By Nic Christensen and Rosie Lentini

Lord Monckton. Image: Joanne Nova

Leading Australian climate sceptics are planning to use profits from Lord Christopher Monckton’s recent speaking tour to found a central anti-climate change organisation.

Tour organiser John Smeed said they intend to use the profits from both ticket and DVD sales as a seed to ensure the climate sceptic voice continues to be heard.

With public lectures costing up to thirty dollars per ticket, the tour has attained sales in excess of $150,000.

Mr Smeed says financial support for the tour has been hard won as “groups such as the Australian Coal Industry and the Australian Minerals Council just gave us the flick”. However, despite these challenges Mr Smeed is proud to be able to say that “we’ve organised it and we’re underwriting it”.

As Australia approaches a Federal Election, the new organisation’s aim will be to coordinate communication and campaigns between disparate Climate Sceptic groups across Australia.

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Over the last three weeks Lord Monckton, one of the world’s most ardent climate sceptics, has criss-crossed Australia on a paid speaking tour.

Lord Monckton’s visit has been controversial, with many scientists and media commentators questioning both his use of science and his credibility.

The resulting publicity has promoted Lord Monckton’s tour and galvanised a movement of climate change sceptics.

“At the end of the day, with the DVD sales which I think will most probably generate quite a lot of cash that we will then step away from it,” Smeed said.

“The money coming in we’ll leave to the anthrogenic, global warming sceptic young people, to press on with that. To provide a financial base, to provide a centre communication point for these quite diverse groups that have started to communicate because of this tour.”

Lord Monckton, who is at odds with the scientific community, believes that global warming is a United Nation’s concoction and simply a money-spinning campaign.

“There are papers now in draft by a series of scientists whom I have been working with, that will reveal definitively the necessary calculations that prove that CO2 has a tiny effect on temperature and once those papers get published they will reveal that,” Lord Monckton said.

“Those who wish to believe science that CO2 has a large effect on temperature are going to have to do a lot of work to try and over come the arguments we have presented.”

Lord Monckton’s visit has been controversial, with many scientists and media commentators questioning both his use of science and his credibility.

Listen to the extended interviews for this story from the Wire:

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Professor Matthew England, co-director at the University of New South Wales’ Climate Change and Research Centre, said that Lord Monckton’s claims have underestimated how much the world’s temperature will increase with the doubling of greenhouse gases.

“This is Orwellian. For those listeners who know some of George Orwell’s great pieces…I think the logic is by some of these folks is that if you say something like this enough times, people will start to believe it is correct,” he said.

Lord Monckton has not only been forced to defend his use of the title, Lord, but also his previous claim that he had won the Nobel Peace Prize.

“Everyone who contributed to the 2007 report of the IPCC which won the Nobel Peace Prize is entitled to say that they contributed to the document that won the prize,” Lord Monckton said.

“I am a contributor to the 2007 report, I am therefore entitled as the next man to say that I contributed to the Nobel Peace Prize.”

However, while his bio on the Science and Public Policy website says Monckton was presented with the prize-winning gold pin at the University of Rochester in New York, Monckton was quick to deny any knowledge of the statement.

“Well it’s not my website. And you know its what they choose to say and they might have phrased it in a way that goes beyond what is strictly to the truth. I don’t know I haven’t looked at it,” he said.

Climate sceptics are often portrayed as a fringe minority. However, climate scepticism is a view point that has been growing steadily and is one that is becoming more organised.

Many people who attended one of the sceptic events have been converted by Lord Monckton and believe that climate is simply a hoax.

“I want to hear what the professional Greenie has to say in response to Lord Monkton’s rebuttal of the global warming scam,” said one attendee.

“It [global warming] is the biggest hoax in history. It’s a bigger hoax than any religion we’ve ever dreamed up.”

Others believe that Lord Monckton’s views are a positive movement to open up climate change debate as Australia approaches a Federal Election.

“I’m so pleased this debate has opened up that it’s now getting both sides of the story and we’ve had a clamp down by Rudd and Wong and Turnbull, and McFarlene. They tried to put a lid on the real issues, and I think the real issues are now starting to come out,” said another attendee.

While many people attending the organised and well-funded lectures have strong views about climate change, there were also a few in the crowd that were undecided and happy to simply listen.

Nic Christensen and Rosie Lentini are reporters for the Wire.