The Greens’ Christine Milne will be on the job in the Senate to keep carbon pricing
We’ll assess Senate carbon options: Milne http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/well-assess-senate-carbon-options-milne/story-fni0xqi4-1226741615225 AAP OCTOBER 17, 2013
AUSTRALIAN Greens leader Christine Milne has left open the possibility of flicking the government’s carbon tax repeal legislation to a Senate committee, delaying a vote until well into 2014.
The government will introduce a package of eight bills to parliament in November hoping the Senate will consider them before Christmas.
However, Prime Minister Tony Abbott has acknowledged an unsympathetic upper house may stymie that timetable.
Asked if the Greens and Labor would use their controlling numbers in the Senate to send the bill to a committee, potentially delaying the vote for months, Senator Milne told reporters in Canberra on Thursday: “We’ll look at all the parliamentary options that we have when the legislation is introduced.
“Rest assured, given the opportunity to vote on it we will vote on it and vote against any repeal.”
How the Greens would deal with the parliamentary process depended on “how things come through”.
Both the Greens and Labor have said they will block the repeal of the carbon tax, prompting threats from Mr Abbott of a double-dissolution election.
But Senator Milne said the prime minister would “run a mile” from going to the polls next year.
“I don’t think Tony Abbott will have the courage to face the people,” she said, adding the Greens “absolutely” did not think it was in the national interest to rush to an election.
- There has been speculation that Mr Abbott may wait for the half-Senate changeover in July, which will transfer the balance of power to the more like-minded mix of the Palmer United Party bloc and conservative independents.
Australia facing $2 billion cost in early closing of carbon price scheme
Early repeal of carbon price scheme could cost government $2bn Financial Review 11 OCT 2013 GEMMA DALEY AND JAMES MASSOLA
The Coalition government could owe companies billions in refunds for freely allocated permits if it repeals the current Carbon Pricing Scheme before 2015, fresh analysis shows.
The early repeal of the scheme could lead to a cash windfall for metals, energy and power stations – the most intensive emitters – as they cash in on freely allocated permits, RepuTex analysis said.
“The earliest the carbon tax is likely to be disbanded is the start of October 2014, meaning that companies are likely to be liable for their emissions over the first quarter of the compliance year, but eligible to receive more free permits, which could be sold back to the government before the repeal takes effect,” said RepuTex head of research, Bret Harper. The government could end up with “a bill in excess of $2 billion to cash in nearly 87 million freely allocated permits”…..
Mr Harper said the earlier the scheme is disbanded, the higher the cost to government, with more excess permits being sold back by companies.
“If the repeal is held back until April 2015, the cost to government would only be around $138 million, as companies would continue to accrue carbon liabilities through the year, and would therefore have fewer permits to sell back to the government from their free allocation,” said Mr Harper……
MORE DETAIL NEEDED
Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Peter Anderson said business wanted more detail from the federal government about how the Direct Action policy would work…..http://www.afr.com/p/australia2-0/early_repeal_of_carbon_price_scheme_SUY0FQ0LUJReEPyjOkSiJN
Abbott Government puts renewable energy projects in jeopardy
Abbott risking renewables ‘hiatus‘Business Spectator, 16 Oct, By a staff reporterAcciona Energy chief Andrew Thomson says investment in large-scale renewable energy targets could be put on hold if the Abbott government delayed confirming the Renewable Energy Target, The Australian Financial Review reports.The government is planning to review the RET next year but Mr Thomson said certainty was required to meet the existing 20 per cent, or 41 terawatt hours, target, the newspaper reports….
..Mr Thomson said Acciona’s Spanish parents would redirect capital from Australia as uncertainty reigned.
“There’s no advantage for a country or a market to keep changing the goalposts.”http://www.businessspectator.com.au/news/2013/10/16/renewable-energy/abbott-risking-renewables-hiatus
Christine Milne is right: Martin Ferguson’s new job a mockery of code of conduct
The code says: “Persons who, after 6 December 2007, retire from office as a Minister or a Parliamentary Secretary, shall not, for a period of 18 months after they cease to hold office, engage in lobbying activities relating to any matter that they had official dealings with in their last 18 months in office”.
Greens’ claims over Ferguson lobbying are in the ballpark ABC News Fact Check 8 Oct 13
- The claim: Christine Milne says former resources minister Martin Ferguson’s new jobs make a mockery of the lobbying code of conduct.
- The verdict: By taking up the appointment within the cooling off period it can be argued that Mr Ferguson has made a mockery of the intent and spirit of the code.
