Date: 17 January 2023 at 8:58:56 am AEDT
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Daily Links Jan 17
Post of the Day
‘We need a polluter pays policy’
Requiring fossil fuel companies to pay to clean up their carbon emissions could help curb dangerous global warming at a relatively affordable cost, a study says.
On This Day
Feast Day of Anthony the Great – Catholicism
Climate Change
Davos 2023: Climate change leads to more malaria, tuberculosis up in a recession
Climate change is increasing malaria infections, the executive director of the world’s biggest health fund said in Davos on Monday.
Companies will soon have to prove that they really are taking climate action, under draft EU law
A draft legal proposal by the European Commission aims to clamp down on companies falsely promoting their products as “climate neutral” or “containing recycled materials”.
National
Plants and pelicans: Why don’t Australian deserts look like the Sahara?
The outback is a big part of our national identity. But many Australians don’t know its full history and complexities.
Grim results in study of native fish ‘too important to lose’
Scientists say the Murray cod has disappeared from parts of the Darling-Baaka River and bringing it back may not be possible.
Chalmers warns gas giants they’re being watched as high prices halt plant
Manufacturer Causmag International is being asked to pay more than three times the capped price, prompting it to suspend production of its main product, magnesium oxide.
Gas price caps haven’t been silver bullet the Albanese government was hoping for
Industry behaving like a ‘bunch of bullies’ and potentially withholding supply, users say, while producers argue intervention has ‘paralysed the market’
Expanding electric vehicle charging network requires more government funding, advocates say
‘It covers most of Australia but lots of locations only have one or two chargers,’ BP Pulse boss says, as others call for greater public spending to reduce queues
Farmers told to beef up green credentials to trade with Europe
Australian farmers must boost environmental credentials and cut greenhouse emissions if they want to maintain access to the $72 billion export market, Agriculture Minister Murray Watt warns as he jets off for crucial trade talks with the United Kingdom and the European Union.
There’s a cost to Pell’s style of climate denial
Michael Pascoe
There is no evidence that George Pell ever advocated the burning of those he considered heretics, but then again, he was a traditionalist and very much a man of another century.
Bridget Backhaus and Kerrie Foxwell-Norton
As rain poured down and rivers rose, the radio buzzed with static where you’d usually find Fitzroy Crossing’s community radio station, Wangki Yupurnanupurru Radio. The station was off air, but not offline. When they couldn’t broadcast, the Wangki team turned to Facebook to share emergency information.
Liberals can’t win another climate war [$]
Craig Emerson
If Peter Dutton takes the Coalition back to the Abbott era, then more of their seats will tumble to the teals next time.
Albanese has reached a fork in the road on gas [$]
Australian editorial
Eleventh-hour market intervention produces new year hangover.
Intervention may have added to the problem [$]
Joe Kelly
Serious doubts are emerging over the effectiveness of Anthony Albanese’s energy market intervention.
Victoria
Public urged to stay away as two fires continue to burn in Victoria’s far west
Warnings for the fires at Kadnook and Powers Creek have been downgraded but high fire danger ratings are expected tomorrow, worrying authorities.
This Australian state could ban the Nazi salute. Experts say it won’t be easy
Victoria Police says it’s investigating an incident in which a man made a Nazi salute in front of the media as the state government considers adding to its list of prohibited Nazi symbols.
Footscray heritage scheme opens a can of worms
Age editorial
The curious case of Footscray’s postwar heritage offers a welcome opportunity to revive the discussion about land use across Melbourne.
Botanist’s understanding of Australia’s rainforests was unsurpassed
Rob Kooyman
There are people who work in certain fields of endeavour and others who shape their field. Alex Floyd belonged to the latter.
New South Wales
Councils warn of surge in land clearing, biodiversity loss under NSW laws
Local councils have seized on a review of NSW’s native vegetation laws to warn they have triggered a steep increase in land clearing and loss of biodiversity in rural and regional areas.
Narrabri gas project hits legal roadblock [$]
Energy giant Santos has suffered a serious setback in its plan to develop its $3.5bn Narrabri gas project after traditional owners lodged a last-minute legal appeal over native title consent.
10-year-old Tai wants to live in the Pilliga one day. Gomeroi Elders say a $3b gas project could destroy it
The Gamilaraay/Gomeroi community is demanding the federal government cancel the licenses for a massive gas development planned for the New South Wales forest.
