Mine games. Why Adani is banking on the unbankable

You would think Adani would have gone away by now.

The giant Indian conglomerate can't get a loan for its proposed $22 billion Queensland coal mine from an Australian bank, it can't seem to get one from an Indian bank, the mine would be so big it would depress the world coal price, and the Indian government plans to phase out coal imports altogether.

In documents released to Fairfax Media under freedom of information laws, the Queensland Treasury as good as described the project as "unbankable''.

What is being proposed is breathtaking: a series of coal mines 60 kilometres long. If scrunched together they would be 40 kilometres long and 10 kilometres wide – an area bigger than Paris, much bigger than Sydney Harbour.

Read Peter Martin’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Mine games. Why Adani is banking on the unbankable.”

Liberal Party powerbroker's wife Kristina Photios quits over lack of action on climate change

Powerbroker's wife,
Kristina Photios, has quit
the Liberal Party because
of its lack of action
on climate change.

Kristina Photios, the wife of NSW Liberal Party Michael Photios, has quit the party to speak out against a "vocal minority" of conservatives she says are preventing any progress on climate policy by the Turnbull government.

The Liberal Party must move "back to the centre" and progressive members should stand up and be heard to ensure Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is not held hostage to the hard right of the party, Ms Photios told Fairfax Media.

Her unvarnished comments, which will likely have internal ramifications for Mr Photios as the longtime leader of the left or "moderate" faction in NSW, have given an insight into the depth of feeling raging inside the party in a week in which Mr Turnbull was again forced to retreat from a public debate under threat of insurrection from within his own ranks.  

"Debate in the Liberal Party is being shut down by a vocal minority of conservatives who are subverting the democratic process," Ms Photios said, singling out former prime minister Tony Abbott and South Australian senator Cory Bernardi as among those "ideologically-driven" Liberals who wield disproportionate influence.

Read The Sydney Morning Herald story - “Liberal Party powerbroker's wife Kristina Photios quits over lack of action on climate change.”

Climate Change Authority withholds electricity carbon charge report

A report that recommends putting a price on emissions from the electricity sector has been held back by the Climate Change Authority until after the election, prompting calls from Labor and the Greens that it be made public to inform debate.

The independent authority, whose board is now dominated by appointments made last October by Environment Minister Greg Hunt, was to have released its policy options paper for the power industry by the end of April.

The board, though, decided to withhold the report - along with the large Special Review due out by June 30 - until after the election, "assuming it is called for early July," the authority said on its website.

"Why would the authority not release something before the caretaker period?" a source said to Fairfax Media about the report on the power sector, which creates about one-third of Australia's carbon emissions.

Leaked details of the Climate Change Authority's electricity industry "policy options" report said "a mandatory carbon price of some form is desirable in the sector".

Read Peter Hannam’s story in the Melbourne Age - “Climate Change Authority report recommending 'a mandatory carbon price' held back until after election.”

CSRIO might have alternative to deep climate science cuts

CSIRO chairman, David Thodey.

CSIRO is expected to offer an alternative to deep cuts of its climate science program as soon as this week in a bid to defuse criticism as a Senate committee prepares to widen its inquiry to include chairman David Thodey.

Mr Thodey is scheduled to address the committee in Canberra on Wednesday. Unusually, the chairman has asked the session be held in camera and that he not be joined by CSIRO management, Fairfax Media has been told.

Speculation of a resolution was fanned by Environment Minister Greg Hunt last week breaking his silence on the cuts, which originally targeted as many as 110 of the 140 staff in the key Oceans & Atmosphere division.

Read Peter Hannam’s story in the Melbourne Age - “CSIRO eyes alternative plan to climate job cuts as Chairman Thodey faces inquiry.”

Climate change at the heart of Shorten's election campaign

Bill Shorten puts climate change at
the heart of his election hopes.

Bill Shorten says he will put climate change at the centre of his campaign to become prime minister despite the political risks as he seeks to draw the election battle lines against the "underwhelming" Malcolm Turnbull.

In an exclusive interview with Fairfax Media ahead of the final week of Parliament before the May budget, Mr Shorten says that while Labor remains the underdog he now believes he can beat Mr Turnbull, who had been viewed as untouchable.

As Mr Turnbull prepares to mark six months in power on Monday – and with early-budget and double-dissolution election speculation now at fever pitch – Mr Shorten says the Prime Minister has been a huge letdown for many Australians.

Read Adam Gartrell’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “'I can win': Bill Shorten draws election battle lines.”

Australia's future renewable energy boundless, but limited by backward looking governments

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ustralia has it all, particularly when it comes to renewable energy.

Sadly, those with the decision making power and with the capacity to change the country’s direction are deeply embedded in and unable to extricate themselves from 20^th Century ideas.

In its story - “The heat is on, as Australia plumbs the depths” – Fairfax Media reports that our governments are virtually ignoring the renewable energy just waiting to the accessed.

The story says: “On the face of it, Australia's future is rosy: renewable energy, a World Wildlife Fund report claims, could meet all our electricity needs by the middle of the century – and at a cost little more than 0.1 to 0.2 per cent of gross domestic product.

“Sad to say, none of this deterred the government and opposition from reaching a so-called "compromise deal" last week that slashes the nation's original target of 41,000 gigawatt-hours of annual renewable energy production by 2020 to 33,000 gigawatt-hours.”

Academics see Abbott-backed Lomborg move as polluting their reputations

C

reation of Tony Abbott-backed Lomborg 'consensus centre' has tarnished our reputations, say academics.

On the day Fairfax Media revealed that the idea for the centre - which comes as a result of a $4 million grant from the federal government - originated in the Prime Minister's Office, academics stated their concern that the new centre has tarnished their reputations.

In a letter to David Harrison, University of Western Australia's head of corporate and government affairs, obtained by Fairfax Media, the head of the School of Animal Biology Sarah Dunlop said one international research fellow is already set to transfer their fellowship to another institution in protest.

Read more in the Sydney Morning Herald - “Creation of Tony Abbott-backed Lomborg 'consensus centre' has tarnished our reputations, say academics”.

Misunderstandings and adherence to populist values - Abbott Government

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oday’s Melbourne Age again tells us more about the Australian Government’s misunderstanding of climate change and of its adherence to populist values.

The story - “Abbott government resists US moves against coal power” – by Lisa Cox and Mark Kenny discusses our government’s contrary position on coal, climate change and protecting the environment.

They report: “A leaked briefing paper, obtained by Fairfax Media, shows the government is using an international forum to frustrate efforts by the US, the United Kingdom and France to wind back export subsidies for new but environmentally harmful coal stations in third world countries.”