Shorten’s climate policy would hit more big polluters harder and set electric car target
The Conversation Professorial Fellow, University of Canberra April 1, 2019 A Shorten government would add about 100 high polluters to those subject to an emissions cap, and drastically slash the present cap’s level, under the opposition’s climate policy released on Monday.Labor would aim for a new threshold under a revamp of the existing safeguards mechanism of 25,000 tonnes of direct carbon dioxide pollution annually, which would be phased in after consultation with industry.
This would be a major reduction from the current cap of 100,000 tonnes. About 140 to 160 polluters come under the existing cap.
The safeguards mechanism was established by the Coalition government to cap pollution for the biggest polluters by setting limits or “baselines” for facilities covered. But Labor says it has been ineffective.
On transport, the policy sets an ambitious target of having electric vehicles form 50% of new car sales by 2030. The government fleet would have an electric vehicle target of 50% of new purchases and leases of passenger vehicles by 2025.
The climate change policy covers industry, transport and agriculture, with the proposed measures for the electricity sector, including an in-principle commitment to a national energy guarantee (NEG) and subsidies for batteries, already announced.
The agriculture sector would not be covered by the expanded safeguards policy.
The government’s emissions reduction fund – recently allocated a further A$2 billion over a decade and renamed – would be scrapped if Labor wins the May election………
The opposition has committed itself to a 45% economy-wide reduction in emissions relative to 2005 levels by 2030, compared with the government’s commitment to a reduction of 26-28%.
Labor’s policy confirms that it would not use Australia’s credits from the expiring Kyoto Protocol to help meet its Paris target, saying this course is “fake action on climate change”. Bill Shorten said on Sunday: “It’s only the Australian Liberal Party and the Ukraine proposing to use these carryover credits that I am aware of.”
Labor says it would “work in partnership with business to help bring down pollution.”
“Labor’s approach isn’t about punishing polluters. It’s about partnering with industry to find real, practical solutions to cut pollution, in a way that protects and grows industry and jobs.”…….. https://theconversation.com/shortens-climate-policy-would-hit-more-big-polluters-harder-and-set-electric-car-target-114561
Labor’s climate plan
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/labor-s-climate-plan 31 Mar 19
Labor has promised to get Australia’s 250 biggest polluting companies to cut their emissions if the party wins the next election.
*Extend the safeguard mechanism to a threshold of 25,000 tonnes of direct carbon pollution annually
* This will capture about 250 of Australia’s biggest polluters.
* Pollution baselines will be reduced over time below current levels, in consultation with businesses
* Agricultural sector is exempt, working towards carbon neutral by 2030
* Energy companies also exempt, covered by Labor’s energy policy
* Steel, aluminium and cement companies supported to remain trade competitive
* Kyoto credits will not be carried over to count towards the Paris target
* Half of all new vehicles sold by 2030 to be electric
* New government vehicles to be 50 per cent electric by 2025
* New vehicle emissions standards for car retailers, electric cars to offset higher polluting vehicles
* Restoring the Climate Change Authority
SOURCE: Labor
Lynas silent on long-term effects of radioactive waste
 Lynas silent on long-term effects of radioactive waste, says Fuziah, The Star (Malaysia) By Ong Han Sean , KUANTAN: Kuantan MP Fuziah Salleh slammed rare earth materials producer Lynas for being silent on the long life of its radioactive waste, which she claimed could have long-term effects on people’s health and the environment.”Lynas is very good with their messaging strategy that it is easy to fall for their low level radiation narrative. Lynas has always been silent on the long life, very, very long life, 14-billion-years half-life of thorium in their radioactive waste.
“Unfortunately many people in the government fell for it and were convinced by their narrative too,” said Fuziah. She added that most people found it difficult to comprehend and thought the anti-Lynas activists were politicising the issue due to Lynas’ narrative. She said this would have an effect on the villagers living around Gebeng, some of whom were still dependent on tube wells for daily water use.
