4 April 2013
Ben Cubby, The Age
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said he ''suspects'' Tim Flannery, the head of Australia's Climate Commission, would be made redundant if Mr Abbott becomes prime minister.
Mr Abbott has pledged to abolish the Climate Commission – the federal government's agency for explaining climate science to the public – if elected, along with repealing the carbon price.
''When the carbon tax goes, all of those bureaucracies will go and I suspect we might find that the particular position you refer to goes with them,'' Mr Abbott told Macquarie Radio on Wednesday.
''It does sound like an unnecessary position given that the gentleman in question gives us the benefit of his views without needing taxpayer funding.''
Professor Flannery said in a statement that it was critical for emergency and health services, as well as the public, to have the best information from scientists.
''Ignoring it or shooting the messenger will not reduce the threat of climate change, it will just mean that Australia is less prepared,'' he said. ''We'd be living in the past to think that Australia did not need to prepare for a changing climate.''