Barnaby Joyce has declared he would rather take his “eyes out with a fork” than “spend time in a room” with Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and world leaders at the COP31 summit in Turkey.
The One Nation MP’s graphic description on Wednesday added to a pile of criticism for Chris Bowen and Anthony Albanese over Australia’s almost $150 million investment in the UN climate talks.
While Australia and Pacific partners missed out on hosting the main event this year to a rival Turkish bid, Mr Bowen is serving as COP31 president of negotiations for the fortnight.
Both Mr Bowen and the PM have defended their involvement, arguing Australia has an important role to play on the world’s stage to act on climate change, especially in advocating for vulnerable Pacific nations.
Mr Joyce, however, labelled the conference a waste of time and money, singling out Ms Thunberg’s attendance as an example of the “grifters” getting a platform on Australia taxpayer’s dime.
Mr Joyce said he found Ms Thunberg a “nuisance” and could not stand her “screeching” and “babbling” in an unprompted spray on News24.
“What a waste of time. Look at these grifters all over there,” he said.
“Greta Thunberg? I’d rather take my eyes out with a fork than spend a time in a room with a screeching, babbling nuisance.
“When they come back… is the weather going to be different?
“I mean, if I spend $8.7 billion a year on breakfast, I’d at least expect a snag or an egg or something.
“We’re just pissing our money up against the wall.”
Mr Bowen declared in an interview with CNN on the sideline of COP31 that Australia aims to achieve a goal of 82 per cent renewable-generated energy by 2030.
It came on the same day modeling by consultancy Rystad Energy has indicated that the transition could lead to wholesale electricity prices doubling by 2029.
“We’re pretty ambitious as it is because 82 per cent by 2030 is pretty ambitious from our point of view, up from 33 per cent in 2022,” he told CNN.
Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie accused Mr Bowen of “living in an alternative reality” and ignoring the energy crisis facing everyday Australians at home.
“He’s off lecturing the globe on energy policy and emission reduction. Whilst here at home, we’ve got wholesale prices expected to double,” McKenzie told Sunrise.
“We’re shutting down… coal-fired power stations right across the country by 2030, removing five megawatts of power from our grid. Meanwhile, demand’s going through the roof.”
Shadow energy minister Dan Tehan insisted Mr Bowen should “come home immediately and get back to work” rather than engage in a “Net Zero popularity contest” abroad.
At a joint press conference in Turkey, Mr Bowen said that it was important for countries to work together to deal with climate change and the other emerging crises.
He also acknowledged the tough job he had ahead of him for the next two weeks to find a consensus across more than 190 countries.
Mr Bowen said the conference had come amid a “polycrisis” impacting the world, with energy disruptions from the war in the Middle East, growing AI data centre demand and the effects of a strong El Niño.
Already in his bid to build consensus, there’s concern India won’t sign on to the conference’s push for a “35-by-35” global electrification pledge to transition away from fossil fuels.
Senior Labor Senator Murray Watt defended his colleagues on Wednesday and said the Albanese government was doing “whatever we can” to provide “cheaper energy and cleaner energy”.
“We’re playing a leading role in helping the world get to that as well,” Senator Watt said.
He added that Mr Bowen’s appointment as President of Negotiations for this COP was “a really great honour for an Australian to have”
“That push towards electrification and also things like rooftop solar. That’s the focus for Chris Bowen.
“There’ll be a range of other matters discussed, but really, I know that that’s what he’s focusing on in this COP.
“It also is the pathway to the world being able to reduce their energy costs in the same way that is helping reduce energy costs here in Australia.”