“Yes, we welcome FDIs but not ones like Lynas. We welcome FDIs to the point that I am assisting them to resolve the water shortage issue that industries are facing right now. “However, industries that pollute and think they are above the law are not welcomed in Kuantan. And Pahang for that matter,” said Fuziah, who also is Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department…………… “Malaysia adopts the International Commission on Radiological Protection limits of exposures for both workers and the public and Lynas is fully compliant with these limits,” the company said in a statement signed by Lynas Malaysia managing director Datuk Mashal Ahmad and radiation safety, regulations and compliance general manager Prof Ismail Bahari. The statement added that all residue storage at Lynas Malaysia had been approved by regulators and very low level radioactive residue produced by the company was not unique in Malaysia………. “The ministry’s review committee did not suggest that any increase in the concentration of heavy metals in groundwater was due to Lynas Malaysia. “However, it recommended further research on groundwater in the Gebeng industrial area. Lynas, in collaboration with accredited laboratories, is currently carrying out its own independent investigation to rule out any contribution from our operations,” it said. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2019/03/31/lynas-silent-on-long-term-effects-of-radioactive-waste-says-fuziah/#5clQ0xKUP87uV2QR.99 |
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Poll shows Australians increasingly see climate change as human-caused
A record share of Australians say humans cause climate change: poll Brisbane Times, By Matt Wade, April 1, 2019 More Australians than ever believe human activity is entirely or mainly responsible for climate change, new polling shows.
But only 13 per cent say the Morrison government is doing a good job tackling climate change.
A survey by social research firm Ipsos shows 46 per cent of Australians now agree climate change is “entirely or mainly” caused by human activity. That is the highest share since Ipsos began asking the question in an annual survey of Australians’ attitudes to climate change in 2010.
Another 33 per cent say climate change is “partly caused by human activity and partly caused by natural processes” while 11 per cent said it is “entirely or mainly” caused by natural processes only.
Only 4 per cent say “there is no such thing as climate change” – a share that has remained steady for the past decade.
The survey found a record 65 per cent say climate change is already affecting Australia and is not just a challenge for the future.
An all-time high 52 per cent agreed climate change is causing more frequent and extreme droughts, up from 46 per cent a year earlier.
The proportion that said Australia is already experiencing more frequent and extreme bushfires due to climate change reached 48 per cent, up from 46 per cent a year earlier.
Nearly half of those surveyed (47 per cent) said climate change is causing the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef.
The share of Australians rating the federal government’s management of climate change as “fairly or very good” has fallen from 18 per cent to just 13 per cent during the past year. The share rating the federal government’s management of climate change as “fairly or very poor” has risen from 41 per cent to 50 per cent in that period…….
Nearly two in three Australians (64 per cent) think that increasing the amount of power generated from renewable energy sources should be an essential or high priority.
A much bigger share of the population believe the shift towards renewable energy will have a positive impact on the economy (39 per cent) than the share who think the economic impact will be negative (24 per cent)……… https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/environment/climate-change/a-record-share-of-australians-say-humans-cause-climate-change-poll-20190328-p518go.html
Nuclear waste dump proposal divides rural communities in South Australia
Why is this writer accepting the nuclear lobby line that ibtermediate level wastes would be stored at Kimba or wherever for only “a few decades” ?
Does she not know that there is no plan for final disposal of the wastes, and that they are most likely to be stuck at Kimba or wherever for hundreds of years?
Will Australia finally get a national nuclear waste facility? ABC, 28 Mar 19, 7.30 , By Angelique Donnellan For 40 years Australia has sought to centralise its nuclear waste, but the question of where to put it remains unanswered because of bitter division.
Key points:
- The Federal Government wants to store the nation’s nuclear waste in South Australia
- Three sites have been shortlisted, two in Kimba and one in Hawker
- The proposal has divided both communities
……… The Howard government dropped its proposal after it lost a fight with the South Australian Labor government in the High Court……
n 2007, a property called Mukaty Station in the Northern Territory was put forward to host the nuclear waste facility.
The plan was abandoned, again because of legal action, this time by the area’s traditional owners.
Tightknit communities divided
The current proposal has three sites in regional South Australia shortlisted — two in Kimba, five hours north-west of Adelaide, and one in Hawker, near the Flinders Ranges.
