Yahoo Finance Atlassian CEO’s ‘Fair Dinkum Power’ movement to pressure Federal government on climate policy
Tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes has revealed plans to bring the issue of climate change to the forefront of Australian political debate through his week-old ‘Fair Dinkum Power’ clean energy movement.
The Atlassian CEO took issue with Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s use of the phrase ‘fair dinkum power’ last week and created a campaign of the same name to reclaim the term.
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“[The movement is] everything from trying to get people to use the term in the correct way, if you like, and then going through and doing some economic modelling, putting out a series of policy changes we’d like to see in the upcoming election,” the Atlassian CEO told ABC’s 7.30 program.
“I think it will clearly be the number one and number two issue in the election.”
One of the policy changes Fair Dinkum Power will put to the government is the reinstatement of the carbon price, he told the ABC, although he acknowledged it might not be well-received in the Liberal party.
“Politically it’s incredibly unpopular, so it’s probably not going to happen.
“The second thing we could do is just not subsidise older power generation techniques … like coal,” he said.
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Fair Dinkum Power gains a website and a petition, and a clothing line
The @fairdinkumpower Twitter handle now has over 7 thousand followers just a week after the account was created.
A website has also been created for the movement, detailing a ‘manifesto’ backing “clean, cheap, reliable and Australian” power.
“We are a movement. We are a brand for Australia’s energy future,” it said.
“We are a rallying cry for all who believe in the power of the wind, the sun, the waves and – most importantly – the power of the people of Australia.”
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The line is a reference to Morrison’s advocacy for power “that works when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow”.
“For energy to be fair dinkum, it must be honestly good for our wallets, good for our economy and good for our planet,” the manifesto reads.
The website also sells merchandise, such as bumper stickers, drawstring bags, travel mugs, iPad cases and t-shirts sporting the ‘Fair Dinkum Power’ logo.
The website has a green ‘PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT’ button that leads to a petition on Change.org directing to the manifesto and calling Australians “help make our energy clean, cheap, reliable & Australian”.
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“If you share those beliefs – that for energy to be “fair dinkum”, it must be good for our wallets, good for our economy and good for our planet – pledge your support below.”
The petition has over 5,500 signatories with a goal of 7,500.
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