SHANNON FENTIMAN MP, MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT AND SMALL BUSINESS AND MINISTER FOR TRAINING AND SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

I WAS interested to read a letter in last Thursday’s Bulletin with the headline “Scientist raises the level of climate change discussion”.

I assumed the “trained scientist” who wrote the letter would present some credible facts although he did warn us we’d be getting his “humble” opinion. In a nutshell, he set out to question a key part of climate change – sea-level rise linked to increasing emissions – by using figures derived (supposedly) from records at the Fort Denison Recording station in Sydney.

These figures were compiled by a Mr Fitzhenry and purported to show only “miniscule” changes in sea-level rise over the past 100 years. I began to smell a rat. Even if this was true – influences on sea levels can be dynamic and vary from place to place – the implication was the concept of man-induced climate change was being questioned based on this limited, and possibly flawed, data.

I decided to do my own investigation. I quickly found out that Mr Fitzhenry’s views had been referenced by the Saltbush Group which is known for its climate-change-denying views and he had been interviewed on Sky News by the notable climate change sceptic, Andrew Bolt. His credibility, along with that of the “scientific” letter writer, started to disappear. I then took a look at the Port Denison Sea Level Rise Vulnerability Study and realised that not only were the aforementioned “facts” distorted but that Fort Denison itself is in grave danger of inundation of sea water if the projected rise in sea levels is even slightly accurate.

So much for raising the level of climate change discussion – these people would question any evidence that supported climate change as most credible scientists would see it. Take David Attenborough for example who, by coincidence, presented the documentary Climate Change:

The Facts on ABC TV on Sunday night. He not only presented scientific data from many reputable sources, he showed recent footage of extreme weather events, the scale and frequency of which is unprecedented. The “trained” scientist ended his letter with the not-very humble “Game, set and match” as though satisfied that he had just won some kind of victory in the credibility wars.

Unfortunately for him, I’d record this as a defeat and if too many people fall for this sort of nonsense, we’ll all be defeated as we’ll fail to act on what are genuine facts and protect ourselves from some very serious risks. YVETTE DEMPSEY, CARRARA

WHERE do I begin (GCB 15/08)? The most important point is 97 per cent of the world’s climate scientists agree that climate change is real and

man has contributed to its demise.

I may not be the smartest man in the room, but smart enough to listen to the scientists from IPCC, NASA, CSIRO, Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge, Sydney and every other university in the world, and most importantly the poorest people in the Pacific Islands who are leaving their homes due to rising sea levels.

Mr Nightingale, where do you get your information from? Sky News no doubt. The notion that the heroes from Extinction Rebellion are radicals is nonsense. It is more likely that these people care about the country more that the rest of you, and are therefore more upset when they see it debauched by billionaires.

I do understand that courier drivers, like Mr Nightingale, would be upset by stopping traffic, but those of us like myself with degrees in environmental management see the need for action.

There was 72 people arrested on August 6. This was a very small section of the crowd and I was there, not looking at pictures. Well over 1000 people were present. However, the mining companies are taking notice, with a $28 billion advertising campaign over the next four years. Yes, it is very hard to believe $28 billion to convince people that will never buy a lump of coal that it’s great.

A point from Mr Campion I’d like to address. I am in court on August 21 and remain innocent until proven guilty by a court of law, not by yourself. Love from the left. SHAUN CUNNEEN, GOLD COAST

AS I watch things going turtle up around me on this poor old world I thank my lucky stars I have started my declining years. So that I can sit back and watch the madness and greed that has become the accepted norm. D.J. FRASER, CURRUMBIN