# The end of the Liberal Party and the new climate wars. Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/a-rational-fear-1080338/the-end-of-the-liberal-party-and-the-new-climate-wars Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/a-rational-fear-1080338/the-end-of-the-liberal-party-and-the-new-climate-wars.md Podcast: [A Rational Fear](https://stenobird.com/podcast/a-rational-fear-1080338) Published: 2026-03-15T03:27:46+00:00 Episode link: https://www.arationalfear.com Audio file: https://sphinx.acast.com/p/open/s/646ebc5fb383020012ef0cbe/e/69b61bad4266c9b1c7fed0d0/media.mp3 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/a-rational-fear-1080338/episodes/the-end-of-the-liberal-party-and-the-new-climate-wars Duration seconds: 3726 ## Resource Recorded live at Climate Action Week Sydney, this episode of  A Rational Fear  dives deep into the rise of the far right, fossil-fuel-funded disinformation, and what it all means for Australia’s climate future and democracy. Host Dan Ilic is joined on stage by: Malcolm Turnbull – former Prime Minister, now “concerned private citizen” Ed Coper – communications strategist and author of  Angertainment Kate Hook – farmer, regional community leader, and two-time community independent candidate (Climate 200 co-convener) Across this wide-ranging conversation, they unpack: Why the far right’s culture war is such a serious threat to climate action How “anger-tainment” media ecosystems (hello Sky News) and social platforms reward disinformation The inside story on fossil-fuel-backed campaigns, from Clive Palmer to astroturf outfits like “Australians for Prosperity” The existential crisis inside the Liberal Party and the risks of preferencing One Nation How regional communities are actually embracing renewables when they control the process and share the benefits The rise of community independents and why ordinary people, not party machines, are now driving political change It’s funny, bleak, hopeful, and occasionally unhinged—classic  Rational Fear . Key Topics Climate politics & the far right Turnbull on why opposition to climate action has become “religion” rather than economics How internal Liberal/National dynamics warped energy policy around coal and renewables “Angertainment” & the media ecosystem Ed Coper explains how social media rewards outrage and emotional extremes How a small 7–10% anti-climate minority ends up feeling like 50% of the country The dangers of amplifying fringe narratives until they loo… ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/a-rational-fear-1080338/episodes/the-end-of-the-liberal-party-and-the-new-climate-wars/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/a-rational-fear-1080338/the-end-of-the-liberal-party-and-the-new-climate-wars.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.