- “……..Mr Ferguson’s new roles, six months after he resigned from federal cabinet in March, made a mockery of the ministerial code of conduct, Senator Milne said.”Martin Ferguson’s appointment as group executive of natural resources for Seven Group Holdings and as chair to a petroleum industry advisory board makes a mockery of the code of conduct which prevents former ministers engaging in lobbying activities relating to any matter that they had official dealings in,” she said.
The new jobs
Mr Ferguson accepted a role as chairman of an advisory board of the gas and oil industry’s peak body, the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association.
The association’s website acknowledges its status as a lobby group, Continue reading
Tony Abbott’s Aboriginal stooge Warren Mundine wastes no time in pushing Abbott’s agenda
Aboriginal adviser Warren Mundines hits out at green campaigner Geoffrey Cousins October 4, 2013 Dan HarrisonHealth and Indigenous Affairs Correspondent Tony Abbott’s chief adviser on indigenous affairs has taken a swipe at businessman and environmentalist Geoffrey Cousins over his campaign against a gas hub at James Price Point in the Kimberley, suggesting he ”pull a bit of money out of his own pocket” to compensate Aboriginal people who will miss out on a $1.5 billion benefits package…….In an interview with Fairfax Media, Warren Mundine, the chairman of Mr Abbott’s advisory council on indigenous affairs, lashed Mr Cousins for his role in opposing the James Price Point development……
Mr Cousins said Mr Mundine was misguided, and he had not opposed the gas project but had argued James Price Point was the wrong location. He said processing the gas offshore would make the project even more profitable for Woodside and there was no reason why the company should not pay the promised benefits. http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/aboriginal-adviser-warren-mundines-hits-out-at-green-campaigner-geoffrey-cousins-20131003-2uxg1.html#ixzz2gmwfZi94
Climate Scientist Janet Rice is Victoria’s newest Senator-elect
Congratulations to Janet Rice, our newest Senator-elect for Victoria! The AEC just made it official: Janet will join the Greens’ Senate team next July.
Trained as a climate scientist, Janet was one of the founders of the Greens in Victoria & is a leading voice for sustainability and justice. A transport planner, former Mayor, facilitator & campaigner, she brings a wealth of knowledge & experience to the team.
Janet led Maribyrnong Council’s local efforts to tackle global warming as Mayor, won campaigns to protect some of Australia’s precious forests, did crucial work with Bicycle Victoria and chaired the Metropolitan Transport Forum for four years.
Australian Commonwealth keeping laws over nuclear and other environmental matters
Commonwealth will keep environmental power over state projects , The Conversation, 30 September 2013, The Commonwealth will not delegate to the states decisions under its national environmental laws in which the states have a “conflict of interest”. Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt confirmed this significant commitment in an interview on ABC radio last Thursday.
The Coalition’s pre-election Policy for Resources and Energy promised to deliver a “one-stop-shop” for environmental approvals. The policy read like a complete handover of all Commonwealth decisions to the states.
But the Minister qualified the Coalition’s policy before the election when he was the Coalition’s environment spokesperson. He said in an interview reported in theWeekend Australian in May 2013 that: “some matters would be reserved where the Commonwealth would be the one-stop-shop but overwhelmingly it would be the states.”
In his recent radio interview, the Minister confirmed that the Commonwealth will retain control over decisions involving offshore Commonwealth waters, nuclear actions, and projects for which state governments are “likely to have a significant conflict of interest” as the proponent.
This alleviates the most significant concern about the one-stop-shop policy: where the state is the proponent they’ll have difficulty making an independent assessment…….
Complications of water trigger
The new water trigger created under the EPBC Act also complicates the one-stop-shop policy. Now-retired MP, Tony Windsor, who championed the trigger, managed to include alegislative prohibition on it being delegated to state governments.
Just how big a complication this creates is evident in Greg Hunt’s recent announcement that 47 coal seam gas and mining projects currently being assessed will need to consider the water trigger. All in all, the “one-stop-shop” policy looks like creating the patchwork regulatory regime that the Gillard Government ultimately decided not to pursue.
Martin Ferguson – from Minister for Energy to Fossil Fuel Lobbyist?
Ferguson’s resources posting mocks lobbying code of conduct – 1 Oct 13, Australian Greens Leader Senator Christine Milne says Martin Ferguson’s appointment as group executive of natural resources for Seven Group Holdings and as chair to a petroleum industry advisory board makes a mockery of the code of conduct which prevents former Ministers engaging in lobbying activities relating to any matter that they had official dealings in.
“The whole point of the code of conduct is to separate former Ministers from the industries they have been in direct contact with,” Senator Milne said.
‘It’s hard to see how a former Resources Minister going to work in the resources wing of Seven doesn’t make a complete mockery of the code.
“Mr Ferguson is an advocate of the fossil fuel industry. He’s on the exact same page as Ian Macfarlane when it comes to removing any kind of barrier to coal seam gas and resource extraction.
