The following is an extract from the original article, which appears online at climatespectator.

Earlier this month, Kevin Rudd took a tour of diplomats around his state to tell them Queensland was open to business after recent weather events. Present were many foreign media representatives. Urs Walterlin of Germany’s largest daily financial newspaper, Handelsblatt said:

“We are here in a beautiful state that lives off tourism, has one of the biggest natural wonders, the Barrier Reef, which is affected by climate change. On the same token, Queensland is the biggest exporter of coal which of course is a major contributor to climate change.”

He had noted that much of the “open for business” was the export of coal. He would not be the first foreign spokesperson to notice the discrepancy between words and action in Australian climate debate. The question is how long Australia can ignore this health issue as a member of an increasingly interdependent world.

….read the remainder here.