Landholder Jeff Baldock has volunteered a portion of his property in Kimba for the proposed facility, which would store low-level nuclear waste for up to 400 years, and intermediate-level waste for a few decades before that is moved to another location.
“Kimba is no different to any other small rural community where we have a shrinking population,” Mr Baldock said.
“It’s just a good opportunity for us to find another industry which doesn’t rely on agriculture.
“I don’t seriously think there is any risk of this having an effect on our crops [or] livestock.”
But Kimba resident Barry Wakelin is not so sure. Despite being a federal Liberal MP when the Howard government pushed for a national nuclear waste facility in the early 2000s, Mr Wakelin now opposes one near his town.
And is it a waste facility or a dump? Even what it is called has caused a rift.
Local business owner and teacher Meagan Lienert said she expected it to be a well managed “high-class, world-class facility” and “very different to a dump”.
“What the hell are they talking about? Everyone knows what a nuclear dump is. It’s rubbish,” Mr Wakelin said.
The Adnyamathanha Traditional Lands Association is one group taking legal action.
They are the traditional owners of land around Hawker.
Regina McKenzie said her people had been unfairly excluded from a community vote on the dump and claimed preparatory work at the site had desecrated a sacred women’s area.
“I know they need a site, but not here. Don’t impact our sites, don’t impact our culture, don’t impact us,” Ms McKenzie said.
“I love my country and I don’t want to see a waste dump on it.”
The issue is further complicated because some members of the Adnyamathanha support the facility, including Regina’s brother, Malcolm McKenzie.
“I’m supporting this because our culture can co-exist with economic development,” Mr McKenzie said.
Adnyamathanha woman Angela Stuart backed the facility because she wanted more opportunities for young Aboriginal people.
“We need a change. I’m sick of seeing young people drinking and wasting their lives away on alcohol and drugs,” she said.
“There might be a chance out there even if one person gets a job.”
The Native Title holders around Kimba, the Barngarla people, are taking legal action.
It is unclear when the Federal Court will hand down its judgement in that case.
Nuclear waste, and court actions
01/06/2017 Senate Estimates…
“Senator LUDLAM: “That is all right—I have a couple of others I want to run through, and the hour is late. Could you please advise on the cost, the extent of the process and the status of works to recontainerise and secure low-level radioactive waste at the Woomera site? While we are on the subject of how safe this stuff is, how much are we having to spend on recontaining the decaying packaging of the radioactive waste up at Woomera? Is that still kind of your bailiwick, or … ?”
Mr B Wilson : “Not technically; it is actually CSIRO’s waste, so they own that waste and they are responsible for managing it.””
Soooo…..according to documentation in December 1989 the CSIRO COMMISSIONED the Australian Nuclear Science and
Technology Organisation (ANSTO) to remove radioactively contaminated materials from the CSIRO’s Fishermans Bend site in Melbourne. This waste was THEN COMPLETELY ON SITE at ANSTO Lucas Heights in 1990. (Remember that date)
HOWEVER IN THE END IT REMAINED ON SITE at Lucas Heights NSW for FOUR YEARS!
It was only as the result of the Sutherland Shire Council against ANSTO in the New South Wales Land and Environment Court 1991 that the CSIRO waste from Fishermans Bend VICTORIA, and the St Mary’s Waste from the Defence Department was moved to Commonwealth Defence Land in Woomera in South Australia, as ANSTO, under that Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (NSW), could not accept nuclear waste from OTHER entities.
This court case was in reaction to ANSTO entering into a contract with Australian Defence Industries (ADI) to condition and store radioactive waste from the ADI site at St Marys NSW, 1991. (Remember this date too – not 1990 nor 1989 -when CSIRO waste from Fishermans Bend was on ANSTO Lucas Heights land, nor 1989 when it was contracted!)
Of course after this ruling, ANSTO hurriedly amended the ANSTO Act so this could never happen again!
So….according to Bruce Wilson, CSIRO own the Fishermans Bend waste, and then that means that the Department of Defence in NSW own the St Mary’s waste!
