Scott Morrison on climate change: he just doesn’t “get it
Morrison’s condescending response to kids and climate https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/morrison,13153 By Graeme McLeay | 29 September 2019 The best you can say about Prime Minister Scott Morrison is that he doesn’t get it.He and his conservative colleagues in the Coalition do not understand the science of climate change despite what our own scientists are telling them. The only way to explain his behaviour otherwise is to believe that he is deliberately setting out to deceive us.
First, there was the visit with U.S. President Donald Trump. No one would argue that good relations with the United States are not positive for Australia but his closeness to Trump tells us something about his mindset.
Trump is the President who vowed to revive coal, opened up federal parklands to oil and gas, attempted to reverse Obama’s plan to limit coal pollution and California’s vehicle pollution laws, decimated the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and withdrew from the Paris Agreement.
At least, French President Emmanuel Macron when visiting Trump raised climate change with him as Morrison surely would have if he understood the science.
Then it gets worse. Morrison continues his sojourn in the U.S. visiting an Australian owned cardboard factory while leaving Foreign Minister Marise Payne to attend the UN Climate Conference.
Had he himself gone he might have learned what the IPCC had to say: that in the last five years climate change has accelerated, a matter of some importance to Australia you might think, given the evidence from our own scientists. They tell us heat waves will increase, sea levels will rise, perennial droughts and a more severe bushfire seas. Continue reading
Pacific Island nations urge action on climate change at UN
Lyn Allen and Richard Ledger’s nuclear submission – for the public good
Allen, Lyn and Ledgar, Richard Submission No 30
to the FEDERAL. Inquiry into the prerequisites for nuclear energy in Australia… Extracts “…..there are overwhelming economic, environmental and social reasons why nuclear energy is not an appropriate contributor to Australia’s energy mix.
If Australia is going to move to a sustainable future then we need to concentrate on producing energy from renewable resources. Uranium is not a renewable resource and even more so than coal, uranium mining produces waste that remains toxic for thousands of years.
Additionally, while nuclear power generation does not produce greenhouse gases, greenhouse gases are produced at every step in the process from mining to refinement and building nuclear power generation facilities. Like uranium mines, nuclear power stations expose the community and the environment in which they are built to significant risks ……
The future of Australia’s energy generation should to take advantage of our abundant natural resources such as sun, wind, tidal potential. Nuclear power station are massively expensive to build and take years to complete, whereas wind and solar generators and new storage technology (such as the batteries installed in South Australia) can be developed quickly and relatively inexpensively …
water. Generating nuclear power needs large quantities of water. Given Australia’s climatic conditions, the shortage of water in many of our major river systems,
Many countries around the world that currently use nuclear power are already starting to phase it out in favour of wind and solar generation. Australia can get in front of the energy production business by putting our skills, and efforts into an alternative energy grid that suits our climate, is safe for future generation and takes advantage of ‘free’ sources of energy.
Submission for the public good: to Federal Nuclear Inquiry – Noel Wauchope
Recommendation. There is no need to change Australia’s laws prohibiting nuclear activities. They were devised to protect Australians from the health, and safety risks of nuclear facilities, – far-sighted in that they have saved Australia from the unnecessary expense of a now collapsing industry. Meanwhile Australia is very well placed to put energy and funds into truly modern developments, and could become a world leader in energy efficiency and renewable energy.
To start with, the title of this Inquiry , featuring the word “prerequisite” really makes clear the major issue.
What is the major prerequisite?
Obviously the one important prerequisite is to repeal Australia’s laws banning nuclear activities.
First the Federal Law would have to be repealed. (a1)
Then – State Laws – Victoria’s NUCLEAR ACTIVITIES (PROHIBITIONS) ACT (a2) -and South Australia’s Nuclear Waste Storage Facility (Prohibition) Act 2000 (a3)
(a1) https://www.environment.gov.au/epbc/what-is-protected/nuclear-actions
(a2) http://www8.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdb/au/legis/vic/consol_act/naa1983337/
Once these laws are repealed, then nuclear industry proponents will be free to spend much money on publicising the benefits of the industry. With helpful politicians and press, particularly from the predominant Murdoch media, this will give the industry huge boost. As Australia moves further into drought and water shortages, they will claim that nuclear power is essential to solve climate change. (Even if nuclear power could combat climate change, it would take decades to establish, and by then it would be too late.)
