Post of the Day
The biodiversity crisis in numbers – a visual guide
Nature is under threat as never before, but what does that actually mean? We explain what is at stake – and why action at Cop15 is more crucial than ever
On This Day
Climate Change
Climate protesters told to pay National Gallery £1,000 for damaging painting
Just Stop Oil’s Hannah Hunt and Eben Lazarus found guilty after glueing themselves to Constable’s The Hay Wain
Just Stop Oil’s message to Suella Braverman: threaten us all you like – we’re not listening
Indigo Rumbelow
Ministers have shattered the legal system and are failing to tackle the climate crisis. Now they are making protesters their scapegoats
National
Modelled on the Climate Council, the body says it will be a ‘strong and trusted voice’ backed by science including First People’s knowledge
Labor to respond to review of nature laws
Two years have passed since the Morrison government was handed a troubling report on the failings of Australia’s environment laws. On Thursday, the new government will explain how it plans to fix them.
Federal Labor prepared to compensate states in effort to drive down energy bills
States would be rewarded for imposing cap on coal prices, but support not a ‘blank cheque’, treasurer Jim Chalmers says
Anthony Albanese says postponing energy market meeting with premiers won’t delay power price relief
The prime minister, who is isolating with Covid, rejected suggestion that putting off national cabinet by two days will affect timing of proposed intervention
Sale of hybrid cars double that of EVs in Australia with experts blaming lack of electric incentives
Hybrid vehicles so popular they account for one in every three cars sold by Toyota
‘Prices won’t come down’: Power bill warning [$]
Electricity bills will still continue to rise with the next hit to come from July 1, even if the Albanese Government secures an agreement to cap coal and gas prices, analysts are warning.
Greenpeace CEO David Ritter explains the story behind the organisation’s new documentary, which charts its fight to change the course of energy giant AGL.
‘Half of new cars to be electric by 2030’
Almost half of all new cars sold in Australia by 2030 will be battery electric vehicles, according to a new analysis of Australian government policy by the Climateworks Centre.
Car rental to spur electric vehicle uptake
Two in three Australian drivers would like to hire an electric vehicle before buying one, new research shows.
In 2022, Australia’s governments finally got moving on climate. Here’s how
Alison Cleary and Sarah Fumei
We might look back on 2022 as the year when Australian governments finally started taking climate change as seriously as it needs to be.
Peter J. Dean
Climate action is firmly on the political agenda in both Australia and the United States, following a recent change in government in both nations. As this year’s Australia-US Ministerial Consultations (AUSMIN) get underway in Washington, the Albanese and Biden administrations appear keen for deeper bilateral cooperation on tackling climate change.
Rachel Withers
Labor’s election review fails to engage with the key reasons many are turning away
Victoria
Big Build to cause severe disruption in Melbourne over summer
Victorians are being warned that roadworks across Melbourne over summer will cause delays of more than 90 minutes on popular travel routes, including the West Gate Bridge, Domain Tunnel, Monash Freeway and in the CBD.
Sea urchins have invaded Tasmania and Victoria, but we can’t work out what to do with them
Neil Andrew
While crown-of-thorns starfish on the Great Barrier Reef have long been ecological villains in the popular imagination, sea urchins have mostly crawled under the national radar – until now.
New South Wales
Alpine roller coaster pitched for Thredbo Resort [$]
Adventure lovers could soon be enjoying a new type of thrill in Kosciuszko National Park with plans underway for an alpine roller coaster at Thredbo.
‘Nobody is above the law’: Minister backs anti-protest laws that sent niece to jail
Alister Henskens’ niece Deanna “Violet” Coco was sentenced to 15 months in prison under new laws cracking down on inconvenient protests.
Violet Coco is right: The climate hyperthreat demands emergency action
Robert Hunziker
Australia has achieved international infamy through the decision to jail climate protestor, Violet Coco, for 15 months. Allow me to add evidence to support her stance that emergency action is demanded of us to avert the climate crisis.
ACT
ACT govt to ramp up asphalting to repair Canberra’s deteriorating roads
An expanded program of roads maintenance in the ACT will be backed by research to extend the life of the capital’s roads, the ACT government says.
Competing visions for public transport demand more detail [$]
Canberra Times editorial
While it would be easy, as some are already attempting to do, to dismiss the ACT Liberals’ rejection of Stage 2B of the light rail as an exercise in nay-saying populism, the issue is actually more complex than that.
Queensland
From a makeshift music studio in the middle of nowhere, these brothers are taking on a coal mine
A music studio is a burst of colour and culture in an unlikely place – one of Australia’s most controversial coal mines.
