Climate issue rejected – Historic win in Australia after Labor loses ‘unlosable’ election

Given the rejection, this may be the last Australian election where “climate” is used as a key issue.

From CNN:

Australia’s Liberal National coalition government under Prime Minister Scott Morrison has won a historic victory, taking his party for a third term in government against all expectations.It is still unknown if Morrison will form a majority or minority government, but swings to the coalition across large Australian states, especially Queensland, have ensured he will remain prime minister.

In a triumphant speech Saturday night, Morrison said he had “always believed in miracles.””And tonight we’ve been delivered another one,” he told jubilant supporters in Sydney who chanted Morrison’s nickname “ScoMo.”

After losing an election which many analysts described as “unlosable,” Labor leader Bill Shorten conceded and announced he would be stepping down as head of the party.


From Al Jazeera:

Climate change to be decisive issue in Australian election

Energy and global warming debates have dominated Australia’s election campaign, with many voters calling for change.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison‘s centre-right Liberal-National Coalition is seeking a third-straight term in power, but polls have shown Bill Shorten’s opposition Labor Party clinging to a narrow lead. The left-wing Greens Party is expected to remain the third force in the country’s politics.

“Australia doesn’t solve climate change by itself,” Morrison insisted last week during the final party leaders’ election campaign debate.

“It actually does its bit in concert with other countries.

But Australia is one of the world’s largest per capita emitters – producing some 1.3 percent of global carbon emissions in 2017 with only 0.3 of the world’s population.

“Climate change is shaping up to be a number one issue in this federal election,” said Kelly Albion, the head of campaigns at the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, attributing this to “young people as a moral voice for action on the greatest issue facing our generation”.


From CNBC:

Climate change set to be major issue in Australian election

CNBC’s Will Koulouris reports from Longreach, Australia.

Video at this link


Looks like voters have rejected “climate change” as an important election issue, much like we’ve seen in the USA with the election of Donald Trump in 2016, who promised and delivered on exiting the Paris Climate Accord.

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Herbert
May 18, 2019 2:48 pm

Anthony,
As a Queenslander, I am incredibly proud of my State.
Labor as Opposition got only 27% of the primary vote to the Government’s 43%!
After preferences, ( Australia has a Preferential system not “first past the post” like UK or US) the two part preferred vote was about 52% to 48% to the Government.
It is looking very likely that the Coalition will get 76-78 seats for a majority government.
The Opposition certainly made climate change a central issue if not the prime issue.

Patrick MJD
Reply to  Herbert
May 18, 2019 6:54 pm

Was it Bob “My fellow earthicans” Brown and his caravan that helped Queenslanders reject ALP and Green policy on climate?

LdB
Reply to  Patrick MJD
May 18, 2019 8:34 pm

The locals had baseball bats out for them and one got knocked over by some idiot on a horse 🙂

However according to their leader they did really well because the election was about climate change … meanwhile there national vote went down by -0.2% to 10% flat. Success as defined by greens is not what the rest of us would call success.

ScienceABC123
May 18, 2019 2:49 pm

Yeah, we had one of those “unlosable elections” here in the States. Two and half years later Hillary is still finding new people to blame for her loss; while her die-hard supporters still refuse to accept the results.

Expect the same thing in Australia.

Curious George
Reply to  ScienceABC123
May 18, 2019 3:50 pm

Labor did not lose the election. It was stolen from them. Kapish?

🙂

Reply to  ScienceABC123
May 18, 2019 4:20 pm

Well, clearly climate change makes people confused, causing them vote for the wrong Party.
Everything is the fault of the magical molecule, CO2. So Shorten really did win.

Perhaps there is cause to adjust the vote totals to agree with what the modelers predicted.

(sarc, naturally)

Transport by Zeppelin
May 18, 2019 3:18 pm

The Applausables have won.

Australia, the smart country.

Warren
May 18, 2019 3:23 pm

Malcolm Roberts may be back!
He was our leading skeptic in Senate.
Sad we lost Tony Abbott courtesy of an aggressive green mafia hatchet-job.

May 18, 2019 3:42 pm

Sadly the 25 year standing Warringah Liberal member Tony Abbott, was beaten by a left wing loonie, Steggell, on her platform of global warming. Abbott has been an outspoken opponent to the global warming scam.

The streets were filled with nutters wearing global warming T-shirts.

May 18, 2019 3:45 pm

The election winner, PM, Morrison:
“Prime Minister Scott Morrison has launched a new pre-election climate change policy, pledging $2 billion for projects to bring down Australia’s emissions.”

Morrison is as left as the left.

Patrick MJD
May 18, 2019 3:51 pm

One thing I find funny is that yesterday climate change alarmists, Labor and Green party supporters were out in force frantically posting on as many articles at the SMH about the election and climate change. Today, very little noise from them.

Thank you Australian voters. Make Australia Great Again!

And maybe the case against Dr. Ridd and Adani helped sway voters.