And since the siting of the waste in Woomera was only ever agreed to be TEMPORARY AS IN SPECIFICALLY ” A FEW YEARS” – NOW TWENTY FOUR YEARS AND COUNTING…..then Victoria and NSW are quite welcome to take it back any time NOW!!
The Stop the Adani Convoy: An Interview With Bob Brown
Scroll down the page to Read PaulGregoire‘s interview with BobBrown: www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/the-stop-the-adani-convoy-an-interview-with-bob-brown/
By Paul Gregoire 22/03/2019
“Adani announced last November that it plans to go ahead with a self-funded and scaled-down version of the overwhelmingly opposed Carmichael thermal coal mine in the central Queensland Galilee Basin.
This is following the Indian mining giant’s inability to secure any private sector investment both here and overseas, after environmentalists successfully pressured financial institutions into boycotting the Adani project.
At present, the terminally-delayed mine still needs to receive two environmental clearances. One relating to the endangered black-throated finch from the state government. And the other is from the federal government in regard to the groundwater impact the mine would have.
There’s the challenge from the Wangan and Jagalingou Traditional Owners that’s set to go before the full bench of the Federal Court in May. They claim that the Indigenous land use agreement (ILUA) that’s essential for the mine to go ahead is void.
And now, the Bob Brown Foundation is about to launch the Stop the Adani Convoy, which will depart from Hobart on 17 April and make its way through Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, before it arrives in the Galilee area.
History repeats
… Mr Brown expects many Australians will join the Stop the Adani Convoy as it makes its way across the country. And the founder and former leader of the Australian Greens and his fellow protesters will hold a rally, after the convoy rolls into Canberra in early May, right before the federal election. … ”
Scroll down the page to Read More and to Read PaulGregoire‘s interview with BobBrown: www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/the-stop-the-adani-convoy-an-interview-with-bob-brown/
Bob Brown
The Stop Adani Convoy
“The Stop Adani Convoy will travel the length of Australia, holding public meetings and rallies en route to the Galilee Basin, west of Mackay. We will be there in solidarity with the traditional owners of the land who oppose the mine.”
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2019/02/09/the-stop-adani-convoy/15496308007421
‘Bigger than Franklin’: Bob Brown to lead anti-Adani road convoy
“His foundation’s “Stop Adani Convoy” plans to travel from Hobart to the coal port of Bowen on the Queensland coast over a fortnight starting from April 17, Mr Brown told the Herald.”
www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/bigger-than-franklin-bob-brown-to-lead-anti-adani-road-convoy-20190206-p50w1o.html
Yes, Virginia, Australia’s carbon emissions DO MATTER!
Yes, Australia’s carbon emissions do have an impact, Independent Australia, By Nicholas Bugeja | 24 March 2019, Don’t listen to the climate sceptics that say Australia’s emissions are irrelevant to tackling climate change. Our contribution does matter — and it has real consequences for fighting this most urgent threat.
For about the last decade, the vast majorityof Australians have believed in the prevailing climate science. Yet the issue was hardly closed, with conservatives and so-called “climate sceptics” constantly trying to impugn what 97% of scientists accept: that climate change is occurring, is human-induced, and will radically alter weather conditions, the natural environment and the world itself.
Over the past year, however, a seemingly widespread, unassailable consensus has emerged in Australia. Finally. That climate change is a matter of the utmost moral and political urgency. Although this conclusion was reached by scientists roughly 30 years ago, the increase of public consciousness around climate change has proven promising and heartening……..
For Sky News’ Chris Kenny , those committed to lowering Australia’s emissions – “the kids, and the Greens, and the Labor politicians” – are “just kidding themselves. They know they will hurt us for no environmental gain.”
This kind of rhetoric is deft and manipulative, meant to lull the public into a sense of disempowerment and ineffectuality about Australia’s role in combating the greatest modern threat to humanity and the planet.
What proponents of this view don’t acknowledge is the need for global unity on this issue. Climate change cannot conceivably be stopped if states, like Australia, throw their hands up in defeat. Imagine if every country of a comparable size to Australia remained passive: the Netherlands, Taiwan, Canada. We’d be condemned, most certainly, to a perilous future of climate instability and disaster. Every bit of carbon reduction matters.
