Piers Akerman: Climate change alarmism has turned kids into snowflakes

So-called climate change activism is morphing Australia’s children and Millennials into an ill-informed and unintelligent group, Piers Akerman writes.

The climate change activists have transformed Australia’s children and Millennials into
ill-informed, unintelligent snowflakes.

A nation that once prided itself on its independent thinkers has morphed into a country with a group think mentality – if the climate alarmists think at all.

Following last year’s bushfires, which were not unprecedented and not the biggest in recorded history, we have had floods, which, again, were not the worst in history in terms of life lost.

And, of course, we have no knowledge of the scale of either the bushfires or the flooding which took place before European settlement, although we do know that some of the Aboriginal clans that gathered around Port Jackson warned Governors Phillip and Macquarie about the flood plains west of the harbour. Those administrators had the sense to site their villages on the high ground.

They were smarter than the bureaucrats of following generations whose legacy consists of regularly flooded sprawling housing estates.

Young protesters taking part in the Global #ClimateStrike rally on March 25. Picture: NCA NewsWire/James Gourley

Shane Stone, the former chief minister of the Northern Territory and one of the smartest men to serve in politics, has the unenviable task of leading the National Recovery and Resilience Agency, the first national agency responsible for supporting recovery from natural disasters, drought and other hazards.

The agency has come under fire from the usual whingers favoured by the Guardian, Crikey and the ABC, a publicly-funded political broadcaster which provides a platform for disaffected malcontents, particularly those with a beef about conservative governments, state and federal.

Before a large audience at an event honouring Antony Coote and his wife, Toni, the founders of the Mulloon Institute, which is dedicated to promoting sustainable agriculture through practical methods of rehydrating and restoration of the environment, Stone last week indirectly answered his critics.

Since the 2019 North Queensland flood, 154 disasters have been declared in 402 local government areas with a total population of around 20.8 million. In Lismore alone, over
900 homes have been rendered uninhabitable. The town’s infrastructure has been trashed, and the CBD is no more.

After stating the obvious, that “the taxpayer and the ratepayer cannot continue to pick up the bill for these huge, catastrophic damage events”, Stone was slammed by the shadow minister for emergency management, Queensland Senator Murray Watt, who said Stone should be
sacked for blaming “flood victims for their hardship”.

Emma Dorge brought down by Police Rescue officers after her protest in Tempe on March 25. Picture: Jeremy Piper

Watt, a former Labor lawyer, should look at the lessons learnt from the 2011 Lockyer Valley floods which claimed 12 lives.

There, the residents of Grantham who lost their homes were offered property on higher ground if they chose to do the intelligent thing and move out of harm’s way.

The town was again hit in the recent floods but those who chose to take part in what’s known as the ‘Grantham land swap’ were unaffected.

As Stone said: “They didn’t have to re-live the heartache and trauma of 11 years ago. The challenge is how we collectively prepare ourselves for the next disaster while ensuring that we support those recovering from the last.”

Further, even before the floodwaters receded in Queensland and as the emergency continued to play out in NSW, the Morrison Government responded.

The first disaster payments were made in 24 hours.

You won’t hear it on your ABC but Stone assured his audience it was the fastest federal response in history.

For the record, more than one million Australians have received emergency cash payments and income support. Over $1 billion has been paid out (to 20 March 2022). This is an important part of the “hand up” response of government.

The ignorant schoolchildren and climate change catastrophists stopping people from getting to work need to know that Australia is not the cause of climate change and cannot affect the world’s weather.

China and Russia (which is known to fund green activists) are building more coal-fired power stations every year than there are across our nation.

If the idiots wanted to help the planet, they’d volunteer to clean up after the fires and floods and they’d support the Mulloon Institute.