Climate alarmism increasingly resembles an apocalyptic religious movement. It relies on special revelation mediated by the elites, threatens the end of the world without costly sacrifice, fosters ideological zealotry and blind faith, and changes the interpretations of the prophecy when it isn’t fulfilled.

It used to be funny when global warming morphed into climate change, when the polar bears refused to die, when Warragamba Dam refused to dry up and instead kept overflowing… But comedy has morphed into tragedy as Net Zero has turned an aspirational climate policy into a national suicide note written by governments unwilling to follow the fundamentals of scientific method or challenge the prevailing orthodoxy in the light of observed evidence.

Net Zero is accelerating Australia’s deindustrialisation. It is turning Australia from energy independence to dangerous reliance on foreign powers. Net Zero is seriously harming Australia’s national interest.

At the economic level, we have not had a serious debate on the costs of adapting to climate change compared to fighting it. Worldwide, the cost of adaptation to climate change would be many billions.

However, the cost of mitigating climate change through Net Zero, through radical changes to our energy system, through subsidising renewables, and going all-electric, will cost trillions. For all this cost, what would Australia achieve? We contribute a little over 1 per cent of global emissions. Even if the high priests of Net Zero achieved zero emissions in Australia tomorrow, we would have a negligible impact on global climate.

While Australia’s commitment to Net Zero has close to net zero impact on the world, it is destroying our economic base.

Net Zero is forcing Australia to abandon affordable, reliable energy in favour of intermittent, heavily subsidised technologies that rely on foreign supply chains and weather conditions – the same conditions that the climate alarmists tell us are increasingly unreliable. Despite this, the Albanese government wants Australia to derive over three-quarters of its electricity from renewables by 2030. Ironically, that is the same year in which China is planning to hit peak emissions!

While Australia turns its back on cheap, reliable coal, China is buying as much as it can get. In 2024, China began construction of 94.5 gigawatts of coal-fired capacity.

Whatever our intentions, Australia is not a world leader in climate change. We are being duped.

Australia holds the world’s third-largest coal reserves, enough to supply us with cheap, reliable energy for centuries. But instead of using it for ourselves and securing our grandchildren’s prosperity, we’re exporting it to countries that will continue burning it while we virtue-signal ourselves into energy poverty.

Instead of climate leadership, Australia is engaging in economic self-flagellation, and it’s getting worse.

The cult-like submission to Net Zero is harming Australia. Our food supply is under threat with farmers besieged by high energy costs and land use restrictions. Manufacturers are closing due to skyrocketing energy costs. Families are being told to buy electric vehicles they can’t afford, and retirees are shivering through winter due to unaffordable power bills.

Despite its obvious ill effects, the Albanese government is doubling down because Net Zero has become untouchable. It is more quasi-religious than rational, and it is promoted by politicians, bureaucrats, and media elites who will never bear the consequences themselves. That burden will be felt by every Australians.

Net Zero is not only bad policy and harmful to the economic climate, but also a serious threat to national security.

Ordinary Australians are being forced to embrace solar panels, wind turbines, and electric vehicles. But where do they come from? Over 80 per cent of the world’s solar panel production is Chinese. The same is true for most of the world’s wind turbines and electric vehicle batteries. The transition to Net Zero means that we’re surrendering control of our energy future to the Chinese Communist Party.

At the same time, reports have emerged from other nations of alleged rogue communication devices and ‘kill switches’ in Chinese-made solar systems. It seems that any nation reliant on Chinese hardware could find its energy systems crippled if it did not submit to Chinese demands. At least, that is the fear.

Net Zero is also culturally corrosive. Like a mind-control cult, it creates a climate of guilt and decline. It robs young people of faith in the future. It treats prosperity and economic ambition as mortal sins. Instead of encouraging thoughtful debate, it uses slogans such as ‘climate emergency’ and ‘just transition’ to infantilise the Australian public. It obscures the truth that the real, verifiable and observable emergency is the collapse of our prosperity and energy independence.

And what about the ‘justice’ of the transition? It may seem just to wealthy Teals, who can absorb the costs of Net Zero, or greens who simply don’t care. But for the forgotten people, for ordinary Australians, Net Zero means a transition into unemployment, displacement, poverty, and energy rationing.

We should not only say ‘no’ to Net Zero, but we should also say ‘yes’ to a better future. Australia need not be a climate martyr. Instead, we should be an energy superpower.

Taking a realistic path, instead of an ideological one, means that we can keep using our abundant resources while embracing new technologies that won’t impoverish us or surrender our sovereignty and security. We can invest in cleaner coal technology. We can reopen the nuclear debate. We should follow UK Labour, which promised to ‘make Britain a clean energy superpower’ declaring that ‘new nuclear power stations, such as Sizewell C, and Small Modular Reactors, will play an important role in helping the UK achieve energy security and clean power while securing thousands of good, skilled jobs’.

If we invest in upgrading our grid for reliability, not ideology, we can put Australian interests ahead of international climate theatre. If we don’t abandon the current path of Net Zero, Australia will sacrifice its sovereignty, prosperity, and security on the altar of an ideology that cannot deliver what it promises.