To put it another way, there are 24 countries, Australia included, that contribute between 0.5-1.5% of carbon emission in the atmosphere, an aggregate of 21% of all emissions. This is comparable to China’s total emissions, an admittedly big player in the battle to tackle the problem of climate change. As one cooperative unit, these countries can make a real difference in reducing carbon emission. Australia – one of the world’s richest countries – must be part of the solution, not part of the problem.
It is true climate change cannot be solved by one individual country. But it certainly won’t be if countries fail to make substantial and swift emission cuts in line with their international obligations. Indeed, it’s the cumulative effect of carbon emissions, that extends across borders and nations, that must be focused and acted upon. Australia’s inertia will only further guarantee that the IPCC’s worrying predictions – of widespread flooding, droughts, heat-related deaths, smaller crop harvests, greater amounts of poverty – come true.
Should Australia continue along its current path, its moral authority on the climate change issue will be utterly diminished. The old adage “practice what you preach” has enormous application here. Those states with the highest carbon footprint – the U.S., China, India, Germany – would hardly accept any appeal Australia might make about emissions cuts. And who could blame them? It’s imperative that Australia takes action – for it to have any moral or diplomatic agency in urging other states to mitigate their emissions.
For its size, Australia’s emissions are staggeringly high. In 2015, we ranked 13th in the world for total carbon emission, ahead of much larger countries: UK, Italy and France, as well as most of Africa. Our emissions per capita were the highest in the OECD, at 16 tonnes for each person. ….. https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/yes-australias-carbon-emissions-do-have-an-impact,12499
Independent report found ANSTO’s health staff lacking in knowledge about radiation exposure
Kazzi Jai Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste Dump In Flinders Ranges SA
“In addition, based on interviews with ANSTO Health staff working in high hazard areas, the majority of staff did not understand the various health effects of radiation exposures, this being appropriate to individual duties with respect to the hazardous areas in which they work. This is believed by the reviewers to put at risk the ability to verify all persons
performing high risk activities are fully competent to do so. More importantly, this puts the individual at risk.”
– (excerpt from page 7) “INDEPENDENT SAFETY REVIEW OF THE ANSTO HEALTH APPROACH TO OCCUPATIONAL RADIATION SAFETY AND OPERATIONAL PROCEDURES”
OCTOBER 2018
On 5 October 2018, following a direction from ARPANSA’s CEO Dr Carl-Magnus Larsson, the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) provided ARPANSA with a report produced by an independent expert review team outlining 85 recommendations to improve ANSTO’s occupational radiation safety processes and operational procedures.
Dr Larsson issued the direction to initiate an independent review on 29 June 2018 under section 41(1A) of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Act 1998 (the Act) following four separate events with safety implications at ANSTO Health in less than 10 months.
Seems this report was somewhat “buried” in ANSTO’s bright new webpages..….but I got mine from ARPANSA’s webpage instead, since they are the regulator. https://www.facebook.com/groups/344452605899556/
Home Affairs Minister, and wannabe Australian P.M> Petewr Dutton rubbishes the climate action schoolkids
‘Defies common sense’: Peter Dutton takes aim at school climate strikers Peter Dutton has taken aim at school students who protested about inaction on climate change, saying they would be sitting in the dark without coal-fired power. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/defies-common-sense-peter-dutton-takes-aim-at-school-climate-strikersHome Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has laid the boot into Australian students who skipped school to rally against inaction on climate change.
Nearly 40,000 students took the day off school last Friday to participate in strikes around the country.
Mr Dutton said it was “100 per cent right” to suggest people would be left to sit in the dark if coal-fired power was stripped from the grid for 48 hours.
“Let the teachers tell their students that and go out on strike – but their mobile phones aren’t being charged,” he told 2GB radio on Thursday. This is how stupid the debate’s gotten, it defies common sense.”
Adani protesters shut down WA Parliament, ejected from public gallery
WA Today, By Nathan Hondros, March 19, 2019 Protesters against a coal mining project in Queensland briefly shut down question time in WA Parliament on Tuesday.