So – that is what the global nuclear industry needs, especially for South Australia, which has specific legislation against spending public money on promoting the nuclear industry .
While Australians have concerns about cost, safety, environment , health, wastes, Aboriginal rights, weapons proliferation etc, I am sure that the nuclear lobby will be able to overcome those hesitations, with an effective programme.
So, I have my doubts that the Terms of Reference matter all that much, but – here goes. I understand that the emphasis in this Inquiry is on Small Modular Nuclear Reactors (SMRs)
a . waste management, transport and storage. Continue reading
Scott Morrison and Donald Trump happily together against climate change action
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Scott Morrison’s decision to spurn the UN climate summit for a Trump rally speaks volumes, https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/2019/09/23/scott-morrison-donald-trump-climate/ Prime Minister Scott Morrison has enthusiastically shared the stage at a Trump rally in the US swing state of Ohio rather than attend the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York.The rally was organised around the opening of Australian cardboard box billionaire Anthony Pratt’s new recycling factory in the regional town of Wapakoneta.
Its timing is probably no coincidence either, as President Donald Trump, like the Prime Minister, was not invited to speak in New York and didn’t want to go anyway. The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Rachel Kyte, said: “He (Mr Guterres) wanted people to come with plans, not speeches.” Those plans had to be about doing more to reduce emissions and combat climate change than had already been promised. Mr Guterres, backed by the latest scientific assessments, is concerned by the fact that what nations promised at the Paris Climate Summit four years ago will fall disastrously short of what is needed to avert a catastrophic rise in global temperatures by 2050. Simply put, if a nation had nothing new to say, it was not welcome to make it to the podium. Our Foreign Minister Marise Payne is reduced to bystander status. At the Ohio Rally, Trump told 1500 cheering supporters that Scott Morrison was supposed to lose the last election, but “he blew ’em away”. And added that the PM did that because “he believes the same things I believe”. Incredibly, given the fact that some 300,000 people rallied for climate change action around Australia – and millions more did the same around the world – climate change wasn’t mentioned during the leaders’ Oval Office love in. “No it didn’t come up” was Morrison’s terse reply to reporters. Even though since achieving the top job, Mr Morrison has said he believes the climate science and is “taking action”, that is not how he is perceived by the American media. CBS Radio commentator Michael Williams, in a live cross from Washington to The Sunday Project, said the two men get on because they both like “free trade and closed borders”. And more to the point, “both are big on climate scepticism”. Williams, like other foreign commentators, hasn’t caught up with the Prime Minister’s rhetorical pivot. Or maybe, like the UN Secretary-General, is judging him on his government’s weak commitments. Though Energy Minister Angus Taylor insists “we are taking strong action and we need to”. Mr Taylor says Australia is overachieving in reaching the commitments we have made. Never mind that a special exemption was given to Australia at Kyoto to keep emitting on the promise to do better later. Our emissions, on the government’s own figures, are continuing to rise. Mr Taylor, like his Prime Minister, has no plans on how to achieve our net zero emissions target by 2050 other than yet-to-be invented technology. Fuel reserve failureIt’s becoming the MO of this government – as they say in police speak of the modus operandi or the usual way suspects commit their crimes – to claim success while failing to really deliver. Another worrying example is its failure to deliver its commitment to the international world-standard minimum of 90 days of fuel reserves. Now in its seventh year, the best the government has done is two to three weeks of fuel reserves. The attack last week on the Saudi oil refinery complex and the disruption this caused could be just a foretaste of the dangers ahead. Mr Taylor claims we are close to 90 days because he is including “stocks on water”. Not even his colleague, Resources Minister Matt Canavan, believes that. He told Sky TV on the weekend “we’ve got roughly on average about 40 days” of reserves. Nero famously fiddled while Rome burned. Pity he seems to be a role model for our leaders in Canberra. Paul Bongiorno AM is a veteran of the Canberra Press Gallery, with 40 years’ experience covering Australian politics |
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Australian schoolgirl attends United Nations Youth Climate Summit.
