I see that the LNP in Queensland is trying to woo the green preference by drumming up fear of the unions in the Griffith by-election.

They also say , despite all available evidence to the contrary, that they have a deep concern for environmental protection.

Why would a Greens voter preference the LNP, given that they plan to repeal the Carbon Price legislation in 5 months?

Will there be a regional backlash against the Coalition over its failure to support SPC Ardmona?

absolutely no doubt there is cranky ideology involved, they are interested in demoralising people who believe in a rational and rationally run society as much as getting at the wood chip material.

Another question we could ask is, are the criticisms of Abbott politics from within th3e coalition as to the ABC and SPC evidence of a split between liberals and neo cons in the current government, eg the "old" liberals are getting fed up with the brutalism, spite and irrationality of the Abbott wing?

It's a pity that Dr Sharman Stone didn't speak up earlier as to "brutal" politics when the came down on manufacturing..it can't help to have the skills base lost through Qantas outsourcing, editing of newspapers offshore and the shutting down of manufacture in general, surely?

Are Stone and co genuine or is it just more diversionary antics going on?

"For this government making money and profits through mining and burning fossil fuels is the path to economic growth and prosperity. Regulation (to protect biodiversity and our natural heritage) is a form of interference in this noble activity. Anyone who doubts this is an enemy or a fool."

A recent example os the determination of the Abbott federal government and the Newman state government to develop the Galilee Basin deposits, which involves dumping 3 million tonnes of sediment from the Abott Point expansion project into the marine park.

"The miners just want the freedom to dig up as much of the wealth that currently lies in the ground and to hell with the long consequences"

What happens if the demand for coal in and India starts to decline. China puts a cap on coal consumption to decrease its shocking air pollution and India finds that imported coal becomes too expensive compared to solar.

This decrease in demand means that prices for coal would fall, and low coal prices then raises concerns about the economic feasibility of the coal projects in the Galilee Basin.

The free-market think-tanks and foundations and most of the leadership of the world's fossil-fuel industry are climate-change sceptics. The climate-change denial lobby is so strong, so well funded and so effective that it is politically difficult for any major political figure to stand up and say what needs to happen is a radical move towards low-carbon economies.

The only small concession made by the industry and producer countries (Australia, Canada, + Russia) in recent years is acceptance that the climate is changing. However, the human-climate change link is still a complete taboo.

The attitude of the conservative governments of these countries echoes that of the fossil-carbon industry. The oil-industry perspective is clear: climate change is not the result of human activity, and the whole idea of decarbonisation is losing momentum. Thus, it simply poses no threat to the fossil-carbon industry as a whole.

Canada and Russia, as major oil-and-gas producers, will actually benefit in the short term as climate change opens their northern territories to resource exploitation and new shipping-routes. From their viewpoint, the attitude is “bring it on”.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) in Geneva report published in July 2013 - The Global Climate 2001-2010: A Decade of Climate Extremes - found that the decade 2001-10:

* was the warmest decade on record for both land and sea surface temperatures and for both northern and southern hemispheres

* saw sea levels rising twice as fast as the trend in the last century

* saw a rapid loss of Arctic sea ice, and an accelerated decrease in the net mass of the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.

This report was based on actual measurements and comparisons with data on previous weather stretching back well over a century. This is an approach, rooted in experience, observation and comparison not predictions stemming from computer models.

Sharman Stone, the Liberal member for Murray (which includes Shepparton, home of SPCA), has openly accused Abbott and Hockey of lying. They had deliberately misled the public, she said, by falsely attributing the company's problems to worker entitlements, in order to launch a wider war against unions. Work conditions at SCPA are neither unusual nor overly generous.

Sharman Stone, the Liberal member for Murray, highlights the similarity of the SPCA deal that the Abbott Government rejected, with their support for Huon Aquaculture – to upgrade machinery. That is what SPCA had intended to.

She says that you can't argue processed fish is more valuable to the economy than processed fruit.

Abbott's script for conditions of high economic and employment growth is one of free markets and minimal government intervention. What is usually missing from this script is ideas such as “social contract” or “social inclusion” and nothing on “social equity”, or its companion “equality of opportunity”.

The Abbott /Hockey message is that business cannot expect subsidies from the Abbott Government. This repeats the message relating to the decision not to provide ongoing assistance for Holden’s manufacturing operations.i

The message would be credible if the Abbott Government were consistent in responding to industries’ pleas for assistance in its election campaign and its few months in office.