Church leaders take Tony Abbott to task on climate change

A collection of Australian church leaders have taken Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to task for his newly adopted stance on climate change and his efforts to undermine any carbon pollution scheme.

Led by ACT Anglican icon Bishop George Browning, the groups have called on Abbott to outline his alternative policy position - to essentially 'put up or shut up' perhaps? They should be congratulated for their action.

Browning was one of the first Australian church leaders to move away from the traditional church approach to the environment as being there as a resource for people to use and consume, towards a position of helping to preserve the natural qualities for future generations. When I was volunteering for the Sunshine Coast Environment Council in 1996, I helped with a public forum on the key environmental pressures facing the Sunshine Coast and South-east Queensland. We had Browning as a keynote speaker, to try to stimulate local church leaders into a more proactive position on the environment. It is good to see he hasn't backed off since retirement.