Absolute Political Cowardice

**News: Kevin Rudd has betrayed his promise to take action on climate change. Click here to hold him to account.**

Dear NEVILLE,

“Absolute political cowardice… an absolute failure of leadership.”¹ That’s what Kevin Rudd said just months ago about those who wanted to delay action on climate change. He was right.

Yesterday Kevin Rudd betrayed his promise to act on climate change, deferring action until 2013: six years after he called climate change the moral challenge of our age.

So what can we do about it? To start, we have to ensure this doesn’t go unnoticed – doesn’t go unanswered. Every Australian who took the Prime Minister at his word should see this video of his climate backflip. Together, GetUp members number 350,000. If we each forward this to five friends, we can reach millions.

www.getup.org.au/campaign/climateinaction

The Government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme was a mess of a policy: a paltry 5% target, and what the Govenrment’s own advisor, Prof. Ross Garnaut, called “one of the worst examples of policy making we have seen on major issues in Australia.”² But this is about far more than another policy delay.

Time and again, Kevin Rudd has betrayed the support Australians gave him last election. And yesterday, he broke faith with us on “the great challenge of our time.”³ It is time to say enough. It is time to take a stand and declare a vote of no confidence in Kevin Rudd’s leadership on climate change:

www.getup.org.au/campaign/climateinaction

We could say a lot about this latest backflip, but Kevin Rudd himself perhaps said it best. Here’s what he said just months ago about delaying climate action:

“….When you strip away all the political rhetoric, all the political excuses, there are two stark choices – action or inaction.”

“…The resolve of the Australian Government is clear: we choose action, and we do so because Australia’s fundamental economic and environmental interests lie in action. Action now. Not action delayed.”

“…the eighth excuse cannot be far away – which will be to wait until the next year or the year after until all the rest of the world has acted at which time Australia will act.

“…What absolute political cowardice. What an absolute failure of leadership. What an absolute failure of logic.”⁴

The Prime Minister said it right: what absolute cowardice. And as he said in that same speech:

“It’s time to remove any polite veneer from this debate. The stakes are that high.”

Right again: it’s time to remove the veneer and speak truth to power – and that’s what GetUp members do best. Please share this email and video with friends, and click below to join the vote of no confidence in Kevin Rudd’s climate decision:

www.getup.org.au/campaign/climateinaction

Together we are 350,000 voices and 350,000 votes that cannot be ignored. Let’s stand together to say ‘no more excuses, no more delays: it’s time to act on dangerous climate change.’

Thanks,
The GetUp Team

PS – On refugees, on human rights and now on climate change, Kevin Rudd has broken faith with us. It is time to stand up with one voice and tell the Prime Minister he has lost our confidence. Click here to sign the declaration.

–Sources–

¹The Hon. Kevin Rudd MP, Distinguished Speaker Series, the Lowy Institue, 06/11/ 2009.
²Prof. Ross Garnaut, The 7.30 Report, ABC, broadcast: 12/10/2009, reporter: Kerry O’Brien.
³The Hon. Kevin Rudd MP, Opening Remarks to the National Climate Change Summit, Parliament House, Canberra, 31/03/07
⁴The Hon. Kevin Rudd MP, Distinguished Speaker Series, the Lowy Institue, 06/11/ 2009.

 

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