“Just today Mr Ferguson is reported to have urged NSW and Victoria to follow the lead of SA, WA, Queensland and the NT in encouraging gas development. He is also reported to have said the Santos project at Pilliga and the AGL project must be allowed to proceed.
“Mr Ferguson says he is conscious of the code, but in the same breath says he wants to build community support for gas and encourage development.
“The Australian Greens will be watching very closely to make sure former Minister Ferguson does not breach his responsibilities under the code.”
Don’t let the Australian government lose oversight of the NATIONALLY important (and financially failing) uranium industry
Uranium mining and export not a piece of yellow cake http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/opinion/opinion-uranium-mining-and-export-not-a-piece-of-yellow-cake/story-fnihsr9v-1226729513911 DAVE SWEENEY THE COURIER-MAIL SEPTEMBER 30, 2013
THIS week the Australian Uranium Association and other nuclear industry hopefuls will head to western Queensland for the Mining the Isa conference. Mt Isa is no stranger to mining but the region – and Queensland – would be well advised to treat the claims of the uranium sector with caution.
Globally the nuclear industry is under intense political, regulatory and community pressure since the Fukushima meltdown, a continuing nuclear crisis directly linked to Australia’s contested and contaminating uranium industry.
Recently the Newman Government released an “action plan” that seeks to open the door to uranium mining in Queensland but the LNP’s uranium road map is deeply flawed and in conflict with federal policy, global markets and community expectations. A key plank of the LNP’s plan is to have “all uranium mining proposals in Queensland assessed and approved by the state government”. Currently uranium mining and wider nuclear issues remain the clear responsibility of the federal government and this is as it should be.
Uranium mining is an issue of national interest and importance with extensive risks and long term impacts and is rightly a matter for the active consideration of the national government.
State governments, mining companies and the Australian Uranium Association, have long dreamt of the power to tick off on a new uranium mine being transferred to state governments in the hope that this would removing key checks and balances and speed up approvals. Continue reading
Australia’s anthropologists under fire, because of their support for Aboriginal Land Rights
Throughout the two centuries of colonisation, Aboriginal people, though vastly outnumbered, have done their best to resist European dominance: they fought to defend their land and, even under the enforced control of settlers, missionaries and the state, continued to lead subversive ‘double lives’ in which they tried to maintain their own cultural practices. They have struggled for greater social, economic and political equality, and they have tried desperately to reclaim their land.
Australia is one part of the world in which anthropologists have been able to make themselves genuinely useful to indigenous groups. For many decades now, they have been instrumental in assisting Aboriginal people in recording cultural knowledge and using this to support their claims to land and resources and their efforts to regain self-determination.
The latest development in Australia is for those opposed to land claims to spend very large sums of money suing anthropologists for millions of dollars,
Snippet #40: AUSTRALIA’S ABORIGINAL MINORITY – DISPOSSESSION AND LAND RIGHTS http://snippetysnippet.wordpress.com/2013/09/26/aboriginal-minority-snippet/ 26 Sept 13, “The Aboriginal minority in Australia represents about 2 per cent of the population as a whole. Colonisation of the country by Europeans has taken place over 200 years, with the major dispossession of the indigenous people occurring primarily in the first century of colonisation, but with some areas not fully ‘settled’ until early in the twentieth century. In some regions well into that century, the colonisation of land was accompanied by considerable violence and sometimes by outright genocide. Continue reading
Never mind the latest climate change report, the Abbott government will dismantle carbon pricing
The Climate Institute said the government should retain the current carbon laws until it can demonstrate through independent analysis that its policy can achieve emission reductions of up to 25 per cent by 2020.
The Australian Conservation Foundation said the IPCC report finds Australia could get hotter and this should be acknowledged when parliament resumes in October or November.
“In the first week of Parliament, we urge all politicians to treat climate change as a serious threat needing serious action, and not a device for cheap political point scoring,” the ACF said.
Abbott govt keen to repeal carbon tax http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/abbott-govt-keen-to-repeal-carbon-tax/story-fni0xqi4-1226728812968 AAP SEPTEMBER 27, THE federal government says it will push ahead with plans to dismantle Australia’s carbon pricing mechanism despite a key report on climate change declaring it “extremely likely” that human activity was the dominant cause of global warming.
That’s the strongest statement so far from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which said on Friday a human footprint could be found in the warming of the atmosphere and oceans, rising sea levels, melting snow and ice, and changes in some climate extremes.