Australian climate striker Harriet O’Shea Carre takes fight to New York https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-23/australian-climate-striker-15-takes-fight-to-new-york/11539354, By Kirsten Robb 23 Sept 19, Every Friday night, 15-year-old Harriet O’Shea Carre can be found hanging upside down from an aerial hoop in an old train shed in Castlemaine, Victoria.
She is one of the founding members of the School Strike For Climate (SS4C) movement in Australia. Ms O’Shea Carre has just taken her fight all the way to New York City, where she was invited to attend Saturday’s United Nations Youth Climate Summit.
Around the world on Friday, millions of students — including Ms O’Shea Carre — and their supporters skipped school and work to attend what was touted as the biggest climate protest in world history.
Organisers estimated around 4 million people in more than 163 countries turned out, including an estimated 300,000 Australians.
It was in October last year that the “Castlemaine Three” — Ms O’Shea Carre and her friends Milou Albrecht and Callum Neilson-Bridgefoot — started the Australian SS4C movement in the town of Castlemaine, 120 kilometres north-west of Melbourne.
The teens stumbled across an article about Swedish teenager Greta Thunberg, who has been credited with beginning the global student climate movement.
“Milou read an article about Greta Thunberg when she was pretty much solo striking,” Ms O’Shea Carre said.
“She was really excited about it and she came to me on the school bus and was like, ‘Harriet, there’s this awesome article I read about this girl who’s doing this school strike.'”
After penning an impassioned letter to the editor of a Melbourne newspaper, the three teenagers and about two dozen classmates took the train from Castlemaine to Bendigo to protest outside the offices of their federal members of parliament, MP Lisa Chesters and Senator Bridget McKenzie.
The Castlemaine strikers then decided to hold a global SS4C on November 30. When their rally went viral, Prime Minister Scott Morrison famously called for “more learning in schools and less activism in schools”.
David Carre, Ms O’Shea Carre’s father, says the Prime Minister could not have helped more to galvanise the youth.
“It was probably the best thing he could have said in terms of mobilising these young people.
“To be so dismissive of them, and to suggest that they’re trying to get away with wagging school, that is just quite offensive.”
More than 10,000 went on strike on November 30. Another was held in March 2019, with 1.5 million striking around the world.
“We’re at a point in time where it’s an emergency, and we’re not seeing any action from our leaders,” Ms O’Shea Carre said.
“And if the people who are leading us aren’t doing any leadership, then I will.”
Ms O’Shea Carre was invited to attend the first United Nations Youth Climate Summit in New York City alongside Ms Thunberg.
While her parents and friends marched from Castlemaine to Melbourne, Ms O’Shea Carre joined the rally through the streets of Manhattan.
“It’s so inspiring to be here,” she told 7.30 from New York.
“There are so many people, I’m really excited to be involved in it.”
Ms O’Shea Carre says the group will keep striking until they get action.
“We’re not going to stop because there’s no point in having an education on a dead planet, and at this stage, that’s what we’re headed for.
“We’re going to keep going and keep fighting because we’re not going to let our future go away.”
Trump tries to pull Scott Morrison, ‘man of titanium’, into a military coalition
Donald Trump suggests China ‘a threat to the world’ while praising Scott Morrison as a ‘man of titanium’. US president signalled he would raise with Morrison a military contribution in Iran but then indicated he did not do so, Guardian, Katharine Murphy Political editor
Following a ceremonial welcome for Morrison on Friday Washington time attended by more than 4,000 guests, Trump praised Morrison’s personal fortitude, describing him as “a man of real, real strength, and a great guy”.
The American president signalled he would raise with Morrison a possible military contribution in Iran beyond the current freedom of navigation commitment in the Strait of Hormuz, but later in the day indicated he had not, in fact, raised the issue during a bilateral meeting at the White House.
The Australian prime minister made a point of praising the president’s restraint in relation to Iran to date and made no commitment beyond saying the government would consider any request from the administration on its merits.
