The One Nation website touts Mr Roberts as a family man and former coal mine manager who is "passionate about climate change data and facts". Malcolm Roberts - the second One Nation senate candidate in Queensland. He "has earned the respect of informed people around the world for his investigation of claimed global warming and climate change where he … exposed the corruption," the website states. "His disappointment with Liberal-Labor-Nationals-Greens politicians, unable to listen, refusing to face the facts and lacking care for our country led to his decision to join Pauline Hanson in standing for the Senate." Mr Roberts' views appear to be driving One Nation's extreme climate policy agenda, which includes pushing for a royal commission into climate science and abolition of the Renewable Energy Target.

It also wants the teaching of climate science in schools to be based on "the scientific method of scepticism". Illustration: Ron Tandberg One Nation wants the Bureau of Meteorology reviewed, including "public justification of persistent upward adjustments to historical climate records" and a review of the CSIRO to determine whether funding has influenced its climate claims. Mr Roberts is listed as a project leader for the Galileo Movement, a prominent climate-sceptic group that boasts broadcaster Alan Jones as its patron. One Nation's comeback kid Pauline Hanson. Credit:AAP

In a paper published in 2013, Mr Roberts claimed CSIRO scientists were "deeply enmeshed in producing corrupt UN IPCC reports", in reference to the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which he also described as "corrupt". He claimed IPCC papers "contradict empirical scientific evidence and provide no logical scientific reasoning for their core claim that human CO2 caused, causes or will cause global warming". The federal election cleaned out a number of parliamentarians seen as roadblocks to the environment cause, such as WA climate-sceptic MP Dennis Jensen and Bass MP Andrew Nikolic, who wanted environment groups stripped of their charity tax status. It also put in serious doubt the political futures of others including anti-wind farm crossbench senators Bob Day, David Leyonhjelm and John Madigan. However One Nation's new power in the Senate would pose a fresh challenge to those seeking stronger climate action in the next Parliament.

On Monday Ms Hanson said she was "definitely not sold on" climate change. "If … Malcolm Roberts gets elected to the Senate, he is very, very knowledgeable with climate change and I want the true facts to be put out to the people," she said. "He's been asking constantly of [Environment Minister] Greg Hunt and other members of Parliament for the empirical evidence which is based on science which they have not put forward. "So if we're going to head down a path of a carbon tax or scam … or [Labor's proposed] Emissions Trading Scheme, which is going to raise the cost of living and possibly close businesses and manufacturing in this country, we've got to know the true facts." Loading

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