12 Aussie MPs With The Worst Voting Records On The Environment

    Meet the "Dirty Dozen".

    Alice Workman
    by Alice Workman

    Political Reporter, Canberra

    The so-called 'Dirty Dozen' list of Australian politicians with the worst environmental track records has just been released and it's not pretty.

    Courtesy Everett Collection

    Environment group 350.org released the list to BuzzFeed News and it includes Liberal, Labor and independent politicians.

    The group ranked the MPs (all men) based on how they've voted on environmental issues in the parliament, influence within their party and comments in the media.

    *drum roll* AND THE WINNERS ARE...

    13. Zed Seselja

    Alan Porritt / AAPIMAGE

    ACT Liberal Senator Zed Seselja is a big fan of coal, and once said that shutting down the coal industry will "send us back to the caves".

    According to the group, he made the list because he took strong positions against the carbon price, the mining tax and voted against setting national targets for emissions reductions.

    12. Craig Kelly

    Alan Porritt / AAPIMAGE

    The NSW Liberal member hates wind farms with a passion and for years has been calling for a ban on new investment in the wind industry.

    He told Parliament in 2012: "Here in Australia we now have some of the world’s first climate refugees, forced to flee their homes not by rising sea levels but by government policies subsidising industrial wind turbines."

    Kelly's also referred to C02 as a benign gas, comparing it to alcohol saying: "if we want to reduce our emissions of carbon pollution, we could just drink chardonnay instead of champagne."

    11. Cory Bernardi

    Paul Miller / AAPIMAGE

    SA Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi is a self confessed climate denier. He makes the list for his role in establishing a series of grassroots groups to oppose the Gillard government's carbon price.

    Bernardi also took part in Heartland's annual conference (which is a climate denialist think tank) and joined forces with climate skeptic Jo Nova to question the Bureau of Meteorology's climate data.

    10. Eric Abetz

    Mick Tsikas / AAPIMAGE

    The Tasmanian Senator Eric Abetz is a conservative warrior who in a speech to SA Young Liberals described concern over acid rain, ozone depletion, pesticide use and climate change as akin to "Chicken Little-type hysteria".

    When asked whether the government should be doing more on global warming he said: "Look, all these things ultimately sort themselves out without the need of preaching Armageddon."

    9. Barnaby Joyce

    Lukas Coch / AAPIMAGE

    Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce has strongly opposed the carbon price, increasing renewable energy investment and the mining tax. He also made the list because 350.org say he made a minimal effort to oppose the proposed Shenhua coal mine in the Liverpool Plains.

    Joyce thinks we shouldn't do anything about global warming because... "it’s warming by an extremely small amount there’s virtually nothing you can do about it, and definitely nothing you can do about it from Australia by yourself, except stuff up your economy."

    8. Dennis Jensen

    Alan Porritt / AAPIMAGE

    Best known for his dalliances with erotic war fiction, WA Liberal MP Dr Dennis Jensen is also one of the most vocal climate deniers in the Coalition.

    "I do not accept the premise of anthropogenic climate change, I do not accept that we are causing significant global warming and I reject the findings of the IPCC," he said (which incidentally is sources from skepticalscience.com).

    Despite being on the way out of parliament, he makes the list for his argument that 97% of scientists agreeing that climate change is human-induced, doesn't mean they are right.

    7. Kevin Andrews

    Mick Tsikas / AAPIMAGE

    The self appointed future leader of the Liberals, former Defence Minister Kevin Andrews is a self declared climate skeptic.

    He opposed then Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull's emissions trading scheme back in 2009 and in parliament he strongly opposed the carbon price, increasing renewable energy investment and the mining tax.

    6. Peter Dutton

    Mick Tsikas / AAPIMAGE

    Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has vocally opposed the carbon price, increasing renewable energy investment and the mining tax.

    But he ranks high on the list for this amazing moment. Remember when he was caught joking about climate change drowning Pacific Islands?

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    5. Gary Gray

    Tony Mcdonough / AAPIMAGE

    WA Labor MP Gary Gray is a surprise addition to the list, but he's held senior roles in the fossil fuel industry at Woodside Petroleum and Wesfarmers.

    In the past Gray has spoken at the greenhouse denialist Lavoisier Group and has continued to be a vocal critic of action on climate change, influencing Labor's environmental policy behind the scenes.

    He also backed Queensland's Adani coal mine saying: "The development of this resource (Carmichael mine) is in our national interest and in the interest of the communities affected... It is a good project and I believe its eminently approvable."

    4. David Leyonhjelm

    Lukas Coch / AAPIMAGE

    Liberal Democrat senator David Leyonhjelm describes wind energy as "government mandated corporate welfare".

    He's on the list for leading the ‘war on wind’ by instigating a parliamentary inquiry into wind farms: “Unless something changes, it is absolutely certain that tens of thousands of people who live within a few kilometres of these new turbines will become sick.

    And his language on social media is ~fruity~.

    David Leyonhjelm @DavidLeyonhjelm

    Legitimate fuckwit. Not even funny. https://t.co/raAk1lEF2P

    Reply Retweet Favorite

    3. George Christensen

    Mick Tsikas / AAPIMAGE

    Queensland LNP MP George Christensen is a self-declared climate skeptic and has been a vocal fan of the fossil fuel industry, in particular Queensland's Galilee mega coal project.

    But he makes the list for calling green activists "terrorists".

    He's billed taxpayers for books he bought about climate denial, accused the Bureau of Meteorology of manipulating climate data and calling climate change "good science fiction" (which he says he can identify because he's a Star Trek and Dr Who fan.

    2. Tony Abbott

    Lukas Coch / AAPIMAGE

    Former Prime Minister Tony Abbott loves the coal industry so much he once said "good for humanity", and has blocked pretty much every piece of progressive climate legislation and policy in his two years as PM.

    In 2010 he said: “the argument [behind climate change] is absolute crap. However, the politics of this are tough for us. Eighty per cent of people believe climate change is a real and present danger”.

    1. CORRECTION

    George Christensen is a Star Trek fan and a Dr Who fanatic — not a Star Wars fan, like an earlier version of this post stated. Live long and prosper.