…….Trump said he was interested in building a coalition for military action with Australian participation, but then told reporters at a subsequent press conference Iran wasn’t discussed, and Morrison then described Australia’s possible participation as “moot”…….. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/21/donald-trump-suggests-china-a-threat-to-the-world-while-praising-scott-morrison-as-a-man-of-titanium
Coal’s servant, P.M. Morrison makes Australia an international pariah at UN Climate Summit
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PM accused of ‘trashing’ Australia’s reputation by spruiking coal ahead of UN summit, SMH, By Dana McCauley September 22, 2019 Environmentalists are accusing Scott Morrison of “trashing” Australia’s international reputation, as official documents reveal the broad scale of his government’s efforts to significantly increase coal exports at a time of mass protests calling for action on climate change.
As delegates of the United Nations climate change summit – which Mr Morrison has snubbed – prepare to discuss emission reduction efforts this week, briefing notes obtained under Freedom of Information laws detail the emphasis placed on coal in the government’s diplomatic relations.
Departmental briefing notes provided to Resources Minister Matt Canavan ahead of his official visit to Singapore and India last month canvass the potential to expand Australia’s coal exports into Bangladesh – a nation that is among the most vulnerable to the effects of global warning. The government is seeking to grow its coal exports in overseas markets as it looks to buttress the economic fallout from a deteriorating relationship with China. Australian Conservation Foundation climate change campaigner Christian Slattery said Australia was “trashing its international reputation because of its addiction to polluting coal”. “As major importers of Australian coal move to transition to cleaner forms of energy, the Morrison government is doing the coal industry’s bidding, trying to secure new markets,” Mr Slattery said. “Burning coal is the number-one cause of climate damage. Unless we stop digging up and burning coal the planet will suffer unmanageable damage from more extreme fires, droughts, storms and coral bleaching that will harm hundreds of millions of people.” The briefing note to Senator Canavan, released in redacted form to the ACF, said that with “a significant expansion of coal-fired power in Bangladesh expected in the near future”, there were opportunities for Australia “to establish a new export market for thermal coal”…….. Foreign Minister Marise Payne will front the UN climate change summit this week, but will not address delegates – as Australia is among a group of coal-supporting economies singled out as not getting a spot on the list of 63 speakers. Mr Morrison’s snub comes despite him being in the United States on an official visit…….. ACF’s Mr Slattery said the government “seems intent on selling a 20th century technology to a 21st century world and doing a great deal more climate damage while they are at it”. “Australia’s reported blocking by the UN Secretary-General from speaking at the special climate summit in New York is nothing short of an international embarrassment for a wealthy and developed country that prides itself on being a good international citizen,” he said. https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/pm-accused-of-trashing-australia-s-reputation-by-spruiking-coal-ahead-of-un-summit-20190922-p52tr1.html |
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Australia: Freedom of Information and the Nuclear Industry- theme for October 19
Australia’s press freedom is under threat as never before.
It’s always been pretty bad, with Murdoch media controlling at least 70% of media outlets, and with Liberal governments trying to strangle the ABC,
But now – it is at crisis point. We have an Australian citizen, Julian Assange, held in solitary confinement in London, for the crime of skipping bail. UK and complicit Australia want to have him extradited to USA, to face life imprisonment for ‘treason”. What was his “treason”? Publishing the facts, revealed by Bradley Manning, on USA military atrocities. i.e. investigative journalism. (Manning also in prison)
We also have federal police raiding ABC offices and a journalist’s home. We have draconian security laws, and prosecutions of whistleblowers Richard Boyle, David McBride and Witness K.
Australia is fast developing a culture of press intimidation by government.
Has this anything to do with the nuclear industry? Not obviously directly. Not yet. But government and industry have always tried to see that the harms from uranium mining and nuclear bomb testing were covered up. Few Australians would have heard of the long term push by some politicians and defence industry personnel, for nuclear weapons.
As the global nuclear industry revs up its dishonest spin for “new nuclear”, and as climate change impacts this country, Australia is a sitting duck for the lie that “nuclear solves climate change”. And for the push for even more involvement in America’s nuclear weapons system. And for involvement in 
Trump’s Nuclear Weapons in Space programme.
