The 2019 Federal election was billed as a referendum on Climate Change, with Labor’s Bill Shorten pitching up a 50% Renewable Energy Target and a whopping carbon dioxide gas tax, to boot. Bill also promised that he would eradicate Australia’s frequent and punishing droughts, with the aid of windmills and solar panels. Although no one, save Bill, was quite sure how this novel and ingenious ‘plan’ would make it rain on cue.
Instead of the Labor landslide predicted by all and sundry, the proletariat gave a pretty fair indication as to where Shifty Shorten could stick his 50% RET.
The broad mass of the great unwashed in Australia’s suburbs and regions worked out long ago that heavily subsidised and chaotically intermittent wind and solar represent a problem, rather than a solution.
Watching their power prices go through the roof, with much worse to come, the ambitious working classes were clearly none too keen on suffering more of the same, and duly voted for the Liberal/National Coalition.
The Coalition’s defeat of the Green/Labor Alliance wasn’t for a lack of trying on the part of the carpetbaggers and rent-seekers still keen to cash in on Australia’s smorgasbord of wind and solar subsidies, mandated targets, soft loans and slush funds.
The money came from the usual suspects, American climate investment funds, international wind and solar lobbyists and local rent-seekers, and went to a band of pliable and useful idiots that all campaigned on the basis that an all wind and sun powered future is just a heartbeat away.
While there’s no surprise about the class of characters involved in the biggest (failed) vote rigging effort in Australian history, the sums squandered should raise an eyebrow amongst those who still think that there’s any kind of moral purity left in Australian political life.
Federal election independent candidates backed by Climate 200 funding vehicle
The Australian
Geoff Chambers and Olivia Caisley
5 November 2019
Pro-climate change independent candidates were bankrolled by a company backed by renewable energy activists Mike Cannon-Brookes, Simon Holmes a Court and the Climate Outcomes Foundation in a co-ordinated funding campaign ahead of the election.
Australian Electoral Commission disclosure returns reveal funding connections between candidates and supporters through a Climate 200 funding vehicle, established by accountant Damien Hodgkinson.
Climate 200 Pty Ltd was formed on April 9 ahead of the May 18 election, and donated about $450,000 to 12 independents. Disclosure documents lodged by Mr Hodgkinson reveal donations made by Climate 200 to Helen Haines, Kerryn Phelps, Anthony Pesec, Gary Kent, Oliver Yates, Rob Oakeshott and Julia Banks totalled $354,500.
The AEC returns, listing donations above the $13,800 disclosure threshold, also show Alex Turnbull, the son of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, made two donations worth $20,000 to Mr Pesec’s Senate campaign, which was supported by Mr Hodgkinson.
AEC documents reveal the independent campaigns of Warringah MP Zali Steggall, Ms Haines, who replaced Cathy McGowan in Indi, and Mr Yates, who failed to unseat Josh Frydenberg in Kooyong, raised almost $2m from 2641 donors.
The Australian understands Ms Steggall’s warchest was the largest-funded independent campaign in history. Mr Hodgkinson appears as an agent on Ms Steggall’s AEC return, which listed 1378 donors and more than $1.1m in donations.
According to disclosure documents, the Climate 200 fund’s biggest contributors were Mr Cannon-Brookes ($50,000), Mr Holmes a Court ($25,000) and the Climate Outcomes Foundation ($195,000).
The Climate Outcomes Foundation, which lists Mitchell Hopwood as a director, says it is an “independent, not-for-profit research centre working to position Australia to achieve climate outcomes for the benefit of all Australians”.
The AEC transparency register for political campaigners named Mr Hodgkinson, sole director of Climate 200, as financial controller for three entities: KP Independents Limited, Peninsula Independent Limited and Warringah Independent Limited.
Mr Cannon-Brookes, who is backing a $25bn project in the Northern Territory to create the world’s biggest solar farm, declined to comment on his donation to Climate 200. In March, the billionaire founder of software giant Atlassian called for Australia to move to 100 per cent renewable energy by 2035.
