Bush Summit baloney

August 25, 2025

Murdoch media/Gina Rinehart’s Bush Summit is part of stage II of a Big Tobacco-style disinformation campaign. The prime minister should not dignify the campaign or lend it credibility by his attendance.

Murdoch/Rinehart et.al. won stage I of the campaign by delaying responsible climate action for 40 years despite losing their factual argument (“Climate change isn’t real, see, it was cold last week”) to actual science.

(Big Tobacco) Stage II, “we can’t afford to address climate change” and “renewables don’t work” and “windmills are ugly” (Uglier than coal mines?) has been running for a few years now. I wonder for how much longer it will hold back responsible climate action.

Eventually, and when the serious and irreparable damage has been done, the truth and motivation for the campaign will emerge. The wealthy and powerful always knew the damage and suffering that climate change would cause, but believed that by preventing climate change action they could preserve the wealth and power with which to insulate themselves from its ill-effects (and damn the hoi-polloi).

I grieve for my grandchildren but cannot contain my schadenfreude. The wealthy and powerful are welcome to the dystopian remnants of the planet.