We now have a government without any policy (unless you count “having a budget surplus” as a policy) Scott Morrison can’t forever shout “How good is that?” about everything. Journalists that criticise government actions are under scrutiny. It doesn’t bode well for any public policy area. And that certainly includes matters nuclear. more https://www.meaa.org/campaigns/press-freedom/
Australian children, and adults who care, march in their hundreds of thousands, for Action on Climate Change
While our revered Prime Minister was sucking up to USA’s revered President, and totally ignoring the climate issue, hundreds of thousands of Australian citizens were rallying for action on climate change. I was there, in Melbourne, and I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve been there in big rallies, 100,000 and more- but this was the biggest ever!
And so many children. It is their future, that we are talking about!!
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Global climate strike : Australian school students march to protest climate change https://www.smh.com.au/national/global-climate-strike-live-australian-school-students-march-in-protest-of-climate-change-20190920-p52t70.htm By Jenny Noyes and Natassia Chrysanthos September 20, 2019 — That’s a wrap for Australia’s climate strikes It’s been a huge day for more than 300,000 Australian school and university students, families and workers who took to the streets of their cities and towns to protest climate change inaction. Organisers described the turnout as the biggest nationwide since 500,000 people protested against the Iraq war in 2003. Similar school strikes in March and November last year drew 40,000 and 15,000 people. Police commended the large crowds for displaying good behaviour at the peaceful protests. The rallies produced some powerful images, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne where the crowds were especially large – so check out our gallery to the right for all the best photos. [on original] |
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A dilemma for Scott Morrison, as Trump suggests that Australia join USA in a possibly nuclear war with Iran
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Scott Morrison scrambles to contain political mushroom cloud after Trump raises nuclear option with Iran
The Australian press pack was hyperventilating when the US president made the suggestion Australia might be asked to join a coalition of the willing. Then collective amnesia set in, Guardian Katharine Murphy Political editor @murpharoo 21 Sep 2019 It seemed appropriate, albeit entirely surreal, to be inducted into the vagaries of the Trumpiverse by bearing witness, in the Oval Office, to the American president suddenly raising the spectre of using nuclear weapons against Iran. Friday’s program in Washington ran like clockwork while everybody had a script. But once we’d cleared the pomp and circumstance of the ceremonial welcome for Scott Morrison on the South Lawn of the White House, once the Australian press pack tumbled out of the sparkling spring sunshine into the Oval Office – we discovered Trump in an expansive mood…….. The president then volunteered he intended to have a quiet word to Scott Morrison over the course of their meetings on Friday, Washington time, about potential military options in Iran, and whether Australia might be persuaded to join a new coalition of the willing. …. Morrison maintained his best poker face as the president informed the hyperventilating press pack “I always like a coalition”….. Before we could process the information that Australia might be off to war in Iran, things spiralled. The unheralded military action could be – wait for it – nuclear. Trump noted America had renovated the arsenal and acquired new nuclear capability, and the rest of the military was “all brand new”…….. With vexed options now tumbling out of Trump’s mouth at a clip, it did seem prudent to check in with the prime minister at this point. What was his position on Australia joining military action in Iran?…… The politically vexed question about whether Australia would do more than protect freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz was therefore moot. If any request was forthcoming, Australia would consider it on its merits, through the prism of national interest, Morrison said, before gathering his host, smiling at the cameras, and exiting, stage right. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/21/scott-morrison-scrambles-to-contain-political-mushroom-cloud-after-trump-raises-nuclear-option-with-iran |
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Controversial MP Barnaby Joyce on the pro nuclear campaign trail
If there’s anyone really intelligent in Australia’s nuclear lobby, might they be wishing that Barnaby would just shut up? With friends like Barnaby, who needs enemies?
Barnaby Joyce finds a new cause in nuclear power, Australia’s best-known backbencher is hitching a ride to the nuclear debate and creating awkward moments. AFR, Aaron PatrickSenior Correspondent. Who knew? Barnaby Joyce loves nuclear energy as much as he detests abortions.
As a budding debate over splitting the atom fires up in three parliaments, the former deputy prime minister has decided that his new parliamentary vehicle, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Industry, Innovation, Science and Resources, deserves a piece of the nuclear action.
On Friday morning, before a tour of Sydney’s own nuclear reactor, Joyce’s committee held a “nuclear industry roundtable” discussion that was broadcast live with about 30 energy industry experts, bureaucrats and lobbyists.
