‘Bogan votes count too’: MP’s message to teal activists

He’s the controversial MP campaigning against “woke’’ activism. Matt Canavan reveals why he doesn’t care about keeping Coalition colleagues in jobs.

Maverick Nationals Senator Matt Canavan is being deployed into mining seats across Australia as the Coalition tries to navigate a working class path to victory in the final two weeks of the campaign.

Queensland Senator Canavan, who is campaigning against “woke’’ activism and climate change, will this week return to the Hunter Valley in NSW, where crucial coalmining votes could swing the election either way.

He said the Liberal/National Coalition was increasingly the party of choice for working class and poorer voters, and there was no need to fear the “boganisation’’ of the parties.

In comments sure to further infuriate his southern state and inner-city Coalition allies, Senator Canavan doubled down on his opposition to the Coalition’s policy of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.

He said the global climate change agenda was “madness on stilts.’’

Senator Matt Canavan Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm

“There is too much focus on the first world problems of changing your gender or changing the climate,’’ he said.

“For people who worry if there is enough left on the credit card to pay the power bill this month, these are luxury goods.’’

The 41-year-old Senator, a Catholic father of five, is a flag-bearer for conservative values within the Nationals, and is shaping up as either the Coalition’s secret weapon or most dangerous suicide bomber.

He is unfazed by concerns his comments are detrimental to urban and progressive Liberals, saying he was determined to stand up for working class communities who had been left behind by Labor.

Senator Matt Canavan said he isn't focused on keeping Coalition colleagues in a job, he’s out to represent regional Australia. Photo: Scott Radford-Chisholm

And he said the issues at stake were bigger than several inner-city seats where moderate Liberals were under attack from Climate 200-backed “teal’’ independents.

“I think elections should be about choices and there should be room for significant debate about issues like the defence of western democracy and values, independent of their impacts on an inner-city seat,’’ he said.

“I want Dave Sharma to keep his seat and Trent Zimmerman to keep his seat, I really do, but Dave Sharma’s employment prospects are a little bit less important that the ability of western free nations to feed themselves.

“Trent Zimmerman’s prospects at the election are just a little bit less important than whether or not we can keep the lights on in this country for the next decade.

“I didn’t get into politics to get jobs for people in my own political party, people who wear blue shirts. I did it to create jobs in regional areas, to protect our country and fight for things I believe in, so that’s what I’m doing.

“In terms of the political impact of that, I don’t see how you could look at the last decade of Australian politics and say ‘yeah, unless we sign up to carbon taxes and climate change activism we can’t win elections’.

“We have fought elections on this stuff, we have fought against radical climate change activism and carbon taxes and won every time.’’

Senator Matt Canavan says the global climate change agenda is ‘madness on stilts’. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm

Senator Canavan said conservative political movements globally had increasingly attracted poor and working class voters, as Labor became a party dominated by “university-educated policy wonks’’ out of touch with working class values and concerns.

“My view is there’s no reasons to be scared of what some have termed the boganisation of the Liberal/National Parties because there’s a lot of bogans out there and they all get the same vote as high-wealth people,’’ he said.

“You don’t get more votes the more money you have. It doesn’t matter. That’s the great thing about democracy.’’

Senator Matt Canavan says there shouldn’t be concerns about ‘boganisation’ of the Coalition. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm

Senator Canavan, an economist at the Productivity Commission and KPMG before he joined the Senate after the 2013 election, said the pursuit of reduced emissions had resulted in western nations inadvertently funding Russian president Vladimir Putin’s war against Ukraine.

“Whatever the internal ramifications of what I’m saying – my judgment, my call, people can criticise me for it – is that this is a much bigger issue for the world and somebody has to be out there arguing for the common sense, that we should not and cannot allow dictatorial and authoritarian regimes to concentrate energy production in those parts of the world.

“The stats are clear, Europe is paying Putin about $1 billion euros a day for coal, oil and gas and that is helping fund the very aggression everybody is fighting against. It’s absurd.’’

Senator Canavan will use his visit to the Hunter to campaign against Labor’s carbon reduction plans, saying it would require coal mines to buy carbon credits.

“That’s a tax. And extra cost, extra taxes, put at risk jobs, just at a time when there’s probably never been stronger demand for Australian coal. I don’t think a new tax is a good idea,’’ he said.

Senator Matt Canavan sparked controversy when he said ‘net zero is dead’. Photo: Scott Radford-Chisholm

After he last week declared that “net zero is dead’’ – referring to Europe’s need to increase coal consumption while it weened itself off Russian gas – several of Senator Canavan’s colleagues told him to “pull his head in.’’

The Senator, who describes himself as more contrarian than maverick, is unrepentant.

“People are worried about whether a comment from a backbench senator from Queensland is going to affect the election result,’’ he said.

“There was a fair bit of upset when I said that last week but very few people actually said I was wrong.’’

Darren Chester, a moderate National who holds the seat of Gippsland in Victoria, had likened Senator Canavan to Hiroo Onada, a Japanese lieutenant who hid out in the jungle in the Philippines for decades after WWII, convinced he was fighting a secret mission when in fact the war had ended 30 years ago.

“I took that as a great compliment because I never give up,’’ Senator Canavan said.

“I am quite happy to be the Japanese soldier still fighting, because I never think you lose hope, I never think you surrender, you just keep fighting. You might lose, but at least you’ll lose with honour.’’

Originally published as ‘Bogan votes count too’: MP’s message to teal activists