Bruce Clark
May 18, 2019 4:03 pm

One thing I noticed during the campaign was the incessant use of the phrase “address climate change” So and so did not do enough to “address climate change”. We will “address climate change”. and on and on. Not once did I hear what anyone was actually going to do to “address climate change”. How were they going to “address climate change” What actions are needed “address climate change”. Nothing, no policies, no strategies, no targets, no costing, nothing.

Now that Ms Steggall is in, largely on a policy of I will “address climate change”, she is likely to find herself pretty lonely on the Hill in Canberra. She can stand out there and “address climate change” till the cows come home and not make one speck of difference.

Bruce Cobb
May 18, 2019 4:04 pm

Preview of US election in 2020?

Warren
Reply to  Bruce Cobb
May 18, 2019 6:38 pm

Very definitely!
The self-interest and stupidity are a phenomenon like no other in recent history.
Trump, despite his regular opportunism and occasional duplicity, could disappear between now and 2020 and still win handsomely.
Green suicide is the new order.
Eventually ‘democrats’ will realize their donors are selling them down the river for a carbon-trading seat.
Carbon-trading will never happen; but they don’t know that yet . . .

E J Zuiderwijk
May 18, 2019 4:08 pm

Whatever the per capita emissions are of Australians are, or for that matter of anybody else, it doesn’t matter. Carbon dioxide is not an important ‘climate driver’ but it is a beneficial gas that will sustain our food production.

Patrick MJD
Reply to  E J Zuiderwijk
May 18, 2019 5:13 pm

Many Australians believe Australians are the worst “carbon polluters” per-capita in the world. They seem to forget that Australia is a very very large carbon sink.

I think the result, which was unexpected to me, has sent a message to career politicians, Greens, alarmists and the elite that Australians have had enough of the fear mongering, the scare campaigns and simply want good jobs, industry return, a healthy environment (It already is!) and affordable, reliable energy.

Let’s just hope we don’t see the political backstabbing pantomime we’ve seen over the last 3 years. Stable Govn’t, stable leadership please for the next 3 years Shouty (Scott Morrison’s nickname).

Sun Spot
May 18, 2019 4:27 pm

The Canadian federal election is the next one to watch as our Prime Minister has nothing to say on anything other than bull horn the climate-change-fear-narrative, this Prime Minister & his climate-change-minister are brain dead and only know how to use climate-change as a means of governance, the stupidity of this man is something to behold. He was a high school drama teacher before suckering the electorate with his great hair and good looks !!!

Robert of Ottawa
Reply to  Sun Spot
May 18, 2019 6:07 pm

The alternative parties, except the PPC, all offer the same BS. Vote Mad MAx and the local PPC candidate!

Reply to  Robert of Ottawa
May 18, 2019 8:34 pm

A vote for Max splits the Conservative vote. You might as well vote twice for Liberal Trudeau….

WXcycles
Reply to  DMacKenzie
May 19, 2019 12:18 am

I disagree, if the conservative groupings can still form a minority government via a Conservative coalition alliance, then who loses?

The left does!

And having a conservative split actually helps to refocus the conserves back toward actual conservative thinking and practicality, imho.

In other words, a right-side plit is not to be feared in that way, just vote in your own interests and let the respective negotiators in the conserve groupings figure out how to take government via alliance and policy mix compromises.

It’ll work and is not going to automatically produce left wins as presumed. What it will produce is a revitalized and refocused conservative cohort which will prevent infiltrated ‘centerists’ from effectively destroying the conservative’s electability from within.

Which is the very reason why a conservative spit takes place, btw. Don’t fear it.

Stevek
May 18, 2019 4:42 pm

Trump will also win big next election. Everybody I talk to likes that he is not PC, even those that disagree with him. Many people have woken up.

ResourceGuy
May 18, 2019 4:42 pm

You may now return to your jobs, your savings, and your future. That lurch into the policy ditch has been averted for now.

Rob Leviston
May 18, 2019 4:57 pm

Australia, we dodged a Billet! Well done!

accordionsrule
May 18, 2019 5:00 pm

Polls and climate predictions are both science-based.
Bias renders both useless.
Ironic, isn’t it?

Fairsuckofthesav
May 18, 2019 5:36 pm

Nice little earner for me. Scomo was out to $8 when I took the plunge.
Funny how ALP the supposed party of the worker continues to believe taking elite climate policy to elections which is essentially designed to destroy the industry jobs of the same workers.
Tony Abbott lost because his seat is full of Soros types, doctors wives and latte sippers.

Warren
Reply to  Fairsuckofthesav
May 18, 2019 6:24 pm

Well done Fairsuckofthesav and spot on re “Soros types, doctors wives and latte sippers”.

May 18, 2019 5:39 pm

Eric Wirral, Nay 18. says it all.

Tony Abbott in his farewell speech hit it exactly. In the rich seats, where e
the residents were so well off that they can afford some Virtue signalling
as to how they want to Save the Planet, then they vote either Green, or a for
Independent who promises Green ideas.