The purpose was, Joyce said, “to dispel some strongly held beliefs which may or may not be true”.
He couldn’t refer to the hearing as an inquiry, because one of those already exists – and helpfully covered much of the same information last month.
The House of Representatives Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy, which is reviewing nuclear energy at the government’s direction, held its hearing in Sydney three weeks ago.
Several of the same organisations turned up to Joyce’s event, which was held in a hotel within walking distance of Sydney Airport, making transport easier for the Member for New England.
To add to the double-dating awkwardness, Joyce’s star witness, businessman Ziggy Switkowski, read out the same opening statement he prepared for the other committee – by phone.
The real inquiry also visited the reactor, where it’s a wonder the distracted engineers haven’t inadvertently triggered a core meltdown.
Which raises an interesting question: would a nuclear accident that took out a parliamentary committee increase or lower public support for the power source?…… https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/barnaby-joyce-finds-a-new-cause-in-nuclear-power-20190919-p52t2y
As Morrison and Australia’s richest suck up to Trump, plan for rare earths business
Morrison and Trump open new front in China trade war with rare earth ‘action plan’, SMH, By Matthew Knott and David Crowe, September 21, 2019 Prime Minister Scott Morrison will throw Australian support behind US President Donald Trump in a bid to counter China’s dominance in vital raw materials as part of a historic state visit to the US capital.
The “action plan” will open a new front against China in a widening technology and trade war by exploiting Australian reserves of the rare earths and other materials that are essential for products ranging from iPhones to batteries and hybrid cars.
Mr Morrison arrived in Washington DC with a message for Mr Trump that positioned Australia as an ideal friend that would back its longstanding ally on Israel, Iran and wider defence policy……
Mr Morrison wants Mr Trump and his colleagues to see Australia as their strongest military ally over the past century and is using the visit to pledge the same close alliance for the century ahead.
Mr Trump’s officials believe the joint plan with Australia will improve the security of supply of materials in critical shortage, saying this will ensure economic security for both partners…….
US officials also praised Australia as a “tremendous partner” in opposing Iran’s nuclear program and interference in shipping, while Mr Morrison made it clear he backed the US in its support for Israel – a totemic issue for Mr Trump.
“Under my government we have taken an even stronger stand against the biased and unfair targeting of Israel in the UN General Assembly,” Mr Morrison says in the draft of his speech to the State Department………
The menu served to guests including golfer Greg Norman, businesswoman Gina Rinehart and media mogul Rupert Murdoch will include sunchoke ravioli, Dover sole and lady apple tart with ice cream for dessert.
Following his visit to Washington, Mr Morrison will travel to Chicago to meet the governor of Illinois, then Ohio to visit a new recycling plant owned by Australian billionaire Richard Pratt and on to New York for the United Nations General Assembly. https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-and-trump-open-new-front-in-china-trade-war-with-rare-earth-action-plan-20190920-p52tco.html
Australian Labor Party standing firm on its climate policies
Labor’s climate policies are ‘unshakeable’ despite election loss, Mark Butler says
Shadow climate minister says he believes Scott Morrison may shift on issue during the coming term, Guardian, Katharine Murphy Political editor @murpharoo, 21 Sep 2019 Mark Butler wants to make one thing clear: the shadow minister for climate change and energy is not for turning. It wasn’t a mistake to pursue an ambitious climate policy in the 2019 election and “we are not going to change our position to get to a level of profound irresponsibility [on policy], like the government”, he tells Guardian Australia’s politics podcast.
“Our position on climate is unshakeable.”……..
he also thinks it is possible Scott Morrison will shift on climate during the coming term, particularly if the Australian community remains vocal on the issue, and business also continues to demand policy certainty to allow it to deal with carbon risk. He says for people who want practical climate action, as opposed to rhetoric, bipartisanship remains “the holy grail”.
Butler says Morrison is not Malcolm Turnbull on climate, and not Tony Abbott, but somewhere in the middle. He suspects the prime minister has no “deep beliefs” on the issue, but that could enable him to pivot to a more plausible policy position in the event he makes a judgment that climate change is harming the electoral prospects of the Coalition. Perhaps Morrison, he says, can take “some baby steps to break down the culture war”.
