THE CLIMATE COUNCIL today urged Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to urgently accept briefings from leading climate scientists and emergency service experts, after he admitted during the ABC's leaders debate that he didn't know if climate change was making extreme weather events worse.
"Climate experts are ready and willing to brief Mr Dutton anywhere, anytime," said Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie.
"It's outrageous for a senior political leader to be so out of touch that they claim they 'don't know' the risks Australians are facing. In 2025 there is no excuse for someone vying to be Prime Minister not to have educated themselves thoroughly on the science and impacts of the climate crisis."
Mr Dutton's comments come as new data shows two million homes and businesses are now at moderate to high risk from worsening, climate disasters, like floods, coastal erosion and bushfires.
"Australians are paying $30 billion more in insurance costs than we were a decade ago. People living in vulnerable parts of the country are increasingly finding they can't insure their homes because it is unaffordable or unavailable," said Ms McKenzie.
In Mr Dutton's own electorate of Dickson 3,692 properties are at such high risk of escalating damage from extreme weather that insurance is becoming unaffordable or could be withdrawn.
"Australians remember the Black Summer bushfires when then-Liberal leader Scott Morrison, rejected repeated offers from experts to brief him on the risks of a catastrophic fire season. Ignoring the experts meant that the Coalition government had not prepared for the Black Summer that followed which certainly put more Australians in danger.
"We hope Peter Dutton doesn't also bury his head in the sand and takes the opportunity to get informed on one of the biggest risks to our community."
Emergency Leaders for Climate Action, an organisation bringing together 35 former fire and emergency chiefs, recently offered to brief Mr Dutton on escalating risks of extreme weather. They received no response.
Please find the Climate Council's letter to Mr Dutton below with a list of available experts and relevant climate change information.
The Hon Peter Dutton MP
Member for Dickson
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
17th April 2025
Dear Mr Dutton,
The Climate Council would like to offer you an urgent briefing from our experts on the substantial and escalating risks the Australian community is facing from worsening extreme weather events.
During the leaders debate last night you noted that you were not a scientist and did not know whether a number of extreme weather events had been made worse due to climate change.
We can provide you with definitive assurance that extreme weather events are becoming increasingly frequent and forceful, harming large numbers of Australians.
The burning of massive amounts of coal, oil and gas has blanketed our planet in pollution that traps heat. Global temperatures have consequently been steadily rising, essentially fueling worsening extreme weather events. While scientists have been providing warnings for decades, today the consequences of the climate crisis are now all around us. The solution is to slash climate pollution, replacing fossil fuel power with clean energy.
I wish to draw your attention to the following:
- Key climate facts:
- Heatwaves have become longer and more frequent since 1950, with a marked increase in heatwave days across Australia.
- Bushfire seasons are now starting earlier and last longer, while the frequency of days with extreme fire weather conditions has increased.
- Extreme rainfall events have become more frequent and intense, leading to greater risk of flooding. Many communities have experienced repeated disastrous flooding events in recent years with communities in South East Queensland and Northern NSW affected most recently by Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
- The cost of extreme weather disasters in Australia has more than doubled since the 1970s, with the higher frequency of disasters pushing up insurance premiums.
- Australians are paying $30 billion more today on insurance than they were only 10 years ago, due to the increased frequency of extreme weather events.
- Recent Tropical Cyclone Alfred brought severe wind, waves and rain to southeast Queensland and Northern NSW. Cyclone Alfred was also made more damaging due to climate change and this is documented extensively in our recent report, Eye of the Storm.
- The costs to Australians of escalating extreme weather is significant. Our recent report At Our Front Door shows that 2 million Australian properties are at moderate to high risk of climate disasters. This has significant implications for Australians welfare, our capacity to insure our homes and national insurance costs.
Please find below a list of our experts available to brief you at your earliest convenience.
Yours sincerely,
Amanda McKenzie
CEO, Climate Council
Experts available to brief Opposition Leader Peter Dutton:
- Professor David Karoly is a Professor Emeritus at the University of Melbourne, having retired from CSIRO early in 2022. He is an internationally recognised expert on climate change science and climate variability having contributed to numerous IPCC reports.
- Professor Lesley Hughes is a Distinguished Professor of Biology, former Pro Vice-Chancellor Macquarie University and former Lead Author in the IPCC's 4th and 5th Assessment Report.
- Greg Mullins is an internationally recognised expert in responding to major bushfires and natural disasters, with more than 50 years' experience as a firefighter. He also leads Emergency Leaders for Climate Action.
- Professor Tim Flannery is an internationally acclaimed scientist, explorer and conservationist. Professor Flannery was named Australian of the Year in 2007.
- Associate Professor Grant Blashki is a leading figure in the field of climate change and health, holding positions as Associate Professor at the Nossal Institute for Global Health at the University of Melbourne and as an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Monash Sustainable Development Institute.
- Cheryl Durrant has more than 30 years' experience in the national security sector, including specialist Army intelligence and Defence capability and preparedness roles. She serves on the Australian Security Leaders Climate Group, and is a member of the Global Military Advisory Council on Climate Change.
- Dr Joëlle Gergis is an award-winning climate scientist and writer. She is an internationally recognised expert in Australian and Southern Hemisphere climate variability and change who has authored over 100 scientific publications.
- Dr Martin Rice is the Director of Research at the Climate Council, having held numerous climate science positions in Australia and abroad.
The Climate Council has numerous science based reports covering climate science, climate change impacts on the Australian community and climate solutions.
