Politicians love children, or at least they do a pretty good job of pretending to. But while there is political consensus around the niceness of children, no such agreement exists about what children really need.

Compare the priorities of Barak Obama and Joe Hockey. In one corner we have the President of the United States, echoing Kevin Rudd perhaps, arguing that, “for the sake of our families’ health and our kids’ future, we have a moral obligation to act on climate”.

In the other corner we have Australia’s Treasurer, Joe Hockey, who told the National Press Club recently that, “I look at my children and I say there is no way on God’s earth I am going to leave you with a debt”.