We need a national conversation to tackle the climate catastrophe

July 23, 2026

I am responding to Richard Barnes’ letter of July 17 because it misrepresents what I wrote in my article and ignores my stated objectives.

The objective of the expert group would not be to drive policy; this clearly is a government responsibility. However, the government won’t take the required action, especially regarding fossil fuels.

I agree with Richard that it will probably be far too late when Australia has a government of national unity to tackle what by then would have become a climate catastrophe. This is an unacceptable situation that I am seeking to address.

The proposed expert group would be quite different from any existing group. It would be a non-government, non-political group that would aim to become Australia’s leading authority on climate and energy policy, with a key objective of obtaining community support to make it in the political interests of the federal government to align its climate and energy policies with the science. No existing group has this capability.

The very least this new group would achieve is a national conversation about government failure to address an existential threat to life on Earth.