Abbott lies in Washington

He just can't help himself.

So we all know how anti anything climate change Abbott is. Well we do in Australia. His most legendary comment of his on climate change is that it's "absolute crap" which he said in October 2009 to an audience in regional Victoria. Since becoming PM he still reckons his main mission is to destroy the carbon tax, which would make Australia the first nation in the world to remove a  carbon trading scheme. One of which I might add only just got through the parliament because of Abbott's complete opposition to a carbon tax in that parliament. His record is clear.

Imagine my surprise then when I read the bullshit he's telling people over there in Washington. The first one was him stating that the petrol excise will act as a "carbon price signal". WTF? So that must mean he wants to destroy the present carbon tax as he's on a mission from god, but that he also wants to bring in a tax that prices carbon :s  Fuck me what a bloody clown show.

But it gets worse. He's saying in Washington that he's "very serious" about climate change. WTF? He spent his entire 3 year Gillard gov opposition saying how the carbon tax was going to doom the nation, and he's done everything in his power to wreck any other climate change initiatives set up by Rudd and Gillard.

Mr Obama reportedly said he understood the Australian Government had a mandate for its policy, while Mr Abbott said the fuel excise is already acting as a carbon price signal to improve energy efficiency.

Perhaps tellingly, the topic was not raised in front of the cameras, but Mr Abbott has discounted suggestions of friction on climate change policy.

"I don't think people should run around pretending there is disagreement when none exists. President Obama and myself both take climate change very seriously," he said. more

*faints* ........ A bare faced out and out lie.

Here's a portion of a 7:30 report on the ABC in 2010, about that very "climate change is crap" comment. To say the least, he's hardly sounding like he takes climate change seriously at all.

TONY ABBOTT: Look, I want to do the right thing by the environment. And I think there's enough evidence that carbon dioxide might be a problem, to try to reduce emissions. I tell you what else we are doing here; we are buying objective environmental improvements. We are getting, we hope, a million extra solar roofs, we are getting 20 million more trees, and the sorts of things that we'll be funding, under our emissions reduction fund, are the sorts of things that are objective goods, such as higher soil carbon content, which will have more productive farmland, trying to use carbon dioxide and other waste from power stations to produce things that can then be made into biodiesel and stockfeed. We are trying to do objectively good environmental benefits with this policy. 

KERRY O’BRIEN: Mr Abbott, you are using terminology like there's evidence evidence that carbon dioxide might be a problem. When you put that alongside what you told that audience in regional Victoria in October last year, "The climate change argument is absolute crap, however the politics are tough for us because 80 per cent of people believe climate change is a real and present danger". In other words, the only conclusion you draw from that is that you are saying, "We have to have a climate change policy because the people believe it's a danger, but I believe it's crap". 

TONY ABBOTT: Well no, and as I said before, there was a little bit of rhetorical hyperbole in there which does not represent my considered position, I am not as evangelical about this as Prime Minister Rudd is. I am not theological about this the way Prime Minister Rudd is, but I do think it's important. And that is why I'm prepared to invest $10 billion over the coming decade to bring about things which will be good regardless, good for the environment, regardless of your views on the role of carbon dioxide in climate. 

KERRY O’BRIEN: So when you say a bit of rhetorical hyperbole in that conversation with that audience you say you adjust the message to whatever audience you are playing to, if that's the case, how do we know you haven't adjusted your message for this audience? 

TONY ABBOTT: Casually all of us are loose with our language, that was an occasion when I said what I shouldn't have said. It didn't represent my correct position. 

KERRY O’BRIEN: There's nothing loose about the meaning of a term, nothing loose about the meaning of a term that says "absolute crap". 

TONY ABBOTT: And I think what you'll find, if you go back to the comments, is that it was the so called settled science of climate change, that I thought was to be described in language that I wouldn't use on a family program. more

Interesting the Obama meeting with him wasn't made public. I'd have seriously liked to be a fly on the wall for that one :)