For Tony Abbott, it's full steam ahead on coal, 'the foundation of prosperity'

It seems nothing - not even global condemnation, changing polls and falling commodity prices - can shake the Australian PM's belief that coal is good

If, as the environment movement contends, fossil fuels are the new tobacco, then Australia has cast itself as a sort of swaggering Marlboro man, puffing away contentedly as the rest of the world looks on quizzically.

As other countries look to transition to low-carbon alternatives with one eye on crunch climate talks in Paris later this year, Australia is pushing ahead with an expansion in coal extraction that its conservative prime minister Tony Abbott insists is "good for humanity".