Ian Allison: Science frozen out as world warms
THE admission by CSIRO chief Larry Marshall that, after the Paris climate meeting, we now know that Earth’s climate is changing is welcome.
Particularly if most of our politicians are also convinced by the overwhelming scientific evidence. But his implication we know how climate will evolve in the future, and hence can redirect CSIRO climate scientists to other roles, is wrong. Accurate projections of future climate are essential if we are to employ mitigation measures and to adapt to inevitable change. …
The scientific questions about climate are certainly not all answered.
Further research is clearly required and it must involve the CSIRO experts who are world leaders in the field. http://www.themercury.com.au/news/opinion/science-frozen-out-as-world-warms/news-story/30be31bc769d31e9d51e17c29ebca93a
Australia needs a new National Day of Mirth – Greg Hunt Day
WATCH: Scott Ludlam Rips Greg Hunt For Award ‘It Sounds Like His Mum Made Up’ The Greens’ Deputy Leader has a new idea for a day of national mirth and holiday-making. Get ready for Greg Hunt Day.
Not one to let a moment of social media frenzy pass uncommented on, Scott Ludlam has this contribution to make in the wake of Greg Hunt being awarded the ‘World’s Best Minister’ tag at the World Government Summit overnight.
In an address to the nation, Ludlam called for the surprising event to be celebrated by declaring February 10 a national public holiday. “We want to acknowledge the brazen audacity of Minister Hunt accepting an award for his contribution to dismantling Australia’s world leading climate change laws.”
It goes on. … https://newmatilda.com/2016/02/10/watch-scott-ludlam-rips-greg-hunt-for-award-it-sounds-like-his-mum-made-up/ (Video viewing time 2min 5sec)
Aboriginal traditional owners recognised in name change for Flinders Ranges
Flinders Ranges renamed in recognition of traditional Aboriginal owners ABC North and West By Michael Dulaney, Tim Bennett and Carmen Brown 12 Feb 16 The Flinders Ranges National Park has been officially renamed to incorporate the traditional Aboriginal word for the area.
Traditional owner Mark McKenzie confirmed the park was officially renamed Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park in a ceremony on Friday at Wilpena Pound, 430 kilometres north of Adelaide.
The new name incorporates an Adnyamathanha word, Ikara, which means “meeting place” reflecting the traditional name for Wilpena Pound — a natural amphitheatre of mountains forming one of the most prominent features of the Ranges.
I’ll also be thinking of the children in the future, to make sure we remain — as a people — part of the landscape of the Flinders Ranges National Park.
Michael Anderson, traditional owner
Adnyamathanha Traditional Lands Association (ATLA) chairman Michael Anderson said the change recognised the spiritual and cultural significance of the area for traditional owners…….http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-12/flinders-ranges-renamed-in-recognition-of-traditional-owners/7161
Even Adelaide newspaper aware of unrealism of Sen Edwards nuclear fantasy
SA senator’s nuclear waste ‘dream’ slammed Adelaide Now 11 Feb 16 A South Australian senator’s claim that establishing a nuclear waste processing industry could help deliver free energy and reduce state taxes is an “impossible dream”, a think-tank says.
Liberal Senator Sean Edwards last year told the state’s nuclear fuel cycle royal commission that SA should recycle other countries’ spent fuel rods and use the money earned to install generators.
“The Edwards plan ignores the cost of shipping waste to Australia and relies on technology that has never before been deployed commercially,” the report said.
“It hopes that unjustified and unrealistic amounts of money will be paid for the disposal of waste.” http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-news/sa-senators-nuclear-waste-dream-slammed/news-story/35e1dcfc199397a3d6bace116c167f44
Australia’s double standards on nuclear disarmament
In Nuclear Diplomacy, Double Standards Abound, New Matilda, By Tim Wright onFebruary 11, 2016 We might not have nuclear weapons, but we rely on them. And that makes us gigantic hypocrites, writes Tim Wright, Asia-Pacific director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).Among those most vociferous in condemning North Korea’s nuclear test last month and its rocket launch this week were the leaders of nations that themselves possess nuclear weapons. Nations that, over half a century, mastered the art of mass destruction by exploding atomic and hydrogen bombs off Pacific atolls and in the Australian outback.
Were these nations now on the path to disarmament, in full compliance with their obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, one might overlook their double standard. But all are instead bolstering their nuclear forces – “refurbishing” old warheads and developing new missiles, submarines and bombers to deliver them.
While North Korea may be the only nation to have conducted a full-scale nuclear test this century, the United States, Russia and China continue to conduct sub-critical nuclear tests – where no chain reaction occurs – allowing them to enhance their nuclear forces without violating the global norm against nuclear testing……..
A ‘rogue state’ such as North Korea – with its much feared, reviled and mocked leader, Kim Jong-un – provides useful cover for alarming developments of this kind. So long as the spotlight shines elsewhere, few will worry about, let alone protest against, the actions of the more ‘responsible’ nuclear powers – nations that, truth be told, have time and again brought us within a hair’s breadth of catastrophe.
