Former Australian prime minister says the election of climate denier Donald Trump will help put the issue into perspective

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

Tony Abbott says the “moral panic” about climate change has been completely over the top and that he never thought it was the most serious issue faced by Australia.

He said the election of Donald Trump as president of the United States was encouraging because the Republican – who has said that he believes global warming is a scam – would put climate change in better perspective.

In a wide-ranging interview with conservative host Andrew Bolt on Sky News on Wednesday, Abbott spoke at length on section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, Trump’s election, his own treatment by the media when prime minister, and Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership.

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He said Turnbull was finally growing into the role of prime minister, and Turnbull’s complaint about the “elite” media this week was a sign of that.

“He appreciates that it’s one thing to appeal to a certain constituency when you are the would-be, but when you are the Man your constituency is first and foremost the party room, and secondly the people who are going to vote for the Coalition, or who you want to vote for the Coalition at the next election,” Abbott said.



When asked why Turnbull had ratified that Paris Agreement on climate change when he knew that Trump wants to pull out of the agreement, Abbott said it was a sensible thing to do.

He said his own government had been prepared to commit to a 26%-28% reduction in emissions because he believed Australia could achieve that without hurting the economy.

He also said Turnbull’s position on renewable energy was much better than Labor’s.

“Sometimes politics is the lesser evils,” he said. “There are many circumstances in which you have to choose the least bad option.”

When asked if he agreed with Trump’s assertion that global warming was a scam, Abbott said he never thought that was the most serious moral, political and economic issue that we face.

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“Yes it is an issue, but the moral panic about this has been completely over the top,” he said.

“One of the encouraging things about the election of Trump is that we should finally be able to see this issue in better perspective.

“It is significant, we should take reasonable steps to limit our emissions, but the last thing we should do is impose socialism in the name of misguided environmentalism, and that has been the risk for a very long time.”