Paul Kelly — the other, other, dud Paul Kelly — is always happy to help out a Liberal mate.
Kelly, “editor-at-large” for The Australian, of course, memorably explained that the role of his paper, the local flagship of a foreign political party known as News Corp, was to support the Coalition in Australia — indeed, it was its “working rule”. Kelly fulfils that pledge today with an effort to provide Scott Morrison with a convincing argument as to why he needs to shift from net zero “preferably” by 2050 to a hard commitment to 2050 like numerous other countries.
Kelly’s pitch for Morrison is that Australia can’t stand in the way of international capital, now running strongly against fossil fuels, with the prime minister’s task “ensuring Australia’s industry is not brought undone by financial power harnessed to green utopianism”. He throws in the EU’s playing field-levelling carbon border adjustment mechanism as well, but doesn’t think that’s a big threat, a view the bloviator-at-large might change if the Americans decide to adopt it as well as part of their trade war with China.
It’s not a bad pitch — you can picture Morrison, a dog-eared copy of Kelly’s column stapled to his talking points, rising in the joint party room, as much in anger as in sorrow, to shrug and declare that his hand has been forced by evil foreigners and global financial interests and Australia will have to sign up to a more ambitious target — though don’t worry, we’ll leave out agriculture and establish a $10 billion regional adjustment fund for the Nats to rort.
We’ve been here before with the idea of blaming the international financial system — or what Kelly variously describes as “financial power” and “the financial wolves” — over climate change. It’s a line famously pushed by far-right conspiracy theorist Malcolm Roberts, currently stuffed down the back of a chair in the Senate somewhere. Roberts claims “fraudulent global warming” is “driven by the Club of Rome, the World Bank, the UN and international bankers such as Rockefeller and Rothschild’s banking interests”.
Scrubbed clean of its offensive overtones, Kelly’s version is that the world’s central banks, major investors and biggest corporations have accepted “green utopianism” and the tide of money they control is simply too great for a nation the size of Australia to stand in the way of. Some sort of sacrifice to the financial gods is required to placate their irrational obsession — as small as possible to spare us from their wrath.
In spruiking this line, Kelly gives away much about his own fears and desires — and those of the organisation from which he has shouted power to truth for so long. In particular, that capitalism and the market — usually the objects of slavish adoration by Kelly and his confreres — are only good as long as they serve up the outcomes reactionaries want. Once the invisible hand plays you cards you don’t like, it needs to be attacked.
This power is beyond the control of any government or any public. It has no democratic legitimacy. It can make and break companies and redirect the trajectory of nations.
No legitimacy! Ouch! Except such unfettered market power is what Kelly and News Corp have been championing for decades as part of the neoliberal project: governments must get out of the way and allow markets — which are the true democracy, because they reflect the expressed, not merely the stated, will of the people — to achieve the most efficient possible outcomes.
That was great when it meant crushing unions, undermining wages, removing environmental regulation, reducing corporate taxes and allowing large corporations to dictate policy. Not so great now.
Try as he might, though, Kelly can’t break free from News Corp’s climate denialism. “What is the price paid and who pays it?” Kelly demands — echoing a question News Corp journalists were instructed to bark and scream at Bill Shorten during the 2019 election campaign. What Kelly will never ask, because News Corp remains staunchly denialist, is what the cost will be of inaction.
Maybe ask the Germans and the Belgians, Paul. Or the Americans and Canadians. Or thousands of Australians in regional communities that still haven’t been able to rebuild after the summer of 2019-20. They can start giving you an idea of the cost. Or better yet, ask insurance companies that are now refusing to provide insurance in north Queensland. Ask the world’s reinsurance giants, who have to work out how to cover the financial risk posed by catastrophic weather events caused by global warming. They haven’t been captured by “green utopianism”, they’re terrified of losing money.
At least the bloviator understands that 2050 is a furphy, and that action by 2030 is now the international priority. In doing so, he’s already identified exactly why a Morrison embrace of 2050, no matter how much confected fury erupts from Barnaby Joyce, will be way too little and far too late. But Kelly can help with that problem when Morrison comes to it.
It takes a huge effort of historical memory to recall it, but there was once a time when Paul Kelly was mandatory reading for people interested in Australian politics. That was last century, and it is now 2021. From that, to pontificator-in-chief for a strident right-wing propaganda sheet, it has been a sad – and total – decline.