About eight protesters in the public gallery interrupted Housing Minister Peter Tinley to shout slogans about Adani’s Carmichael mine in Queensland’s Galilee Basin…….https://www.watoday.com.au/politics/western-australia/adani-protesters-shut-down-wa-parliament-ejected-from-public-gallery-20190319-p515kv.h
Do we want another nuclear industry puppet in the South Australian federal seat of Grey?
There are 3 contenders for this electorate, for the coming Federal election.
ANDREA BROADFOOT for Centre Alliance– “This election is for our grandchildren, and theirs. Energy security, reliability and affordability through renewable sources”
Andrea stood for this seat in 2016, and came very close to winning it, moving it from a (safely ignored by government safe seat) – to marginal (1.9%), which has brought millions of dollars of Government investment into the regions.
ROWAN RAMSEY The current Liberal Federal Member of Parliament, Rowan Ramsey, 
is an enthusiastic mouthpiece for the nuclear industry. If you tap his name into the “Search” slot on this page, you will see his many efforts on behalf of the nuclear industry.
RICHARD CARMODY – Independent .
Kazzi Jai Fight To Stop Nuclear Waste Dump In Flinders Ranges SA, 17 Mar 19 writes:
Richard Carmody originally from Cowell and now lives in Whyalla has tossed his hat into the ring as an Independent.
Purely ONLY so that people are informed of these candidates, here is his policy on Nuclear from his website – with an INTERESTING TWIST when it comes to his policy on Coal!!
Regardless, seems people are NOT HAPPY with Rowan Ramsey. I wonder why?….(rhetorical question of course!) – we must also be careful of EXACTLY what POLICIES these OTHER CONTENDERS PUT FORWARD!!!
“Nuclear Since I’ve worked at Roxby (a copper and uranium mine) and Beverley (a uranium leach operation) people wonder about whether I advocate for nuclear related things. I’m neutral on nuclear. I am not for it nor against it. I am concerned there is a really poor understanding of radioactivity, radiation and nuclear science amongst the public, thanks to many years of sensationalist media and documentaries, both for and against, with agendas to push. The first thing I’d like is for an education program for the public on radioactivity and nuclear science to be put out. Then after people are much better informed, then they can decide if they want nuclear energy or the waste dumps and once the people decide, then I’ll go along with what they want.”
And then the PENNY DROPS!! He is IN FAVOUR OF NUCLEAR POWER!!
“Coal
Coal’s effect on climate emissions is much higher than that for oil and gas, roughly double to triple, depending on how you look at it. So it would be unwise to have any new coal power. That said, it is sensible to maintain the existing coal fleet until we have sufficient renewables / storage or other types of low carbon energy(ie nuclear) to support at least 50% of our energy usage.”
The fact that he wrote on his home page: “I will donate the other half to small parties that are going in the right direction (Sustainable Australia, Real Democracy, Reason etc)”…should have been a bit of a give away…..
Just realised his policy on COAL involves the use of NUCLEAR!!!!! How the hell can you be “neutral on nuclear” when you then advocate “low carbon energy (ie NUCLEAR) to support at least 50% of our energy usage”?????????????
Noel Wauchope “ not for it nor against it” means pro nuclear – as it means – just letting it happen. Let us not forget the lie about nuclear curing climate change is still a LIE. Carbon-14 is produced in coolant at boiling water reactors (BWRs) and pressurized water reactors (PWRs). It is typically released to the atmosphere in the form of carbon dioxide at BWRs, and methane at PWRs. EPRI | Product Abstract | Impact of Nuclear Power Plant Operations on Carbon-14 Generation, Chemical Forms, and Release”. www.epri.com.
Carbon emissions are released in lage amounts throughout the entire nuclear fuel chain – from uranium mining, milling, conversion, enrichment, fuel fabrication, through to radioactive trash management and eventual burial. AND all the transport involved in between these stages.. AND all the building of all the stages’ facilities, and eventual demolition thereof.
