matt

Matt Canavan is a National Party senator from Queensland and such an outspoken voice for conservatism in Australia, he is even frequently at odds with the Morrison government.

Fitz: Who’s your political hero?

MC: Winston Churchill because he so effectively stood up for what he believes in and also his malleability: I suppose he was in every party basically for 50 years and was successful in them all.

Fitz: Okay, but when you vaunt Churchill’s malleability that makes it sound like you’re not totally wedded for the next 30 years to the Nats?

MC: I think I’ve used up my metamorphoses in that regard. I was a communist at uni, then I joined the Liberals, and then when I went to work for Barnaby Joyce, I got to know the National Party and really liked their outlook.

Fitz: I know I speak on behalf of everyone when I say, “You were a COMMUNIST at Uni!?”

MC: Yes. I’d read The Communist Manifesto, and thought this is the right way to go, “from each according to his ability, to each according to their needs”, etc. And then, early at uni I got into an argument with the people at Socialist Workeron their headline for the day – “John Howard’s a racist”. Even though I didn’t like him, I thought that was silly and these guys are idiots. So I didn’t join up and went on to develop my political ideas in a different direction.

Fitz: Which lead you to being in the Federal cabinet at just 35. Speaking of which, your resignation from cabinet destabilised Michael McCormack and helped put Barnaby in the job of Nats leader. What happened to quid pro quo? You wield the knife, he gets to be leader and yet you’re still on the back bench?

MC: I don’t want to be in cabinet. That does not mean that if I wanted to be I would be asked. That’d be a matter for Barnaby, but I never asked. I enjoyed my time in cabinet and I made a difference. But increasingly, I felt that I could be more effective as a more independent senator, unencumbered by ministerial solidarity.

Fitz: In terms of your political views and roles evolving, you were a great opponent of the marriage equality laws. Can you not acknowledge now they weren’t the end of the world, there has been no Armageddon?

MC: No. I think that there has been a slow erosion of the importance and stability provided by the family unit in our society. So changing the definition of marriage to include gay couples, in my mind, was a simply another step, not a dramatic shift, but a further step away from marriage being about children.

Fitz: Well, as you’re the proud father of five children, do you never look at them, and think taking action on climate change for their future is more important than the political exigencies of the moment of seeking advantage with those who mistakenly don’t believe in climate change?

MC: I think that that unfairly puts the argument I’m putting because I’m putting the argument that what is our biggest risk for the next generation of Australia’s is the rising aggression of the Chinese Communist Party, not climate change. And so, I’m not making decisions around this on political exigencies. In fact, I would make that accusation more of my opponents in the Liberal National Party. Glasgow gave just one big free kick to China. And I think this is madness. We should be focusing on strengthening our manufacturing industry, making sure that we are energy independent as much as possible.

Fitz: But you’ve still been one of the most powerful voices against taking action on emissions. I mean, would you like to take a free shot at those monsters at News Limited, who recently announced that their own policy has shifted, accepting the science of climate change, advocating action to be taken! Senator you have the floor, let them have it!

MC: (Laughs.) I don’t think anyone’s a “monster” but I think one of the disappointing features of modern corporate structure is a distinct lack of courage. There are very few corporations that will say something different from the zeitgeist, be it on climate change, gay marriage or whatever. I think corporations should be welcomed as participants in our political debates, but it concerns me that on this one all the contributions of corporate Australia are in just one direction, there is no diversity of opinion.

Fitz: Perhaps because climate change is not opinion, but fact. You hold two degrees, you know the plural of “metamorphosis”, and use “solipsistic” without blinking. You can’t be that well-educated and doubt climate change is an existential threat to the planet?

MC: I do. As someone who has studied and read most of the IPCC work, there’s no risk that somehow climate change itself will cause us to become extinct. If that’s what you mean by that, I don’t see that as any scenario or possibility at all. I mean in terms of the risks of say, more natural disasters, high temperatures, we already have the means to alleviate and mitigate those impacts.

Fitz: I disagree, but to return to the theme, you’re far more educated and considered than your public persona which is much more aggressive on things like Sky News After Dark. Do you bung it on a bit to bring in the mob?

MC: I try and use a simple language as possible.

Fitz: Does that also apply to your Twitter handle photo, which has you in a high-viz shirt, covered in what looks to be coal dust, when you’re not remotely a coalminer?

MC: I do that to trigger the left. And a lot of people in that industry get criticised, and I’m happy to stand with them and be criticised too.

Fitz: But standing with the coal miners surely means helping them to accept reality, that with so many countries like India, China and South Korea announcing emissions cuts through reducing consumption of fossil fuels, our miners need to begin to transition.

MC: That is what those countries say, but I look at what they do. Yogi Berra said it best: “Predictions are always very hard, especially when they’re about the future.” The best predictor of the future is usually what’s happening today. And what is happening today is there’s record demand for fossil fuels.

Fitz: Last thing. Personally, I believe one of your five children should have the capacity to be our head of state instead of coming for perpetuity from a family of English aristocrats. Do you?

MC: After the royals speaking out at Glasgow, I am coming to that view!

“I’d like the Australian PM to condemn violent extremist ideology – and to do so without adding the word “but”. It also seems weird to me that some will see this as a politically biased statement that goes against my continuing employment at the ABC.” – Richard Glover @rgloveroz

Read more:

https://www.smh.com.au/national/after-the-royals-went-green-in-glasgow-matt-canavan-is-coming-around-to-republicanism-20211119-p59afv.html

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