ACT
Surviving the hellish fireball in the nation’s capital [$]
It’s the sound which Jennifer and Ian Prosser still remember 20 years after the great fire swept over their home.
‘I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about that day’: Ric’s fire-resistant rebuild [$]
Twenty years after fire turned Ric Hingee’s house at Eildon Place in Duffy to cinders, he is ready for the next one.
Public servants ‘unfairly traduced over 2003 fires’: Ex-chief minister [$]
The chief minister of the ACT during the 2003 bushfires has defended emergency services workers from what he sees as unfair criticism over their response to the disaster.
What did we learn from the 2003 fire? [$]
Canberra Times editorial
Wednesday, January 18, marks the 20th anniversary of the bushfire tragedy that seared the heart and soul of the bush capital and shocked Australia and the world.
Queensland
Severe weather warning for large stretch of North Queensland
A severe weather warning for a large stretch of North Queensland as a powerful weather system hits the region.
Zap to it: Call for companies to jump aboard the $1.3 billion battery boom
A battery industry in Queensland could contribute $1.3 billion in gross value added and generate 9100 jobs by 2030, according to a State Government discussion paper.
Secret life of the bin chicken: Filthy, ugly but perhaps just misunderstood
With filthy feathers, bent beaks and beady black eyes, the ibis is best known as “bin chicken” in the Australian bird world.
National Trust questions future of Brisbane buildings held by Defence
As the Queensland government eyes changes to Roma Street Parklands, the National Trust wants to be involved in the future of the adjacent Victoria Barracks.
Far North community’s call for help as escalating dog attacks become ‘serious concern’
Yarrabah’s council says a bigger animal enforcement team and better access to breeding controls will help curb stray dog populations, after a 51-year-old woman was flown to Cairns following an attack.
South Australia
River Murray flood ‘most significant’ natural disaster in SA history
The River Murray flood is likely to be the most significant natural disaster in South Australia’s history, the Emergency Services Minister says, with further analysis on the extent of the damage to be released in the coming days.
‘More nudity on the beach’: Bare-chested activist vows to protest on [$]
A 70-year-old climate activist who drives a hybrid car and shops at second-hand clothing stores says she will not back down following her arrest during Sunday’s Tour Down Under protest.
New Aboriginal rangers begin work within South Australia’s National Parks and Wildlife Service
The first of 15 Aboriginal rangers have begun their new roles within South Australia’s National Parks and Wildlife Service.
South Australia may lead world in wind and solar, but leaky buildings will cause problems
Alan Pears
Wind, solar and storage cannot address the energy transition cost-effectively without fixing thermally poor buildings and replacing inefficient electric appliances and gas.
Tasmania
Almost a thousand cats have been trapped in a decade by a cat controller enlisted in the fight against feral cats on an island in the Bass Strait.
Activists prepare for battle over duck hunting season [$]
Acting Premier Michael Ferguson said the government had no plans to follow other states and ban duck hunting, after conservation groups on the mainland said recent flooding, especially along the Murray, has hit bird populations there.
Northern Territory
Forrest mulls bid to buy Sun Cable solar farm, ditch Singapore link
Mining magnate Andrew Forrest has declared he still supports Sun Cable’s plans to build a giant solar farm in northern Australia despite a fallout with the project’s other billionaire investor, Mike Cannon-Brookes, over whether to link it to Singapore via a 4200-kilometre underwater cable.
Sustainability
Are gas stoves really dangerous? What we know about the science
New studies are showing just how harmful gas stoves can be, but there are good alternatives to the open flame.
Why should anyone want to eat bugs instead of cows?
Growing interest in insect farming as a source of protein may have you wondering why anyone would want to eat a crunchy creepy-crawly rather than stick with traditional, mooing protein sources.
Genetically modified rice could be key to tackling food shortages caused by climate change
Genetically engineering rice to have better salt tolerance could allow it to be grown in places it would otherwise fail
Our toilets can yield excellent alternatives for widespread polluting fertilizers
Scientists show that the yield of cabbages grown on soils supplied with two modern nitrified urine fertilizers recycled from human urine is approximately equal to the yield when soils are fertilized with commercial vinasse.
Chart: Here’s why everyone is freaking out over gas stoves this week
Maria Virginia Olano
The performative outrage over a nonexistent ban on gas stoves is overblown. The clear proof of the harmful health impacts of fossil gas isn’t.
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