Most governments, however, do accept that there are “no right hands for wrong weapons”, to use a phrase of the United Nations secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon. Regrettably, Australia is not yet among them. While the foreign minister, Julie Bishop, was swift to condemn North Korea’s test, her department claims that US nuclear weapons protect Australia from attack and even “guarantee our prosperity”.
This longstanding policy, known as extended nuclear deterrence, implies that nuclear weapons are legitimate, useful and necessary war-fighting instruments. It incites proliferation and undermines disarmament. It renders Australia an outcast in our immediate region, where all other nations have rejected the bomb outright.
Over the past year, 122 nations have formally pledged to work together to prohibit nuclear weapons through a new treaty. To place them on the same legal footing as other indiscriminate, inhumane weapons – from chemical and biological agents to anti-personnel landmines and cluster munitions.
If we are to succeed in eliminating the nuclear threat, we must begin by challenging the double standards that, throughout the nuclear age, have so plagued disarmament efforts. We must declare nuclear weapons unacceptable not just for North Korea and Iran, but for Australia and its allies, too.
Tim Wright is Asia-Pacific director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). https://newmatilda.com/2016/02/11/in-nuclear-diplomacy-double-standards-abound/
They meant Greg Hunt won World’s Best Milliner (not Minister)
Typing Error: Greg Hunt Actually Won Best Milliner In The World Award (Not Minister As Initially Reported) By The Shovel on February 10, 2016 http://www.theshovel.com.au/2016/02/10/typing-error-greg-hunt-actually-awarded-best-milliner-in-the-world/ Australian Environment Minister Greg Hunt has not, in fact, won the award for Best Minister In The World, but rather a prize for hat making.
Initial reports this morning suggested Mr Hunt had won the inaugural ‘Best Minister In The World’ award at the World Government Summit in Dubai, leading to widespread bewilderment in Australia.
But a spokesperson from the Summit this afternoon said that it was nothing more than a typing error on the certificate, and that the award was actually for Mr Hunt’s millinery achievements.
While Mr Hunt is not well known for his hat-making prowess, the award was seen as more credible amongst analysts. “It did seem very far-fetched when the initial report came out. Whereas the hat-making thing – while a little strange – is at least plausible,” Political observer Ben McDaniel said.
A Liberal Party insider said the new award made more sense. “I’m not sure exactly what Greg Hunt has done for the millinery industry. But I’m confident it’s more than what he’s done for the environment”.
Greg Hunt Bestest minister In Whole World? Really?
View from the Street: Greg Hunt is the bestest minister in the whole wide world!, Canberra Times, February 10, 2016 You ever have one of those mornings when you wake up and can’t immediately tell whether or not you’re just having particularly vivid dream?
Everything seems normal, except for your metamorphosis into a giant cockroach, say, or the announcement that “Environment” Minister Greg Hunt has been voted Best Minister in the World at the World Government Summit in Dubai.
What were the criteria for this singular honour? It reportedly aims to celebrate those “who lead quality successful initiatives”. And sure, that the phrase doesn’t make grammatical nor syntactical sense – but that just makes it especially well suited to the man that spearheaded Direct Action.
It’s the first year of the award, which was invented by Canadian media conglomerate Thomson Reuters and therefore has around the same level of credibility as the View from the Street Award for Radness in the Field of Awesome.
(Actually, Hunt does seem an appropriate recipient: the company’s Wikipedia page reveals that Roy Thompson made a fortune in oil and gas exploitation, which seems very on-message with Hunt’s work in ensuring developments aren’t hindered by environmental responsibilities in Queensland.)
And it’s grand that this honour should follow Hunt’s most recent triumph: seeing Australia drop significantly on what he’d previously called “the most credible, scientifically based” environmental analysis in the world……..http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/view-from-the-street/view-from-the-street-greg-hunt-is-the-bestest-minister-in-the-whole-wide-world-20160210-gmqlys.html
South Australia’s Greens leader warns on need for vigilance in preventing import of radioactive trash
Greens leader Mark Parnell responds to the Ministerial Statement:
“It’s clear that the Government realises that regardless of the Royal Commission’s finding, they still have a lot of work to do to convince South Australians that we should expand the nuclear industry in SA”.
“We always knew that this campaign would be run over the long term. While it’s unlikely that we will see legislation this year, we still must remain vigilant.”
Have you heard the new joke about Anti Environment Minister Greg Hunt?
Greg Hunt named “best minister in the world”
Australia’s own Greg Hunt has been singled out as the “best minister in the world” by a high-powered international conference.
Arrest of climate angels protesting Santos coal seam gas development
Five women aged between 50- and 75-years-old have been forcibly dragged from the road and arrested by police this morning at a Santos coal seam gas development near Narrabri, in north west New South Wales.