New South Wales school students rallied for climate action, despite the Premier’s disapproval
Students defy warning from Premier Gladys Berejiklian and skip school to attend Sydney climate rally, ABC News 17 Mar 19 By Antonette Collins and Kevin Nguyen Thousands of NSW students have skipped class to attend a protest in Sydney to call for action on climate change, defying calls from Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Education Minister Rob Stokes to stay in school.
The event at Sydney Town Hall was expected to be one of the largest of the nationwide climate rallies today.
The big crowd of young people, predominantly students, cheered loudly amid calls for an end to the Adani coal mine in Queensland and 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030.
Rock star Jimmy Barnes and Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore were among those who attended the rally, and were spotted alongside the students wielding colourful signs.
Many students were attending against the advice of the NSW Government’s leaders and conservative commentators.
Students have called on governments to do more to reduce fossil fuel emissions, but they have faced resistance from government leadership and conservative commentators.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian criticised Opposition Leader Michael Daley, who this week backed schoolkids planning to protest.
“I encourage young people to feel passionately about important issues including climate change,” she said.
“But to suggest that they should strike during school hours is grossly irresponsible. I want to encourage students during school hours to express their views, to discuss their views in the classroom or the playground.
“But to take time off to go to a protest is not acceptable…….
We’re here to make a change’
Around 2,000 students rallied in Newcastle, where many felt environmental issues were close to home.
“I can see the world’s largest coal port from my doorstep and it’s shameful,” said Miette Xenith, 17, from Newcastle High.
She said her generation was scared for the future “because at my age it’s kind of like staring down the barrel of a gun”.
“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has said that we have 12 years to completely change what we’re doing, before the impact is irreversible, so yeah, I feel strongly about it, because it’s my future.”
Newcastle student Molly Highet said she was angry at the Government’s inaction on climate change. “It’s scary thinking that if they don’t do anything real soon that we won’t have a good future, or maybe won’t have one at all, and our children won’t.
“They’re the ones that can really make a change, but now they’ve left it up to us so we’re trying to make the change for them.” https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-15/nsw-schools-climate-change-rally-sydney-gladys-berejiklian/10904254
New South Wales Labor’s pledge for ‘solar schools’
Labor promises $100 million for ‘solar schools’ https://www.smh.com.au/nsw-election-2019/labor-promises-100-million-for-solar-schools-20190315-p514i9.html, By Lisa Visentin, March 17, 2019 Labor leader Michael Daley has pledged to spend $100 million installing solar panels on hundreds of public schools across NSW.
Mr Daley linked his “solar schools package” to the recent student strike over climate change inaction, and said the policy would help teach students about renewable energy.
“As we saw at rallies across the country on Friday, the next generation is demanding real action on climate change,” Mr Daley said.
“Putting solar panels on schools will help students further their knowledge about renewable energy, as well as bring down their school’s power bills and reduce emissions.”
Under Labor’s plan, solar panels would be installed at 350 government schools. The $100 million package would be funded as part of the Labor’s $800 million “cool schools” policy to install airconditioning in every single classroom in the state.
Mr Daley’s announcement comes after he publicly backed the striking school students during a speech earlier in the week, describing their actions as a “demonstration of young leadership”.
His endorsement drew fire from Premier Gladys Berejiklian who said she was “appalled” the alternate premier was encouraging students to skip school.
It comes as a recent ReachTEL poll revealed climate change was a pressing concern for most NSW voters, with 57.5 per cent of voters saying it would influence the way they voted.
As part of the state election campaign, Ms Berejiklian has announced interest-free loans to 300,000 households for solar and battery systems while Labor has pledged to put solar on 500,000 homes over the next decade through rebates.
Ms Berejiklian earlier this week restated her government’s support for action on climate change and said NSW had the largest renewable projects in Australia.
“We’ve had a consistent position since we’ve been in government, that climate change is real and that as a government we need to do everything we can to deal with it and we have been,” she said.