…….. Butler says all the survey evidence he has seen indicates Australian voters are alarmed by the lack of policy action on climate change, and the issue rates second behind concerns about cost of living pressure. He says he is “utterly convinced” that public opinion in favour of action is “broad, deep and growing”.
Politicians, he says, need to be particularly aware that young people are hugely motivated on climate change. Butler has teenaged children and meets regularly with young activists.
“If we get to 2030 with the level of inertia we’ve had over the last decade, then we have profoundly let down our children and grandchildren”. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/sep/21/labors-climate-policies-are-unshakeable-despite-election-loss-mark-butler-says?fbclid=IwAR0EPtILqei1clnBN_uRzHHflc-m2HBdcrvmQ3E9SUt0A3JkunlqKVc08Sk
Australian Workers Union join National Party’s push for nuclear power
Nuclear energy: Nationals MPs welcome AWU support for domestic industry Union to tell parliamentary committee it’s ‘ludicrous’ to export uranium but not benefit from the energy source at home. Guardian, Sarah Martin 20 Sept 19, Nationals MPs have welcomed support from the Australian Workers’ Union for a domestic nuclear industry, as the union calls on progressives not to reject a “zero carbon compromise”.
A House of Representatives committee chaired by Barnaby Joyce will hear from the union during a roundtable discussion in Sydney on Friday, before MPs visit the Lucas Heights nuclear facility for a site visit…….
The AWU national secretary, Dan Walton, said that while he accepted that the Labor party had already expressed opposition to nuclear, there were people on both sides of politics who were stuck in old ideological debates over the issue. …….
The potential for Australia’s nuclear ban to be lifted has been revived since the May election after a group of Nationals lobbied for the issue to be revisited by a parliamentary inquiry.
Following a referral from the energy minister, Angus Taylor, in August, the environment and energy committee is conducting an inquiry into the “prerequisites for nuclear energy in Australia”.
At the same time, Joyce has tasked his lower house committee to also look at the issue through a series of roundtable events. Taylor has said that while there are no plans to drop the existing moratorium on nuclear energy, the government’s role was to plan for the decades ahead.
The resources minister, Matt Canavan, a senior Nationals senator from Queensland, said the AWU’s view was welcome as the debate over nuclear continued.
“I welcome the AWU’s contribution,” he told Guardian Australia. “It will, of course, need support from a broad range of organisations, including the Labor party, to progress nuclear power…..
The Nationals MP for Hinkler, Keith Pitt, said that there could be no change to Australia’s current position on nuclear without bipartisan support……
Support for a domestic nuclear industry also appears to be gathering pace within the Coalition, with two new government senators, South Australian Alex Antic and NT National Sam McMahon, both using their first speeches to parliament this week to back the technology……
The union’s support will likely buoy conservative supporters of nuclear who are hoping the twin inquiries into the issue will be sufficient to win a change to government policy.
Ziggy Switkowski, who headed a 2006 review of nuclear power for the Howard government, told the environment committee that the technology had no chance of being introduced unless Australia had a coherent energy policy.
He also said that it would take about a decade before it was clear whether small nuclear reactors were suitable for Australia, and about 15 years to bring a plant online if a decision was made to build one.
The Australian Nuclear Association, which advocates for nuclear science and technology, has said nuclear power could provide cheap, reliable, carbon-free energy in Australia, but would only be financially competitive with a carbon price.
In a group submission released this week environmental and civil society groups warned the government that nuclear power has “no role” in Australia, saying the issue was a distraction from “real movement on the pressing energy decisions and climate actions we need”. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/20/nuclear-energy-nationals-mps-welcome-awu-support-for-domestic-industry
1 This month
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/235274195556
20 May – Webinar – The dangerous world of AUKUS, US, military occupation and suppression of dissent
National Webinar, 20th May, 2026, 6.30pm AEST. Confronting laws restricting/suppressing protest speech and action
Speakers: Former Sen. Rex Patrick, Lawyer Nick Hanna ,Arthur Rorris ,Jorgen Doyle, Sen David Shoebbridge,
Facilitator Kelley Tranter.
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 