Has Do-nothing Malcolm found his one issue in coal? Via The Guardian:
The latest poll shows federal Labor maintaining an election-winning lead over Malcolm Turnbull’s government on the two-party preferred measure – but the gap has narrowed over the past week in the government’s favour.
Last week, Labor was ahead of the Coalition on 54% to 46%. This week, Labor is ahead 52% to 48%. The margin of error for the Guardian Essential poll is plus or minus 3%.
Survey respondents were also asked a number of questions about climate change and cost of living – with both of those issues featuring in the political debate over energy policy, which dominated the last parliamentary sitting fortnight.
There has been an increase since February in the number of Australians agreeing with the statement that climate change is happening and is caused by human activity.
A clear majority agrees with that statement, 60% of the sample, up 4% from when the question was last asked in February – while 24% (down 1%) believe we may just be witnessing a normal fluctuation in the Earth’s climate.
People under 35 are more likely to have the view that climate change is happening than people over 55 but a majority of the over 55s (54%) also say climate change is happening and is caused by human activity.
Voters are also increasingly concerned that not enough is being done to mitigate the risks, with 56% (up 7% since December) believing Australia is not doing enough to address climate change and 20% (down 2%) thinking Australia is doing enough.
Young people and people with university-level education are the most concerned about government inaction on climate change. Of the cohort who believe that climate change is happening, 75% think Australia is not doing enough.
Better news came from ReachTEL:
A ReachTEL survey of voter attitudes in the blue-collar Labor strongholds of Hunter and Shortland has found that 30 per cent of voters blame the Coalition for the ongoing electricity policy malaise, around twice the number who hold Labor responsible.
The surprising response challenges the assumption in Canberra that the electors most directly affected by the planned 2022 closure of the almost 50-year-old plant would be most wedded to old technology and the strongest critics of AGL’s decision to decommission it.
Equally intriguing is that six out of 10 voters see a strong future for renewables in Australia and only 12 per cent favour extending the life of coal-fired power stations.
The poll was commissioned by progressive think tank the Australia Institute and conducted on the evenings of September 15 and 16.
Amid heated internal lobbying within the Coalition parties over energy policy, which has become a cipher for leadership undermining, Treasurer Scott Morrison on Monday openly debunked Tony Abbott’s campaign against the Renewable Energy Target, criticised by the former prime minister for preventing new investment in coal.
Alas there was no Newspoll this week despite one being scheduled. In it’s place the Loon Pamphlet is offering a smorgasbord of fake coal news…
- BoM says it’s hot when it’s not
- Saudi solar tycoon’s $300m handout
- Coal support offer knocked back over renewables
- We’ll have it right when renewables mafia squeals
- The dark side of a Green mess
Meanwhile, the only actual scientist in Turnbull’s corner is a very lonely voice:
Alan Finkel has urged the Australian government to swiftly commit to the final recommendation of his energy review, warning the longer that commitment takes, the more likely states and territories are to set up conflicting emissions reduction schemes.
Speaking at the Melbourne economic forum at Victoria university on Monday, Finkel, Australia’s chief scientist, said that a failure to establish a clean energy target would create more uncertainty for investors, who would have to navigate various state policies.
The Victorian government announced two days after the review had been released that it was prepared to implement its own clean energy target if the federal government didn’t commit.
“Every day that goes by until there’s agreement on integrating emissions and energy policy there’s more opportunity for interventions at the state and federal level, which means more uncertainty to persuade investors from making decisions that they would otherwise make,” Finkel said.
Richard Denniss captures the madness of it all at the AFR:
Australian households and businesses are paying a high price for the government’s desire to play politics with energy. While criticism can be made of previous governments’ handling of energy policy, every prime minister since 2006 has at least had some plan to drive investment in renewables or to lower energy prices.
While he may have been wrong, at least Tony Abbott believed that scrapping the carbon price would lower electricity prices. And while it may have been through gritted teeth, it was Abbott who gave us the 33,000 Gwh renewable energy target by 2020. Ineffective though they were, at least Abbott had plans for our energy sector.
But Turnbull has simply become the man with a plan for more plans. Last year he rejected the plan developed by Abbott’s appointees to the Climate Change Authority for an Emission Intensity Scheme. Last week he rejected the Finkel Inquiry’s plan for a Clean Energy Target, so now he has sent AGL off to come up with a plan for replacing Liddell. No doubt in 90 days’ time he will reject that plan as well. But that’s another 90 days in which he can keep playing politics with the issue.
Only time will tell if we’re dumb enough to do the carbon smash all over again.
