State of Play New South Wales: roads, death, trauma costs and safety data covering years 2012-2021

In March 2021 the Australian Government Dept. of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications released its road deaths data for New South Wales covering the twelve months to March 2021:

NSW Road Deaths for March to March periods ending on 31 March 2012 through to 31 March 2021

In the 12 months up to 31 March 2021, “Drivers” was the largest fatality group involved in a motor vehicle accident, the biggest fatality age group was those between 40 and 64 years of age and men had the highest gender fatality figures.

From 1 January to 31 March 2021 there were a total of 73 road deaths in New South Wales

In March 2021 the NRMA also released its annual “Rate Your Roads” report for regional New South Wales which looked at the cost of road accident trauma.

Northern NSW falls into the NRMA’s Townsend region.

Northern Rivers Total Road Trauma Cost Breakdown for 2014-2018:

Clarence Valley – $492,364,548

Tweed – $472,172,580

Lismore – $ 279,501,896

Richmond Valley – $278,021,556

Ballina – $223,471,769

Byron – $204,822,770

Kyogle – $138,242,279.

The headline cost of trauma varies in the Townsend region from nearly $500 million in Clarence Valley, to around $16 million in Brewarrina. There is significant variance of these due to the population and size of the road network of the respective LGAs.

But on average, the cost of road trauma is approximately $155 million per LGA.

When adjusted per head of population, each LGA is in a narrower band of generally approximately $6,000 to $15,000 per person, with a few outliners.

Some LGAs might have a disproportionately large or small road network, and a road trauma cost/km may be beneficial. There is a significant amount of variance from around $8,000/km in Brewarrina to $300,000/km in Tweed.

Adjusting for both population and road network size might be considered a pseudo-equitable outcome. On this specific metric, Tamworth Regional LGA represents the ‘safest’ LGA in the NRMA Townsend region, with a road trauma cost of $1.80/person/km. 

In contrast, Walcha is the ‘least safe’ LGA, with a road trauma cost of $22.18/person/km. This means that after accounting for the difference in the size of the road network and population, the Walcha LGA has nearly 15 times more road trauma than Tamworth Regional Council LGA…… 

Northern Rivers “Rate Your Roads” 2021 survey participants gave the following overall safety scores for the road systems in their local government areas:

Ballina – 47.50%

Tweed – 47.16%

Richmond Valley – 46.16%

Clarence Valley – 38.39%

Kyogle – 37.40%

Lismore – 31.85%

Byron – 30.61%.

On 20 April 2021 Scott Morrison in a private capacity attended the Australian Christian Churches National Conference on the Gold Coast and billed us all an est. $29,157

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aziBueAsv6U&t=3s

This is the full speech by Prime Minister & Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison at the Australian Christian Churches National Conference 2021 on the Gold Coast last week. 

This footage was originally broadcast by Vineyard Christian Church.

It was posted on Youtube by Rationalists Australia on 25 April 2021.

Morrison's speech was filled with memorable disclosures - including this:

"I've been in evacuation centers where people thought I was just giving someone a hug and I was praying and putting my hands on people in various places, laying hands on them and praying, in various situations”.

It has been reported in mainstream & social media that Scott Morrison flew up to the Gold Coast from Sydney by RAAF VIP business jet on Tuesday 20 April 2021 and returned to Sydney by RAAF VIP business jet later that night.

The jet was a Dassault Falcon 7x Special Purpose Passenger and VIP Transport with a crew of two pilots and one cabin attendant.

The cost of this private jaunt was taxpayer funded and, based on 2019-2020 fixed fees and additional costs for the entire round trip (with the jet flying to Sydney at 2:21pm from its Canberra airbase and returning to the airbase at 11:51pm) was est. $29,157.

However, as Morrison's trip to the Gold Coast does not appear to have been announced as part of any prime ministerial itinerary and, as he specifically stated at approx. 3:24 mins into his 23:20 mins conference 'sermon' that "I didn't come here to talk about politics tonight", one wonders why taxpayers should foot his extravagant bill. 

