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Illegal renting practice to be hauled over the coals

<p dir="ltr">Both Labor and Liberal politicians have backed calls to reform the NSW rental market and rental practices.</p> <p dir="ltr">As the property crisis deepens amid rising rents and dwindling stock, rental bidding in particular has been highlighted as a major issue although the practice is banned in Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland.</p> <p dir="ltr">However, in NSW, agents and landlords can advertise properties without a fixed rate, or just list a range. The practice creates a situation where applicants can opt to pay high rent, outbidding those who can’t afford to.</p> <p dir="ltr">This comes as vacancy rates have dipped to levels not seen since 2003, while prices have increased by 3.2%, recent data has revealed.</p> <p dir="ltr">Speaking with The Daily Telegraph, Fair Trading Minister Victor Dominello said the Department of Fair Trading are currently preparing for a complete overhaul.</p> <p dir="ltr">“This is obviously an area where vulnerable people are exposed and needs reform,” he said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I have asked my agency to investigate and come back with recommendations.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Speaking to Mr Dominello on Monday morning, <a href="https://www.2gb.com/fair-trading-minister-condemns-dodgy-real-estate-agents/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2GB’s Chris Smith</a> claimed “dodgy real estate agents” were part of the reason NSW residents are pressured to spend so much to secure a rental property.</p> <p dir="ltr">Mr Dominello said that while some landlords have been forced to increase rents due to rising interest rates, the underlying issue comes down to a lack of rental properties being offered.</p> <p dir="ltr">“That’s the heart of it. It’s supply and demand,” he told Smith.</p> <p dir="ltr">Shadow Minister for Water, Housing and Homelessness Rose Jackson also condemned the trend and welcomed a review into the practice.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: Shutterstock</em></p>

Real Estate

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‘This case has made legal history’: young Australians just won a human rights case against an enormous coal mine