It’s time that the Liberal Coalition politicians stopped manipulating dissent about climate change – and apologised to the Australian public
Malcolm Farr: ‘The public debate on the existence of climate change is over and we are owed an apology’
Some elected politicians have been too frightened or deliberately manipulative to acknowledge this issue. It’s time, writes Malcolm Farr. news.c om.au Malcolm Farr@farrm51 17 Mar 19, The public debate on the existence of climate change is over and we are owed an apology from those who prolonged it for self-serving political purposes.
They might acknowledge their disrespect for science, or for driving rejection as a vehicle for “brutal retail politics”.
Voices as varied as the schoolchildren who marched on Friday, the top ranks of Australia’s central bank, and federal department chiefs are warning of the consequences of those changes.
The debate continues, but it now is centred on measuring the urgency of a response to increasing climate instability, and the detail of that response.
Emergency services, diplomats and farmers are all seeking the best answers to climate change effects — effects which some of their flecked representatives for the better part of a decade said didn’t exist.
Military and intelligence agency leaders have warned climate change is a national security threat to Australia.
There still are holdouts, including a few reactionary MPs who continue to embrace Tony Abbott’s belief just over nine years ago that the science was “absolute crap”. And there is a fringe which make cases which can only be resolved by outlandish conspiracy theories, often along the dubious lines of the United Nations and One World Government.
And there are credible sources moving in the other direction.
Deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia Guy Debelle last week made clear climate change is now a factor in tracking and guiding the economy; he gave no hint it was a UN plot.
But he did stress the need for an orderly transition to clean energy; a need for greater backing of renewable energy projects; preparing for new ways we work and the jobs available to us; and the broader task of readying the entire economy for change.
“Financial stability will be better served by an orderly transition rather than an abrupt disorderly one,” he said.
Last week, secretary of the Department of Home Affairs Mike Pezzullo mentioned climate change in a speech — Seven Gathering Storms — to a think tank.
Mr Pezzullo warned of states which might become ungovernable and a possibility of “mass displacement of people”.
Contributions to this displacement could be “poverty, hunger, water and resource scarcity, and a changing climate, which will have to be thought of as a systemic risk factor”.
These are just a few elements of government which have appreciated the existence and impact of climate change in ways some elected politicians have been too frightened or deliberately manipulative to acknowledge.
These are the folk who might consider an apology.
Tony Abbott is not the only denier in parliament but over a decade he has been the pacesetter if not the leader of that block of ignorance.
“The argument is absolute crap. However, the politics of this are tough for us,” he told a regional audience in December 2009.
“Eighty per cent of people believe climate change is a real and present danger.”
Just as Mr Abbott scorned majority views on same sex marriage, he early on resolved to ignore voters on climate change.
He used that rejection of evidence and local opinion to wreck the carbon price policy of Labor Prime Minister Julia Gillard, his offensive from Opposition against the so-called “carbon tax”.
His chief adviser in Opposition and when he became prime minister, Peta Credlin, in 2017 put that campaign into context.
“That was brutal retail politics, and it took Abbott six months to cut through and when he did cut through Gillard was gone,” she told Sky News.
And, Ms Credlin said, “It wasn’t a carbon tax, as you know.”
However, Mr Abbott was “hugely unconvinced” in 2009 and continued to harness his rejection of climate change science in 2017 in a speech he made in along on.
“Primitive people once killed goats to appease the volcano gods. We are more sophisticated now but are still sacrificing our industries and our living standards to the climate gods to little more effect,” he said.
But something happened 10 days ago.
Mr Abbott abruptly endorsed the UN backed Paris agreement on emission reduction, a process aimed at limiting climate change.
A sudden convert, he has yet to say sorry for his past rejection.
— Malcolm Farr is news.com.au’s national political editor. Continue the conversation @farrm51
1 This month
4 November – Will AUKUS keep us safe – at what cost?
the Commissioners of the AUKUS Public Inquiry present their findings at the National Press Club of Australia in Canberra. iview.abc.net.au/show/national-press-club-address
Submissions to the federal government’s new draft framework close on the 13th November 2026.
Australians deserve the truth
about
AUKUS – https://aukuspublicinquiry.com/
PETITION – To: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Australian Labor Government
of the week – Australians for War Powers Reform (AWPR)
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity
