Australia’s Labor government is under fire for its alarmist interpretation of a “climate change” report and falsely claiming that “net zero emissions” will help prevent dire predicted consequences.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen claimed on Monday that the National Climate Risk Assessment showed that “Australians will continue to experience climate hazards – like floods, cyclones, heatwaves, droughts and bushfires – more frequently, more severely, and often at the same time”, and warned “no community will be immune”.
Mr Bowen used the report, which cost taxpayers $23 million and involved 350 government staff and contributors, to call for reducing Australia’s emissions to “net zero” by 2050, which he said would “help avoid the worst impacts on Australian communities and businesses”.
“Australians are already living with the consequences of climate change today but it’s clear every degree of warming we prevent now will help future generations avoid the worst impacts in years to come,” Mr Bowen said.
But experts have since pointed out major flaws in Mr Bowen’s interpretation of the report, while others have highlighted that Australia’s emissions have almost no impact on global temperatures as they are a tiny fraction of the total.
Very pleased to write this piece with @WutasticMike for the Telegraph today.
The picture of armageddon portrayed by Chris Bowen doesn’t actually leap off the pages of the report he’s quoting.
And it certainly doesn’t mean any cost is worth it. 1/https://t.co/1OAxJtiHDv pic.twitter.com/WMs3irv3DE
— Aidan Morrison (@FootnotesGuy) September 16, 2025
Aidan Morrison and Michael Wu from the Centre for Independent Studies wrote in The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday that Mr Bowen had misrepresented the report’s findings on cyclones, floods, and storms, and said the science was not settled on the bushfire conclusions.
The pair labelled Mr Bowen’s comments “scare tactics” and also said that the report’s seemingly catastrophic prediction of a $611 billion hit to property prices by 2050 was equivalent to just a third of the increase in the property market in the 12 months to March 2022.
“The report Bowen brandished simply doesn’t tell the alarmist story he tried to spin,” the authors concluded.
“It highlights risks, exposures and possible losses, but it never runs a cost–benefit analysis proving Bowen’s comparison of cost of action vs. inaction.”
Former Liberal MP Craig Kelly also hit out at the energy minister on Tuesday, calling him a “disgrace”.
“His report is mere propaganda. Disinformation and alarmist speculation designed to create ‘Covid style’ fear to support his political agenda,” Mr Kelly wrote.
“And even if this propaganda where correct, whatever ‘climate change policies’ Australia has will not stop bad weather – instead they will weaken our economy and make us less able to cover the costs of damage from the drought and flooding rains that are part and parcel of living in Australia.”
Bowen is a disgrace.
His report is mere propaganda. Disinformation and alarmist speculation designed to create “Covid style” fear to support his political agenda.
And even if this propaganda where correct, whatever “climate change policies” Australia has will not stop bad… https://t.co/KYSHjg6Os1
— Craig Kelly:
Foundation for Economic Education (@craigkellyAFEE) September 16, 2025
Grattan Institute director Tony Wood weighed in on the report by warning that forecasters “tend to be making it up” when it comes to long-term predictions, and said Australia couldn’t affect global temperatures alone, The Australian reported.
“There’s probably 30 or 40 countries … which have about 1% of the world’s emissions,” he said.
“If none of us contribute we are in trouble. If all of us contribute we are still left with China and the United States and India. So the world has to move and all countries have to move at some point.”
Mr Bowen was also heavily criticised on social media, with thousands of Australians asking why Labor was exporting coal and gas to be burned by other countries if it believed it cutting emissions was so important.
“Selling millions of tonnes of coal annually to China to fuel their approximately 1,200 coal fired plants is fine [but] 18 coal fired plants in Australia are an emissions problem,” said a popular post on the topic on X.
Nationals Senator Matt Canavan grilled the Australian Climate Service on the report in Canberra on Tuesday, and asked whether the dire predictions of heatwave deaths had taken into account a potential reduction of deaths from the cold.
When he was told they did not, Mr Canavan asked: “Presumably if the climate warms, there will be fewer people who die because it’s too cold. Am I missing something?”
“That was outside of our scope. We were looking at physical risk from climate hazards specifically,” ASC General Manager Dr Judith Landsberg responded.
Between 2011 and 2021, 293 people died from extreme heat and 242 died from the cold, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Header image: A new wind farm in Queensland (Rainforest Reserves Australia).
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