Mr Holmes a Court, a climate activist whose father Robert was Australia’s first billionaire, said Climate 200 would continue backing independent and major party candidates who “back science-based climate policy and integrity in our political system”.
He disputed suggestions the bloc of climate change candidates should have registered as a political party.
“I don’t think this is the case. I haven’t looked at any other candidate’s return, but I don’t think C200 provided the majority of any candidate’s campaigns,” Mr Holmes a Court said.
“We’ll focus on ones who can make a difference, starting well before the election. In the past few days we’ve been contacted by a number of donors very much aligned with our values, and a number of candidates who’d like to talk,” Mr Holmes a Court told The Australian.
[Mr Holmes a Court disputed any suggestion the bloc of climate change candidates should have registered as a political party.
“I don’t think this is the case. I haven’t looked at any other candidate’s return, but I don’t think C200 provided the majority of any candidate’s campaigns]. We identified candidates to support long after they’d chosen to run and announced their platforms. We aim to help them but they’re running their own races.”
Mr Holmes a Court said Australia’s electoral system was “skewed towards” the major political parties and “heavily favours incumbents”.
In response to funding connections between pro-climate change candidates, Tasmanian Liberal senator Eric Abetz said: “Under the law they are entitled to do so and I don’t begrudge them that opportunity. What I do begrudge is the misleading of the public as to who actually are the real backers of these so-called independents.”
Senator Abetz, a critic of GetUp’s claims to independence, said the AEC returns highlighted how “vested interests have been manipulating behind the scenes for electoral outcomes”.
Margo Kingston, who publicly supported the independent candidates, rejected claims published by the ABC last week that she received a $35,000 grant from Climate 200. During the campaign, she released an “Independents Day” video linking the like-minded aspirations of independent candidates. “I am a citizen journalist and did not receive a grant,” she said. She said a crowd-funding campaign that raised $27,264 paid for the video.
“I didn’t get one cent from Climate 200, but Simon [Holmes a Court] told me they spent that money promoting my Independents Day video on social media.”
Ms Kingston said the video, made to highlight a new power of climate independents, was funded by a Chuffed crowd-funding campaign that raised $27,264.
Mr Yates, the former Clean Energy Finance Corporation chief, raised $362,578 from 261 donors. Ms Banks, the Liberal defector who failed to win Greg Hunt’s seat of Flinders, raised $146,736 from 117 donors, including four payments from the Climate 200 group.
Minax Uriel Pty Ltd, which lists Jonathan and David Rothfield as directors and is a long-time financial backer of the Australian Greens, donated $18,000 to Ms Banks’s fund. Dr Phelps, who lost Wentworth, raised more than $218,000 from 333 donors. In addition to funding from Climate 200, Dr Phelps also claimed $25,000 from DEM Australasia Pty Ltd. Mr Hodgkinson is listed as a director of DEM Australasia.
The Construction, Forestry, Maritime and Energy Union national office provided $43,718 in 12 donations to independent candidates Brett Smith (Braddon) and Todd Lambert (Bass). Labor lost both Tasmanian seats to the Coalition at the May 18 election, helping Scott Morrison claim a majority government.
Mr Hodgkinson said: “To my knowledge, none of them were working in concert and most of them had very distinct and separate views on things.
“All of them actually had quite different policies. I think climate change became a core issue for many, but the positions taken were quite different.”
The Australian
STOP THESE THINGS 
Am I being somewhat stupid but do weather systems around the world appear to have gone mad, are temperatures getting hotter and colder around, are flood events, droughts, wind storms getting worse even as the number of installed and operating Industrial Wind turbines increase at an uncontrolled speed.
The answer seems to be yes I am mad, because we are ‘reliably’ informed by apparently ‘all’ scientists and their followers that having these Industrial Turbines will prevent this from happening and we need to install ever more to stop our world from imploding.
Or are we listening to ‘drivers’ of the needs of those with a money wand to wave, a wand that makes more money as it waves around the world turning sensible people into bludgeoned minions, scared of their own shadows.
