THE Liberal Party leader who promised to achieve net zero carbon emissions a staggering 20 years earlier than Labor and The Greens now faces political oblivion.
Western Australian opposition leader Zak Kirkup is tipped to lose all but two seats in the State’s 59-seat parliament. The election is scheduled for March 13.
- Radical climate announcement sees Libs plummet in pre-election polling.
- All but two of WA's 59 parliamentary seats predicted to be lost.
- National Party set to take over as Western Australia's official opposition party.
The scale of such a wipeout would remove the Liberal Party as the State’s official opposition, handing the National Party – with four seats – the opposition benches instead.
Mr Kirkup is predicted to lose his own seat of Dawesville.
According to reports in The Australian newspaper, Mr Kirkup is rated as preferred premier by just 10 per cent of voters, a whopping 73 points behind incumbent Labor premier Mark McGowan on 83.
TRAILING
In the first Newspoll since publicly betraying Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s “sensible” climate position, Mr Kirkup’s Western Australian Liberals were king-hit by voters – trailing Labor 68-32 in two-party preferred terms.
Mr Kirkup, who was elected Liberal leader last November, has described his 2030 net zero plan as “bold”. Others describe it as crazy.
The plan will see half the State’s coal fired power stations close by 2025 including WA’s biggest power generator Muja with a capacity of 854 MW. Nearby Collie power station will also close withdrawing 300 MW of supply.
Despite widespread and harsh criticism from representatives of Labor, Liberal and local residents, Mr Kirkup remained defiant.
“We have a $100m plan to help make sure we transition Collie for the future,” Mr Kirkup told Sky News at the time.
“In WA under our plan, no worker will be left behind.
“The prime minister has set an ambitious target for where Australia needs to be – what we’re saying as a State government, is we have a target now of 2030.”
DESTROYED
Mr Kirkup appears to have taken the same climate path as deposed Liberal Party Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.
Mr Turnbull’s green obsession saw his government’s massive 35-seat majority – left to him by former PM Tony Abbott – completely destroyed.
By the time Mr Turnbull was removed, the Liberal Party had been decimated and held government only with help from independents.
An opinion poll taken shortly after Queensland’s recent State election indicated that climate issues rated second to last among voters.
According to the JWS survey 95 per cent of centre-Left voters couldn’t care less about climate issues, ranking jobs, affordable energy, COVID response and border security as far more important.
Among centre-Right voters – who traditionally support the Liberal National Party – the divide is even greater with only two in a hundred rating climate change as an election issue.
The survey had been a wake-up call to extremist politicians pursuing their pet climate projects at the expense of their communities.
Unfortunately, its clear-cut message was ignored by West Australian Liberals and, less than three weeks to election day, their die appears to be irreversibly cast.PC
Climate change a career killing issue…
Apparently someone told Kirkup “It’s time the W.A. Liberals woke up to themselves”.
Sadly he misheard this sage advice, and is firmly convinced that they need to be “woke” and “up themselves” …
AND FURTHER:
Our Prime Minister has said he couldn’t care less about any ‘WOKE’ ideas or words and has so signalled his disdain for irrelevant nonsense.
And it is all nonsense! Those that consider themselves to be ‘woke’ should AWAKEN themselves to the fact that we are all born different and because of this, wholesale ‘equality’ and ‘inclusiveness’ is unattainable, as is the actuality of ‘fairness’ in this world.
I mean, the three most used verbs in the two most prevalent languages – English and French are – TO BE – ETRE, TO HAVE – AVOIR, TO DO/MAKE – FAIRE and they are almost AS FREQUENTLY USED IN THE NEGATIVE, adding NOT in English or NE….PAS in French.
From this language we see the swinging pendulum of the human condition and therefore, those who love using the language of the ‘woke’ variety should stop; stop wasting everybody’s time and start DOING THE REAL WORK for which they are paid. What they SHOULD DO is to actually put into action, some REAL care and kindness for those within their reach.
ACTION – NOT THE POSTURING AND PRETENCE OF PUERILE WORDS!
SO MUCH OF THE ‘CLIMATE CHANGE’ MANTRA IS PROPAGANDA & OBSESSION – SO — POLITICIANS OF AUSTRALIA – IT’S TIME TO GET REAL!
Most of the EVOLUTION OF LIFE occurred when this planet was substantially warmer than it is now and substantially richer in CO2.
According to FREEMAN DYSON – the Princeton scientist with the most prodigious brain:-
Regarding ‘climate change’ – we have giant gaps in our knowledge – a great paucity of observations – a superficiality with nearly all climate theories – and a massive over-reliance on computer ‘modelling’.
The age of computers is to be followed by the age of biotechnology and Prof. Dyson has tremendous faith in man’s ability to invent technologies that would overcome any predicament.
(I would add here – look at how quickly we developed the new vaccine against the China virus – Covid-19’s worst efforts.)
He believes that of course we MUST HARVEST SOLAR ENERGY but by more ingenious methods. Presently we plainly see the limitations that solar panels – (and wind turbines) – so obviously present. Just last week they were rendered useless during the arctic weather that overtook parts of the USA. No – the solution might lie way above our earth.
HOWEVER, meanwhile, we must build a cleaner, more efficient generation of coal-fired generators as the ‘kindling’ for immediate progress, removing the REAL POLLUTANTS of soot, sulphurs and nitrogen oxide at an affordable cost.
BIOLOGISTS/SCIENTISTS SEE INFINITE POSSIBILITIES and Prof. Dyson sees the ABSOLUTE POSSIBILITY of developing a carbon bank of a trillion, fast-growing, CO2 -EATING TREES. These forests of genetically-engineered trees, spread world-wide, would absorb much more CO2 than normal ones and this is one solution that is DEFINITELY NOT TO BE SNEERED AT!
And let’s face it: an increased level of the trace gas CO2 just might forestall the next ICE AGE and allow us to feed the expanding population of this (groaning) Earth.
As Prof. Dyson and many other scientists have so often, so soundly and so wisely reiterated: NUCLEAR WEAPONS ARE THE WORST EVIL OF ALL!
The Liberals have completely lost the plot. Not a gram of Liberal principles to be found in Kirkup or his policies. What idiocy.
WHAT DID THE LIBERALS EXPECT???
put a green left leader into a supposedly Conservative party in a pretty conservative state with lots of mining and coal fired energy, and let him tell the electorate that he wants to shut down coal and implement greens policies….
and those who installed him are surprised??
This Opposition Leader in WA is a Green Left. Inexperienced who will lead Liberals to disaster