The protestors are part of the ‘Climate Guardians’, a group of theatrical activists who assume the guise of angles to create awareness of the need to keep fossil fuels in the ground. Continue reading
Queensland’s coal mines running at a loss
One third of Queensland coal mines running at a loss – report
The Queensland Resources Council wants mining companies to pay less royalties and laws to cap council rates following a new industry commissioned report, which shows a third of coal mines are losing money.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-08/mining-queensland-resources-council-royalties-local-council-tax/7147570
Cool response to coal industry pleas for help
Politicians and environmentalists have hit back at the coal industry, after it appealed for government assistance to save jobs.
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2015/s4402367.htm
$3.5m contract for Waterloo Wind Farm expansion in SA goes to Victorian firm Keppel Prince
A Victorian company has been awarded a $3.5 million contract to build turbine towers for a mid-north South Australian wind farm.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-09/keppel-prince-wins-contract-for-waterloo-wind-farm-expansion/7152052
Malcolm Turnbull – a snake in the grass over renewable energy?
Like Abbott, Turnbull has allowed the terms of the appointed board members of ARENA to expire, meaning that the supposedly independent agency is now governed solely by the secretary of Greg Hunt’s Environment Department. The board of the CCA has been largely replaced by advisers and ex-Coalition MPs sympathetic to the Coalition’s approach to climate change.
Like Abbott, Turnbull is hiding behind a climate policy that he contemptuously dismissed as a “fig leaf”. Despite signing up to the Paris climate agreement and its ambitious target of capping temperatures “well below” 2 degrees, and possibly as low as 1.5 degrees, the Coalition continues a policy plan that assumes temperature gains of 4 degrees.
Was the renewable energy industry better off under Abbott? Giles Parkinson, Crikey, 4 Feb 16 At least under Tony Abbott the renewable sector knew where it stood. But what is going under Turnbull? Under Abbott, the message was clear and unequivocal: we don’t want you; we don’t like the way you look; you’re causing health problems for people; and your technology doesn’t work anyway. Besides, coal is good for humanity.
The message was clear from top to bottom. Abbott and his treasurer found wind turbines to be offensive, his chief business adviser thought climate science was a giant hoax, and the pro-nuclear head of his review into renewable energy said wind and solar were not useful. Junior MPs and ministers proved echo-chambers for the myth-making of anti-wind social media sites. There was never any doubt as to that government’s intentions.
Under the leadership of Malcolm Turnbull, the rhetoric has (mostly) changed; the gratuitous insults and personal prejudice are (largely) gone, although coal is still considered to be good for humanity and to solve hunger. But policy has not changed, and the industry has little to show for the change in leadership.
The Turnbull government has begun 2016 in the same way that the Abbott government started 2014 and 2015 — with legislation on the table that calls for the dismantling of the government’s key agencies: the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and the Climate Change Authority.
Greens Senator Larissa Waters highlighted the move on her Facebook page on Monday and wondered why. Continue reading
AGL pulls out of CSG plan in Gloucester as NSW and Queensland projects are abandoned
Gas giant AGL has abandoned natural gas projects in Queensland and New South Wales, sparking celebrations in rural NSW where opponents had feared a billion-dollar coal seam gas plan could devastate a community. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-04/gas-giant-agl-pulls-out-of-gloucester-csg-project/7138784
Massive Adani coal mine halted indefinitely due to poor coal market
Adani puts Galilee coal mine on hold pending recovery in coal price, REneweconomy, By Giles Parkinson on 4 February 2016 The Indian mining and energy giant Adani Enterprises appears to have put development of its massive and controversial $16 billion Carmichael coal mine in the Galilee Basin on hold – until coal prices show signs of a solid rebound. Which could be never.
A report from brooking house Axis Capital in India this week quotes Adani management as saying that no capital expenditure is planned by the company for the project until there is “visibility” of a rebound in the coal price.
Given that international coal prices are at record lows, and most analysts predict further falls as the commodity faces increased competition from renewables, and major economies turn away from coal due to environmental and climate impacts, it suggests that Adani accepts that the Galilee Basin may not get developed……http://reneweconomy.com.au/2016/adani-puts-galilee-coal-mine-on-hold-pending-recovery-in-coal-price-67892
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/2352741955560
15 April – Zoom –Nuclear Power is Not the Solution
Apr 15, 2026 01:00 AM in Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
Join the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) on Tuesday, April 14th for a timely webinar exploring the risks associated with nuclear power and challenging the myth that it offers a simple, safe, carbon-free solution to the climate crisis
21 April Webinar: No Nuclear Weapons in Australia
Start: 2026-04-21 18:00:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
End: 2026-04-21 19:30:00 UTC Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney (GMT+10:00)
Event Type: Virtual
A virtual link will be communicated before the event.
Host Contact Info: australia@icanw.org
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
Antinuclear 