At least some of the wand wavers lost out at the last election but we have to be ever vigilant and try to stop this money wand from destroying not only our own backyards but the world.
We need to stand firm together as a force against this money wand waving group that wants to control and dominate us until there is no more to squeeze out of us.
But unless we can wake people up to see what is happening these wand wavers will certainly continue to create ill gotten money in any way they can for their bottom-less pits of putrid lives.
Ever vigilant is the call from those who have not yet been contaminated.
With STT standing tall amongst those who have not become bludgeoned, those who can still think for themselves, wheedling the truth from behind the facade/pretence of truth.
Reblogged this on Climate- Science.press.
Rogues’ gallery
Oxford Dictionary definition…
Quote, “… a collection of people or creatures notable for a certain shared quality or characteristic, typically a disreputable one: a rogues’ gallery of bureaucrats and cold-hearted advocates of ‘progress’…”
Confucius say “Man who gives donation to candidate that has no hope of winning is either a fool or has too much money.”
Confucius also say “If Chinese man is misled by stupid Liberal party sign, then he either a fool or not bloody Chinese.
I warned Yoda Yates in the case of the misleading Liberal party signs in Kooyong, that no court would overturn an election result with Joshi winning by the length of the Flemington straight and by all accounts it appears this will be the end result.
You didn’t take up my suggestions of getting evidence from a Mr. Fook Yu stating he interpreted the signs as suggesting a vote for Joshi was a vote for Chairman Mao.
What about a Ms. Sum Ting Wong who on driving down Landsdowne Rd interpreted the signs an meaning “honk if you’re horny” and as a result was fined heavily for tooting her way home to Box Hill.
On Friday morning the last day of the court case I nearly choked on my Weet Bix as Yoda, obviously upset, fired this missile in my general direction as a farmer, with a tweet that read;
“It is really quite sad. Farmers will be the first to have to explain to their children what they have done. And it is not their fault directly but we all have a responsibility through our vote. Voting LNP was a vote for climate inaction.”
My advice before throwing out hand grenades is that it maybe prudent to look in ones own backyard first! I busted my arse this year advising you despite the drought and this is how you show me your gratitude
Yoda, I would like to remind you it was those imbeciles from Get Up that pulled the rug from under your feet pre-election and jumped on the Burnside bandwagon.
It was the Renewable Energy Messiah who took it upon himself to be our savior by forming a group of cashed up zealots to bankroll you campaign. Then single handedly blew to smithereens any good work done by sending in the goons to economists Brian Fishers house in a public relations nightmare.
It was Chicken women Zali and those other women of renewables that flew the coop up at your first Kooyong independent group meeting.
In the end Yoda, yes the Liberal party lacked integrity and were deceptive and misleading with their signs but how is it different to the bullshit spread by the Clean Energy Council and you zealots that society can run on wind, solar and batteries and by 2050 we will be a zero emissions world. You’re all tarred with the same brush!
It maybe time Yoda to burst that bubble that you exist in, hanging out with the likes of the Messiah and Charismatic Kane can send you balmy.
Mrs. Soag in a moment of inspiration has suggested we offer you a job of a Chaser bin driver during harvest with all meals and accommodation provided, perhaps not a Macquarie bank salary though.
It would be good for your soul to get a bit of sweat on your brow, a bit of grease under the fingernails, a bit of barley dust down your back, a smell of salt air in your lungs with the afternoon sea breeze, washed down by a few tinnies at the end of the day.
If that doesn’t wet your appetite then I guess this is farewell, in the words of my old man “If you cant be good, be careful. Pre election the song for you was definitely “The Man”, but I think it is fitting you be sent out with Viva La Vida, as all our empires are built on pillars of salt and sand.
Adios Yoda
PS give Peanut a hug and doggy treat for me.
Love your work SOAG. I nearly fell off my chair laughing at your classic commentary on poor old Yoda.Keep up the good work.