Australia’s obsession with “net zero” is one of the most destructive political delusions of our time.

In a compelling conversation between veteran journalist Chris Uhlmann and former Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson, the brutal reality of net zero is laid bare — and it’s a wake-up call for the nation.

It's an alarm Family First has been sounding for years.

But when two eminent Australians apply their experience and knowledge to the debate, more people, especially Coalition politicians, should take note.

Net zero has become a kind of civic religion, enforced by political elites, media operatives and corporate interests.

“We’ve signed up to a faith,” Uhlmann warns. “Our ruling class, our elites… the media class… a large proportion of it has signed up to this faith as well.”

This is not science — it’s dogma. And as Anderson says, it’s “self-flagellation without hope and without mercy.”

The truth is, renewables can’t do the job. Wind and solar aren’t “generators,” Uhlmann argues, but “energy gatherers... like throwing a net into the ocean.”

They are intermittent, heavily subsidised, and need fossil-fuel backup. The more you build, the less stable and more expensive the system becomes.

“It makes a less reliable system and it makes a more expensive system,” he says.

South Australia — with the highest proportion of renewables — also has the highest electricity prices in the nation.

This is not just bad economics — it’s intergenerational theft.

“People have to understand that if they want the lifestyle that they’re living now, which is essentially borrowed money, that money... has to be paid for — and that’s by future generations,” Uhlmann says.

And he is right — young Australians are being saddled with the cost of an energy transition that cannot work.

Uhlmann and Anderson are deeply critical of the political class for failing to be honest with the public about the true cost and consequences of net zero.

Uhlmann makes the central accusation bluntly: “If we are going to make this transition, then the one thing that we could demand of all of our leaders is simply this: tell the truth. What is the cost going to be?”

He accuses politicians of knowingly misleading Australians, citing the $275 energy bill reduction promised by Labor during the 2022 election.

Uhlmann also recounts private conversations with industry leaders and government officials who admit the policy is unworkable but won’t say so publicly: “I’ve had the same conversations with people who run electricity retailers… who know that we’re on the wrong path, but all want to sign up for a target like net zero because they feel that their shareholders want it or that the public wants it.”

This dishonesty, they argue, is corroding trust in democracy.

“There is no greater issue confronting this nation now than the breakdown of trust,” Anderson warns.

“If we’re not going to trust because we don’t think [leaders are] trustworthy... we’re not going to be able to come to grips with the challenges that are before us.”

In short, Uhlmann and Anderson argue that Australians are being sold a lie — that net zero can be achieved cheaply, painlessly, and without serious disruption.

In reality, they say, it will impoverish the nation, destroy industries, and leave young people with a diminished future — and no one in power is willing to admit it.

“Climate change is a problem,” Uhlmann says, “but it is not an existential threat.”

The real threat is the collapse of our energy and economic systems.

“Energy is life… and energy is the economy,” he says plainly.

“We are creatures of fire,” and without energy-dense fuels like coal, oil and gas, we can’t power farms, factories, hospitals, or homes — let alone data centres and defence systems.

Net zero is also dangerously dishonest. The government is hiding the true cost by using taxpayer money to suppress power bills.

“There’s this giant Ponzi scheme,” Uhlmann says, “where we’re taking money from taxpayers and then recycling it back into the bills of consumers and calling that cost-of-living relief.”

When the subsidies end, the pain will hit hard — and it will hit the poor the hardest, he says.

Worst of all, this is all for nothing.

“Economies which now make up 60% of the world’s carbon emissions... have no intention of hitting net zero.”

What Australia does is irrelevant to the climate but devastating to our economy.

As Anderson puts it: “We are being asked to wear an incredible cost of mitigation… and then have to pay the price of adaptation anyway.”

Family First is calling for both major parties — especially the Coalition — to walk away from net zero before it’s too late.

“If we continue on this path,” Uhlmann warns, “we will not be able to manufacture anything in Australia.”

That’s a future of decline, darkness, and dependence.

It’s time to return to reality.