<p>In a <a href="https://www.sclqld.org.au/caselaw/QLC/2022/21" target="_blank" rel="noopener">historic ruling</a>, a Queensland court has said the massive Clive Palmer-owned Galilee Basin coal project should not go ahead because of its contribution to climate change, its environmental impacts, and because it would erode human rights.</p> <p><a href="https://theconversation.com/these-young-queenslanders-are-taking-on-clive-palmers-coal-company-and-making-history-for-human-rights-138732" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The case</a> was mounted in 2020 by a First Nations-led group of young people aged 13 to 30 called Youth Verdict. It was the first time human rights arguments were used in a climate change case in Australia.</p> <p>The link between human rights and climate change is being increasingly recognised overseas. In September this year, for example, a United Nations <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-violated-the-rights-of-torres-strait-islanders-by-failing-to-act-on-climate-change-the-un-says-heres-what-that-means-191329" target="_blank" rel="noopener">committee decided</a> that by failing to adequately address the climate crisis, Australia’s Coalition government violated the human rights of Torres Strait Islanders.</p> <p>Youth Verdict’s success today builds on this momentum. It heralds a new era for climate change cases in Australia by youth activists, who have been frustrated with the absence of meaningful federal government policy.</p> <h2>1.58 billion tonnes of emissions</h2> <p>The Waratah Coal mine operation <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/the-first-nations-group-fighting-clive-palmers-mining-project/6xbg2e81w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">proposes to</a> extract up to 40 million tonnes of coal from the Galilee Basin each year, over the next 25 years. This would <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/25/court-finds-clive-palmers-queensland-coalmine-will-harm-future-generations-in-landmark-climate-ruling?CMP=share_btn_tw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">produce</a> 1.58 billion tonnes of carbon emissions, and is <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-12-05/galilee-basin-farmers-object-to-palmer-mine/11764540" target="_blank" rel="noopener">four times more</a> coal extraction than Adani’s operation.</p> <p>While the project has already received approval at the federal government level, it also needs a state government mining lease and environmental authority to go ahead. Today, Queensland land court President Fleur Kingham has recommended to the state government that both entitlements be refused.</p> <p>In making this recommendation, Kingham reflected on how the global landscape has changed since the Paris Agreement in 2015, <a href="https://theconversation.com/carmichael-mine-jumps-another-legal-hurdle-but-litigants-are-making-headway-69423" target="_blank" rel="noopener">and since the last major challenge</a> to a mine in Queensland in 2016: Adani’s Carmichael mine.</p> <p>She drew a clear link between the mining of this coal, its ultimate burning by a third party overseas, and the project’s material contribution to global emissions. She concluded that the project poses “unacceptable” climate change risks to people and property in Queensland.</p> <p>The Queensland <a href="https://www.legislation.qld.gov.au/view/html/asmade/act-2019-005" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Human Rights Act</a> requires a decision-maker to weigh up whether there is any justifiable reason for limiting a human right, which could incorporate a consideration of new jobs. Kingham decided the importance of preserving the human rights outweighed the potential A$2.5 billion of economic benefits of the proposed mine.</p> <p>From a legal perspective, I believe there are four reasons in particular this case is so significant.</p> <h2>1. Rejecting an entrenched assumption</h2> <p>A major barrier to climate change litigation in Queensland has been the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/landmark-rocky-hill-ruling-could-pave-the-way-for-more-courts-to-choose-climate-over-coal-111533" target="_blank" rel="noopener">market substitution assumption</a>”, also known as the “perfect substitution argument”. This is the assertion that a particular mine’s contribution to climate change is net zero, because if that mine doesn’t supply coal, then another will.</p> <p>Kingham rejected this argument. She noted that the economic benefits of the proposed project are uncertain with long-term <a href="https://www.iea.org/news/world-energy-outlook-2022-shows-the-global-energy-crisis-can-be-a-historic-turning-point-towards-a-cleaner-and-more-secure-future" target="_blank" rel="noopener">global demand</a> for thermal coal set to decline. She observed that there’s a real prospect the mine might not be viable for its projected life, rebutting the market substitution assumption.</p> <p>This is an enormous victory for environmental litigants as this was a previously entrenched argument in Australia’s legal system and policy debate.