Former foreign minister of Australia; Chairman Policy Exchange; Chairman Gold Hydrogen, Distinguished Visiting Fellow Hoover Institution Stanford University

London and Adelaide
Joined October 2012
British Labour government has rejected proposals to increase capital gains tax from 18 to 24% on the grounds it would hinder economic growth. More sense than their Australian counterparts.
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Alexander Downer retweeted
Kemi Badenoch absolutely destroys Andy Burnham in parliament. She exposes him for the liar and weak prime minister he is. He’s desperately trying to distract from his inability to deal with this issues of today, by talking about the past.
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Alexander Downer retweeted
It's a fair point
EU member states have paid more than €238 billion to Russia for oil and gas since the war in Ukraine began in February 2022.
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Last week I called Andy Burnham's speech consequential, but it was very much full, as Ed Davey said, full of 'definitely maybes' by 2040. @KemiBadenoch delivered a belter of a speech today, full of sparkle, but also setting out basic Conservative principles and full of policy meat. The IHT promise will get the headlines but there was far more to it than that. The stuff about the Reform "weirdos" and ruling our reuniting the right should get attention, plus the passage on her ethnicity and what it means to be English, where she absolutely socked it to Suella Braverman without naming her. The passage on how to bring about growth was especially strong. I've been attending party conferences for 40 years. This one got off to a slow start, but ended with the party members going home with a spring in their step. Rarely, if ever, in those 40 years, have I seen a party so united behind its leader - both MPs and party members. And to achieve that within less than two years of becoming leader is quite an achievement. Yes, last year's conference speech was a turning point, but so was her firing of Robert Jenrick. With one decisive step, she ripped out the cancer, and has never looked back. It's now up to her shadow cabinet to demonstrate that this isn't a one woman party.
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Alexander Downer retweeted
10 years ago, you were constantly told Great Barrier Reef was essentially dead Wrong at the time Today, spectacularly wrong, with last 5 years top 5 for coral cover Sources: xitter.cf/BjornLomborg/status/21… Wrong already then: theconversation.com/great-ba…
93 percent of the Great Barrier Reef is practically dead huff.to/22RybYr
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So sad to hear of the death of my old friend and colleague Neil Andrew. He was in every way a good person; honest, dependable and hugely committed to Australia. He was such a lovely man…and a very good Speaker! Condolences to Carolyn and the family.
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Alexander Downer retweeted
The Great Barrier Reef's obituary has been written again and again. But the patient didn't comply. The five best years for coral cover in the monitoring record are the five most recent. Yet while every setback generates headlines, recoveries receive far less attention. From my latest newsletter: preview.mailerlite.io/previe… Sign up here: lomborg.com/newsletter
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Alexander Downer retweeted
“It’s hard to know the purpose of the PM’s travel. There were virtually no formal meetings with first division government leaders. The marginal events he spoke at were indeed marginal. He gave speeches of breathtaking banality that mostly could have been churned out by any government word processor over the past 20 years.” All true 👆🏼
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Alexander Downer retweeted
🇺🇳 António Guterres: “The scale of killing in Gaza is unlike anything I've witnessed in my years as Secretary-General.” FACT-CHECK: ❌ Under Guterres's watch since 2017: 🇸🇾 Syria: 120,000+ killed 🇸🇩 Sudan: 150,000+ killed 🇪🇹 Ethiopia: 162,000+ killed 🇾🇪 Yemen: 200,000+ killed
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Alexander Downer retweeted
For the first time in 112 years Jo Atlantic hurricane formed at all during the full hurricane season up to the equinox. Remarkable. Will @BBCWorld report this?
🏆 WE DID IT! 🏆 For the first time since 1914, there have been no North Atlantic hurricane formations by September 21st. Fay did not attain hurricane strength overnight, and has since weakened, with maximum sustained wind speeds dropping from 70 to 50 mph. Weakening is expected to continue over the next couple of days. No other storm formations are expected for at least the next seven days (but that can change). The only other two times that this has happened since 1851 were in 1905 (October 8th) and 1907, respectively, and like 1914, the 1907 season featured no Atlantic hurricanes that we know of (pre-satellite era data is to be taken with a grain of salt). Are you impressed? 🤩
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Alexander Downer retweeted
Great Barrier Reef: Last five years best on record Why doesn't the media tell you? aims.gov.au/monitoring-great… You can see all the references in my Twitter thread: xitter.cf/BjornLomborg/status/20…
New 2026 data Great Barrier Reef: Last five years best on record Why doesn't the media tell you? aims.gov.au/monitoring-great…
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Senator Hanson shouldn’t have said what she said about Albanese‘s mother but will the Labor Party now apologise for their constant mocking over the years of my family. Of course not. There’s one rule for the left and one for the right.
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Alexander Downer retweeted
The world still runs on fossil fuels Globally, fossil fuels supply 80.8% today (2024) only marginally down from 81.4% in 2000 Rather than ending in 2050, fossil fuels are on track end in 4-10 centuries iea.org/data-and-statistics/… You can see all the references in my Twitter thread: xitter.cf/BjornLomborg/status/20…
The world still runs on fossil fuels Globally, fossil fuels supply 80.8% today (2024) only marginally down from 81.4% in 2000 Rather than ending in 2050, fossil fuels are on track end in 4-10 centuries iea.org/data-and-statistics/…
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Alexander Downer retweeted
BINGO
Bill Clinton: “The Palestinians were offered a state. They refused. A state wasn't their goal. Killing Jews was." This must be shared every single day.
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Alexander Downer retweeted
A major environmental problem, droughts, is actually decreasing. Read my peer-reviewed article: sciencedirect.com/science/ar…
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Alexander Downer retweeted
Climate change is a problem. But it is not the world's only problem. We can spend trillions to make the planet slightly cooler a century from now. Or spend a tiny fraction of that saving millions of lives today. youtube.com/watch?v=oWCXCXjU…
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Alexander Downer retweeted
The Iranian Regime greets @Ed_Miliband settlement sanctions as step towards “the end of Israel” Earlier Hamas thanked the UK Labour government as a “step in the right direction” Terrorists are literally thanking Burnham and Miliband thejc.com/news/world/iran-gr…
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