Connecting, networking, making things happen. It’s what the third of four children to Australia’s first billionaire, Robert Holmes à Court, and his former science teacher wife, Janet, had always done. “From putting his finger in an electrical socket and blowing his finger off - to playing with the Internet - to connecting people such as the C200 - Climate 200(C200),
Freshly engaged, looking to make a difference, Holmes a Court is in the game leading from the front via Twitter, (learning from Trump) but increasingly in the mainstream media, as moderate Liberals begin to show unmistakable signs of heat stress on the climate issue.
The Australia Institute released its annual
Climate of the Nation survey of 2626 voters, which found that a record 75 per cent were concerned about climate change, with almost 70 per cent looking to the government for a path to net zero.
The C200 is the fundraising group he founded with support from 35 investors, including tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes - to create climate action through challenging government at its core - by replacing it!!
He initially tried to make change from the party route, approaching his local member in Kooyong, Frydenberg, even joining the Treasurer’s Kooyong 200 Club fundraising group in early 2017 - a club he was kicked out of for criticising Lidddl power station.
In title and substance, C200 was Holmes à Court’s reply, even the font and colour of its initial logo is a riff on Kooyong 200’s
“How can I get philanthropists generous to the environment to back politicians ready to take climate action .
Holmes à Court is trying to show that the government is still out of step with community wishes…
“ The Liberal Party has a minority in government, and they need the Nationals to form government. And they’re stuck, and they’ve been stuck for eight years.”
Tactics
He is taking a leaf out of the book of how Cathy McGowan ousted former prime minister from a peer to peer campaign against a perceived gender mysogonist.
“The Morrison government has come under a lot of criticism because of its failure to have regard to the respect that is due to women … and obviously on climate, many believe their performance is very inadequate.”
Holmes à Court will be working the Rolodex again to try to convince philanthropists that this is a really effective form of philanthropy.
He has raised C200 has raised $3.3 million in two months from almost 4200 donors.
Nick Fairfax recently signed on to match donations up to $100,000, after a similar pledge by tech entrepreneur Simon Hackett and his wife Anna
C200 has the support former Liberals John Hewson and Julia Banks and former liberal crossbenchers Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott.
There are some amazing candidates - and we only need 3 seats to make a difference!
The godmother of the movement, Cathy McGowan, says there are about 10 to 15 active groups that seriously want to run a candidate.
Susan Benedyka and constitutional lawyer Kim Rubenstein have announced campaigns for senate seats in Victoria and the ACT respectively, and the former deputy mayor of Greater Shepparton Rob Priestly has announced he’ll run against Nationals MP Damian Drum for the Victorian seat of Nicholls.
Working within the Government to make change
Others think it is more effective to work within Government to make change
Katie Allen, who holds Melbourne’s affluent, marginal Liberal seat of Higgins, was confident the announcement would underline to voters the importance of working within the tent to effect change,
Andrew Bragg says. “I joined the Liberal Party because I was interested in reform. It’s really only the parties, the government and the Prime Minister that can commit Australia to the important things like climate obligations.
At the last election, the House of Representatives vote for minor parties and independents hit a new record of almost 25 per cent, or one in four voters and former Kevin Rudd staffer Lachlan Harris, that 25 per cent minority vote is a magic number.
The C200 - “if it does work, the payoff for Australia will be enormous. It will be the greatest piece of philanthropy we could do.” Says Simon