Andrews, Tim AusTA

poster boy for incubators with batasch?

6/15

“STOP ACADEMIC CENSORSHIP” screamed the full caps headline on the half-page advert in the Murdoch-owned The Australian newspaper earlier this week.

Referring to the Danish climate change contrarian and US think tank boss <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/bjorn-lomborg" target="blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">Bjorn Lomborg</a>, <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/ATA%20lomborg%20ad.jpg" target="blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">the advert</a> claimed: “We stand for academic freedom. We stand with Dr Lomborg.”

For those playing catch-up, a research centre based on the methods of<a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2014/06/25/millions-behind-bjorn-lomborg-copenhagen-consensus-center" target="_blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">Lomborg’s Copenhagen Consensus Center</a> think tank was to be established at the University of Western Australia (UWA).

After it emerged the centre was being funded with $4million of taxpayer cash, academics and students at UWAprotested at Lomborg’s apparent lack of academic credentials and the questionable methodology of his centre, particularly when it came to how it dismissed the urgency of cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

In a <a href="http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201505087564/message-vice-chancellor-australian-consensus-centre" target="_blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">statement</a>, the university’s Vice Chancellor Paul Johnson said Lomborg’s centre was in an “untenable” position and so he would be handing back the $4 million. Lomborg would no longer take an adjunct professor role at the university.

This, as I wrote on <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2015/may/15/how-conservatives-lost-the-plot-over-the-rejection-of-bjorn-lomborg" target="_blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">The Guardian</a>, was the cue for Australia’s conservative commentariat to lose the plot. Now the Australian Government has pledged to find a new home for Lomborg.

Placing <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/ATA%20lomborg%20ad.jpg" target="blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">the advert</a> was the <a href="https://www.taxpayers.org.au/" target="blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance</a> – a private company run from a Sydney apartment unit by its “executive director” Tim Andrews.

The ATA had been fundraising for just over a week on the <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/BjornLomborg" target="blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); line-height: 1.1em;">GoFundMe</a> website with a $22,500 target before the advert was placed in The Australian. The campaign came with a fundraising video voiced by Melbourne-based Christopher Field, who also directed a video project based on work by climate science denialist Lord <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/christopher-monckton" target="blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">Christopher Monckton</a> (that <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw5Lda06iK0" target="blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">project</a> included interviews with a who's who of climate science misinformers, included <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/marc-morano" target="blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">Marc Morano</a>, <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/s-fred-singer" target="blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">Fred Singer</a>, <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/donna-laframboise" target="blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">Donna Laframboise</a> and blogger <a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/anthony-watts" target="_blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">Anthony Watts</a>).

According to one supporter of the ATA ad campaign, “these climate fascists need to confronted” while another reckoned “green religion bigots” had been exposed. Another suggested there should be more adverts “to challenge the climate hoax”.

<h2 style=" line-height: 2em; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif;">Koch Ties Among Bjorn Lomborg's Fan Network</h2>

So what is the <a href="https://www.taxpayers.org.au/" target="_blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">Australian Taxpayers' Alliance</a> and who is Tim Andrews?

Andrews is a graduate of the Koch Associate Program in the US – an effort by the billionaire Republican activist Koch brothers to train activists to push their free market libertarian ideals.

The Koch’s and the foundations they control have pushed millions into organisation that push climate science denial and campaign to block laws cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Andrews also spent time as an intern at the Koch-linked Cato Institute. In a 2011 article in the right-wing <a href="http://www.spectator.co.uk/australia/7243323/meet-the-man-behind-the-anticarbon-tax-lobby/" target="_blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">The Spectator</a> magazine, Andrews was described as one of the “masterminds” of Australia’s anti-carbon tax protests of that year.

When Andrews created the stopgillardscarbontax.com website to help drive the 2011 protests, he recruited Cato Institute climate science denialist Patrick Michaels as an advisor.

Michaels, who once admitted that about 40 per cent of the funding for his work came from the fossil fuel industry, is now a member of an <a href="https://www.taxpayers.org.au/academic-fellows/" target="_blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); line-height: 1.1em;">academic advisory board at the ATA</a>.

According to its website, the <a href="https://www.taxpayers.org.au/who-we-are/" target="_blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); line-height: 1.1em;">ATA</a> is a “unique grassroots advocacy & activist organisation comprised of over 25,000 members dedicated to standing up for hardworking Australian taxpayers”. The site states:

We oppose the high taxes, wasteful spending, and crippling red tape that are hurting Aussie families and businesses, and provide a voice for everyone who opposes the big-government agenda.

</blockquote>

The ATA is a private company registered to a unit address in Sydney. Records provided to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission show two shareholders – Tim Andrews and his mother.

