Michael Costa (politician) - Political Views

Political Views

Costa is seen as pro-economic development. The Sydney Morning Herald described him as:

There's no holding back from Costa when he advocates coal mining, aluminium smelters and the privatisation of the electricity industry. This is an unabashed supporter of economic considerations above all else, for public service reform and for not believing climate-change doomsayers. As he puts it: "I want to see economic prosperity. I make no apology for that."

Costa has been described as the "State Government's leading climate change sceptic" mainly because of his views supporting increasing capacity of smelters and power stations.

In June 2007, during Question Time in the New South Wales Legislative Council, Costa launched into a tirade against the theory of global warming and told caucus it should adopt a proposal that would allow big power users such as aluminium smelters to avoid the costs of meeting the Government's renewable energy targets to "save jobs in Newcastle and Wollongong". He also said he did not support Flannery being made 2007 Australian of the Year. Part of Costa's statement is as follows:

But the Greens and idiots like Tim Flannery said it will never rain. Well it has started to rain and it seems as though it is going to rain forever. These people do not understand climate cycles. When it comes to the climate they are alarmists and cannot see beyond the end of their noses. They create division, panic and fear so that they can rustle up a few naive people to vote for them at election time. Climates change.