Alex Schlotzer

After years of bitter disagreement about climate change and putting a price on our pollution in order to protect the environment, Australia’s Senate passed the Government’s ‘Clean Energy Future’ legislation.

Personally as someone that has been campaigning for the environment and taking action on climate change, I am very happy to see yesterday’s historic moment come to pass. The package passed by the Senate helps get Australia moving in the right direction to cut our greenhouse gas emissions.  Sure it isn’t the most perfect package, but it is definitely a much better alternative than the one being offered by the Opposition.

Since Tuesday, the Senate has also passed additional supporting legislation for the different elements of the ‘Clean Energy Future’package put together with the independents and the Greens.

While it may be easy to think that this is the end of the debate, it is truly only the beginning.

We’re already seeing how the Opposition leader, Tony Abbott, has responded by deserting the country to be coddled by his conservative buddies from around the world. The Coalition is now left with Greg Hunt and Malcolm Turnbull trotting out the lines but they’re delivered with the might of a limp lettuce leaf. Barnaby Joyce seems to have been let of his leash with his crazed rantings and provides the only colour and motion from the conservative side. Albeit deranged but delivered with passion.

There are concerted efforts by lobby groups, for big business, to ‘maintain the rage’ but with the legislation passing it’s doubtful that the support they enjoyed will remain.  Many of those that were rounded up and bussed in by the Coalition were driven by the introduction of a ‘carbon tax’. Now that the ‘carbon tax’ has been passed by the Senate, there’s little reason for many of them to continue to ‘maintain the rage’. (It will be interesting to see if Angry Anderson pops up again.) There’s already evidence of this with the fervour that existed on the Conservative Action Network’s climate change group easing, and not nearly as rabid as it was during the height of the anti-carbon price ‘movement’.

They were effectively the base that will already vote for either the National or Liberal parties. It may however give these parties a few more volunteers to help during elections. But these people won’t be in there for the long-haul; to ‘maintain the rage’.

However, the heavy-lifting on the public campaign is being done by the various big business lobby groups and campaign-front organisations. They’ve already started tipping in money to ensure that they are able to continue their media war on the carbon price.  And we’re beginning to see the usual mainstream media outlets producing sensationalist rubbish (here and here – same articles but the comments make for ‘interesting’ reading) about the likely impact of the carbon price.

With the community still hearing a very negative spin on the carbon price and its impacts on people and their families. Yet there is no consideration given to the fact that most Australian households will be compensated for the carbon price applying to the 500 biggest polluters in the county.

It’s important that we continue to speak up in favour of the carbon price and why we continue to support its introduction.

Keep telling your local Federal Member of Parliament that you support Australia finally putting a price on pollution. If they’re a Greens, Indepedent or Labor MP you might want to thank them for coming together and passing this historic suite of legislation to move Australia to a low-polluting economy. If your local Federal Member of Parliament happens to be from the Coalition you may want to encourage them to get on board with the clean energy evolution.