Is Net Zero environmentally friendly?

Dr Ken Henry addresses the National Press Club. ‘Of course we need a carbon tax.’

From the National Press Club: This week’s address by Dr Ken Henry, former Secretary of the Treasury, was not a love letter to the government, but a personal plea from a former senior bureaucrat turned environmental crusader. Henry’s address as chair of the Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation (ACBF), a registered charity and lobby group, called for reform of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999 (EPBC).

The call was largely based on Professor Graeme Samuel’s recent review of the EPBC Act that recommended the concept of Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) be applied on the basis of region-by-region rather than project-by-project.

Alexandra Marshall wrote in the Unfiltered newsletter:

Today we posted our first National Press Club interview. Michael de Percy has been braving Canberra to keep an eye on the little love-in going on between the press and our politicians. This week, Ken Henry came to plead with the government to bring back carbon taxes, strengthen environmental law, and fast-track wind and solar projects. We’ve got the highlights (aka the scariest bits) covered so you can see what’s up next on the nightmare Canberra agenda. It’s on Facebook and Twitter.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Is Net Zero environmentally friendly?

CARBON TAXES, CARBON CREDITS, AND STRONGER ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS 🤔

Chair of the Australian Climate & Biodiversity Foundation, Ken Henry, addressed the National Press Club.

"We need a new collective mindset that understands the state of nature in the 21st Century ...… pic.twitter.com/lFeNJq6nGx

— Alexandra Marshall (@ellymelly) July 18, 2025

Housing propaganda from your state-owned media

Jacinta Allan says she is 'helping deliver more options for renters'.

The housing debate has devolved into government overreach and ideological posturing, with policies mismatched to Australian values. Prioritising urban density and renewable energy projects that consume vast tracts of land is a green-left idea that dominates Labor-Greens governments in Australia.

Detached family homes have defined the nation’s way of life since the post-war boom.

When you have room to breathe, you have room to think, but when you are crammed into future slums, you vote Labor-Greens.

This mismatch in values and policy is evident and insidiously promoted in the state-owned media’s coverage.

In the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall had this to say:

Okay enough of the ABC’s petty propaganda! For a billion dollars a year, you’d imagine the quality of our so-called ‘impartial’ public broadcaster would be better… Instead, we’ve got the ABC pitting ‘YIMBYs’ and NIMBYs’ against each other in the housing debate.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Housing propaganda from your state-owned media.

"The ABC’s latest article on the ‘YIMBY vs NIMBY battle’ exemplifies taxpayer-funded propaganda that distorts the conversation, favours big-government solutions, and undermines free-market principles essential to solving our housing woes."https://t.co/nfYKmApRT8

— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) July 14, 2025

The Smart Energy Council’s love letter to Chris Bowen

I want to... give a big shout out to... Chris Bowen – a highly effective minister.

From the National Press Club: Picture this. A room full of journalists, some scribbling notes, others stifling yawns, as John Grimes, CEO of the Smart Energy Council, takes the stage. His speech is less a policy address and more a love letter to the Labor Party, complete with effusive praise for the ‘highly effective’ Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen.

The air is thick with partisanship, and one can almost hear the faint strains of a Labor campaign jingle in the background. It’s a performance so one-sided that even the most ardent Labor supporters are blushing.

That’s what happened today.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, The Smart Energy Council’s love letter to Chris Bowen.

From the National Press Club: Picture this. A room full of journalists, some scribbling notes, others stifling yawns, as John Grimes, CEO of the Smart Energy Council, takes the stage. His speech is less a policy address and more a love letter to the Labor Party, complete with… pic.twitter.com/57TiJ3KSyN

— The Spectator Australia (@SpectatorOz) July 13, 2025