Senate inquiry says climate misinformation is fuelling conflict in Australian communities

Inquiry findings

A cross-party Senate inquiry has concluded that Australia’s climate change and energy information ecosystem is fuelling conflict in communities, with misinformation and disinformation confusing the public, slowing renewable energy projects and undermining policy responses to the climate crisis.

The inquiry’s final report, released on Tuesday evening, recommended that the government do more to make technology companies liable for “psychosocial harms” spread on their platforms. It also called for stronger media literacy in schools through the national curriculum, with greater oversight when corporations engage with classrooms.

The committee further recommended more funding for research into misinformation and disinformation, along with a funding model for an independent effort to track “hidden digital influence systems”. It also said the Australian government should sign a UN declaration launched in Brazil in 2025 aimed at combating climate misinformation and disinformation.

Evidence to the committee

The inquiry was established by the Greens in July last year to examine the prevalence and impacts of misinformation and disinformation on climate change and energy. It held 11 days of public hearings and received more than 240 submissions from academics, fossil fuel lobby groups, thinktanks, conservationists, renewable energy companies, UN representatives and groups on both sides of local renewables projects.

Meta, TikTok and Google gave evidence, as did News Corporation, which rejected accusations it was part of a climate “denial machine” while defending its platforming of climate science deniers.

The inquiry also heard that the use of artificial intelligence by groups seeking to block progress on climate change was likely to further threaten the integrity of the information reaching the public. Among its recommendations, the committee said the National Health and Medical Research Council should fund new research into the effects of wind energy on human health.

Political divisions over the report

Committee chair Peter Whish-Wilson said the inquiry heard evidence that a “denial machine” made up of conservative thinktanks, PR firms, consultancies, interest groups and “some conservative media outlets” had obstructed climate and energy policy in Australia for decades by spreading misinformation.

He said protecting and strengthening information integrity in politics, and exposing groups that benefit from undermining it, should be a priority for democracy and for a safe climate future. Whish-Wilson also said the Greens wanted stronger recommendations, including laws requiring greater disclosure of funding from third-party campaign groups and urgent reforms on truth in political advertising.

The report was endorsed by the committee’s Greens and Labor members. Independent senator David Pocock and progressive Liberal senator Andrew McLachlan said they backed the report but believed it should have gone further, writing that the evidence pointed to “a systemic failure” already distorting public debate, undermining trust in institutions and delaying urgent policy action.

Dissenting views and wider concerns

In a dissenting report, Nationals leader Matt Canavan said the inquiry had been biased and claimed it sought to suppress, ridicule and silence people with views different from the current scientific consensus. One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts, in a separate dissenting report, said the inquiry’s true motive was to impose censorship and falsely claimed human emissions had no effect on atmospheric carbon dioxide levels.

The findings came as the Australian Security Leaders Climate Group, a network of defence, security and policy experts, released a separate report saying climate disinformation was evolving from a communications issue into a national security challenge. Retired admiral Chris Barrie said Australia was facing an unprecedented energy crisis worsened by fossil fuel dependency, and that a climate disinformation war in Australia and globally was undermining the shift to a clean energy future and efforts to curb coal and gas exports.