Tony Abbott, Battlelines, Lomborg And The Big New Thing Somewhere Else!
“Gallipoli was a splendid failure; the Western Front was a terrible success and we should recall our victories as much as our defeats.” Tony Abbott, 26th April, 2015
“It doesn’t make much sense, though, to impose certain and substantial costs on the economy now in order to avoid unknown and perhaps even benign changes in the future. As Bjorn Lomborg has said: ‘Natural science has undeniably shown us that global warming is man-made and real. But just as undeniable is the economic science, which makes it clear that a narrow focus on reducing carbon emissions could leave future generations lumbered with major costs, without major cuts in temperatures’.” Tony Abbott Battlelines
So even before he became Leader of The Opposition, Tony was qutoing Bjorn Lomborg. This, of course, has been pointed out by several people lately, so I thought I’d check my copy of “Battlelines” (Yes, I bought a copy, and, no, I don’t know who bought the other one!) to find out exactly what he said when quoting Lomborg.
Well, I guess it’s not so much his Lomborg quote that interests me as his suggestion that we shouldn’t be imposing costs to the economy to “avoid unknown and perhaps even benign changes in the future.”
Yep, for all we know, this climate change may be good for us. The future’s uncertain, so why worry, eh?
But I do have to give Abbott points for an original argument. I haven’t heard anyone else argue that extreme climate change may be good for us. Similarly, Lomborg’s idea that a narrow focus on reducing carbon emissions may leave future generations with “major costs”. And not only that they won’t lead to MAJOR reductions in temperature.
Mm, now I didn’t think that we were actually after MAJOR reductions in temperature and that we were just trying to slow the rate of warming to something manageable. But, hey, what would I know about climate change – I’m not a political scientist or an economist.
Tony doesn’t go on to explain how Lomborg thinks that not reducing emissions will prevent future generations from being hit with major costs. Perhaps the concept is that if we do enough damage, there won’t be any future generations. Which, of course, as any economist will be able to tell you, is a massive cost saver.
But Abbott is not all about saving costs. Apparently, the French are going to build a $100 million Sir John Monash Centre at the Australian National Memorial in France. I mean, I’m presuming that the French are building it, because there’s no way that we can afford that sort of money, so I just like to thank the French for their generosity.
And as Abbott said at its opening yesterday:
“Although we marked one hundred years since the Gallipoli landing yesterday, the centenary of Anzac has not passed. Later this year, we will remember the Battle of Lone Pine and the Gallipoli evacuation, which was the only really successful part of that fraught campaign.
“Over the next three years, we will remember the achievement of the Australian light horse in Sinai, at Beersheba and in the capture of Jerusalem and Damascus.
But increasingly our attention will turn here, to the Western Front, the main focus of the war, where almost 300,000 Australians fought and 46,000 died.
“Gallipoli has dominated our imagination but the Western Front was where Australia’s main war was fought.
This is where our thoughts must dwell if we are truly to remember our forebears, pay homage to their sacrifice and honour their achievements.
“Gallipoli was a splendid failure; the Western Front was a terrible success and we should recall our victories as much as our defeats.”
So, we’re going to keep on celebrating the centenary of Anzac Day for the next three years. Excellent! Because as Mr Abbott said later in his speech, “Australians should congregate here, every April 25th, no less than at Anzac Cove”.
Now, I’m sure some on the Left will suggest that’s because he’d rather a trip to France next year, but they should be ashamed of themselves for attempting to politicise Anzac Day.
Because politicising Anzac Day would be one of the last things that Tony would ever do.
Like what we do at The AIMN?
You’ll like it even more knowing that your donation will help us to keep up the good fight.
Chuck in a few bucks and see just how far it goes!
Your contribution to help with the running costs of this site will be gratefully accepted.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
23 comments
Login here Register here-
miriamenglish -
RoaminRuin -
Annie B -
stephentardrew -
Kaye Lee -
stephentardrew -
FERGOLO11 (@FERGOLO11) -
Matters Not -
FERGOLO11 (@FERGOLO11) -
Annie B -
Kaye Lee -
Annie B -
Kaye Lee -
Kaye Lee -
FERGOLO11 (@FERGOLO11) -
Awabakal -
mischmash1 -
stephentardrew -
Kaye Lee -
eli nes -
diannaart -
Annie B -
Rais
Return to home pageI don’t know why Abbott wants to give Lomborg millions. He’s already getting heaps of money from the petroleum companies. Lomborg’s work is incredibly dishonest. If you want to waste some time looking at his book “Cool It – The Skeptical Environmentalist’s Guide to Global Warming” you’ll see lots of references in it that appear to back up everything he says… that is, until you actually make the effort to look up the references and then you find that many actually say the reverse of what he is suggesting. But I guess Lomborg will fit right in: a crook and a liar with other crooks and liars.