And he is a pompous old git!
and as such, a rather unattractive prostitute!
But has little to be pompous about
Exactly. Kelly’s analysis of Australia in transition in the 1980s and 1990s was thoughtful and rational even if you didn’t agree with all of it. But what looked like even-handedness at that time now looks like it was just relief that the Hawke Government’s opening up of the economy to the global market marked the end of any more Whitlamite socialist tendencies in Oz politics. Unfortunately Kelly and his ilk hadn’t bothered to consider that a global market brought with it lots of other global forces – other cultures, other religions, other moral and sexual norms, international rules, and now a global environmental crisis. Just like the Bush administration fell at the first hurdle when it was tested on liberty, justice and the rule of law by 9/11 – introducing Guantanomo, torture and Islamophobia – Australian conservatives couldn’t handle the truth of a global world. Lots of PWALUs (people who aren’t like us) and global problems that need to be solved by something other than individual self-interest. Their retreat into isolationism, intolerance and xenophobia has been pitiful.
its not enough merely to hit the + , your enlightened analysis makes for interesting reading, thanks.
I was amused while watching Ros Kelly interviewed by Annabel Crabb on Ms, Represented. She was explaining her obligation to conform to suburban voters’ perceived wishes, toning down any overt feminism and how one of her adaptations was to door knock with her dog. Crabb asked if the dog was a more effective campaign prop than a husband. I’m not sure if she was still married to the bloviator at the time, but she was adamant that the dog was much more effective in the role of campaigning companion.
thanks for the reminder, I used to agree with him, how times change, that was 30 years ago.
Had to stop myself cheering out aloud reading this fine piece by BK. Talk about nailing Kelly et bloviating al’s arses to the mast flying the colours of neoliberal hypocrisy. Take a bow, Bernard, and thank you.
Having read the comments section of a Murdoch owned website, regarding the recent floods in western Europe, I fear that there are many in society (perhaps the majority???) who believe these climate denialist views.
Unfortunately, Australia is in the thrall of several thousand Hunter Valley & Central Queensland coal miners and the dinosaurs that represent them (Fitzgibbon too) it seems. Australia is certainly not a good example of a vibrant Democracy, when policies so critical for the future can be so easily dismissed for the votes of the now.
Regarding Murdoch & his cronies. I find it hard to read anyone who writes for one of his publications, always wondering:
1. Are these independent ideas/words of the writer
2. Do they see the damage Murdoch press does in Australia
3. How can they sleep at night
Not alot of hope for us in this next election, unfortunately.
I had a bit role in closing down the last of our Nation’s country manual telephone exchanges in Central Queensland mining areas (circa 1980-82). I do not recall those closures causing any “political” reaction. Then as Telecom Australia upgraded all telephone exchanges to digital technologies and as all cable went underground (and IT took over back office and reporting 0operations the efficiency gains allowed some half of the 3500 Telecom employees in regional and rural Queensland to be reduced by half from 1989 to 1991. That number of redundancies got only small two mentions in any Queensland newspaper and certainly no political objection as this workforce planner and HR executive (and line colleagues) worked closely with the three unions involved and all our employees – many the innovators of the required technology and service delivery changes in a fast changing market – to move to a new product range. (I would imagine the Telstra employee numbers in the same area these days is well less than half again).
Interestingly in those heady days the implications of “climate change” were already seeping into strategic thinking & planning. No one at that time would have thought that 30+ years later anyone would be denying what science was beginning to reveal.
As a HR professional (albeit now retired) I don’t understand why the coal mining corporations, the coal miners, and their union(s) are not leading change. I would take a punt, that like for the former Telecom workers, the availability of a solid redundancy package would enable the miners to payout their mortgage and to leverage their workplace skills into often even better paid jobs … or fund some new endeavour.
’twas ever thus. Fine flame Bernard, I especially liked the bit about …shouting power to truth.
My only issue with this article is limiting the corruption and rorts to the National Party. There is zero evidence that Morrison is so stingy with our money, that he will limit the rorts, they will be handed out to all and sundry, the all and sundry being the Morrison cheers squad. I dare say that News will get another truck load of cash (bugger paper bags with this lot) that will need no accountability, probably framed in News leading the fight against sexism, corruption or even climate action.
Fixed it for you.