</p> <h2>2. Evidence from First Nations people</h2> <p><a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/on-country-evidence-in-landmark-case-against-clive-palmers-coal-project/6eiueghuy" target="_blank" rel="noopener">It was also the first time</a> the court took on-Country evidence from First Nations people in accordance with their traditional protocols. Kingham and legal counsel travelled to Gimuy (around Cairns) and Traditional Owners showed how climate change has directly harmed their Country.</p> <p>As Youth Verdict co-director and First Nations lead Murrawah Johnson <a href="https://www.edo.org.au/2022/04/20/landmark-hearing-into-clive-palmers-galilee-coal-project-legal-challenge-begins/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">put it</a>:</p> <p><em>We are taking this case against Clive Palmer’s Waratah Coal mine because climate change threatens all of our futures. For First Nations peoples, climate change is taking away our connection to Country and robbing us of our cultures which are grounded in our relationship to our homelands.</em></p> <p><em>Climate change will prevent us from educating our young people in their responsibilities to protect Country and deny them their birth rights to their cultures, law, lands and waters.</em></p> <p>This decision reflects the court’s deep engagement with First Nations’ arguments, in considering the impacts of climate change on First Nations people.</p> <h2>3. The human rights implications</h2> <p>In yet another Australian first, the court heard submissions on the human rights implications of the mine.</p> <p>The Land Court of Queensland has a unique jurisdiction in these matters, because it makes a recommendation, rather than a final judgment. This recommendation must be taken into account by the final decision-makers – in this case, the Queensland resources minister, and the state Department of Environment and Science.</p> <p><a href="https://archive.sclqld.org.au/qjudgment/2020/QLC20-033.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In an earlier proceeding</a>, Kingham found the land court itself is subject to obligations under Queensland’s Human Rights Act. This means she must properly consider whether a decision to approve the mine would limit human rights and if so, whether limits to those human rights can be demonstrably justified.</p> <p>Kingham found approving the mine would contribute to climate change impacts, which would limit:</p> <ul> <li>the right to life</li> <li>the cultural rights of First Nations peoples</li> <li>the rights of children</li> <li>the right to property and to privacy and home</li> <li>the right to enjoy human rights equally.</li> </ul> <p>Internationally, there are <a href="https://theconversation.com/mass-starvation-extinctions-disasters-the-new-ipcc-reports-grim-predictions-and-why-adaptation-efforts-are-falling-behind-176693" target="_blank" rel="noopener">clear links</a> made between climate change and human rights. For example, climate change is worsening heatwaves, risking a greater number of <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-hot-is-too-hot-for-the-human-body-our-lab-found-heat-humidity-gets-dangerous-faster-than-many-people-realize-185593" target="_blank" rel="noopener">deaths</a>, thereby affecting the right to life.</p> <h2>4. A victory for a nature refuge</h2> <p>Kingham also considered the environmental impacts of the proposed mine on the <a href="https://bimblebox.org/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bimblebox Nature Refuge</a> – 8,000 hectares semi-arid woodland, home to a recorded 176 bird species, in the Galilee Basin.</p> <p>She deemed these impacts unacceptable, as “the ecological values of Bimblebox [could be] seriously and possibly irreversibly damaged”.</p> <p>She also observed that the costs of climate change to people in Queensland have not been fully accounted for, nor have the costs of mining on the Bimblebox Nature Refuge. Further, she found the mine would violate Bimblebox Alliance’s right to family and home.</p> <h2>Making history</h2> <p>This case has made legal history. It is the first time a Queensland court has recommended refusal of a coal mine on climate change grounds, and the first case linking human rights and climate change in Australia. As Kingham concluded:</p> <blockquote> <p>Approving the application would risk disproportionate burdens for future generations, which does not give effect to the goal of intergenerational equity.</p> </blockquote> <p>The future of the project remains unclear. But in a year marked by climate-related disasters, the land court’s decision offers a ray of hope that Queensland may start to leave coal in the ground.</p> <p><strong>This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-case-has-made-legal-history-young-australians-just-won-a-human-rights-case-against-an-enormous-coal-mine-195350" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.</strong></p> <p><em>Image: The Conversation</em></p>

