Alexander Downer

Former foreign minister of Australia; Chairman Policy Exchange; Chairman Gold Hydrogen, Distinguished Visiting Fellow Hoover Institution Stanford University

[Centre on Asia and Globalisation @CAG_LKYSPP]

Join us on 11 November for the Hong Siew Ching Speaker Series featuring @AlexanderDowner, former Australian Foreign Minister. The event will be chaired by Prof Chin-Hao Huang, Co-Director of @CAG_LKYSPP and Assoc Professor at @lkyspp.

Register here: https://t.co/6n3e2BqEqE

[Alexander Downer @AlexanderDowner]

Pleasure to launch @JoshFrydenberg brilliant book in Adelaide

[Bjorn Lomborg @BjornLomborg]

10 years ago, you were constantly told Great Barrier Reef was essentially dead

Wrong at the time

Today, spectacularly wrong, with last 5 years top 5 for coral cover

Sources: https://t.co/pwyeeA9ikL
Wrong already then: https://t.co/ItNJpRdNi5

[Alexander Downer @AlexanderDowner]

British Labour government has rejected proposals to increase capital gains tax from 18 to 24% on the grounds it would hinder economic growth. More sense than their Australian counterparts.

[Alexander Downer @AlexanderDowner]

@steveirons @Jansant 🥜

[Kevin Edger @KEdge23]

Kemi Badenoch absolutely destroys Andy Burnham in parliament. She exposes him for the liar and weak prime minister he is.

He’s desperately trying to distract from his inability to deal with this issues of today, by talking about the past.

[Alexander Downer @AlexanderDowner]

A great day @ChelseaFC today

[Matt Ridley @mattwridley]

It's a fair point

[Iain Dale 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧 ⚒️ @IainDale]

Last week I called Andy Burnham's speech consequential, but it was very much full, as Ed Davey said, full of 'definitely maybes' by 2040. @KemiBadenoch delivered a belter of a speech today, full of sparkle, but also setting out basic Conservative principles and full of policy meat. The IHT promise will get the headlines but there was far more to it than that. The stuff about the Reform "weirdos" and ruling our reuniting the right should get attention, plus the passage on her ethnicity and what it means to be English, where she absolutely socked it to Suella Braverman without naming her. The passage on how to bring about growth was especially strong. I've been attending party conferences for 40 years. This one got off to a slow start, but ended with the party members going home with a spring in their step. Rarely, if ever, in those 40 years, have I seen a party so united behind its leader - both MPs and party members. And to achieve that within less than two years of becoming leader is quite an achievement. Yes, last year's conference speech was a turning point, but so was her firing of Robert Jenrick. With one decisive step, she ripped out the cancer, and has never looked back. It's now up to her shadow cabinet to demonstrate that this isn't a one woman party.

[Bjorn Lomborg @BjornLomborg]

10 years ago, you were constantly told Great Barrier Reef was essentially dead

Wrong at the time

Today, spectacularly wrong, with last 5 years top 5 for coral cover

Sources: https://t.co/ikiov5Gsyn
Wrong already then: https://t.co/A1I7axdXOB

[Alexander Downer @AlexanderDowner]

@PeterPhoban 🥜

[Alexander Downer @AlexanderDowner]

Senator Hanson shouldn’t have said what she said about Albanese‘s mother but will the Labor Party now apologise for their constant mocking over the years of my family. Of course not. There’s one rule for the left and one for the right.

[Alexander Downer @AlexanderDowner]

So sad to hear of the death of my old friend and colleague Neil Andrew. He was in every way a good person; honest, dependable and hugely committed to Australia. He was such a lovely man…and a very good Speaker! Condolences to Carolyn and the family.

[Niall Ferguson @nfergus]

Highly recommended.

[Alexander Downer @AlexanderDowner]

@BjornLomborg @mattwridley Interested in the counter-arguments

[Bjorn Lomborg @BjornLomborg]

The Great Barrier Reef's obituary has been written again and again. But the patient didn't comply.

The five best years for coral cover in the monitoring record are the five most recent.

Yet while every setback generates headlines, recoveries receive far less attention.

From my latest newsletter:
https://t.co/KiDew0LYGb

Sign up here: https://t.co/auvuXxSvg1

[Dave Sharma @DaveSharma]

“It’s hard to know the purpose of the PM’s travel. There were virtually no formal meetings with first division government leaders. The marginal events he spoke at were indeed marginal. He gave speeches of breathtaking banality that mostly could have been churned out by any government word processor over the past 20 years.”

All true 👆🏼

[UN Watch @UNWatch]

🇺🇳 António Guterres: “The scale of killing in Gaza is unlike anything I've witnessed in my years as Secretary-General.”

FACT-CHECK: ❌
Under Guterres's watch since 2017:
🇸🇾 Syria: 120,000+ killed
🇸🇩 Sudan: 150,000+ killed
🇪🇹 Ethiopia: 162,000+ killed
🇾🇪 Yemen: 200,000+ killed

[Matt Ridley @mattwridley]

For the first time in 112 years Jo Atlantic hurricane formed at all during the full hurricane season up to the equinox. Remarkable. Will @BBCWorld report this?

[Bjorn Lomborg @BjornLomborg]

Great Barrier Reef: Last five years best on record

Why doesn't the media tell you?

https://t.co/siAvj2d0th

You can see all the references in my Twitter thread:
https://t.co/hj58WrVihV

[Alexander Downer @AlexanderDowner]

@PeterPhoban 🥜.