Fire the Liar

 

Politics often changes slowly. Then, every so often, something snaps.

For nearly three decades, Pauline Hanson and One Nation occupied a small but persistent corner of Australian politics, typically polling around 5–6%. They were dismissed as a protest party with a loyal but limited following.

Not anymore.

Over the past six to nine months, One Nation's support has surged. Polls now place the party at around 30%, ahead of Labor and well ahead of the Coalition. Whether those numbers hold until the next election is another matter, but the political message is unmistakable: a growing number of Australians are looking elsewhere.

Why?

Because many Australians believe the country is moving in the wrong direction.

Energy bills continue to climb as governments pursue expensive climate policies. Government spending has fuelled inflation. Immigration has reached record levels while housing and infrastructure struggle to cope. Household incomes have gone backwards. Communities have watched years of antisemitic demonstrations following the October 7 atrocities with what many see as an inadequate government response. The return of ISIS brides, growing social division and concerns about Australia's cultural identity have added to a sense that the government is failing on too many fronts.

Against that backdrop, One Nation's message is remarkably simple.

Reduce government spending. Pursue the lowest-cost energy. Restart resource exploration. Cut immigration to sustainable levels. Be far more selective about where migrants come from. Stop dividing Australians by race or religion and apply the same rules to everyone.

Whether you agree with those policies or not, they are clear, consistent and easy to understand.

But the real political earthquake came with Labor's latest Budget.

After repeatedly ruling out changes to capital gains tax and negative gearing before the election, the government reversed course. It was not merely another policy shift—it was seen by many voters as a broken promise.

That perception has proven far more damaging than the policies themselves.

One Nation seized the moment with a brilliantly simple fundraising campaign: "Fire the Liar."

Within just two weeks, the campaign reportedly attracted more than 50,000 donors and raised almost $5 million. It even spawned a song.

That is more than a fundraising success. It is a measure of public anger.

This was not the government's first change of position, but it appears to have been the one that finally exhausted the electorate's patience. The budget became the straw that broke the camel's back.

Of course, there are still two years before Australians vote. Polls can change dramatically. One Nation will need candidates, volunteers and a much larger campaign organisation if it hopes to convert polling support into parliamentary seats.

Today's surge could fade as quickly as it arrived.

Or it could mark the beginning of a profound realignment in Australian politics.

Either way, one lesson should already be clear.

Voters will forgive mistakes.

They are far less willing to forgive broken promises.

And perhaps that is the healthiest development of all.

In a democracy, governments should never forget that elections are won on trust—and lost when that trust is broken.

Climate Alarmism Without Justification

The Albanese government has just released its First National Climate Risk Assessment Report. It is everything you might expect: page after page of dire predictions, speculative scenarios, and warnings of massive economic damage unless Australia acts swiftly and decisively against climate change.

The message is unmistakable — if the government does not take “serious action” to reduce emissions, the cost to the economy will be catastrophic. It is fear-mongering, plain and simple. The report is designed not to inform, but to soften the ground for the government’s upcoming release of its 2035 emission reduction targets.

But here’s the problem. Here’s the fallacy that cuts through the entire exercise.

Australia produces just 1.3% of the world’s emissions. That’s it. One point three. Even if Australia were to shut down tomorrow, wipe itself off the map, and send its population into the sea, the effect on the global climate would be negligible.

Which makes the government’s economic scare campaign utterly dishonest.

They imply that unless we act, we will suffer the costs of climate change. But whether Australia acts or not makes virtually no difference to the global climate. If China, India, the US, and other large emitters continue to grow their emissions, Australia’s sacrifice is meaningless.

And sacrifice is what it is. Every new emissions target means more cost, more subsidies, more restrictions, more distortion of the energy market, and more economic drag. Every dollar spent in the name of “mitigation” is a dollar that makes Australia poorer, without delivering any measurable benefit to the climate.

This is the central point the Albanese government never admits: there is no economic justification for emission mitigation in Australia because we cannot change the outcome. All we are doing is hobbling ourselves while the rest of the world carries on.

Sky News rightly described Labor’s climate policy con as the “biggest drag on the economy.” But the even greater con is that Australians are being told that our sacrifices will save us. They won’t.

This Climate Risk Assessment is just another political tool — a glossy report filled with scary scenarios to justify policies that will cost us dearly while achieving nothing.

It is fear without logic. Cost without benefit. Sacrifice without purpose.

And Australians should not be fooled.

Chris Kenny of Sky News covers these points in his own way in the following YouTube video, well worth a view.