'Do we need a climate president?': Bowen finds $200 million for 'sprawling bureaucracy' leaving Aussies reeling under high energy bills
As a young Australian, would you rather see the federal government focused on issues like affordable housing and lower energy prices or $200 million spent on a climate-aligned Office of the Presidency?
No prizes for guessing where Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s priorities really lie.
Labor has sold young Australians a cruel fantasy that life will be sweet if they innovate and take risks to build wealth.
This is because what they actually get now, thanks to this atavistic budget, is crushing rents and escalating financial insecurity while the PM pats them on the head and says: I am on your side, truly.
And to rub salt into the wound, they now also share with us the privilege of bankrolling a climate vanity parade for global elites.
At the precise moment young Australians are being lectured about sacrifice and promised intergenerational equity, the Albanese government has found hundreds of millions of dollars to fund yet another sprawling bureaucracy tied to the COP31 summit process.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen, having secured Australia the role of “President of Negotiations” for next year’s COP31 in Turkey, has established a taxpayer-funded Office of the Presidency.
This is one of the most absurd examples yet of Canberra’s climate obsession.
The 2026-27 budget designed to “fix” intergenerational inequity revealed the government will spend $50 million over two years to advance our COP31 agenda.
Budget papers say the cash will help Australia perform its very important role as “President of Negotiations” because obviously what struggling Australians are crying out for is more international climate bureaucracy.
Another $79 million will be spent expanding Australia’s global climate engagement, otherwise known as flying officials around the world to lecture everyone else about emissions.
Australia will pour another $147 million into “standing with our Pacific partners” via COP31, proving there is no global summit that cannot justify a new spending line.
It is worth reminding ourselves of the latest Sky News Pulse/YouGov poll, conducted from May 12–19, which revealed a two-point slide in support for Labor as voters reacted angrily to the budget.
The backlash followed Labor’s decision to abandon its promise not to touch negative gearing or capital gains tax.
Naturally the response from voters was overwhelmingly negative: 44 per cent said the changes would leave them worse off while a mere 9 per cent believed they would benefit.
Shadow Energy Minister Dan Tehan later told Sky News: “How on earth can Mr Bowen justify spending over $200 million on this COP vanity project when more than 230,000 Australians are in energy hardship?”
“Instead of being laser-focused on addressing the cost of living crisis, Chris Bowen is spending taxpayer dollars to pump up his own tyres.”
But perhaps the government hypocrisy is best captured in Mr Bowen’s own words from his 2025 Annual Climate Change Statement last November.
“Climate change is part of our lives and how we adapt and limit the worst of it is what matters,” he said.
“Now is the time to seize the opportunities of a clean economy.
“A failure to do so would be to act out of step with Australia’s national interest. Particularly the interests of those who will come after us.”
The interests of those who will come after us.
What an epitaph for this government’s economic credibility.
The Albanese government’s latest budget is not helping younger Australians or those who “come after us”.
It is actively dismantling their capacity to build wealth, buy homes, invest, save or get ahead.
And there is no relief either from migration-fuelled rental pressure.
Why do we need a climate president?
For years, younger Australians have responded to catastrophic housing affordability by pouring money into ETFs, shares, start-ups and investment properties.
This is because secure work, buying a home, disciplined saving and so on — the traditional path to prosperity — has been systematically destroyed.
And don’t forget the tax bracket creep quietly eroding incomes each year.
Many young Australians want sensible environmental stewardship but what they do not support is becoming poorer in the name of elite political theatre.
Labor says climate action is about protecting future generations but future generations of what exactly — permanent renters and welfare recipients?
Office of the Presidency is the most fitting monument yet to a government completely detached from economic reality, especially the one that is now facing younger Australians.
But hey don’t let that minor detail derail Mr Bowen, the Federal member for McMahon, and his plan to cosplay as an international statesman.
Louise Roberts is a journalist and editor who has worked as a TV and radio commentator in Australia, the UK and the US. Louise is a winner of the Peter Ruehl Award for Outstanding Columnist in the NRMA Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism and has been shortlisted in other awards for her opinion work.