Farmers in central Queensland say proposed transmission towers to connect a new wind farm to the grid will interfere with their ability to plant, spray and harvest on prime cropping land.
Queensland royalty rises for coal now expected to provide $3bn windfall
Treasury had initially predicted the new system would increase revenue by $765m this financial year
Some of state’s best farming land under subsidence threat
The State Government’s Gasfield Commission has warned cropping farmers that land subsidence caused by coal seam gas operations was likely continue as the industry “extends across some of our best farming land”.
‘We’ve got four years to go’: Minister defends Cross River Rail as commuters avoid trains
Train usage was projected to grow 103 per cent by 2026, but so far it’s fallen far short. Mark Bailey said the pandemic was largely to blame as he brushed off “cheap” criticisms.
Elderly protesters charged over three-minute climate stunt [$]
A group of climate protesters made up mostly of people in their 60s and 70s have become the first in more than 30 years to be criminally charged for disrupting state parliament.
Coal profits a win for Treasurer, but at what cost? [$]
Courier Mail editorial
The tax on the so-called super-profits of coal producers has been proven a clever political move by the Treasurer, but it could have a long-lasting impact on investment certainty in the state.
South Australia
The South Australian premier has comprehensively rejected the future use of nuclear power generators in Australia, saying the “completely uneconomic” technology had already been thoroughly investigated and dismissed.
Speaking up for Adelaide’s urban canopy
Joanna Wells
With reviews into the planning code and urban forest, it’s time for the public to reinforce the importance of trees to the environment, economy and quality of life.
Tasmania
The latest attempt to put a cable car on kunanyi/Mount Wellington is over
Almost a decade of planning, lobbying and debate come to an end as the Mount Wellington Cableway Company confirms it will not appeal against its defeat in the state planning tribunal.
Roadkill app highlights a bigger issue as wildlife care sector struggles to meet demand
The Tasmanian government released a new roadkill app last week in an effort to reduce the incidence of wildlife roadkill on Tasmanian roads, but a volunteer from Tasmania’s largest wildlife rescue service said the focus is in the wrong place.
Let’s prevent another cable car saga
Media release – Residents Opposed to the Cable Car (ROCC)
Residents Opposed to the Cable Car (ROCC) has welcomed the expiration of the deadline by which the kunanyi cable car proponent could have appealed the recent TASCAT rejection of its proposal to the Supreme Court. The 30-day window of opportunity closed late yesterday afternoon with no notification that an appeal had been lodged.
Northern Territory
NT Health warns of extreme heat across the Territory [$]
The Northern Territory will be hotter than normal, with severe and extreme heat alerts being issued across the Territory by NT Health as a precaution for the next several days.
Western Australia
Tough new WA fishing rules to limit recreational season, cut commercial catch
A 900km section of Western Australian coast will be off limits for people looking to catch popular species of fish, as the state introduces new rules to help protect stocks for generations to come.
WA snapper, dhufish fishing ban increased to six months
The increase from the current two-month ban will be applied in scattered chunks throughout the year to allow for recreational fishing in school holidays.
Perth freeway project full steam ahead despite Clough collapse
WA’s roads authority has insisted its $165 million Stephenson Avenue project will not incur further delays after the collapse of one of its lead contractors.
Sara Bergmann
As a young Aboriginal woman, it’s my responsibility to ensure that my country and my culture is there for future generations after me.
Sustainability
How far has nuclear fusion power come? We could be at a turning point for the technology
Nathan Garland and Matthew Hole
Our society faces the grand challenge of providing sustainable, secure and affordable means of generating energy, while trying to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to net zero around 2050.
Nature Conservation
EU agrees to ban imports linked to deforestation, threatening companies with big fines
Soy, beef, palm oil, wood, cocoa and coffee are among the products companies will now have to prove are not linked to deforestation before selling in European Union countries.
Canada leads calls to protect 30% of Earth as Cop15 opens in Montreal
The ‘30×30’ proposal is supported by more than 100 countries but Indigenous peoples and human rights campaigners have significant doubts
‘We are at war with nature’: UN environment chief warns of biodiversity apocalypse
Inger Andersen spells out the challenges facing the planet as Cop15 delegates gather in Montreal
Explainer: What’s on the agenda at the U.N.’s COP15 nature summit?
A key United Nations summit to halt nature loss begins this week in Montreal, Canada. Delegates from nearly 200 countries will spend two weeks hashing out a new global deal to protect the world’s struggling species and fast-vanishing wild places.
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