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Breathtaking wilderness in the heart of coal country: after a 90-year campaign, Gardens of Stone is finally protected

<p>In the rocky upland wilderness of Wiradjuri Country two hours west of Sydney lies a new protected area with a <a href="https://www.nature.org.au/a_history_of_the_gardens_of_stone_campaign">nine-decade-long history</a> of dogged environmental activism: the Gardens of Stone.</p> <p>Last month, the New South Wales government <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/bill/files/3928/First%20Print.pdf">officially recognised</a> the Gardens of Stone as a State Conservation Area within the National Parks estate. <a href="https://www.nature.org.au/a_history_of_the_gardens_of_stone_campaign">First proposed in 1932</a> and with a small portion of the area designated as National Park in 1994, this decision will see more than 30,000 hectares finally protected.</p> <p>The government has also earmarked the region <a href="https://mattkean.com.au/news/media-release/gardens-stone-and-lost-city-adventures">for ecotourism</a>. With its epic gorges, the globally unique hanging swamps of Newnes Plateau, craggy cliff ravines and slot canyons, this 250-million-year-old geological landscape is a paradise for adventurers.</p> <p>But more than anything, the Gardens of Stone is, as stalwart campaigner Julie Favell puts it, a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/13/storybook-of-nature-a-landmark-win-as-gardens-of-stone-in-nsws-blue-mountains-protected">storybook of nature</a>”. This is no simple story, but one of a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0301421518302489">generational mining community</a> on the brink of social change and an often thankless, hard-won battle for ecological recognition in the heart of coal country.</p> <h2>Sandstone towers and rare wildlife</h2> <p>Towering sandstone and iron-banded <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNcceomLvs0&amp;ab_channel=IntotheWildFilms">pagoda formations</a> are what you’d most likely find on a Gardens of Stone postcard. These intricately weathered structures breach the eucalyptus canopy and cluster on a cliff, like a cross between the temples of Angkor Wat and a massive beehive complex.</p> <p><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MNcceomLvs0?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe> <span class="caption">The Lost City, Newnes Plateau, in Lithgow.</span></p> <p>For close and curious observers, there are also smaller, less dramatic icons. Rare wildflowers abound, including countless native orchids and the pagoda daisy, which grows only in rocky crags. In fact, the park is home to more than 40 threatened species, including the <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10841">regent honeyeater</a> and the <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10207">spotted-tail quoll</a>.</p> <p>A humble jewel of the Gardens of Stone is its endangered upland peat swamps. Resembling a meadow clearing, up close these swamps form watery spongescapes that function as both kitchen and nursery to hundreds of local species. Inhabitants include the endangered <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10322">Blue Mountains water-skink</a> and <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspeciesapp/profile.aspx?id=10600&amp;linkId=99343958">giant dragonfly</a>.</p> <p>These upland swamps on sandstone are found nowhere else in the world, and they play a critical role in <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09640568.2019.1679100">regional water and climate resilience</a>, as they store carbon and mediate flooding and drought.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434647/original/file-20211130-19-16t5mk1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434647/original/file-20211130-19-16t5mk1.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Pagoda daisy, which grows nowhere else in Australia.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julie Favell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></p> <h2>A rocky battle</h2> <p>The environmental features of the Gardens of Stone are so intertwined with local, state and national conservation efforts that to tell the story of one is to tell the story of the other.</p> <p>Local environment groups have worked relentlessly to <a href="https://ro.uow.edu.au/scipapers/3063/">demonstrate the geological heritage</a> of the pagodas in the <a href="https://www.bluemountainsgazette.com.au/story/5067592/threat-to-gardens-of-stone-from-proposed-open-cut-mining/">face of open cut mining</a>. They have documented the impacts of mining on <a href="http://www.lithgowenvironment.org/pages/swamp%20watch.php">swamps and waterways</a>, tried to <a href="https://www.lithgowmercury.com.au/story/5268473/springvale-fined-for-damage-to-vegetation-in-endangered-swampland/">hold companies accountable</a> for their destruction, and recorded the presence of <a href="http://www.lithgowenvironment.org/pages/flora%20and%20fauna%201.php">many hundreds</a> of previously undocumented plant and animal species in an effort to have the area’s value formally recognised.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434649/original/file-20211130-17-1wc5fr7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434649/original/file-20211130-17-1wc5fr7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Gooches Crater swamp, ringed by cliffs and pagodas.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julie Favell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></p> <p>This long campaign has also been the subject of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-02/springvale-mine-extension-blocked-in-court/8766742">legal battles</a> in the courts of NSW. The last two decades in particular have seen, for example, countless petitions, <a href="https://gggallery.com.au/anne-graham-2/">public events</a>, <a href="http://www.lithgowenvironment.org/pages/stream%20watch.php">environmental testing and monitoring projects</a>, and the task of sifting through technical mining documents with each new mining proposal.