Dear Prime Minister,
You still seem to be struggling to engage in any meaningful way with the Australian people during this crisis. So, I thought I'd help you out.
Good Luck.
Mike.
A Letter From the Prime Minister:
My fellow Australians,
We live in deeply troubled times. Our nation is burning. We have suffered many tragic losses of human life, catastrophic losses of flora and fauna, and we've lost billions of dollars in properties, industries and businesses that have been destroyed. It will take our nation many years to recover, and the worst is far from over.
Conservatively, I expect the cost of recovering from the damage and loss inflicted by this incomparable, unprecedented disaster to exceed one trillion dollars. The cost of acting to address the challenges of climate change has often been deemed by detractors to have been too high. Well, we now know for certain that the cost of failing to address them is considerably higher.
Understandably, in such times, the people of Australia look to their Prime Minister for leadership, reassurance and a clear path forward. In these regards, thus far, my response has been inadequate. For this, I deeply apologise to all Australians, and especially to those directly affected by the calamitous destruction wrought by these fires. I do not seek forgiveness, but I will endeavour to offer a way forward that will give all of us the confidence we need to redress the wrongs that we have wrought on our planet, and carve out for ourselves a new path, where environmental sustainability and economic prosperity can flourish together.
For too many years, the chance to address the cause of anthropogenic climate change - the carbon-based pollution human industry has created - has not been taken. I must acknowledge that my party, the Liberal Party of Australia, needs to shoulder a great deal of responsibility for this. Former Prime Minister, John Howard, took the policy of introducing an Emissions Trading Scheme into the 2007 election. When he became leader of Party, Malcolm Turnbull was strongly in favour of doing the same. But this was not to be. Sections of the Coalition, with deeply entrenched ideological opposition to the settled science of anthropogenic climate change, replaced Mr. Turnbull with Tony Abbott.
I have, in the past, worked closely with Tony. I have been his political ally for many years. But I must now acknowledge that Tony's ardent, dogmatic rejection of the overwhelming scientific evidence - that asserts that we, as human beings, are wreaking environmental havoc - has been incredibly destructive. My support of Tony must be acknowledged. Again, I apologise for my environmental short-sightedness, and my partisan blindness.
It is not wrong that we are a peoples who embrace many different ideologies and beliefs. We are a pluralist nation, and providing our views lead to actions that do not impact adversely on the dignity of others, we are free to believe what we wish, and to form our own opinions. But whilst we can make up our own minds, we cannot make up our own facts. Science is evidential, not ideological. For too long, voices in our community and the media - in particular, within the Liberal Party, have failed to accept this. It is time for this to change.
No longer will any member of my government be permitted to espouse unscientific argument, conspiracy theory or any other comparable falsehoods. Those who do so will immediately be expelled from the Liberal Party. We betray our declared commitment to inclusive diversity if we tolerate lies.
No longer will any member of my government align itself with any media organisation that seeks to spread disinformation regarding scientific evidence and environmental impact. Rupert Murdoch and News Corp have dominated Australian political life for far too long. Media personalities more interested in stoking fears and partisan accusations have poisoned our ability to progress this essential issue. Politics is one thing; lies and disinformation are another.
And no longer will we align ourselves with industries or business that are not working as hard as humanly possible to reduce their carbon footprints to zero. Those who do not seek to be environmentally conscious and scientifically compliant ought to be viewed as enemies of the Australian people. Be assured, if your business falls into this category, we are coming for you. Let me be unequivocally clear: you will embrace this reality, or you will not survive.
We will work with the all parties and all cross-bench MPs and Senators who wish to work with us. All will be included in our deliberations. I have asked Mr. Anthony Albanese to co-chair, with myself, a new Governmental Ministry. Ross Garnaut will be a close advisor to myself and Mr. Albanese, as will industry and scientific experts in a range of fields. This ministry will have extremely wide-ranging powers, and will be tasked with the sole objective of bringing Australia's carbon footprint to below zero by 2030.
Yes, below zero.
We are not just going to stop making things worse; we are going to make them better.
There will be a number of sub-committees involved, including one specifically designed to ensure that Indigenous Fire Practices become the primary manner in which we work collectively to minimise the dangers that will confront us every summer for at least the next decade. For too long, we have undervalued and underused the knowledge and expertise of our First Australians.
This ends now.
Further to this, our investment in our emergency services will the be the largest ever seen in our nation's history. We will spare no expense in ensuring that we are able to successfully fight the fires that we know are coming. Our emergency services will be as well-prepared, as well-trained and as well-resourced as our armed forces.
We must repair our river systems. We must rapidly phase out environmentally untenable elements in our economy. We must support Australians who've lost their livelihoods to rebuild in ways that will give them a key place in the new Australian economy, an economy defined by a commitment to being partners with our environment, not exploiters of it.
It is time to leave our fossil fuels in the ground. It is time to invest heavily - in partnership with our universities and Australian-owned businesses - in ensuring that all of our energy needs are met through the harnessing of renewable sources.
I seek an entirely bipartisan approach. This isn't politics. We have been waging war against our environment, and our environment is fighting back. We have made an enemy of nature itself, and it will continue to attack us until we down our weapons and help it heal from the wounds we have inflicted. We are, effectively, at war. In war, politics disappears in favour of a common need to survive. This is where we are.
I am the Prime Minister. It is my job to lead. But I cannot lead if I do not listen. I have listened to scientists and will continue to do so. I will stand with every single person who wants to stand with me, and govern for all us, especially those of us who are yet to be born. I will not be bound to the false-realities of budget surpluses. I will not be bound to those who argue - in close reference to their own self-interests - that the cost of shifting and transforming the nature of industry in this country is cost-prohibitive. I will not be bound by a desire to ensure my own political survival. There is nothing more important than our collective survival. If I should fall, someone else will step forward.
Politics is about debating what should or could be done. But this isn't politics: this about what NEEDS to be done. If we are truly united in our commitment to what needs to be done, we will succeed. We will survive. From the ashes, we will rise.
Sincerely, Scott Morrison. Prime Minister of Australia.
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