Christopher Pyne leapt up during question time yesterday and asked that Julia Gillard be told to withdraw the term "climate change denier". Though met with howls of derision from the government benches, the manager of opposition business persisted.
The use of "climate change denier" in relation to Tony Abbott and the rest of the Coalition has been used as a specific political weapon by the Prime Minister and her colleagues to paint the Liberals as "climate change extremists".
But Mr Pyne's complaint went further than a sensitivity on climate change -- the man Labor loves to hate in question time was accusing Ms Gillard of "dog whistling" and sending a subliminal message equating climate change sceptics with Holocaust deniers.
As Mr Pyne explained his complaint and reason for taking offence, there were cries of disbelief. He argued there was a link between the term "denier" and being a "Holocaust denier", which he, as a friend of Israel, found offensive.
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http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/no-denying-climate-change-discussion-hits-a-nerve/story-fn59niix-1226026369741