Month: August 2020

So there’s much that presents prima facie as referrals to a federal integrity commission if one was to exist, Angus ‘Fantastic’ Taylor’s doctored document, Grassgate and water purchases, Mathias Corman’s travel arrangements, Barnaby’s Pilliga land purchases and gas field antics among them. Then there’s the stacking of institutions with fellow travelers, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, the Australian War Memorial and ABC Boards and here the Snowy Hydro Board with the anti-renewables Shepherd. How much damage is being done and to how much of this can we turn a blind eye?https://reneweconomy.com.au/former-abbott-business-adviser-and-wind-and-solar-critic-appointed-to-snowy-board-96937/

If ever there was an example to show the need for a federal integrity commission, this is it, this it.https://www.michaelwest.com.au/barnabys-boondoggle-documents-reveal-80m-price-for-watergate-licences-was-nearly-twice-valuation/

“Well-being should replace growth as the main aim of .. spending”. Look how well a similar idea from Jacinda Arden, for New Zealand’s budget was treated by our politicians. But these need airing, loudly and often.https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/16/weve-got-to-start-thinking-beyond-our-own-lifespans-if-were-going-to-avoid-extinction

The Greenland ice sheet going is the big one to worry about – and it looks like it is on. Fifteen kms up the Moonee Ponds Creek from Port Phillip and we’ll have bayside views.https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200813123550.htm

As in the US, so in Australia. What say you, fossil fools Nev Power, AGL, Santos etc? How much should we put into gas, d’ya reckon? From: Maelor Himbury <maelor@melbpc.org.au>Date: …

Another member of the Pentecostal PM’s hand-picked National COVID19 Commission is Andrew Liveris, ex-CEO of plastics manufacturer (and chemicals more generally) The Dow Chemical Company. He’s either had the Damascus experience or he’s taking hypocrisy to new heights. Where does the Clapper get these people from?https://www.afr.com/rear-window/plastic-no-longer-fantastic-for-andrew-liveris-20200813-p55lhc

The Pentecostal PM’s pick to advise on post-COVID19 recovery, troglodyte Nev Power, in being asked about the role renewables, says he’s ‘… not recommending a green recovery per se … ‘ and ‘not looking at energy in that context’. Sadly, Labour energy shadow Coal Fitzgibbon dwells in the same cave.https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/12/joel-fitzgibbon-blasted-by-mark-butler-for-backing-gas-led-covid-recovery-plan

Will there ever be a day when the environment and those who seek to protect it will have a fair fight against developers and governments in their thrall, or perhaps I could say, pockets? Delegating federal oversight for approvals and regulation to the states is a retrograde step and shouldn’t occur, particularly when there are international treaties in play. And while we’re at it, strengthen the EPBC Act.https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/12/developer-lobbied-frydenberg-to-de-list-area-of-wetland-for-queenslands-toondah-harbour-complex

The criteria established here for industry support are all met by renewables, none are met by fossil fuels and worse, the consequences of the latter could kill many industries. So why does the Nev Power Commission and enabler, the Pentecostal PM, persist in acting as a ‘predator state’ in the support for a dying industry? One has to ask.https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/morrisons-covid-19-commission-industry-policy-in-reverse,14190

I reckon Australian humans are a bit like American humans, we all like parks. Foot traffic on our local creek trail is the heaviest we’ve seen it and most people are wearing a happy face, if you can guess from their eyes above their masks. Not everything about the pandemic is bad, just a lot of things.https://theconversation.com/twitter-posts-show-that-people-are-profoundly-sad-and-are-visiting-parks-to-cheer-up-139953