</p> <p>Two mines are currently in operation within the conservation area, with an extension to an <a href="https://www.centennialcoal.com.au/operations/angus-place/">existing site proposed</a>. The most significant impacts from mining in recent decades have been sandstone cracking, causing swamps to dry out and die, and disruptions to upland water flows and regional water quality.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434651/original/file-20211130-15-13m3pgj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434651/original/file-20211130-15-13m3pgj.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Lithgow Environment Group’s Chris Jonkers in a swamp damaged from nearby mining.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julie Favell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></p> <p>Conserving the Gardens of Stone has been an uphill battle in overcoming indifference and opposition.</p> <p>At the local level, environmental impacts from mining were <a href="https://www.lithgowmercury.com.au/story/2318819/mining-industry-again-a-target/">derided as inconsequential</a> in the face of mining employment, with campaigners bearing the brunt of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/nov/13/storybook-of-nature-a-landmark-win-as-gardens-of-stone-in-nsws-blue-mountains-protected">distrust and hostility</a> from pro-coal locals towards their perceived interference.</p> <p>At the state level, hard-won environmental protections <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2017/oct/10/nsw-to-weaken-water-quality-test-for-extensions-to-mines">were overthrown in favour of mining approvals</a>. In 2017, the NSW government weakened laws to allow mining extensions that impacted Sydney’s drinking water quality, with <a href="https://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/topics/animals-and-plants/threatened-species/nsw-threatened-species-scientific-committee/determinations/final-determinations/2004-2007/alteration-of-habitat-following-subsidence-due-to-longwall-mining-key-threatening-process-listing">likely damage</a> to legally protected swamps within the Gardens of Stone not addressed.</p> <p>Due to existing mining developments, the extended Gardens of Stone isn’t officially designated as a National Park, but is instead a “<a href="https://www.nationalparks.nsw.gov.au/conservation-and-heritage/state-conservation-areas">conservation area</a>”. This means any new developments, such as extensions to mines, must use processes <a href="https://www.lithgowmercury.com.au/story/7368602/centennial-coal-propose-new-project-to-delight-of-environmentalists/">that support</a> conservation requirements.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434655/original/file-20211130-21-1e6u2x3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434655/original/file-20211130-21-1e6u2x3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Spotted-tail quolls are one of the rare species living in the Gardens of Stone.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></p> <h2>Transitioning away from coal</h2> <p>Hopefully, encouraging responsible developments will avoid further <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-30/gardens-of-stone-conservation-proposal/100103246">ecological damage</a> and help enable a smoother economic transition away from coal in the coming decades.</p> <p>Despite Australia’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/11/11/coal-mining-australia-climate-cop26/">national climate strategy</a> remaining entrenched in coal, <a href="https://www.lithgowmercury.com.au/story/7291551/angus-place-in-doubt-after-parent-company-pivots-to-clean-energy-future/">local coal</a> prospects are winding down. This seems heralded by <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-24/wallerawang-coal-demolition/100643694">last week’s demolition of Wallerawang Power Station</a> just outside the new conservation area.</p> <p>The new conservation area comes with a A$50 million investment, and will see hundreds of thousands of visitors flocking to explore a range of proposed new attractions. Chief among these will be the Lost City Adventure Experience, featuring Australia’s longest zipline and an elevated canyon walk, as well as a rock-climbing route and a six day wilderness track. These attractions are expected to create an extra 200 jobs.</p> <p>This new pivot towards ecotourism provides an example of a strategic and environmentally just transition pathway for the coal community in practice.</p> <p><a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434653/original/file-20211130-23-12arbsv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434653/original/file-20211130-23-12arbsv.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip" alt="" /></a> <span class="caption">Pagodas at Newnes in the Gardens of Stone.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Julie Favell</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></p> <p>The Gardens of Stone victory may reflect a <a href="https://www.lithgowmercury.com.au/story/5577143/mundey-cfmeu-conservationists-talk-39000-hectare-state-reserve/">new dawn of negotiation</a> that could mark an end to the often antagonistic view of conservation as a threat to local livelihoods in this area.</p> <p>This victory and vision belongs squarely with its environmental campaigners, some of whom have <a href="https://www.nature.org.au/a_history_of_the_gardens_of_stone_campaign">given over 30 years of sustained and dedicated effort</a> to make it a reality.</p> <p>As the world’s attention is increasingly turned towards climate action, the success of this campaign may provide the surge of momentum we need for a more sustainable future.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172503/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/hannah-della-bosca-416132">Hannah Della Bosca</a>, PhD Candidate and Research Assistant at Sydney Environment Institute, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-sydney-841">University of Sydney</a></em></span></p> <p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/breathtaking-wilderness-in-the-heart-of-coal-country-after-a-90-year-campaign-gardens-of-stone-is-finally-protected-172503">original article</a>.</p>

