Climate
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Tony Abbott’s negotiating skills.
With the unpredictable and confusing state of the new Senate, Tony Abbott will have his negotiating skills tested. So far negotiating skills have not been part of his political success. Thanks to the Palmer United Party and five other cross-benchers in the Senate from July 1, the situation could become even more chaotic than the Continue reading »
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Is Tony Abbott still a climate change denier?
Tony Abbott claimed on his recent overseas trip that he takes human induced climate change “very seriously” Or was it just a diversion before his meeting with President Obama who does take the issue seriously. I hope he is no longer a climate change denier but I have my doubts. I suspect it is mainly Continue reading »
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Walter Hamilton. Fractured News from Fukushima.
It’s raining in Fukushima. Since radioactive contamination from the crippled nuclear power plant is spread mainly by introduced water, even a routine weather bulletin has more-than-usual significance. The annual tsuyu, or rainy season, is in full swing in Japan. Fukushima prefecture normally receives 250 millimetres of rain in June-July, and every drop adds to the Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Get ready for El Nino, Tony
The late Senator Moynihan from New York famously said that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but no one is entitled to their own facts. Tony Abbott and Greg Hunt along with Alan Jones and Andrew Bolt have strong opinions on climate change that are not based on facts. If El Nino develops as Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Increasing the petrol tax is good policy.
It may not be good short-term politics for the Abbott Government but it will be of long-term benefit to Australia if we lift the excise on petrol which has been frozen since 2001. The motor industry will protest. It should be faced down, just as we should have faced down the mining lobby when it Continue reading »
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John Menadue. The new squatters on public land.
More alienation of public space. In my blog yesterday, I referred to the alienation of public space in Barangaroo and proposed for the Sydney Botanic Gardens. Today there are reports that Wentworth Park, which is Crown Land, will be developed as a billion dollar residential complex. In a letter to the SMH we are told Continue reading »
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John Menadue. The Carbon Tax and Flat-Earthers.
Despite all the political rhetoric and hysteria, the evidence is mounting almost daily that the carbon tax is largely working as planned and that its impact on electricity prices is quite small, particularly compared with the ‘network costs’, the poles and wires, which have been the main drivers of increased electricity prices. But the flat-earthers Continue reading »
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John Menadue. Opinion and fact on climate change.
Tony Abbott keeps telling us that climate change is not a factor in the current drought in eastern Australia. Last October he ruled out climate change as a factor in October’s early season bushfires in the Blue Mountains. He keeps giving us opinions when the facts, supported by overwhelming scientific research, tell us that Australia Continue reading »
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Is Pope Francis a Marxist?
On 16 December last year, Eureka Street carried an article by Neil Ormerod about Pope Francis and his economic, social and political message. That article can be found on the link below. John Menadue http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=38645#.Us8a9j0XBt8.email Continue reading »
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More on pink batts. Guest blogger: Dr Michael Keating
I would like to add a further comment to your post on 3 January on the Pink Batts. First, I would further contest the evidence that this scheme was poorly conceived and badly implemented. On this point it should be noted that the Auditor General’s finding that 29 per cent of 13808 completed jobs had Continue reading »
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There goes the neighbourhood. John Menadue
It used to be thought that the intrusion of new ethnic communities into established Anglo-areas was destroying the neighbourhood. Now it is increasingly the excesses of wealth that are doing the damage. James Packer spent millions to buy and then bulldoze three houses to make room for his Sydney fortress. In the three year process, Continue reading »
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Lagging the field on climate change. John Menadue
Across the world there are clear signs that the tide is turning with acceptance of the reality of climate change, that humans are the cause and that we need to address the problem. But not in Australia. We keep acting like King Canute against the tide. The Abbott Government is proposing to abolish the carbon Continue reading »
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Yes we can – zero carbon emissions within 10 years in Australia. Guest blogger: Ann Long
On Wednesday 6th November Kiama’s Ss Peter and Paul Social Justice Group, together with Transition Towns Kiama, hosted a presentation by Gillian King from Beyond Zero Emissions, which explained a fully costed blue-print for Australia’s transition to 100% renewable energy. Beyond Zero Emissions (BZE), a not-for-profit research and education organisation, together with the University of Continue reading »
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Climate change as portrayed in ten major Australian newspapers. John Menadue
Last week the Australian Centre for Independent Journalism at the University of Technology, Sydney released a report on the above subject. It highlighted, amongst other things the unprofessional performance and influence of News Ltd publications in shaping the public debate in favour of the sceptics of climate change. This is despite the overwhelming consensus by Continue reading »
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A back-flip on the carbon tax. John Menadue
A number of my friends were impressed with the recent public debate between Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese. They told me that they had expressed an interest online to join or rejoin the ALP after many years absence. Without exception they now say that they will not pursue their membership enquiry until the parliamentary wing Continue reading »
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The Carbon Tax – Policy and Politics. John Menadue
There are good policy and political reasons why the ALP should oppose the repeal of the carbon tax. The carbon tax is designed to reduce carbon pollution. That fact is continually ignored by those who talk wildly about the tax rather than what it is designed to do. In any event, the tax is working Continue reading »
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Bushfires and climate change. John Menadue
Last week, the Environment Minister, Greg Hunt, was really trying to tell us that black is white. He attacked Adam Brandt who had said that the bushfires in NSW were part of a pattern of more extreme weather caused by climate change. Brandt added that the government should not embark on dismantling sensible policies to Continue reading »
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Facing the future. Guest blogger: Prof. Stephen Leeder
Facing the future in a world where black swan events change everything. When considering what we may be facing with a new federal government in Australia, a wise starting point would be a conversation with Nassim Nicholas Taleb, he of the Black Swan theory. Taleb has written extensively, using the discovery of black swans in Continue reading »
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The election – punishing bad behaviour. John Menadue
One thing the election did was to explode the perceived wisdom that if the economy was doing well, governments are seldom voted out. But the Rudd Government was. As I have written in earlier blogs. The Australian economy, by almost any measure is one of the best performing and managed in the world. Our material Continue reading »
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National Party fails farmers. John Menadue
Warren Truss and Barnaby Joyce have allowed the National Party to be dragged along at the heels of the Liberal Party on climate change and other issues. What was it that Tony Abbott said about climate change being ‘bullshit’? Australian farmers particularly in Western Australia are now paying the price of failed leadership by the Continue reading »
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A canary in the coal mine. John Menadue
When environmental activist, Jonathon Moylan, sent a hoax email concerning Whitehaven Coal to the ANZ in January this year, there was outrage and tut-tutting by business journalists about his action. A few months later, it is becoming clear that the future of new thermal coal mines is doubtful. Australian resource companies have let over-optimism skew Continue reading »
