After seven long years of campaigning we finally managed to restore some common sense in the climate change debate by repealing the ineffective carbon tax.
I cannot think of any policy area that has claimed so many political scalps as this one. Prime Ministers lost (and won) their roles, senior political figures have exposed their poor judgment and the Australian people threw out the last government as a result.
Now it is finally gone.
Seven years ago I wrote an essay entitled “Cool heads needed on global warming”.
At the time it caused quite a stir, making front page news in Adelaide and earning me the ire of the media, Labor, the Greens and plenty in the Liberal Party too.
When read in the current environment one wonders what all the fuss was about but at the time questioning what Al Gore, Tim Flannery, Bob Brown and Kevin Rudd were telling us was deemed heretical.
Incredibly, in the face of the torrent of abuse, I received hundreds upon hundreds of items of correspondence from people who were relieved that someone was prepared to speak up in the face of this absurdity.
This was my first real experience of the disconnect between the concerns of mainstream Australia and the political machine and media.
Since then, I’ve fought to reflect the grass roots common sense which is often at odds with the political establishment.
The disconnect is leading to a disenchantment with politics and politicians – an experience that is being felt right around the world.
Why it is happening and what we can do about it was the subject of my speech to the National Press Club last week.
Having just finished the parliamentary session, at the end of this week I’ll be taking a break which means your dose of common sense email will miss a couple of weeks. The next one will be sent on Wednesday 13 August.
Cory Bernardi is the author of seven books and has been a member of the Australian rowing team, a publican, an investment portfolio manager and spent nearly 14 years as an Australian Senator.