Politicising Anzac Day? That nasty toad would dearly love to put thousands of Aussie lives at risk in Iraq and Syria to service his warped sense of self importance. He would love the bands, the flags, the speeches – the eulogies. This man is worse than disgusting. In the event any of those troops already sent gets killed that bastard better not have the shameless gall to ever show up at future Anzac commemorations.
” Last year the Australian government committed $6.9 million for the museum. The centre was designed by Cox Architecture.” ( SMH – 28th April ).
NOW it comes to light ! ….
While I don’t personally begrudge any contribution to such a monument, the LNP head is now bringing it all to the fore – for his own aggrandisement. …. It is of no surprise that they kept ‘real quiet’ about it while Hockey was hollerin’ about the mess left by Labor, and how we didn’t have any money left ? which he repeatedly did ‘last year’, ad nauseum.
And now the toxic bloke, cynically brings it all to the foreground – no doubt to try and impress the younger generations with some history lessons, and to make out what a real good fella he is.
Not denigrating in any way, the cost of life and limb in that Western front onslaught, and our ultimate victory there … but I do totally put down the cynicism used by this nut-case, in bringing it to our attention now, in the way that he has.
Note to the ‘ leader ‘ … ” Hey there fella – the average worker, and student, probably know a great deal more about Villers Bretonneux and what happened there, than you ever did or ever will – ya pillock.”
Certifiable ? …. yes.
It’s interesting to see that the rest of the party seem to be silent on the Captain and his chief baby sitters choices.
There are so many super wars to celebrate we will be doing one a month soon.
Lets shift those aborigines out of their homelands; save a quid on disabilities; shaft the homeless; bugger the environment; rip off the pensioners; mine the coal; ignore the global warming; buy the unfinished jets; offshore the subs; gift the corporates; sign the TPP (in secret), pay 4 mill to a Lomborg nong; give the French 10 mill for a statuesque lemon; send more troops off to endless disaster and celebrate our military failures with pomp and ceremony all at no cost, well to the wealthy.
As for you an me.
Pay up buster.
And this is a short list.
The “statuesque lemon” is costing us $100 million
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-04-27/abbott-introduces-100m-wwi-educational-centre/6423286
Oops Kaye made a big bugger up.
I knew that. Sorry for the brain implosion.
It’s always worse than it looks.
Given our ever decreasing numbers its disgusting to celebrate whites killing whites – especially when Germany attempted to stop the war in 1916 and was rebuffed by the British because certain powerful jews promised Britain that they could bring America into the war – in return for Palestine – which they then did. The Balfour Declaration is the tip of the rotten iceberg. The only reason we are in Iraq – or anywhere else for that matter – we proxy fight lsraels wars. lraq is remote from and has nothing to do with Australia – we have zero cultural or any other kind of ties with that whole region – notwithstanding that there are many dual passport carrying jews who reside in Australia.
Well that’s the claim, and I usually question any estimate (Budget) with three zeros. As for 5 zeros – it’s obviously a figure picked out of his rear orifice.
Clearly the ‘infrastructure Prime Minister’ was less than transparent re his ‘projects. In France LOL.
Out of control, and in so many ways.
lf l was foolhardy brave l would blame zionist jews for every single death that occured in the last two years of the First World War – but l’m not that brave lulz
Wouldn’t surprise me one bit that he would have upped the ante – towards this monument. ….
It was stated last year as being $6.9 million from the Australian Government towards the proposed war memorial at Villers Bretonneux ( according to the treasurer-in-training, Joe Hockey – 2014 ) ….
All the on-line news sites have left it up to us to decide whether Abbott has simply unveiled the design for the $100 million monument, or if indeed he intends to dip further into a non-existent magic room of money, and give over the total amount.
All rather vague actually.
Ummm…..I can see no reason to think the French would pay to build the Sir John Monash Centre at the Australian National Memorial.
Half agree with you Kaye …
It has been the continual thrust from the French in that town – over many years, that has brought it all to world notice ( or at least ours and theirs ) …. so I guess it remains to be seen who exactly pays for exactly what. ?
The jury is yet to come in on that one. ( but it wouldn’t surprise me if toxic has upped the ante !! – as I said previously ). 😉
Annie, if you think the jury is still out then you are less cynical than me. It was designed by an Australian company, the model was unveiled by Abbott. He has given a press release stating “The Centre will educate a new audience about Australia’s significant role on the Western Front and provide a lasting international legacy from the Centenary of Anzac.” Do you really think the French would engage an Aussie company to design something to be built at an Aussie site to commemorate the Aussie contribution to the war?
As for Bjorn Lomberg, a few days ago he wrote an article called “It’s time to stop subsidizing fossil fuels”. He also said that protecting coral reefs brings the “biggest bang for your buck” at a return of $24 for every dollar invested. I await with baited breath Abbott’s reaction to these two pieces of advice from his new guru.
[197] “A Strategy for Israel in the Nineteen Eighties,” by Oded Yinon, a former officer in the Israeli Foreign Ministry. In Kivunim (Directions), the Hebrew-language journal of the Department of Information of the World Zionist Organization, February 1982. “The dissolution of Syria and Iraq … into ethnically or religious unique areas such as in Lebanon, is Israel’s primary target on the eastern front in the long run, while the dissolution of the military power of those states serves as the short term target,” the presentation reads in part.
