POLITICS makes for strange bedfellows, but the alliance that has pushed the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill to the point of ultimate success is surely the most bizarre alliance in the history of Australian politics.
The driving force behind this campaign to decarbonise Australia has been the Greens. Although they are small in terms of numbers they are extraordinarily influential.
Their influence is derived from the support they have in the media - notably the ABC and the Fairfax media - but also because they are well off with secure jobs and they live in the best suburbs.
Malcolm Turnbull's seat of Wentworth, which is probably the richest seat per capita in all of Australia, is a prime example of this wealth and influence.
Notwithstanding their personal prosperity the Greens seek to reduce the standard of living of other Australians (often in states far from Sydney and Melbourne, such as Western Australia) through measures that will reduce our productivity and progress.
An example of this mind-set is their unrelenting hostility to genetically modified crops.
The extreme Left realised early on that a regime that controlled emissions of carbon dioxide would enable them to control in great detail the lives of every Australian. Read more.