How much would you pay to to force a potentially uncomfortable flight on your political rival?

At the fundraising auction held during the Midwinter Ball in Canberra, the leader of the Liberal Party offered herself as a prize, and the founder of Climate 200 outbid everyone, more than doubling the previous highest offer. However, he wasn’t interested in taking the flight himself.

Ley had promised an unforgettable experience: “a flight and a lunch you’ll never forget” for two people in her Cessna-182, complete with optional shearing lessons and mandatory storytelling over a cold Australian beer.

Holmes À Court announced on X that the successful bid secured Ley’s promise to spend a day flying 18-year-old Katya Zheluk, a bushfire survivor, and a climate scientist across regional New South Wales soon.

Zheluk, part of the Climate 200 Future Leaders program, has been very critical of the Coalition’s climate change and nuclear energy policies led by former leader Peter Dutton.

Since assuming the role of opposition leader in May, Ley has softened the opposition’s stance on nuclear power. While she supports lifting the national ban, she has abandoned plans to build seven nuclear power plants. This approach has sparked a backlash from some National Party members who are considering rejecting net zero. Last week, Queensland’s Liberal National Party convention voted to discard the net zero target.

In a January interview with The Project, Zheluk criticized the nuclear strategy, labeling it a “classic fossil fuel lobby” ploy to propose costly alternatives that maintain reliance on coal and gas.

“Where I’m from, the Blue Mountains, we experienced the black summer bushfires in 2019 to 2020, and that was just devastating for some parts of our community,” she said.

“I mean, just 30 minutes down the road from me, there was complete devastation, the speed and the ferocity at which the fire came through. It was brutal. It was totally unprecedented.

“I mean, meanwhile, the fossil fuel companies were making record profits and they were donating to campaigns to delay climate action.”

Other top prizes at the auction included a game of tennis at The Lodge with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, bought by a man named Nathan Blamires for $13,232, and a Qantas business class return flight for two to London or Los Angeles.