End in sight for fossil fuel boom

Australia’s coal miners and gas producers are facing sharp falls in commodity prices this year, ending their extraordinary run of record profits, as a historic global supply crunch continues to ease and an economic slowdown dampens demand.

Traditional owners and green groups in the Northern Territory say a new law is allowing companies exploring for gas to start selling it before they have gone through the approval processes. The groups say the law is putting the community at risk.

Indonesia and Australia are close to signing a joint effort on battery production for electric vehicles, a booming industry now dominated by China, when the countries’ two leaders meet this week.

Top stories:

End in sight for Australia’s fossil fuel revenue boom
A boom in the value of Australia's resources exports is coming to an end amid forecasts that earnings from iron ore, coal, and gas will fall.

Sale of exploratory fracked gas from Beetaloo Basin exposes community to risks, opponents claim
Traditional owners and green groups in the Northern Territory say a new law allowing the sale of exploratory gas puts the community at risk.

Push for Indonesia-Australia EV partnership
Indonesian President Joko Widodo said Indonesia and Australia should be working closely to lead the global electric vehicle revolution given their respective abundant reserves of nickel and lithium.

Australia sides with China, Russia in bid to sink Pacific nations’ climate plan
Australia has been criticised for siding with China and Russia to oppose a popular plan from a group of Pacific Island nations to tackle carbon emissions from the shipping industry.

Bees helping remote Pacific communities in fight against climate change
In one of the world’s most vulnerable places to rising sea levels and other extreme weather events, tens of thousands of honeybees are helping to restore protective ecosystems and rebuild families’ incomes in their fight against the climate crisis.

Fiji beaches and reefs are adored worldwide. But this scientist says we need 'assisted evolution' to keep them alive
A new light-projecting tool to identify heat-resistant coral in Fiji is transforming the way researchers rejuvenate the reef for future generations. 

New Zealand says it's the first to ban thin plastic bags from supermarkets
The government is expanding a campaign against single-use plastics that it started in 2019, when it banned the thicker plastic shopping bags that customers used to carry home their grocery items.

Humpback whale buried in NSW dunes after stranding on Seven Mile beach
A 30-tonne humpback whale has been buried in the dunes behind where it beached and died on Seven Mile beach at Lennox Head on the New South Wales north coast.

As Queensland strives to lower emissions, what does it mean for all that coal?
As Queensland continues to take a bold leap forward on renewable energy over the next decade, it is no small irony that revenue from coal is doing much of the heavy lifting to pay for the transition.