<h2 style=" line-height: 2em; margin-top: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif;">Free market activists</h2>

As the ATA was gathering support before its early 2012 launch, its <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120813063849/http://www.taxpayers.org.au/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/ATABusinessPlan.pdf" target="_blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">business plan</a>, written by Andrews, explained how the organisation was driven by a particular ideology, rather than what was necessarily good for “hardworking taxpayers”.

According to the business plan, ATA had a goal “to become Australia’s leading and most influential centre-right grassroots advocacy body in order to transform Australia to a new level of free market public policies by focusing on cutting tax, regulation and waste”.

For close watchers of the network of US think tanks backed by the Koch brothers, the language is glaringly familiar.

When the ATA launched its <a href="http://www.menzieshouse.com.au/?p=1732" target="blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); line-height: 1.1em;">Perth chapter in November 2012</a>, the special guests were climate science denialist bloggers JoNova and David Evans and fellow denier, <a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/2014/04/14/meet-david-archibald-the-fringe-scientist-predi/198886" target="blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); line-height: 1.1em;">David Archibald</a>, who has a background in <a href="http://www.iwp.edu/faculty/page/David-Archibald" target="_blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); line-height: 1.1em;">oil and mineral exploration</a>.

The ATA is also listed as a sponsor of the Heartland Institute’s <a href="http://climateconference.heartland.org/sponsors-2/" target="_blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); line-height: 1.1em;">upcoming conference for climate science denialists</a> to be held in Washington DC next month.

From the start, the ATA has engaged with climate science denialists while opposing any plans to put a price on greenhouse gas emissions. It seems to me inconsistent that a group supposedly there to stand up for taxpayers is barracking in favour of a $4million taxpayer-funded grant handed out secretively and arbitrarily with no competitive process and no consultation whatsoever.

Rather than representing “hard working taxpayers” it appears the ATA is instead representing climate science denial and the interests of free market activist billionaires like the Koch brothers.

<a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2015/05/28/climate-science-deniers-and-free-market-activists-backing-bjorn-lomborg">http://www.desmogblog.com/2015/05/28/climate-science-deniers-and-free-market-activists-backing-bjorn-lomborg</a>

Senior academics at an Australian university are asking their bosses to pull the plug on a $4 million taxpayer funded research centre fronted by climate science contrarian Bjorn Lomborg.

The University of Western Australia (UWA) was given $4 million to establish the Australia Consensus Centre — a new arm of the <a href="http://desmogblog.com/2014/06/25/millions-behind-bjorn-lomborg-copenhagen-consensus-center" target="_blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">Copenhagen Consensus Center</a>, the US-registered think tank headed by Lomborg.

The cash grant came after <a href="http://scienceandtechnologyaustralia.org.au/news/budget-science-cuts-and-changes/" target="_blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); line-height: 1.1em;">more than $400 million was slashed for science</a>funding in the government’s 2014 budget.

Bjorn Lomborg, a favourite among conservatives and climate science deniers for his contrarian views on climate change, has claimed that while global warming is a problem, it should be placed well down a list of global priorities for aid and development spending.

DeSmogBlog investigations have found that Lomborg’s US arm has received funding from foundations with links to the billionaire Koch brothers <a href="http://desmogblog.com/2015/02/05/exclusive-bjorn-lomborg-think-tank-funder-revealed-billionaire-republican-vulture-capitalist-paul-singer" target="_blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); line-height: 1.1em;">and to billionaire “vulture capitalist” and major Republican donor Paul Singer.</a>

UWA announced on <a href="http://www.news.uwa.edu.au/201504027455/events/new-economic-prioritisation-research-centre-uwa" target="_blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); line-height: 1.1em;">April 2 that Lomborg</a> would be given an adjunct Professor role at the university, but did not disclose the $4 million of taxpayer funding.

While Lomborg told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that he had worked with UWA to prepare a proposal for the government, it <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/prime-minister-tony-abbotts-office-the-origin-for-controversial-bjorn-lomborg-centre-decision-20150423-1mrha2.html" target="_blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); line-height: 1.1em;">has been reported</a> that the idea came from the office of Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who has said that “coal is good for humanity”.

UWA has also said it was approached by the government to house Lomborg’s centre, not the other way around.

Academics from UWA and elsewhere have expressed frustration that the $4 million was handed over without any apparent competitive process being carried out.

The university’s <a href="http://www.uwastudentguild.com/bjorn-lomborg-has-no-place-at-uwa/" target="_blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); line-height: 1.1em;">Student Guild</a> launched a “Say NO to Bjørn Lomborg” campaign, saying the decision to offer the money toUWA was “politically motivated, and it is an insult to the staff and students” at the university.

The Copenhagen Consensus Center claims to do cost-benefit analysis of policies to tackle global problems and claims that targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions are too expensive and that climate change won’t begin to have negative impacts on the world’s economy until near the end of this century.