Environment Minister Greg Hunt said the coalition government would go ahead with repealing the market-based carbon-pricing mechanism set up by the former Labor government despite some calls for a rethink. Continue reading
Tony Abbott recruiting his new unelected Indigenous Council
Abbott recruiting for indigenous council http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2013/09/25/abbott-recruiting-indigenous-council LISA MARTIN -September 25, 2013, Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s new indigenous advisory council will complete a review of indigenous spending by early next year.
Mr Abbott has begun recruiting people for the council, which will oversee a shake up of indigenous affairs.Warren Mundine on Wednesday officially signed on to be the council’s chairman. He said his preference was for the council to have seven or eight members.
The membership will be finalised before the end of October.
“It’s not a representative committee … it’s a council of experts, indigenous and non-indigenous, who will be working in this space to get the socio-economic outcomes for indigenous people,” Mr Mundine told AAP.
“It will be based on expertise, but the majority will be indigenous people on the council.” Continue reading
Only one Liberal Member of Parliament is clearly in favour of wind energy
Pollie Watch: Where do Coalition MPs stand on wind farms? Crikey September 24, 2013 by Leigh Ewbank Crikey has conducted a survey of sitting Coalition MPs on the issue of wind energy. The news service has found just one pro-wind energy MP in the government’s ranks, Leichhardt’s Warren Entsch. Reporter Andrew Crook notes: “It seems like Entsch is to wind as Julie Bishop is to women among senior Coalition ranks.”
So what else did Crikey find? There are a few Coalition MPs ‘on the fence’, some who ‘show promise’, and several retired pro-wind energy Liberals:
In favour …
Warren Entsch
Entsch has gone in to bat for a wind farm proposed in his electorate. According to The Tablelander last month, he said the following on the Mt Emerald development: “The bottom line is Mt Emerald would bring a lot to this region in terms of attracting investment, stabilising escalating power prices and raising our profile as a leader in sustainable energy solutions … It is time to start dealing in facts and the fact is that wind generated power is a hugely viable, largely untapped resource in this area that would provide us with a stable, viable energy solution.”
The Tablelander noted the area has the second highest wind resource in Australia: “Our electricity prices have doubled in the past five years and this figure will only continue to rise unless we look at reliable, practical and sensible power sources like wind, water and solar. It’s not rocket science — locally generated power will stabilise costs, if not drive them down.” Mr Entsch said claims noise from wind farms caused health problems were ‘‘unsubstantiated”.
On the fence …
Greg Hunt…….
Ian Macfarlane…….
If the Abbott government fails to adopt a pro-wind energy stance, it risks being out-of-step with mainstream community views.
All of the available public polling shows that three quarters of the community support more wind farms. The clean energy source is even highly popular among Coalition voters.
Warren Entsch and Malcolm Turnbull have shown political leadership on wind energy. Friends of the Earth hopes the Abbott government follow the lead of these sitting members.
http://yes2renewables.org/2013/09/24/pollie-watch-where-do-coalition-mps-stand-on-wind-farms/
Trans Pacific Partnership a political minefield for the Abbott government
Opening Australian governments to lawsuits over resource extraction, foreign land purchases, pharmaceutical benefits and health measures is a potential minefield for the new government.
Trade treaty stance the same, despite promise, http://www.theage.com.au/business/trade-treaty-stance-the-same-despite-promise-20130922-2u7wm.html#ixzz2fkoj8kHt The Age September 23, 2013 Peter Martin
Foreign corporations wanting to sue Australian governments will have to cool their heels. New trade minister Andrew Robb says Australia’s negotiating position on the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement remains the same despite an election commitment to overturn the blanket prohibition on ”investor-state dispute settlement” provisions.
The previous government declared point-blank that Australia would never again sign an agreement that included the provisions. One of the few trade agreements Australia has signed with such a clause allowed a Hong Kong-based subsidiary of tobacco giant Philip Morris to take Australia to an international tribunal over its plain-packaging laws, despite having lost its case in the High Court. Continue reading
Australia’s public servants – be careful! or Abbott will sack you
With blood still on the carpet, a public servant in a senior position will need extra courage to provide objective and critical assessments about climate policy and other contentious issues. We should salute those who will continue to provide frank and fearless advice, and understand if some will be cautious
Australia needs climate institutions, whoever is in power, The Conversation Frank Jotzo Director, Centre for Climate Economics and Policy at Australian National University 20 Sept 13 The new Australian government is sacking the public service heads who implemented Australia’s carbon pricing scheme, and is closing institutions for climate change information and policy advice.
It risks further politicisation of the climate change issue in the public service. Keeping at the very least the Climate Change Authority as an independent agency would send a positive signal about the government’s commitment to economically sound climate policy. Science and economics are needed to underpin policy choices, especially in a field where ideological positions now play such a big role in public debate.
Sackings Continue reading
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
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 