Domestic Travel

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Prime Minister demands confirmation of China coal ban

<p>Prime Minister Scott Morrison is demanding confirmation on whether or not China has banned Australian coal, issuing a warning that the world is keeping a close eye on the escalating trade dispute.</p> <p>The Australian government has not received formal notification of the coal ban, instead finding out through Chinese state-owned media.</p> <p>Authorities in Australia are now rushing to stack up the reports.</p> <p>"Until we are in a position to have that clarified then we can only treat this as media speculation," Mr Morrison told reporters on Tuesday.</p> <p>"If that were the case, then that would obviously be in breach of WTO rules, it would be obviously in breach of our free trade agreement, and so we would hope that is certainly not the case."</p> <p>Mr Morrison has said if China has banned Australian coal, then they are at a loss, as they will need to source dirtier coal from other countries.</p> <p>He said other countries are currently watching the dispute, warning China would create uncertainty if it conflated trades and diplomatic disputes.</p> <p>"If a perception emerges that there is a conflation between political issues and a trading relationship then that can create uncertainty for many trading partners," Mr Morrison said.</p> <p>"I'm sure that isn't something China is hoping to achieve here."</p> <p>He pointed out India and Japan were also large buyers of Australian coal, saying the industry has a diverse customer base.</p> <p>According to Trade Minister Simon Birmingham, the reports are concerning.</p> <p>Dozens of ships carrying Aussie coal are currently stranded off the coast of China for months due to supposed environmental problems.</p> <p>But overnight, The Global Times reported Chinese power plants had been directed to stop taking Australian coal.</p> <p>"We see these reports and obviously are deeply troubled by them," Senator Birmingham said.</p> <p>"They, if true, would indicate discriminatory trade practices being deployed by Chinese authorities and we would urge them to rule that out swiftly."</p>

News

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Global emissions to hit 36.8 billion tonnes – beating last year’s record high

