Tony Abbott's Revolting Pug Politics

Cross post with Labor View From Bayside

I was spurred on by Bernard Keane's article in Crikey Placards not the only thing on display as the denialists gather to these thoughts on Tony Abbott and Tea Party politics:

(Photo: ABC)

It was hard not to be appalled by Abbott's performance yesterday. He chose his company deliberately. That included the other speakers. Barnaby Joyce was playing hysterical demagogue.

David Archibald, the ‘economist’ who spoke at the rally, was generally ignored by the media. In fact Melbourne's Herald Sun chose not to mention the event or the offensive signs at all. It was front page at their rival The Age: To-ny, To-ny: poster boy for a crowd of 'fine Australians'. Their photo is far more explicit:

Archibald is from the mining industry and close to the Lavoisier Group of deniers, founded by that well known friend of working people and the environment Hugh Morgan.

Closer to home, the owner of our local shoe shop was headed for the rally: Carbon tax cops kick in Bayside He’s a budding economist too: “He said a 10 per cent carbon tax would be “the final straw” for embattled small retailers.”

Doubtless many in the Canberra crowd were small business people with close links to the Liberal Party.

The evening of the revolting people’s day, Bayside Climate Change Action Group held a successful forum of 150 + with Prof David Karoly of Melbourne University:

Prof. Karoly said. "If climate change is happening, it's happening on top of - and as well as – all the natural climate variations."

"Better to ask", Prof. Karoly said, "is how much worse were the floods made by greenhouse climate change?" While much more research needs to be done, his 'best estimate' is that the floods were perhaps 20% worse than if carbon dioxide levels had remained at the levels of about 100 years ago.

While that may seem only a modest addition, Prof. Karoly said the shift to a warmer climate – signalled too in record seawater temperatures around much of Australia - means Australians had better prepare for a land of greater droughts during the dry spells and worse flooding rains in the wet ones.David Karoly + Simon McKeon @ Firbank Grammar.

The anti-carbon-tax lobby is well organised and presumably well financed. Menzies House provides many of the links to the people's revolt on their campaign website Stop Gillard's Climate Tax.

It was always going to be a dirty fight. Pug politics!