Extract from ABC News
Queensland Nationals senator Matt Canavan has cast aspersions on the scientists who released the Intergovernmental Report into Climate Change (IPCC), labelling it "fear porn" during a heated episode of Q+A where he also suggested that lockdowns used to curb the spread of COVID-19 were harmful.
Key points:
- Nationals senator Matt Canavan was labelled "part of the problem" when it comes to Australia's response to climate change
- Mr Canavan refused to condemn Coalition colleague George Christensen over his anti-mask comments made in Parliament
- Businesses were said to need guidance on potential rules around vaccine passports in the future
In response to some of his environmental claims, Senator Canavan was described as being "part of the problem", while on other COVID-related comments he was refuted by other members of the panel and host David Speers.
The IPCC report warned the planet would be 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter by 2030 if no action was taken and was labelled a "code red for humanity" by United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres.
However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison would not commit to a net zero emissions target for Australia by the year 2050.
When asked by viewer Julian Hepburn what the government was going to do about the report and how it would work to stop climate change, Senator Canavan attacked some of the scientists who wrote the report.
"That doesn't sound like science to me and it's a great shame, it's very sad the IPCC who once did very, very good work, and I do agree with their overall findings on climate change, but now it has descended into something that's much more like spin than science.
Asked by Speers if he agreed with the overall findings of the report, Senator Canavan said he did, but took aim at scientists for focusing on what he said was an unlikely scenario.
"There's a guy called Dr Roger Pilkie Junior, he's done some really interesting analysis about how in the IPCC report they spent half the time, half of their references to different scenarios to what is the most extreme scenario, the so-called RCP," he said.
"And that is at least, the IPCC does recognise in their report that scenario, this time they recognise it is extremely unlikely.
"They spend more than half the time on the most unlikely outcome. That's the issue."
Senator Canavan, who admitted he was a supporter of coal-powered energy, disputed the findings with Speers as he debated how much coal would be used in the future through the scenarios laid out in the report.
"In all of them, it's projecting that the warming will still hit 1.5 degrees in all of them," Speers said, to which Senator Canavan responded: "In those three ones that do, all of those ones have coal demand being much, much higher."
"I'm a big supporter of coal but even I think the IPCC projections are loopy, they're out of control," he added.
'Part of the problem': King hits back at Canavan
Asked what the government was doing about climate change, Senator Canavan said it was taking action but then added that anything that was done would not matter because China — which has agreed to a net zero target by 2060 — "isn't committed".
"In my view, that action is quite futile now because China is not doing anything," Senator Canavan said.
He then accused China of stealing jobs from Australia and warned against signing "another agreement" that would "handicap our own industry".
"The Prime Minister is right to say what we should be doing is developing the technologies that mean that cleaner energy is more efficient and then China and other countries will adopt them," he said.
"But it is wishful thinking that we'll cut all our emissions and China will join us somehow, that's madness. It will only help empower the Chinese Communist Party."
Senator Canavan's comments on climate change were howled down by Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Development Catherine King, who accused him of being part of the problem when it came to global warming.
"Over the last 20 years since I've been a member of the House of Representatives, we have been unable to elect a Parliament that can build consensus and move forward on this.
"It's incredibly frustrating to people to see we've not been able to get there or elect a parliament that could agree about what we need to do and then build that consensus.
"Matt is part of the problem and quite deliberately so."
Canavan still won't condemn Christensen
While the climate change discussion kicked off the show, the discussion quickly turned to COVID-19 and Australia's handling of the pandemic, and Senator Canavan once again proved divisive.
The senator had crossed the floor of Parliament earlier in the week as he refused to join fellow members of Parliament to condemn Coalition MP George Christensen when he described COVID restrictions as "madness".
On Q+A, Senator Canavan not only questioned the value of lockdowns when it came to their economic impact on the nation but again refused to condemn his Coalition colleague.
"I'm not going to condemn it," Senator Canavan said of Mr Christensen's comments.
"That's a crazy word [and] I disagree with it.
"Condemnation comes with some kind of view that the statement should never have been expressed, and I have no problem debating people in this place, the chamber below me there and I love going in there and having debates. This is the place we debate things."
Speers pointed out that Mr Christensen was effectively disputing the very core of a public health message during a pandemic and then asked the rest of the panel if they thought an MP should air those views.
They all responded that an MP should not.
Calls for plan on vaccine passports
With Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra all currently locked down due to the rise of the Delta variant, the question was raised as to whether a boost in vaccination levels would see the gradual reopening of cities, especially Sydney.
Australia's most populous city has now been in lockdown for nearly seven weeks, with hundreds of cases being reported daily and Premier Gladys Berejiklian insisting vaccination is the way out of lockdown, even as cases spread to regional areas of NSW.
NSW viewer Patrick Relyea asked if it was fair to reward those who got vaccinated by allowing them more access to certain parts of life over the unvaccinated.
It led to a discussion centred around vaccine passports, and calls were made for the government to show leadership and let businesses know how to best undertake the process of opening up safely for the public.
Financial journalist Alan Kohler said businesses had a right to set their own rules.
"People who have control over their own individual situations, businesses, or organisations, will be able to decide how they proceed," Kohler said.
"Venues [can] say that we can only come in if you're vaccinated."
Chief of the Australian Retailers' Association Paul Zahra went a step further and said the government needed to protect businesses and pass a law.
"I don't think most businesses want to be facing litigation potentially," Mr Zahra said.
"So we just need a plan that actually gets all of our employees vaccinated willingly. [The government] needs to demonstrate leadership here."
It was a call echoed by Ms King, who said vaccinations first had to ramp up before the discussion took place, but she too called on Mr Morrison to work with businesses.
"What you're going to see is businesses are starting to talk about it. Aviation is talking about it.
Watch the full episode on iview or via the Q+A Facebook page.
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