Dr Frank Jotzo, a leading climate economist at the Australian National University in Canberra, claimed in <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2015/apr/23/australia-paying-4-million-for-bjrn-lomborgs-flawed-methods-that-downgrade-climate-change" target="_blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); line-height: 1.1em;">The Guardian</a> that the Copenhagen Consensus Center methodology “has no academic credibility” and pointed to fundamental flaws in the way the CCC assessed the impacts of climate change.

On Friday, staff from across the University of Western Australia’s schools and departments packed out a lecture theatre for a special meeting in an attempt to get some answers from university administrators.

Professor Stuart Bunt, of the School of Anatomy, Physiology and Human Biology, and vice president of the UWA Academic Staff Association, told DeSmogBlog:

Given the strength of feeling, many wanted to know if it was possible to cancel this. The question was rather ducked by the VC, Professor Paul Johnson. Our university prides itself on having high academic standards and selects staff very carefully. Some very young applicants, for example to our own school, have better publication records than Lomborg.

</blockquote>

He said during the meeting, some were concerned how much academic freedom the Australia Consensus Centre might be able to have, given the reliance on government funding. “We were not reassured,” he said. “There’s a fear that people won’t be able to work without fear or favour.”

Bunt, who served 12 years on the university’s main decision-making Senate board, said academics were angry there had been a lack of consultation about the centre and Lomborg's appointment. He said it appeared the decision to appoint Lomborg and to establish the centre had been taken within a small group of university executives.

Bunt said he was also concerned that Lomborg’s work had been heavily criticised in the past. He said there appeared not to have been a risk analysis done on the impact that engaging with Lomborg might have on the university’s reputation.

Dr David Glance, the director of the Centre for Software Practice, told DeSmogBlog that some academics wanted to know if it was too late to cancel the centre entirely.

The main focus was staff wanting to know if there was an opportunity to reverse the decision. There was a lot of non-committal answers from Paul Johnson, the Vice Chancellor.

</blockquote>

Glance said while the meeting started cordially, “it became less so towards the end” as frustrations began to rise. “People came out more depressed than when they went in,” he added.

DeSmogBlog was told by others in the meeting that academics expressed “shame and embarrassment” at the appointment of Lomborg and were “frustrated that they couldn’t get answers to their questions.”

In a highly critical letter released on the <a href="http://conservationbytes.com/2015/04/22/something-rotten-from-denmark/" target="_blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">Conservation Bytes</a> blog of Adelaide academic Corey Bradshaw, Professor Sarah Dunlop, Head of the School of Animal Biology at UWA, told university administrators that Lomborg’s academic record did not merit his appointment. The letter said:

Aside from the concerns expressed by others, the School is facing a difficult reputational challenge in terms of attracting high quality staff and students as well as establishing and maintaining national and international collaborations as a consequence of these events. As an example, an international Research Fellow has just informed us that, if Dr Lomborg’s adjunct appointment is confirmed, they will not bring their Fellowship to UWAbut, rather, transfer it to a more reputable University.

Additionally, existing PhD students in the School are concerned that this appointment will tarnish their accomplishments as graduates from this University. In addition, staff in the School have been inundated by correspondence from collaborators and stakeholders concerned about the University’s decision.

</blockquote>

Professor Bunt said he was aware that other schools within UWA were considering drafting similar letters critical of the university’s decision.

UWA Adjunct Professor Paul Wills, of the School of Earth and Environment, told <a href="http://http//www.watoday.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/academic-likens-lomborg-appointment-to-putting-brian-burke-in-charge-of-economy-20150424-1msjfm.html" target="_blank" style=" text-decoration: none; color: rgb(51, 153, 204);">Fairfax media</a> the appointment of Lomborg “tarnishes the reputation of the university.”

Dr Frank Jotzo, director of the Centre for Climate Economics and Policy at ANU, told The Guardian:

Within the research community, particularly within the economics community, the Bjorn Lomborg enterprise has no academic credibility. It is seen as an outreach activity that is driven by specific set of objectives in terms of bringing particular messages into the public debate and in some cases making relatively extreme positions seem more acceptable in the public debate.

</blockquote>

Jotzo also said he believed the Copenhagen Consensus Centre was guilty of filtering out dissenting voices from its final recommendations.

The CCC has defended its methods, saying that Nobel Laureates and top economists have been engaged in the work.

UWA has said it will look to raise further funds for the Australia Consensus Centre. The CCC has said it would not accept cash from the fossil fuel industry.

==

<a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/2015/02/09/exclusive-bjorn-lomborg-think-tank-funder-revealed-billionaire-republican-vulture-capitalist-paul-singer">http://www.desmogblog.com/2015/02/09/exclusive-bjorn-lomborg-think-tank-funder-revealed-billionaire-republican-vulture-capitalist-paul-singer</a>

billionaire “vulture capitalist” and major backer of the US Republican Party is a major funder of the think tank of Danish climate science contrarian and fossil fuels advocate<a href="http://www.desmogblog.com/bjorn-lomborg">Bjørn Lomborg</a>, DeSmogBlog has found.