Letter

In response to Give us a break, Alfred

Time to make polluters pay

Has anyone heard from Richard Hill? He last wrote after Cyclone Alfred rattled his windows, believing we’re in an escalating apocalyptic scenario. He’s not wrong – past greenhouse gas emissions linger for decades, global emissions keep rising, and land, air, and ocean temperatures hit record highs.

Meanwhile, Trump emboldens conservative climate sceptics like Peter Dutton and Barnaby Joyce, who oppose emissions targets and deny human-induced climate change. Simultaneously, Chris Uhlmann, Peter Ridd, and Matt Canavan dismissed Alfred as just another cyclone. Ridd even claimed there’s no need to worry since houses are now better built. Deniers like these must frustrate and anger those facing increasingly violent, climate-fuelled storms.

Bureau of Meteorology cyclone data shows that of 20 severe cyclones hitting Queensland in the last 50 years, 8 occurred in the past decade.

It’s time we made polluters pay. The fossil fuel levy proposed by senior economists Ross Garnaut and Rod Sims must be implemented.

— Ray Peck from Hawthorn