Away from the discord within his own ranks, Prime Minister Scott Morrison could breathe a sigh of relief in Washington for the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue meeting on September 25, where no one would notice his prehistoric approach climate change.
Besides, a security compact with the United States and the United Kingdom (AUKUS) had just been signed, allowing Morrison鈥檚 government to have eight submarines with nuclear propulsion.
Morrison was careful to toe the line of the partner made supplicant for the US media. by CBS鈥檚 Face the Nation whether the US and its allies were moving towards conflict with Beijing. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 inevitable at all鈥, he chirped, adding that co-existence is 鈥渋n everybody鈥檚 interest鈥.
Morrison鈥檚 鈥渃o-existence鈥 is premised on keeping China in the box or, as he put it, for 鈥渇ree nations like Australia鈥 in the Indo-Pacific to stay vigilant.
Morrison was also pressed on climate change, having not 鈥済iven a timeline鈥 to get to net zero emissions. After admitting this, he slipped back into advertising mode, saying that, for Australia, 鈥減erformance matters鈥. The net zero target was being pursued and would be achieved 鈥減referably by 2050鈥.
The usual half-baked assurances followed: Australia鈥檚 record was 鈥渟trong鈥; Australia has 鈥渁lready reduced emissions by over 20% since 2005鈥; 鈥淲e committed to Kyoto鈥; and 鈥淲e met that target and beat that target鈥.
As for the Paris target? Not an issue: Australia would romp it.
When CBS鈥檚 Margaret Brennan observed that no country had delivered on such targets, Morrison replied that it was not a problem. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one thing to have a commitment but, in Australia, you鈥檙e not taken seriously unless you鈥檝e got a plan to achieve the commitment.鈥
In a 聽on September 24, Morrison pursued his favourite theme in the global climate debate 鈥 technology. In his cosmos, Australia is never the laggard. Developing countries, he insisted, should be the 鈥減riority鈥, another way of saying they were the problem.
鈥淚f we want to address climate change, then we need to address the change that is necessary in developing economies so they can grow their economies, build their industries, make the things the world needs鈥, Morrison said.
thanked Morrison for showing 鈥渓eadership鈥 on climate change,聽adding that she thought聽the new AUKUS security pact was 鈥減retty exciting鈥.
The next day, she Morrison鈥檚 remarks about the Paris targets with candy-grabbing enthusiasm:聽Britain鈥檚 Boris Johnson and Morrison were 鈥渟o exuberant about the urgency of addressing the climate issues鈥, she said.聽
It was Morrison鈥檚 slogan, 鈥淲e Meet It and We Beat It鈥, that impressed. That was enough for聽Pelosi: 鈥淭hey鈥檙e leading the way and that鈥檚 what we all have to do鈥, she gushed, confident that Australia would commit to聽the Paris Accord.
Pelosi and company have proved to be something of a sounding board for the next federal election here. Morrison鈥檚 climate change action will be minimal, but that will be irrelevant in a number of electoral battlegrounds.
Just having a slogan, Sean Kelly in the Sydney Morning Herald on September 25, will be acceptable to 鈥渁 remarkable number of people as an acceptable substitute for reality 鈥斅爅ust as it was in America last week鈥. Kelly was an advisor to two previous Labor prime ministers.
The聽Labor Party, still languishing in hopeless opposition, has every reason to be worried.
[Binoy Kampmark lectures at RMIT University, Melbourne. He can be emailed at聽bkampmark@gmail.com.]