Emails obtained by daily newspaper the Guardian show how NSW premier Dominic Perrottet’s advisers, along with several other ministers, sought to fast-track a bill targeting climate protests after media furore. It’s the bill that led to climate activist Violet Coco being jailed for 15 months. The documents reveal how the governor, Margaret Beazley, agreed to return to her office about 11pm after a function in April to sign off on the laws after a senior public servant complained he was “copping it from absolutely every direction”. But the sentencing of Coco on Friday to a minimum of eight months’ jail for a protest on Sydney’s Harbour Bridge in April has sparked a renewed push for the laws to be repealed. Both the government and opposition dismissed criticisms on Monday, with Perrottet saying the jail sentence was “pleasing to see”.
Australian businesses are more likely to wind back efforts to cut carbon emissions when the economy slows than their global counterparts, a survey of 700 firms in 14 nations has found. However, Deloitte’s gauge of private companies with annual turnover of between $US250m-$US10bn ($A366m-$A14.6bn) also found about two-thirds of the 50 Australian executives surveyed supported new regulations and a crackdown on so-called greenwashing, both higher than the global average.
The Clean Energy Council has revealed its six remedies as energy ministers prepare to gather to argue over the imposition of price caps on coal and gas supplies as the federal government struggles to find answers to the fossil fuel price hit on consumers. CEC chief executive says the focus should be on reforms that will rebuild consumer confidence in energy markets – shattered by the steep rise in energy bills – and help bring household prices down. “Short-term, this [high coal and gas prices] is a matter for the government to negotiate with those responsible for Australia’s energy crisis – the fossil fuel industry,”
Documents reveal ‘scramble’ to rubber-stamp NSW bill targeting climate protests
The bill that led to climate activist Deanna ‘Violet’ Coco being jailed for 15 months had not even made it through the New South Wales parliament in April when the offices of multiple ministers were pushing to have it rubber-stamped by the state’s governor. Documents obtained by the Guardian reveal how the governor, Margaret Beazley, agreed to return to her office about 11pm after a function in April to sign off on the laws after a senior public servant complained he was “copping it from absolutely every direction”. The late-night signoff capped a mad scramble to push the laws through state parliament after a media furore over climate protests that had stalled Sydney peak hour traffic and halted operations at the Port Botany.
Many Australian businesses will scale back climate action when economy slows, survey finds
Australian businesses are more likely to wind back efforts to cut carbon emissions when the economy slows than their global counterparts, a survey of 700 firms in 14 nations has found. However, Deloitte’s gauge of private companies with annual turnover of between $US250m-$US10bn ($A366m-$A14.6bn) also found about two-thirds of the 50 Australian executives surveyed supported new regulations and a crackdown on so-called greenwashing, both higher than the global average.
Long term fix to fossil fuel crisis is faster switch to renewables, not price caps
Australia’s energy crisis has been brought about by its continued reliance on fossil fuels and a lack of infrastructure planning and could be solved with six remedies that focus on a faster switch to renewables. The Clean Energy Council has revealed its six remedies as energy ministers prepare to gather to argue over the imposition of price caps on coal and gas supplies as the federal government struggles to find answers to the fossil fuel price hit on consumers. CEC chief executive says the focus should be on reforms that will rebuild consumer confidence in energy markets – shattered by the steep rise in energy bills – and help bring household prices down. “Short-term, this [high coal and gas prices] is a matter for the government to negotiate with those responsible for Australia’s energy crisis – the fossil fuel industry.”
No cheap or easy fix for high energy prices
The first was the prediction that electricity prices would rise by 56 percent in the next two years and that gas prices would increase by 40 percent. The second was the failure to predict any improvement to the underlying cash balance across the four years of the forward estimates. This last point didn’t receive the attention it deserved. Budgets typically announce current bad news on deficits but assure us that things will improve. This was the tactic employed by Wayne Swan as Labor treasurer, and by many others.
How a 1-in-5,000year flood wiped out a town in minutes
Eugowra, nestled in the Lachlan Valley 300 kilometres west of Sydney, was almost wiped off the map by what has been described as a “tsunami”, “waves” and a “wall of water”.The severity of the catastrophic flash flood on November 14 came with little warning to those who fled for their lives. The burning question most locals have asked in the wake of the disaster is: Where did this extreme flash flood come from? Generally, there has been heightened flood risks across the country due to the third consecutive La Niña event Australia is experiencing. University of NSW hydrologist Ashish Sharma says this, along with climate change more generally, has exacerbated the long-lasting flood emergency in the NSW central west. ABC made an intense photo and video report about what happened in Eugowra from hour to hour.
ExxonMobil brings forward Bass Strait budget review as price caps loom
US energy giant ExxonMobil has drastically shortened the investment cycle for its gas operations in the Bass Strait, from six to 12 months, for the first time in its 50-year history because of the looming threat of federal government intervention in the energy market. As the Albanese government finalises a plan to tame soaring power and gas bills facing consumers across the eastern seaboard, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has indicated his preferred market intervention is to impose caps on the prices that coal and gas producers can charge local buyers. A decision on the price caps could be made as early as this week.
Power price hikes to be ‘extremely awful’ or ‘horrifying’
Whatever Anthony Albanese achieves when he eventually meets his state and territory counterparts at the delayed national cabinet, it is unlikely to result in lower household energy prices. The best we should hope for, observers told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, is that future price hikes might not be as bad as they otherwise would have been.
Why hybrid car sales are racing ahead
More Australians are choosing eco-friendly vehicles for their next ride, with sales figures revealing low-emission cars are soaring in popularity. It's not high-profile electric cars racking up the greatest sales though, but hybrid vehicles that combine battery and fuel technology. Hybrid vehicles have become so popular in Australia they now make up more than one in every three cars sold by Toyota. But experts say the trend may be a "halfway" measure in Australia's transition to a more environmentally friendly fleet, and a result of overdue electric vehicle policies.