How fossil capital built the global disinformation machinery of the Atlas Network to defeat climate policy and disable democracy. A warning to Australia, and to all nations

Rosie interviews Dr Jeremy Walker following the recent Australian Senate Select Committee Inquiry on Information Integrity on Climate Change and Energy (2025), to which he presented both written and in person evidence.

Dr Walker is Senior Lecturer in the School of Communications, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, University of Technology Sydney. He’s a member and past director of the Climate Society and Environment Research Centre (C-SERC) at UTS, and a research fellow of the Whitlam Institute, Western Sydney University, and the International Climate Social Science Network based at Brown University, Rhode Island, USA.

With two decades of research into the Atlas Network informing his submission, Dr. Walker sheds light on the secretive world of climate misinformation and disinformation.

During the show we also discuss the rise of racism and Pauline Hanson; the extended disinformation and astroturfing against the Victoria to NSW Interconnecter (VNI) West and the Victorian ALP government; and the relationship of fossil fuel money and local Atlas Network linked groups to both.

The links below are well worth a look:

Link to Senate Select Committee on Information Integrity on Climate Change and Energy, with access to submissions, documents, Hansard and video: 

https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Information_Integrity_on_Climate_Change_and_Energy/ClimateIntegrity

Dr Jeremy Walker’s submission is no. 243. Note that the “additional information” is archival evidence regarding the origin and early sponsorship of Australia’s Centre for Independent Studies (CIS).

The full report of the Senate Select Committee: 

https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Information_Integrity_on_Climate_Change_and_Energy/ClimateIntegrity/Report

Video from the Senate committee’s hearings on 16/02/2026

Note that Jeremy Walker appears at 10.37 am (in between evidence from Meta and Coal Australia - well worth watching as well!):

https://www.aph.gov.au/News_and_Events/Watch_Read_Listen/ParlView/video/4334923

Hansard transcript of Jeremy Walker's testimony at the hearing is here:

https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;db=COMMITTEES;id=committees%2Fcommsen%2F29259%2F0002;query=Id%3A%22committees%2Fcommsen%2F29259%2F0000%22

The Senate inquiry gets great context and writeups by the ABC’s Gareth Hutchens:

 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01-26/atlas-network-mont-pelerin-society-neoliberal-think-tanks/105700628

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02-19/climate-disinformation-senate-committee-dr-karl-atlas-network/106350002

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-29/senate-report-misinformation-climate-change-recommendations/106497978

Jeremy also spoke about the Australian Security Leaders Climate Group (ASLCG) and their report, The Climate Disinformation War: How to fight back for Australia's democracy and security.