Maurice Newman — who Tony Abbott announced over the weekend would lead a new business advisory council under a Coalition government — doesn’t seem to believe in climate change. As Crikey reports, the Deutsche banker reckons global warming is a “religion” with a “global warming priesthood masquerading as climate scientists”.

But then, almost half of the country is in the same camp. As Bernard Keane reports, new polling from Essential Research shows marginally more people believe in human-caused climate change compared to the same poll in October — but it’s still barely more than half the nation.

Among Liberal voters, some 58% of Liberal voters believe climate change is just “normal fluctuation” in weather patterns.

Which makes Newman the perfect man to advise Abbott on the business environment in an apparently unnecessarily carbon-constrained world. No arguments from us.

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To those who believe the overwhelming scientific consensus, just know what you’re getting before you vote.