<p>Global emissions for 2019 are predicted to hit 36.8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂), setting yet another all-time record. This disturbing result means emissions have grown by 62% since international climate negotiations began in 1990 to address the problem.</p> <p>The figures are contained in the Global Carbon Project, which today released its <a href="https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget/">14th Global Carbon Budget</a>.</p> <p>Digging into the numbers, however, reveals a silver lining. While overall carbon emissions continue to rise, the rate of growth is about two-thirds lower than in the previous two years.</p> <p>Driving this slower growth is an extraordinary decline in coal emissions, particularly in the United States and Europe, and growth in renewable energy globally.</p> <p>A less positive component of this emissions slowdown, however, is that a lower global economic growth has contributed to it. Most concerning yet is the very robust and stable upward trends in emissions from oil and natural gas.</p> <p><strong>Coal is king, but losing steam</strong></p> <p>The burning of coal continues to dominate CO₂ emissions and was responsible for 40% of all fossil fuel emissions in 2018, followed by oil (34%) and natural gas (20%). However, coal emissions reached their highest levels in 2012 and have remained slightly lower since then. Emissions have been declining at an annual average of 0.5% over the past five years to 2018.</p> <p>In 2019, we project a further decline in global coal CO₂ emissions of around 0.9%. This decline is due to large falls of 10% in both the US and the European Union, and weak growth in China (0.8%) and India (2%).</p> <p>The US has announced the closure of more than 500 coal-fired power plants over the past decade, while the UK’s electricity sector has gone from 40% coal-based power in 2012 to 5% in 2018.</p> <p>Whether coal emissions reached a true peak in 2012 or will creep back up will depend largely on the trajectory of coal use in China and India. Despite this uncertainty, the strong upward trend from the past has been broken and is unlikely to return.</p> <p><strong>Oil and natural gas grow unabated</strong></p> <p>CO₂ emissions from oil and natural gas in particular have grown robustly for decades and show no signs of slowing down. In fact, while emissions growth from oil has been fairly steady over the past decade at 1.4% a year, emissions from natural gas have grown almost twice as fast at 2.4% a year, and are estimated to further accelerate to 2.6% in 2019. Natural gas is the single largest contributor to this year’s increase in global CO₂ emissions.</p> <p>This uptick in natural gas consumption is driven by a range of factors. New, “unconventional” methods of extracting natural gas in the US have increased production. This boom is in part replacing coal for electricity generation.</p> <p>In Japan, natural gas is filling the void left by nuclear power after the Fukushima disaster. In most of the rest of the world, new natural gas capacity is primarily filling new energy demand.</p> <p>Oil emissions, on the other hand, are largely being driven by the rapidly growing transport sector. This is increasing across land, sea and air, but is dominated by road transport.</p> <p>Australia’s emissions have also seen significant reductions from coal sources over the past decade, while emissions from oil and natural gas have grown rapidly and are driving the country’s overall growth in fossil CO₂ emissions.</p> <p><strong>Emissions from deforestation</strong></p> <p>Preliminary estimates for 2019 show that global emissions from deforestation, fires and other land-use changes reached 6 billion tonnes of CO₂ – about 0.8 billion tonnes above 2018 levels. The additional emissions largely come from elevated fire and deforestation activity in the Amazon and Southeast Asia.</p> <p>The accelerated loss of forests in 2019 not only leads to higher emissions, but reduces the capacity of vegetation to act as a “sink” removing CO₂ from the atmosphere. This is deeply concerning, as the world’s oceans and plants absorb about half of all CO₂ emissions from human activities. They are one of our most effective buffers against even higher CO₂ concentrations in the atmosphere, and must be safeguarded. Not all sinks can be managed by people – the open ocean sink being an example – but land-based sinks can be actively protected by preventing deforestation and degradation, and further enhanced by ecosystem restoration and reforestation.</p> <p><em>Written by Pep Canadell, Corinne Le Quéré, Glen Peters, Pierre Friedlingstein, Robbie Andrew, Rob Jackson and Vanessa Haverd. Republished with permission of <a href="https://theconversation.com/global-emissions-to-hit-36-8-billion-tonnes-beating-last-years-record-high-128113">The Conversation.</a> </em></p>

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Alan Jones has harsh words for climate strike schoolkids

<p>Controversial radio host Alan Jones is back at it again, as he has ripped into the climate change marchers.</p> <p>Jones has said that if they truly believe what they’re saying, they should “turn off their mobile phones” and walk to school.</p> <p>“People are waking up,” he said on his breakfast show this morning, referring to the large number of comments and pageviews <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/climate-strike-children-could-solve-the-crisis-if-they-got-off-their-electronic-devices/news-story/721e16e65a1dc85a4f008032d627a9da" target="_blank">on an opinion piece</a> he penned for Tuesday’s <em>Daily Telegraph</em> headlined, “Climate strike children could solve the crisis if they got off their electronic devices”.</p> <p>He read out an email he received from a teenager from England, who was criticising the piece.</p> <p>“He was taking me to task for my criticism of the climate change strike,” Jones said.</p> <p>“He wrote, in part, ‘Your generation is in denial of the chaos you’ve caused. Ridiculing my generation for wanting change is not OK. My generation is not the generation that started using obscene amounts of fossil fuel.</p> <p>Jones continued reading out the letter.</p> <p>“My generation is not the generation that used private jets to fly places. My generation is the generation that’s turning to veganism and obtaining sustainable clothes from charity shops. We’re the generation striking every month just to save our planet. I’m sorry that we want to fix the problems your generation have caused’.”</p> <p>Jones said that would “be fine if it were true”.</p> <p>“Basically, the argument here is carbon dioxide is the problem. Coal-fired power emits carbon dioxide, therefore we must stop producing electricity from coal-fired power,” he said.</p> <p>“Well, if that’s the case, and that’s what the young people are about, then shouldn’t they turn off their mobile phones? Shouldn’t they stop charging their iPads? Shouldn’t they stop watching Netflix? Because all of that is using the same coal-fired power. Shouldn’t they in fact be walking to school? Shouldn’t they at the end of the day say, ‘Mum, you’ll have to turn off the washing machine. We’ll wash our clothes by hand. And you’ll have to turn off the TV’.”</p> <p>Jones went onto quote Bjorn Lomborg, Danish author and president of the Copenhagen Consensus Centre think tank, who has argued previously that climate change is an important issue but steps need to be taken to ensure “the cure isn’t more painful than the disease”.</p> <p>“In addition, the Paris Agreement on climate change will cost the world from $US1 trillion to $US2 trillion a year by 2030. (Lomborg) says, ‘Astonishingly, neither of these hugely expensive policies will have any measurable impact on temperatures. Despite costing a fortune, the Paris Agreement will have no impact on climate temperatures’.”</p> <p>“As for us creating this problem to which the young man alludes, and it’s my generation in denial, on a global scale humanity will be much better off including in Africa in a scenario of high fossil fuel use than it would even if we succeeded in achieving a benign low carbon dioxide world,” Jones said.</p> <p>“To the young man I’d say, Bjorn Lomborg says, ‘Doom and gloom distorts our world view and can lead to bad policy. The future is bright, and we need smart decisions to keep it so’.”</p> <p>Jones comments came after 16-year-old Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has delivered a<span> </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://o60.me/fH0MHG" target="_blank">powerful and passionate speech<span> </span></a>to the United Nations.</p>

