Australians disagree on how important climate change is: poll

Climate change, the environment and energy policy are all key issues in this election campaign, fuelled by compelling evidence of our accelerating impact on the environment and climate. While voters agree more than you might think, there’s still a serious split on the importance of acting on climate change and preventing harm to the environment.

Australia’s major political parties fall into two broad camps on these issues. The Labor party is spruiking policies that control emissions and move towards renewables, consistent with its rhetoric about taking on the “top end of town” – including the mining industry.

Read the story from The Conversation - “Australians disagree on how important climate change is: poll."

Only the stupid think the cost of climate change is simple

You know an election campaign has run off the rails when the pollies start hurling the results of economic modelling at each other. Voters find it incomprehensible and cover their ears, and the only people who think it proves something are the pollies themselves and the journalists silly enough to imagine their incessant demands to “show us your modelling” will expose the truth.

The more you know about modelling, the less it impresses you. There’s a place for economic modelling, but it’s in a seminar room, being pulled apart by experts, not in the argy-bargy of politicians seeking election, vested interests seeking more bucks, and journos who think their customers will just love a bit more meaningless conflict.

Read the comment from The Age by Ross Gittins - “Only the stupid think the cost of climate change is simple.”

Josh Frydenberg on back foot over Adani at Kooyong election forum

Josh Frydenberg spent the first night of the election campaign defending the Coalition’s decision to approve the groundwater management plan for the Adani coalmine to a room of 600 voters in his electorate of Kooyong, where climate change has emerged as a key issue.

Josh Frydenberg faced a sceptical crowd in Kooyong who
challenged him on climate change on the first night of the
 election campaign.

Speaking at a candidates’ forum hosted by the local environment group Lighter Footprints at Hawthorn Arts Centre on Thursday night, Frydenberg said the project still had to pass nine more approvals after the environment minister, Melissa Price, granted the latest approval on Tuesday, of which he said the “most fundamental” were with the Queensland government.

“In this case on the water issue, we took the advice of the CSIRO, of Geosciences Australia, and that is why it has gone to the next stage,” he said.

Read the story from The Guardian by Calla Wahlquist and Lisa Martin - “Josh Frydenberg on back foot over Adani at Kooyong election forum.”

Smothering charities: the plot to keep critics quiet next election

Can't stand politics?

Organisations like the Australian Conservation Foundation
would be allowed tax deductibility only if they cleaned up oil spills.

The good news is that when the election campaign proper begins, they'll ease off on the abuse and put forward policies. They'll have to.

And those policies will be scrutinised by just about every interest group there is. That's the way it works. They'll rate them, produce scorecards according to how they'll affect things such as education, health, defence, foreign aid and the environment, assessing what's being offered.

Unless the Coalition stops them. And it's minded to.

Read Peter Martin’s comment in today’s Melbourne Age - “Smothering charities: the plot to keep critics quiet next election.”

Flood affected Tasmania farmers want climate change action

Damian Atkins on the banks of the
 Mersey River, among the
 debris left behind by floodwaters.

Some flood-affected Tasmanian farmers want to see more action on climate change, a topic which has received little debate during the election campaign.

Cropping, dairy, livestock and horticultural producers farming on waterways across north and west Tasmanian have watched their hard work wash away during floods, which have been described as the worst since 1929.

Damian Atkins from Caveside, has a property at Mole Creek on the Mersey River. He has been hit by four extraordinary events in the last nine months.

"In the winter time we had nearly a foot of snow on these flats, which is not in anyone's living history. We had the driest summer on record, we had bushfires, there were ember attacks here in the summertime and now we've had this.

Read the ABC Rural story - “Tasmanian farmers demand climate change action after floods ruin farms.”