Our assessment process identified this party as a very dangerous choice if we want action on global warming. We advise you to number candidates affiliated with this party last on your ballot papers.

Party formed to support the extremist policies of their leader. Where climate issues are concerned, their Federal Senator and spokesperson on climate is Malcolm Roberts, an ex coal mining engineer supported by a private trust. Roberts claims to be an expert on climate science. For many years he has been an outspoken denier of both the facts and science of climate change, going to the extent of accusing CSIRO climate science of scientific fraud. Hanson has accepted Roberts’ claims as party policy, which is then parroted by party followers. In other words, not only is PHON a strong supporter of the fossil fuel industry, but goes far beyond simple support in their attempts to tear down and stifle the science that explains how humans are changing Earth’s climate. For further information see: https://www.aap.com.au/factcheck/senator-blowing-hot-air-with-climate-science-denial/.

AAP FactCheck asked Senator Roberts’ office for the source of his claim and it responded via email with an 84-page letter he sent to the prime minister and other political leaders in October 2021. It contains criticism of research the CSIRO, Bureau of Meteorology and IPCC relied on, but no evidence directly contradicting the scientific consensus on the role of carbon in global warming.

Senator Roberts has made the claim previously, including in his maiden speech to the Senate in 2016 and an ABC interview that same year. In a January 2022 episode of his podcast, he disputes fossil fuel use has any impact on carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere and claims that nature alone controls CO2 levels, which AAP FactCheck found to be false. The senator’s claims on coal-fired power stations and methane have also been fact-checked here and here.