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“Could you explain that for me?” Waleed Aly grills Anthony Albanese on climate change and Adani coal mine

<p>Labor’s potential new leader Anthony Albanese has deflected a question about how his party will reconcile its climate change policy with coal mining jobs.</p> <p>The Labor Party lost the federal election after its primary support in Queensland dropped to just 27.4 per cent, reaching a record low since 1996 when John Howard defeated Paul Keating.</p> <p>According to <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-19/election-results-how-labor-lost-queensland/11122998" target="_blank">observers</a>, Labor’s inability to negotiate its environmental agenda with its support for the multi-million-dollar Adani coal mine project led voters in key Queensland seats to opt for the LNP for better job security.</p> <p>Albanese, who could run unopposed as the new Labor leader after Chris Bowen left the race, said Labor would have “common sense propositions” under his leadership.</p> <p>“Labor has to stand for jobs, economic growth, good distribution when it comes to social policy and to stand up for the environment and climate change,” he said on<em> </em><em>The Project</em> Wednesday night. “I don't think there's a contradiction between the two things.”</p> <p><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FTheProjectTV%2Fvideos%2F829861854058236%2F&amp;show_text=0&amp;width=560" width="560" height="315" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p> <p>Host Waleed Aly asked Albanese, “How do you stand up for jobs and the environment if those jobs happen to be in the coal industry?”</p> <p>Albanese dodged the question, saying “good sustainability policy creates jobs”.</p> <p>“Look at the renewable energy target, we introduced a 20 per cent target and that has created many thousands of jobs around Australia,” the frontbencher said.</p> <p>Aly asked whether these jobs would go to coal mine workers, who will presumably lose their jobs as coal production declines.</p> <p>“We have the challenge to explain our position, clearly, we didn't do well enough and we need to engage with our base as well as people who didn't vote for us,” said Albanese.</p> <p>Earlier this month, Albanese slammed the “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/federal-election-2019/they-think-everyone-wants-to-stop-adani-anthony-albanese-slams-left-wing-groupthink-20190509-p51lkn.html">increasingly extreme</a>” groupthink amongst voters that he believes is damaging Australian politics.</p> <p>“There are people in my electorate in the inner west [who] get really angry that I keep getting elected – because the people they speak to, they don’t know anyone who doesn't vote Green,” he said.</p> <p>“They think everyone wants to stop Adani. They think everyone wants particular things. They don’t know where Adani is! They don't! I asked someone the other day and they said, 'It's on the Great Barrier Reef.' Actually, it's not, you know.</p> <p>“The point I made is that not everyone thinks the same on any particular issue, including on this.”</p>

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