Howard began blocking on climate

Tim Flannery is too generous to the Coalition when he says they have been blocking action to slow climate change since the election of Tony Abbott in 2013 ( “Australia turned Glasgow into fossil fuel ‘coffee shop’”, November 20-26). They have been blocking action since the election of John Howard in 1996. At COP2 in Geneva and COP3 in Kyoto, I cringed as an Australian to see the appalling obstruction of progress by our delegation, basically working for the fossil fuel interests and energy-intensive industries rather than our country. During 2007-13 the Rudd–gillard– Rudd government negotiated measures, most of which have since been undone or weakened by the Abbott–turnbull–morrison administrations. Glasgow was simply the latest and most outrageous demonstration of the Coalition’s commitment to crony capitalism, governing in the interests of corporate backers. It has been 25 years of consistent misuse of government funds and policies to accelerate climate change. The only hope of progress is to terminate this disgraceful regime.

– Ian Lowe, Marcoola, Qld