach to said journos. Does anybody really believe that those remaining would willingly sacrifice their incomes by opposing their employers’ wishes?
[1] Andrew Bolt is certainly not left wing, nor a hack. I highly recommend reading the material he says he is proud to have written.
http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/C766
Australia is free again. I wish Americans would wake up to the EPA crap being shoved.
Common sense carries the day in Oz. Yay!
redcords says: @ur momisugly September 7, 2013 at 8:02 am
I have 2 close friends this time around that said they were leaving if Rudd lost, trust me they’re not going anywhere.
Take up a collection and buy them refundable one way tickets to Greece and hand them to them.
albertalad says: @ur momisugly September 7, 2013 at 11:20 am
…. Sorry Americans – the Republicans have no idea what they stand for anymore.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The problem is we are stuck voting for the lesser of two evils. Also we now have 82% of the country non-rural and well over 25% whose paycheck depends on the public trough. – Two wolves and a lamb voting for whats for dinner.
Just a correction to the above article. Tony Abbott, the newly elected PM, did not say climate change is crap. He said climate science is crap.
He certainly acknowledges climate change and is taking direct action to reduce emissions in compliance with our Kyoto agreement. Whether he believes the CO2 hypothesis seems stuck somewhere in between the politics and actual science if such science is ever attempted. 🙂
I think he might be persuaded to fund research opposing the CO2 hypothesis; the problem is who does one get in this field who would command respect.
The whole field has been so tarnished that it will be left to skeptics to soldier on and keep highlighting the failure to ever show empirical evidence to support the hypothesis.
<blockquote.Abbott does not have to repeal the carbon tax, he can set “a price” at $0.00 and dismantle all the bureaucracy behind it.
Unfortunately our politics is rooted in the westminster system of a plural, bicameral process. King Tony can do none of these thigs without successfully getting legislation passed for it. Australia isn’t some banana republic.
Re these comments:
“Abbott does not have to repeal the carbon tax, he can set “a price” at $0.00 and dismantle all the bureaucracy behind it.”
“Unfortunately our politics is rooted in the westminster system of a plural, bicameral process. King Tony can do none of these thigs without successfully getting legislation passed for it. Australia isn’t some banana republic.”
But, on the other hand, the relevant bureaucracy is probably part contract (the top brass) and part Public Service (the ones who actually do the work). The public servants can be transferred out, as their jobs are abolished – this needs no legislation. Standard procedure is they are put on the “unattached list” which gives them some measure of priority for other jobs at their or a lower rank. After 12 months on the unattached list they would be declared redundant. The contract staff would remain till their contracts expire, or offer alternative positions. In any case, anything from the ‘bureaucracy’ would be just filed in the round grey receptacle.
Remember that while the Government requires new legislation to amend or repeal Acts of Parliament, it needs no legislation to abolish regulations. While the Senate reviews regulations, and can strike down any regulation which it believes is outside the authority of the Minister or the enabling Act, it may (might?) not be able to reinstate a regulation that has been repealed by a properly made regulation. An interesting point for a Parliamentary lawyer!
Tony has promised that one of his first decisions will be to tell the legal people to draw up legislation for repealing the various Climate Change Acts. This Bill is to be the first order of business when parliament is opened. This will be passed by the House of Representatives and then sent to the Senate. What will the Senate do with it? Probably refuse to pass it, but there is just a chance that the ALP will see sense and pass it. If the Senate rejects or amends the Bill, it will be returned to the HoR, and then either the amendments will be accepted, or the Bill will be again passed, and sent to the Senate. By this time it will be close to the changeover, and who knows what the new Senate will do? If it rejects the Bill again, it will become a subject for a double dissolution. Given the then mood of the country, Tony will have to decide whether to risk this, with the chance that the ALP will have managed to sort itself out and he loses, or he will win sufficiently well to pass the Bill in a joint sitting. It is also plausible that with the money the Greens have spent on this election, and their massive drop in support, that they may decide “to blink”!
Gail Combs said @ur momisugly September 8, 2013 at 12:27 am
You misspelled weevils 😉