<
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/may/22/one-nation-pauline-hanson-australia-questions-climate-science-ntwnfb>
"As the populist rightwing One Nation surges in the polls, its position on
climate change is fixed firmly on the denial of decades of evidence showing the
planet, and Australia, are getting hotter.
The science linking the burning of fossil fuels to rising temperatures is 130
years old and, as the evidence has stacked up, Australians are feeling it with
increasing weather extremes.
That should mean that climate science denial becomes untenable. But for One
Nation denial and conspiracy are at the heart of its position on climate
change.
Earlier versions of One Nation’s energy and climate policies were literal cut
and pastes from the website of the now defunct climate denial group the Galileo
Movement, where the former coalminer Malcolm Roberts was the project manager
before being elected as a One Nation senator.
One Nation still doesn’t accept the planet or Australia is warming and claims
extreme weather was more prevalent before 1960.
“This is like saying the Earth is flat,” says Prof Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick, a
climate scientist and expert on weather extremes at Australian National
University.
“It’s bullshit. There’s a wealth of evidence that extreme heat events are
increasing worldwide since the 1950s. We see increased intensity of droughts
and heatwaves and the intensity of tropical cyclones is increasing. But you
can’t argue with stupid.”
Research from CSIRO a decade ago suggests views on climate change can be
influenced by how a person votes, rather than the other way around. So votes
for One Nation could see more people rejecting climate science.
Dr John Cook, an expert on climate science denial and an honorary research
fellow at the University of Melbourne, says One Nation is “not only out of
touch with the scientific evidence, they’re even out of touch with the rest of
the climate denial community.”
“Over the last decade, climate misinformation has been transitioning from
science denial to attacking climate solutions,” he says.
“The scientific evidence for human-caused global warming is so undeniable,
denying the science has become untenable and climate misinformation has had to
make a strategic retreat.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
