Running into climate change strife

Bill Shorten yesterday:

The current Prime Minister is in the same position that Mr Turnbull (was) in. Either you do something fair dinkum on climate change and get torn down or you do nothing at all …

Sounds familiar. Labor’s climate spokesman Mark Butler in his book Climate Wars (MUP, 2017):

(Kevin) Rudd reached the end of 2009 confronted by a broad sense in the community that the consensus around climate change that appeared to have existed in 2007 lay in tatters. … Labor’s political position on climate change was allowed to drift through the first few months of 2010 while the new opposition leader, (Tony) Abbott, worked tirelessly attacking Labor’s “great big tax on everything”. The drift ended when a decision by the government’s leadership to put the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme “on ice” was leaked to journalist Lenore Taylor. The community reacted strongly. Labor lost the support of around 1 million voters in just a fortnight. One voter told me in my electorate of Port Adelaide, “I was never really sold on the whole climate issue, but was willing to back you in anyway — but when you just suddenly dropped the thing because things got too hard, you lost me. I thought you were all piss-weak.”

What else did the Butler see?:

Within weeks, Rudd was replaced by Julia Gillard as Labor leader and prime minister. The new PM immediately reiterated her support for strong climate policy, promising to “reprosecute the case for a carbon price at home and abroad” if re-elected later that year. But Gillard was alive to the ferocity of the attack on climate policy by Abbott and the deterioration in community confidence about the best way forward. She tried to break the logjam by announcing a citizen’s assembly that would be tasked with developing a consensus, an idea Gillard later conceded was “probably very naive”. Gillard was judged more for her commitment that “there will be no ‘carbon tax’ under the government I lead”.

Headline on John Ruddick’s column on The Spectator Australia website yesterday:

Bugger the Newspoll, ScoMo can win.

He’s probably hoping it’s the second time that’s the charm. Ruddick on Twitter on October 6, last year:

Kerryn Phelps’ polling is crashing because her whole campaign is about “global warming”. Yes there’s lots of warmist loud mouths who live in Wentworth … but there’s a helluva lot more quieter and wiser Wentworth-ites who well know it’s all a big fat left-wing hoax.

The member for Wentworth is now:

Kerryn Phelps.

Ruddick’s definitely right about this:

… if he wins, Morrison will enter the Liberal pantheon.

Ruddick again:

Morrison exudes self-belief.

Self-belief squared. Donald Trump on Twitter on Sunday:

HOLD THE DATE! We will be having one of the biggest gatherings in the history of Washington, D.C., on July 4th. It will be called “A Salute To America” and will be held at the Lincoln Memorial. Major fireworks display, entertainment and an address by your favourite President, me!

Something brand new to be cross about, for days and days! The Guardian yesterday:

Concrete: the most destructive material on Earth. … Guardian Concrete Week investigates the shocking impact of concrete on the modern world.