11 September 2006
The Federal Government has come under fire over its views on global warming.
The former United States vice-president Al Gore says Australia is not taking the environmental threat seriously.
Federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane has dismissed the criticism, saying Mr Gore is in Australia to sell tickets to his documentary on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth.
The president of the International Council on Clean Transportation, Alex Lloyd, says Mr Macfarlane's comments are unfortunate.
"I would say that it's very disappointing coming from a federal minister because I think if you read the literature, it's not just Al Gore out to sell movies, this is real," he said.
"What you do about it is a different thing but there's enough evidence out there that in fact you have to say that something needs to be done."
