The political deckchairs have been reorganized somewhat in Australia. A new Labor government just scraped in over the majority numbers for the house of representatives (77), despite the best efforts of foreign political manipulators. This seems to have been a victory by default, largely as voters in 10 key seats voted for independent liberals rather than the candidates from the previous smelly and incompetent government. There was not much a swing to the attractions of the small target Labor party campaign. From the first preference votes the average swing against the Liberal party was about four percent ( - 4.26). The swing against Labor was almost one percent ( - 0.70 ). From this dribble of voters leaving the major parties, both the Greens (+1.75) and the Right wing Pauline Hansons One Nation party picked up nearly 2 percent. (+1.87).
The results of parliamentary representation depend on the unevenness of the electorates.The Greens now have 4 seats instead of just 1, elected by rich educated electorates. The Liberal - National Party coalition is reduced to 58 seats from their previous 77 seat result in 2019. The majority team has been swapped, but now with more independents and greens members. All told, this must be some relief for at least half of the Australian Population.
Immediately on taking office the new government is hit with the problem of shortage of domestic gas supply and increasing wholesale energy prices. This is in Australia, the worlds current biggest exported of LNG - liquified natural gas.
Can you place your trust in your nations carbon offsets? In Australia trust in politics is missing because the Liberal Party showed itself to be deathly afraid of creating a real federal ICAC. It failed to deliver any sort of investigative commission against corruption. Trust is absent because only money can buy political power in Australia. Trust is missing because the Prime Minister acts like a public relations guy for the Minerals Council of Australia, described in the juice media interview below as "coal - fondler in chief".
Reactions to a blockade of traffic in Sydney, proves just how much Government is "single minded" on business as usual. Nothing must interfere with keeping the fossil fuel export business going, as all of our governments are captured by foreign fossil fuel interests, paid by illusion of wealth which has captured the minds of politicians. There is evidence that we pay more in public subsidy than is returned by royalty payments on exports, but such facts are ignored.
Governments are especially allergic to protests by activist groups, and typically raises fines and punishments beyond those that are given to errant corporations. Profits now seem more important than having a future. "Blockade Australia" was formed in November last year in response to the climate crisis, aiming to “take resistance seriously and think about what kind of action will wield power relevant to the eyes of the Australian state”.
Hundreds of thousands of students join together in the global #ClimateStrike, to demand world leaders fight for #PeopleNotProfit! It is also soon followed federal government election in Australia, where politicians are going to be judged on their failures, as we face ongoing climate calamity. The Sydney event has been moved from The Domain to Kirribilli House, due to weather and other factors. There are many and varied Australian Regional events. Details and interest registration can be found through this link
These past few weeks in Eastern Australia are marked by very intense and prolonged rainfall, leading to record flooding events. Record intensity is the kind that insurance companies might have labelled of "1 in a 500" year event. How would they know? A new climate catastrophe happens somewhere near every year. Flooding from La Nina visits Eastern Australia every decade.
About this event
When: 6.30 - 8.30pm, Wednesday 16 February 2022
Where:
On 23rd December 2021, the Environmental Defenders Office, reported that the Federal Court ruled as unlawful the Government’s contracts that granted public money to frack in the Beetaloo Basin. The EDO had already set up a legal challenge to the granting of $21 million of public money for a private oil and gas company to do exploratory fracking in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin
I am impressed that the Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN) found itself with a few disappointments at the NSW Labor Party Conference. NSW is already going the way out in approving new coal and gas mining projects.
Like all fossil fuel addicts, the ALP can and has ticked a large number of boxes on restoring environment, circular economy, supporting sustainable industries, becoming a clean energy superpower. But it refuses to have any measures to prevent new coal and gas mining expansions. This undoes any and all good work that can possibly be achieved with "bright green-wash" measures. All of them are going to be undone by global heating.
The relative importance of green-wash, compared to the subsidies of coal oil and gas, is clearly measured by the size of the money flows allocated to each. Green-washing has relatively smaller costs, but a larger public relations impact, and just has to sound good. Some of them, like a truely "circular economy" will likely never be fully achieved, as we chew up our non-renewable resources and spread them as waste all over our planet.
I am advised that it is good social media practise not to point out the defects in bad posts, because that only feeds the trolls, and boosts the social media algorithms detection of interest from the most addicted ignorant. I would have followed this advice but then I would have to entirely ignore the "new" smoking "Australian Way" climate plan, to be presented at COP26 in Glasgow. This government needs to be sacked immediately.
you might be wondering what our government actually hopes to achieve by showing up in Glasgow? The short answer, as one of our Australian friends put it well, is “to get away with it”. That’s right, through the miracle of marketing, to get away with a plan to double down on fossil fuels and evade all responsibility for tackling the climate crisis. - Dr Simon Bradshaw – Director of Research (Projects) Australian Climate Council
Registration Link https://parracan.org/register/oct24 -- to get zoom link details.
Climate For Change - networked presentation online on October 24th 2021. Sunday at 3 - 6pm.
This "Climate for change" , using the latest Online "Climate for Change" movement, as facillitated by ParraCAN. It is to present our climate predicaments as a global problem. Sorry to say, but that makes all of us in Australia a global problem.
We need to subvert the conventional and social media tropes, that remove responsibility for carbon emissions from our government and society, and protect ourselves from climate denial propaganda. Global heating already changes how we live. It should be changing how we lobby and vote for our politicians.