Australia’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, rejected calls to adopt more ambitious emissions targets, insisting that the country was doing enough to tackle climate change. This was his answer to the alarmist UN climate report just released.
“Australia is doing its part,” Morrison said, according to the Australian Broadcasting Company. “I won’t be signing a blank cheque on behalf of Australians to targets without plans. Blank cheque commitments you always end up paying for, and you always end up paying in higher taxes. We need to take a different approach. We need to focus on the technological breakthroughs that are necessary to change the world, and how we operate,” Morrison said. “World history teaches one thing: technology changes everything. That is why our approach is technology and not taxes to solve this problem.”
Criticizing climate protesters who vandalized Parliament House on Monday, Morrison said, “I don’t associate in any way, shape or form that foolishness with the good-hearted nature of Australians who care deeply about this issue, as I do. Action will be taken against those who have committed those offenses in our capital today, as they should [be], and I think Australians — regardless of their position on this issue — would agree with that.”
Australian Senator Matthew Canavan, of the Liberal National Party, went one step further, describing the UN report as “fear porn.” He said the panel that had drafted it was always warning “the sky is falling in, and it never does.”
