Better government, not a better expert group

July 17, 2026

Ken Russell’s statement that “fossil fuel interests have politicised climate action and slowed the transition” is of course absolutely correct. In Australia, we have suffered three decades of a battle between two criminally culpable political teams, the one denying climate change and the other paying lip service to the problem while taking minimal action to address it.

But Russell is mistaken when he suggests that we take the issue out of the hands of politicians, instead creating “an apolitical science-based expert group” to drive policy. We already have any number of expert groups, from the Australian Security Leaders Climate Group to Extinction Rebellion - ignored if not pilloried – all desperately trying to bring the nation to its senses.

Only a federal government, cognisant of the existential crisis facing us, has the capacity and resources to mount the required response. Sooner or later – probably far too late – Australia will have the necessary government of national unity to tackle what by then will indeed be multiple overwhelming catastrophes. Until then, it behoves us all – particularly those readers of P&I who enjoy some influence in Australia – to work strenuously towards a government of bravery rather than timidity.