South Australia's Environment Minister David Speirs says he stands by comments he made at a Liberal Party fundraiser that "there's only so many times you can deal with the Greta Thunbergs of South Australia".
The comments were made at an event on Monday night, less than a week after he lost a party ballot for the role of deputy premier.
Speaking on ABC radio, Mr Speirs confirmed he made the Greta Thunberg comment and told supporters he was being worn down by "crazy lefties."
He was also quoted telling supporters at the function that "there's a lot of noise and crap around climate change because all the ills of the world are put in the climate change basket by the left of politics".
"I did say something along those lines, and there is a lot of noise in that area," he said.
Opposition environment spokeswoman Susan Close described the remarks as "incredibly embarrassing for David Speirs, less than a week after he lost the ballot for the deputy leadership".
"He has been caught red-handed revealing what he really thinks about our environment and climate change," Ms Close said.
Minister insists he loves his job
Despite the rhetoric, the Minister insisted he loved his portfolio and was not looking for a new job – just yet.
"The whole point of that speech the other night was to give a portfolio update," he said.
"I'm a self-deprecating person, I spoke about the good, the bad and the ugly … but the whole tenor of the speech was how much I love this portfolio.
He said while he did not expect to be Environment Minister indefinitely, he felt he had "transformed" the portfolio.
"I've given it a massive crack while I've been doing it and done more than any other environment minister in recent history," he said.
Mr Speirs said he was not concerned about offending anyone on the left side of politics with his comments.
He confirmed he told the function: "Activists are unfortunately too busy gluing themselves to city streets and vandalising public and private buildings to recognise real, practical action when it is happening right in front of them."
The Minister said he felt protesters detracted from the "good work" being done.
"South Australia is doing some amazing things in a bipartisan way, and some of these guys in Extinction Rebellion with all their noise and poster waving need to actually celebrate and work with the South Australian community," he said.
"I stand by everything I said.
"I'm not about pleasing the left, I'm about delivering practical outcomes that deal with climate change."
