Australian politicians have spent more than 20 years thinking up reasons not to tackle climate change, but the latest from Tony Abbott really must take the cake. According to the Opposition Leader, it now seems that until Communist China introduces a market-based mechanism to reduce their emissions, Australia shouldn’t either. That should buy us some time then. China is a one party state. It still hasn’t floated its exchange rate. Its economy is managed by five year plans. The idea that Australia shouldn’t embrace a market-based response to a problem until China does makes about as much sense as saying that Australia shouldn’t have a free press until China does.