As brave and as determined as I see you to be Fergolo11 there is a major sweep of floodwater carrying Israel-sympathy media into all western countries that you will have to contend with.
The battle lines are drawn; capitalism is taking a hit; Islamic growth is steam-rolling all in its path; Zionism has to make a stand simply because it believes it is chosen and right.
Those countries standing against the corporate control regime will be white-anted until they retaliate or fall.
There will be interesting times. Your neighbours will be on a different side to you, simply because of media speak. Our politicians will be cajoled and drawn into a religion of fear.
Yet peculiarly, Boris Johnson, the London Mayor, will have a say. The outcome to be will be a sign, “though no sign will be given …”
How long before the hate-rage in America consumes their current existence and politics?
The Coalition of the West reeks to me of the consumption by greed syndrome.
Interesting times!
Supported by the IPA..Surprised? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUV2aRwPpIQ
Lomborg the sly guy.
Just repeating the term statistics gives you legitimacy then go on with a bunch of false equivalences lacking an causally reliable connectivity gathering in snippets from here and there then pretend you have hypothesis with no theoretically provable facts just to confuse the uninformed doubters.
A hypothesis is an unproven idea that is yet to become a theory through gathering sound empirical evidence to make it statistically significant.
97% of legitimate scientist have it wrong says the nong.
In short a shyster.
The guy is a duplicitous devious liar using every underhanded method of crass indoctrination to sell his lemons.
Watch him wriggle and squirm shifting the goal post to suit his financial self-interest.
The problem with Lomberg is that not everything can be adequately evaluated by a cost benefit analysis.
“To make many of his arguments stick, Lomborg uses a very low estimate of what’s known as the “social cost of carbon” – that is, how much economic damage each extra tonne of carbon dioxide delivers?
He puts this figure at US$5 per tonne, which he says if translated to a price on emissions doesn’t drive reductions in fossil fuel use. Except that the $5 figure is at the very, very bottom of a range of estimates that are out there.
For example, the United States Government puts the figure at around US$32. Roger Jones says a recent review of several studies into the cost per tonne of carbon gives a range between $15 and $74.
Lomborg cited a study from his think tank which he said concluded that “until about 2070 global warming is a net benefit to the world.”
What are the risks of waiting until 2070 to see if Bjørn Lomborg is right?”
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2013/dec/06/bjorn-lomborg-climate-change-poor-countries-need-fossil-fuels
How does Lomberg price the loss of Pacific Islander culture or the extinction of a species?
Why is labor not exposing the economic lies by asking the commercial media simple questions over his spending???????
Years ago I was in discussion with a clever businessman who had just become a sceptic on economic grounds.
My argument that 1 billion got rich on fossil fuels and maintain our wealth on fossil fuels. 6 billion have yet to get rich. Are they going to use fossil fuels??? What a huge market for renewables? But WTF would I know about economics I believe labor manages economies for the libs to lie about and waste when in office.
The libs may have problems selling budgets but labor cannot sell their successes.
Decisions, decisions; does Tony believe scientists or economists? Take action on reducing pollution or hope that increasing temperatures will somehow work out for the best?
Flip a coin, perhaps? What’s to lose? It’s just a game of Two-up, after all.
Kaye ….
Re : “Do you really think the French would engage an Aussie company to design something to be built at an Aussie site to commemorate the Aussie contribution to the war?”
Engage an Aussie company – no I don’t think the French would do that.
An Aussie site … ? I am not sure what that means, as it is on French soil and is not an embassy so cannot be labelled an Aussie site, subject to Australian law ( as is an Aussie Embassy anywhere ). So not sure about that one.
Commemorate the Aussie contribution : …. From memory it is the French people of Villers Bretonneux who brought to world attention, how the Australians there had saved them, their land, farms and village and how eternally grateful they are and ever will be for that extraordinary effort by our blokes in WW 1.
While ( I repeat ) it wouldn’t surprise me one bit, that Abbott would foot the bill for the lot – ( he loves making a big fella of himself and spending money he hasn’t got ) …. it is POSSIBLE that the French may ‘contribute’ $$$ towards it. ….. Thing is there is no proof either way of who is spending what on that project.
I have searched and searched for a breakdown of the $100 million ( which no doubt will increase over time ) and read and re-read the wording that appears on all on-line newspapers – at least, and can find nothing that defines it. .. Have used all manner of search criteria. …
I take your point, and being a cynic myself – I am inclined to agree – but – with my toe still in the door of the ‘ yet to be proved ‘ room. !! 🙂
Rossleigh, you said, “I haven’t heard anyone else argue that extreme climate change may be good for us.” I hadn’t thought of Tony as an original thinker but there you are. It matches well with “Coal is good for humanity, coal is good for prosperity.”