"The antipathies I think"

As she falls down the rabbit hole, Alice muddle-headedly calls the countries at the other end of the world ‘the antipathies’. Antipathy is a good description for the mood that prevailed over Parliament in relation to some of the government’s intractable problems.

The government pledged lower electricity prices but turned itself inside out trying to agree on energy policy and the effects of climate change. Meanwhile a widespread drought tightened its grip, and country MPs and farmers called for action.

Focussing on the ocean, the government granted half a billion dollars to a largely unknown foundation to help the Great Barrier Reef resist the threat of climate change.