Sorry, Matt Canavan, no one believes coal magic means everyone wins
Katharine Murphy
Empathy is fine from politicians, but truth is better because these communities aren’t stupid
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/mar/31/sorry-matt-canavan-no-one-believes-coal-magic-means-everyone-wins
Today’s Celebration
Captain Regents Day San Marino
Cyprus National Day Cyprus
Republic Day Iran
Youth Day Benin
Easter Sunday Christianity
All Fools Day https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_Fools%27_Day
Atheist Day https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/atheist-day/
National Smile Day http://www.humourfoundation.com.au/
Go Blue for Autism http://www.goblueforautism.com.au/
Adopt a Greyhound Month http://www.adoptagreyhound.com.au/
Sexual Assault Awareness Month http://www.nsvrc.org/saam/sexual-assault-awareness-month-home
Supermarket Free Month http://supermarketfree.com.au/
Couple Appreciation Month https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/couple-appreciation-month/
Poetry Month https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/poetry-month/
More about Apr 1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_1
National
Sorry, Matt Canavan, no one believes coal magic means everyone wins
Katharine Murphy
Empathy is fine from politicians, but truth is better because these communities aren’t stupid
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/mar/31/sorry-matt-canavan-no-one-believes-coal-magic-means-everyone-wins
Toll roads aren’t the solution to our transport woes
Janet Rice
Right now, the writing’s on the wall for Australia’s major cities when it comes to liveability and transport connectivity.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/toll-roads-aren-t-the-solution-to-our-transport-woes-20180329-p4z6y2.html
Victoria
Water utility buys generators [$]
A water body has installed generators across its region to ensure that water could be supplied in case of any power shortages.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/south-gippsland-water-installs-generators-to-protect-water-supply/news-story/733c64aba6772c7eb8eabbd47f33879f
First Woolies stores ban plastic bags [$]
Get ready for life without free plastic carry bags at major supermarket checkouts in Victoria as Woolworths is set remove them from some sites next week.
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/shoppers-set-for-significant-change-as-plastic-bags-get-binned/news-story/7c509ba3428811760de1bbf23d2e0e0a
New South Wales
Order for cane toads to be ‘killed on sight’ [$]
The lines have been drawn — a “kill zone” where cane toads must be put to death on sight is being created in NSW as authorities fight to eradicate the Queensland pest.
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/cane-toad-kill-zone-set-up-as-queensland-pest-spreads-across-nsw/news-story/4161a5c3b51755d6e01fbadf61dffbe4
Queensland
Queensland interstate waste inquiry snubbed by NSW
The New South Wales government snubbed Queensland’s inquiry into the interstate waste trade, failing to respond to formal requests for basic information.
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/sustainability/queensland-interstate-waste-inquiry-snubbed-by-nsw-20180329-p4z6vq.html
Gold Coast uses KOALAs to prove clean air quality at Commonwealth Games
The KOALAs, however, are not furry marsupials, but instead solar-powered air-monitoring sensors that sit up high and gather information on airborne particles.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/queensland/gold-coast-uses-koalas-to-prove-clean-air-quality-at-commonwealth-games-20180329-p4z6y3.html
South Australia
The fight for The Bight [$]
Playful sea lions, endangered wallabies, hidden peninsula dragons – these are the pictures conservationists want Australians to see as part of the fight to save the Great Australian Bight from oil exploration.
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/great-australian-bight-oil-fight-sea-shepherd-shares-photos-of-wildlife-diversity-in-campaign-to-protect-seascape/news-story/f6a31852ca70a015cd9911e4b79e46a1
Tasmania
Public generosity helps save Tasmanian Devils
More than $1 million of donations are helping fight the Tasmanian Devil’s nemesis, the facial tumour disease.
http://www.examiner.com.au/story/5316190/public-generosity-helps-save-tasmanian-devils/?cs=95
Cable car plan B claim refuted [$]
Locals believe a plan B has been developed for the cable car that would result in the station being moved further up the mountain.
http://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/mt-wellington-cable-car-company-denies-alternative-route-plan/news-story/74eafce105cba7474adeb863ba23ca37
Western Australia
Reef sharks rebound after illegal fishing crackdown
Sharks driven by illegal fisherman from a remote reef off Western Australia’s northern coast have started to return thanks to a crackdown by Border Force.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-31/reef-sharks-rebound-ashmore-reef-illegal-fishing-crackdown/9603440
State Government waives Rotto landing fees in tourism bid
The State Government has waived Rottnest landing fees for children under 12 for the next six months in a bid to increase tourism to the island.
http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/state-government-waives-rotto-fees-in-tourism-bid-20180331-h0y6hx.html
Northern suburbs dry cleaner fined for contaminating site with chemicals
A Mirrabooka dry cleaning business owner has been convicted in the Perth Magistrates Court over a contaminated area near his business.
http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/northern-suburbs-dry-cleaner-fined-for-contaminating-site-with-chemicals-20180331-h0y6qe.html
Perth start up advances solar powered surveillance cameras
A Perth start up has completed trials of wireless security cameras that don’t require mains power, communications cables or even a light source to work effectively.
http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/perth-start-up-advances-solar-powered-surveillance-cameras-20180328-p4z6qy.html
Sustainability
Davis-Besse nuclear power plant to shut down permanently in 2020
For the first time, the operating end points for FirstEnergy Corp.’s Davis-Besse nuclear power plant in Ottawa County; its Perry nuclear power plant east of Cleveland in Perry, Ohio, and its twin-reactor Beaver Valley nuclear power complex west of Pittsburgh in Shippingport, Pa., have been put in writing by a corporation subsidiary.
http://www.ehn.org/davis-besse-nuclear-power-plant-to-shut-down-permanently-in-2020-the-blade-2555076441.html
The EPA’s Scott Pruitt has to go
LA Times editorial
As long as President Trump is firing Cabinet members, may we make a nomination?
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-pruitt-epa-ethics-20180330-story.html
Nature Conservation
Madagascar’s vanilla wars: prized spice drives death and deforestation
As the price of pods has soared so has violence – and forest defenders are increasingly risking their lives to protect precious wildlife habitat from being felled for profit
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/31/madagascars-vanilla-wars-prized-spice-drives-death-and-deforestation
‘We have to organize like the NRA’: outdoor industry takes on Trump
Brands including Patagonia and the North Face have presented a unified front in fighting for America’s public lands
https://www.the guardian.com/environment/2018/mar/30/outdoor-industry-patagonia-rei-trump
Maelor Himbury