THE Liberal senator Nick Minchin has told the organiser of a policy conference how ''appalled'' he was that one of its themes referred to Australia's ''necessary transition to a low-carbon future''.
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In a letter to the head of the Global Foundation, Steve Howard, Senator Minchin said the theme - discussed at the foundation's Australian Unlimited conference in June - sounded like something produced by ''an extreme green group''.
''Your language does not even make any sense. What do you mean by 'a low carbon future'? Do you mean carbon dioxide and if you do why don't you say so?'' Senator Minchin wrote. He was ''shocked'' to see the report referring to carbon dioxide as ''pollution … which you must know is a gross misrepresentation of a clear odourless gas vital to life on Earth''.
''It is a great pity that your summit has succumbed to extreme green propaganda on this important issue, to the point of adopting their inane and misleading language,'' the September 29 letter says.
Senator Minchin, a climate change sceptic and the Liberal elder statesman who was instrumental in Tony Abbott's ascent to the party leadership, did not recontest his Senate seat and will leave Parliament next June.
He leaves factional proteges, including his fellow right-wing South Australian Senator Cory Bernardi, to take up the cause.
On his blog yesterday Senator Bernardi, who is Mr Abbott's parliamentary secretary, wrote that Australia should be having an inquiry into whether there were any ''scientific facts'' to back the ''climate change alarm'', rather than talking about policy solutions for the ''non-problem of anthropogenic carbon dioxide''.
''Thousands of people are making billions of dollars out of a pseudoscientific racket that has conned millions of people around the world. We cannot allow it to continue any longer,'' he wrote.
The Coalition has declined to take part in the cross-party climate policy committee because it is looking at how to impose a carbon price, rather than whether a price is needed at all.
Mr Howard wrote back to Senator Minchin saying the conference report to which he so objected had accurately reflected the views of the 200 conference participants, including senior business, government and academic leaders.