But in seats in the working class areas , faced with ever higher electricity
costs, plus a high cost of living, again the result of the high cost of energy,
then a possible climate problem n a 100 or more year s time does not bother
therm.

Over the last 6 years, ever since Abbott won the 2013 election, which was
mainly because the “”Green “” PM . Gillard had made a big mess of things,
but the Senate opposed all attempts by Abbott to fix the Australian economy
, and the polls slowly turned against the Liberal National Parties.

It was reasonably expected that the ALP Labour party , that Bill Shorten
would win, possibly with a landslide against the Morrison government , but
Climate change and its true cost to the economy , never disclosed by Bill ,
went against him. Bill also promised far too much, things that possibly did
need fixing, but the old cry of “”Where is the money coming g from “” turned
some voters off.

Perhaps it came down to “The devil that you know is better than the devil
that you do not know ” who knows. Post Mortems and books will be written
about this election in the years to come.

MJE VK5ELL

Warren
Reply to  Michael
May 18, 2019 6:28 pm

And next morning the MSM & the failed politicians are still barking on about climate change.
They just don’t get it; well they don’t want to . . .

Patrick MJD
Reply to  Warren
May 18, 2019 7:51 pm

They just think if they say it enough times, the climate will stop changing.

michael hart
May 18, 2019 6:27 pm

Very low key reporting here by the BBC. Clearly not the result they wanted.

Lewis P Buckingham
Reply to  michael hart
May 18, 2019 11:53 pm

The ABC here in Australia were in a state of grief. It was on their faces as they were forced to tell the truth of the results.
Their coverage always emphasised the Green narrative, as did the pollsters and commentators.
Their top management told us to vote Labor or the ABC would have its funds cut.
They expected that their reach and control of agendsa would sway things their way.
Morrison however found out what electorates wanted, put out a news briefing, went to the electorate and was on TV ,local, the next night.
It worked in Bass.
The opposition treasurer had told fixed income retirees that if they did not like their new tax, they could always vote against it.
They did.
I don’t think he will last long as opposition treasurer.

Patrick MJD
May 18, 2019 6:47 pm

I think the ALP and Greens were in a unloseable position because of the Paris Agreement and what Ardern in New Zealand is doing. They assumed Australia would follow. I expect many NZers will be migrating to Australia in the coming years, I know someone already is, but not due to climate policy, just there’s no work for her in Wellington.

After the months and months or bullying and an unbelieveable volume of climate alarmism in the media, Australian gave the ALP, the Greens and the climate scare the bird!

Hard working Queenslanders also do not like to be bullied by latte sipping townies like Bob “My fellow Earthicans” Brown.

May 18, 2019 7:32 pm

Let’s not forget what happened back in 2012, when the ‘climate change’ party lost so badly during the Queensland, Australia elections that they had too few seats to be considered an officially recognized party.

michel
May 18, 2019 8:35 pm

You note the characteristic move of the pea under the thimble?

We start out claiming that the total tons of CO2 emitted are driving a ‘climate emergency’.

We then move without a pause to claiming that the assessment should be based on per capita emissions, not total tons emitted.

And when this doesn’t work, as when comparing China with the EU, whose per capita levels are now roughly the same, we find some other reason, this time ‘fairness’ of various sorts, why only the West should reduce.

The way to approach this is to keep asking: do you really believe that total tonnage of CO2 emitted is what drives climate? That the total tonnage emitted will determine whether or not civilisation survives?

Fine, then tell me again why China does not have to reduce? One third of the worlds emissions, more coal mined and burned than the rest of the world put together. Why do they not have to reduce?

Then walk. Because you are probably talking to a Chinese funded astroturfer. Whether they know they are or not.

Peter K
May 18, 2019 10:29 pm

A week ago our shock Jock Alan Jones asked the deputy opposition leader Tanya Plibersek, ” this is not a trick question Tanya” “can you tell me what is the percentage of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at present”. Her answer was “I don’t know” Of course Alan enlightened her by saying “it is 0.041%”. So here we had the Labor Party going into the election with a mandate to “Change the Climate” with an open cheque book of tax payers money, having no idea of the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

WXcycles
Reply to  Peter K
May 18, 2019 11:32 pm

Tanya Plibersek is a terrific asset, but not for Labor.

French geographer
May 19, 2019 7:49 am

Thank You, dear Australian fellows ! We, in France, are completely intoxicated, during the present european elections, with the “cliamte emregency”. Right, left, greens and others suggest in their programs the best way to the “ecological transition” with carbon taxes and other stupidities. The EU is really a new green USSR !
May I come to Australia asking for a status of political refugee ?

May 19, 2019 10:26 am

Yes … “winning” … what it looks like – “Dr. Trump” .. a play on KISS’s “Calling Dr. Love” (and for which Crowder received a Copyright Strike from YouTube WHICH Crowder then FOUGHT and WON.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQgMQCjfkKA

.

Tom in Florida
May 19, 2019 1:35 pm

“After losing an election which many analysts described as “unlosable,” Labor leader Bill Shorten conceded and announced he would be now known as Hillary”.