Wagga sceptics flood to see Lord Christopher Monckton

A SIGN out the front of Wagga's Country Comfort Hotel last night said "climate sceptics" this way - and they came in droves.More than 200 people filled the ballroom to hear Lord Christopher Monckton put forth his views on climate change and government action.His charming, eccentric manner was on display from the outset as he had the crowd to yell "no!" when he said "ETS" (emissions trading scheme).A large part of the presentation was spent debunking what he says are "fraudulent" and sometimes "criminal" research papers by climate scientists.“Consensus of the governing class is something from which we should run away from,” he said, referring to both sides of the Australian government believing climate change science is conclusive.The controversial speaker lived up to his reputation with a number of incredible claims: likening the consensus on climate change to the killing of six million Jews in WWII; that higher CO2 output saw fewer child deaths; and the investment in biofuels led to people in Haiti starving.One of the more serious assertions was that reports from the IPCC (intergovernmental panel on climate change) – which the Gillard government uses to inform its policies – are tampered with to create the impression of global warming.“The Australian government has decided to shut down the economy,” he said, referring to the carbon tax.He pointed to the recent flood in Brisbane and ice on Mount Kilimanjaro, which scientists have used as examples of global warming, and sought to prove they were in fact cyclical changes not influenced by man.The thrust of his presentation was simple: be wary of government action on climate change.“What Julia Gillard proposes (with the carbon tax) is a complete and utter waste of her time and your money,” he said – to which the audience responded with emphatic applause.