Andrew Bolt: Dutton just signalled that he’s either a closet climate infidel or weak in his faith

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton just got a brutal reminder that every Liberal leader should get through their head: you can’t run from these idiotic climate wars.

Peter Dutton just got a brutal reminder that every Liberal leader should get through their head. Guys, you can’t run from these idiotic climate wars.

Fight or get beaten by lies and the liars who tell them. Like Anthony Albanese.

Last week Dutton, the Opposition Leader, went on a typical ABC debate with the Prime Minister.

You know the kind: Dutton wasn’t asked one question on the very real cost of living crisis, but was badgered instead on the very unreal climate crisis that the ABC and Labor treat like a religious belief, demanding “action” that’s driving up your power bills.

Host David Speers claimed Australians faced “more intense weather events, be it storms, fires, floods”, especially in Queensland, and asked: “Do you accept that we are already seeing the impact of climate change?”

Dutton started weakly, by deflecting: “There’s an impact. The question is what we can do about it as a population of 27 million people”.

Peter Dutton just got a brutal reminder. Picture: NewsWire

And that much is true. Even if you believe man-made climate change is making things worse, there’s nothing Australia can do about it when the world’s biggest emitters – like China and India – won’t.

But Speers didn’t want facts. He wanted Dutton to repeat the Lord’s Prayer of the green movement: “I believe in climate change.”

So he interrupted: “You’re agreeing we are seeing the impact of climate change?”

Dutton again caved: “I think you can see that there’s an impact, David.”

At least Dutton hinted at the science, correctly noting floods were “a part of the history of our state, of this country”.

Still not enough! Speers wanted a statement of belief, not facts: “Really? You’re not willing to say this is climate change happening right now?”

Dutton crumbled: “I think the honest answer for most people is that they don’t know.”

And that was Dutton cooked. Albanese the next day sneered he was an unbeliever. A heretic.

Host David Speers wanted Peter Dutton to repeat the Lord’s Prayer of the green movement. Picture: Matt Roberts/ABC

“I would have thought that the science is very clear on climate change,” Albanese crowed.

“When you have a tropical cyclone headed for the coastline here of southeast Queensland and northern NSW — I don’t know what it takes to give a wake-up call to the Coalition.”

In fact, Albanese had just lied, and not one of the journalists attacking Dutton for telling the truth challenged Albanese for telling untruths.

That “tropical cyclone” Alfred was actually so weak that when it hit our coast it wasn’t a cyclone at all.

What’s more, anyone can check the Bureau of Meteorology website and see for themselves that we’ve been getting fewer cyclones in the past half century, and fewer bad ones. The Bible of the global warming movement, the latest report of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, admits Australia has had “fewer tropical cyclones since 1982” and “most (climate) models project fewer cyclones”.

In short: cyclones aren’t a sign of global warming, unless global warming means fewer cyclones, which is actually good.

Same story with rain. The Bureau shows that rainfall in eastern Australia is up on a century ago, but down slightly on what in was in the rainy 1970s. No clear signal at all.

The pair faced off in a typical ABC debate focusing on the apparent climate crisis. Picture: Matt Roberts/ABC

I know, facts don’t matter to the Left. When a fake like Bruce Pascoe is still treated as an Aborigine by politicians and universities, “facts” are just tribal passwords.

And within 24 hours, Dutton had given in and was repeating that catechism of the climate Left, just in time for a pagan Easter: “I believe in climate change, and that it is a reality”. Amen.

Of course, that statement is of itself meaningless. The climate always changes.

But Dutton had just signalled to the Left that he’s either a closet climate infidel or weak in his faith. They see in him what they’ve seen in every Liberal leader since Tony Abbott, who won an election by promising to axe Labor’s carbon tax.

They see a Liberal saying he believes man is creating a climate catastrophe, but promising to do less than Labor to save us. Who’d vote for that?

I know it’s hard to fight this climate religion when it’s been preached unchallenged in our schools for a generation, and policed by the Inquisition of the ABC.

But accepting the climate catastrophe lie just makes the Liberals look weak. That lie is meanwhile destroying our power system and making our industries uncompetitive.

Australians will keep getting poorer and dumber until this hysteria is challenged. Too late for this election, but the next may yet be saved.

Originally published as Andrew Bolt: Dutton just signalled that he’s either a closet climate infidel or weak in his faith