SYDNEY, Australia — A group of prominent climate change skeptics in Australia, known as the Saltbush Club, is strategically pivoting its focus from directly disputing climate science to challenging the feasibility and affordability of renewable energy. This shift comes as the group seeks to build a “national network” to influence energy policy and public opinion, drawing inspiration from similar movements in the United States.

The Saltbush Club: A Hub of Climate Skepticism

The Saltbush Club holds its regular meetings at a golf club in Five Dock, a suburb in Sydney’s inner west. Its founding members include influential figures such as Gina Rinehart, a mining magnate; Campbell Newman, the former Queensland premier; Hugh Morgan, former head of the Business Council of Australia; and Colin Boyce, a member of Parliament.

Rafe Champion, another Saltbush founder, explained the group’s strategic shift away from overt climate denial. “We resolved to temporarily pivot from the climate debate and launch the Energy realists of Australia to talk to people about matters that really concern them, like the price and security of power, instead of science,” Champion said. The aim,he wrote on his blog, is to target public sentiment using “evidence that they can understand, unlike the finer points of climate science.”

Anti-renewables Campaigns Gain Traction

While both major political parties in australia express support for net-zero emissions targets, anti-renewables campaigns have gained momentum in certain regions. Some candidates and campaigns opposing renewable energy initiatives have consulted with members of the Saltbush Club and others who deny the existence of a climate crisis.

In the New South Wales northern rivers seat of Richmond, for example, Nationals candidate Kimberly Hone discussed “cross-border team work on affordable and reliable energy” with Neil Killion, a Saltbush Club member and organizer of the Climate and Energy Realists of Queensland. Hone posted a photograph of their meeting on her Facebook page.Killion later spoke at a meeting about forming a “national network” encompassing climate change deniers, anti-renewables campaigners, and elements of the post-COVID freedom movement.

Echoes of U.S. Tactics and Ideologies

The Saltbush Club’s focus on the costs and reliability of renewable energy mirrors arguments frequently used by climate change skeptics and fossil fuel advocates in the united States. Groups like the Heartland Institute and the competitive Enterprise Institute have long argued that renewable energy is too expensive and unreliable to replace fossil fuels, and that policies aimed at reducing emissions will harm the economy.

The Australian network appears to be taking cues directly from the U.S. political landscape. Senator Matt Canavan told an energy forum that the 2020 election of Joe Biden had been key to the Coalition signing up to net zero emissions targets. “When we did sign up to net zero … [former prime minister] Scott Morrison told us we had to do that because Joe Biden was elected and he wanted to do it, which was strange to me because there were a lot of allegations of voting irregularities at that election … I can’t remember anyone saying that Australians voted,” Canavan said.

Canavan added, “It really perplexes me that, hang on, shouldn’t we get to decide on that? We haven’t had actually had an election to decide on whether we should support net zero. There hasn’t been a battle. We never asked. Both sides of politics signed up to it… It would be nice to have that political battle, I keep pushing for that.”

‘A Big Political Possibility’

At a meeting attended by Killion, Colin Boyce said blackouts were “a big political opportunity” and that he had urged fellow MPs to adopt a “do-nothing strategy” that would allow power outages and build opposition to net zero policies. Viv Forbes, the executive director of the Saltbush Club and a former coal mining executive, has publicly supported an international declaration claiming “there is no climate emergency” and that “CO2 is plant food.”

U.S. Influence and Funding

While direct financial links between U.S. and Australian climate change denial groups are sometimes difficult to trace, several U.S.-based foundations and think tanks have a long history of funding climate change skepticism and anti-renewables campaigns globally. Organizations like the Koch network, for example, have provided significant financial support to groups that actively challenge climate science and promote fossil fuels.

The Saltbush Club sees potential for a shift in Australia, inspired by developments in the U.S. “So far there is not much to show for our efforts but events are starting to move very quickly in the United States,” Champion wrote on his blog. “we expect this will help us after the forthcoming national election when climate and energy realists