In my opinion the fact that his "brothers" Stuey (Robert) and Matt (O'Sullivan) also attended this conference is not an acceptable fiscal figleaf for #ScottyFromGilead to hide beneath.

LAYING ON OF HANDS: Pastor Wayne Alcorn of Hillsong Church (left), Scott Morrison (middle), Pastor Sean Stanton of Life Unlimited Church (right) at the ACC National Conference on 20 April 2021. IMAGE: The New Daily

Australian Prime Minister & Liberal MP for Cook Scott John Morrison has attracted at least 125 political opinions expressed as nicknames and descriptive terms

 

The following non-exhaustive list probably became inevitable the day it dawned on the Australian people that Scott Morrison has given himself the nickname "ScoMo" as form of political self-promotion and, that previous to this creation, he was known to family, friends and acquaintances simply as "Scotty".

However, what was not inevitable was the sheer number of names and terms he attracted - that was entirely due to own his utterances and actions first a federal cabinet minister and then later as prime minister. One hundred and twenty-five.

I honestly don't think even Donald J. Trump during his time as US president had this many.

Scott 'ScoMo' Morrison's other politically-inspired nicknames and descriptive terms - as found on social media and in no particular order:

#LiarFromTheShire #ScottyFromMarketing #ScumMo #SloMo #SmoKo #StuntMo #ScamMo #ScoMoFo #ScoMocchio #ProMo #FauxMo #CoalMo #GunnaDoMorrison #CrimeMinister #PrimeSinister #MorriScum #SloganBogan #ScoMoses #KoalaKiller #SmirkyMcSmirkface #TyphoidScotty #Bullshitboy #NotMyPM #ScottyFromSportsRorts #GrottyScotty #SideshowScott #TheJerkWithTheSmirk #TheEngadineShitter #HappyClappySloganBogan #ScottyNoMates #ScottyBornToShill #SnollygosterInChief #TrumpsBitch #ScoMoron #SmirkingSnake #SignificuntScotty #DeathMaker #ScottyTheAnnouncer #TheSmugThug #ScuntMo #JobShirker #JobDodger #ShirknSmirk #ScottyTheSaviour #MissionCreepMorrison #ScottyTheSimp #ScottyFromGilead #MaliciousMorrison #TrumpLite #ScottyTheBully #ScoFuckingMo #ScottyGanda #FoghornLiehorn #MansplainerInChief #Scooter #ScottyForPhotoshoots #ScottyThePoser #PerformativeShitclown #BunningsBoy #ScoVid #ScottyTheSkiver #PinchfartMorrison #ScottyWotty #ScottyNeverHelped #SnottyTheGrifter #RoboScomo #ScumNut #ScottyFromGasMarketing #ScottAllMouthNoTrousersMorrison #KimJongScottyUn #Scrotum #Fullofshiticus #ScottyGaveMeShingles #CaptainSmirk #McFuckface #SideshowScott #ScottyFromPhotoOps #DoughMo #ScottyTheUninvited #ScottyStoppedTheExports #ScottyThePutz #scottyfkntrump #SmirkAndMirrorsMorrison #ScottyNeverHelped #ScottyMIA #Slomoaf #InactionMan #SnakeOilScumo #NoShowMo #WhatsInItForScotty #ScottyTheFukwit #ScottyTheCharlatan #ScottyDoNothing #SnottieTheSpiv #ScottyTheVile #ShonkyFromTheStartScotty #ScottyKnew #ScottyFromCoverUps #ScottyTheRapistProtector #ScottyTheUnsavoury #ScottyTheQueueJumper #ScottyTheMisogynist #ScottyDoesNothing #PastorBumblefuck #ScottyIPromiseNotToShootWimmensMorrison #Squirmo #Scrotum #ScottyTheUnhinged #ScottyUnfitForOffice #LordSmirkington #ScottyTheGaslighter #ScottyFromDamageControl #SpinMeisterMorrison #ScottyTheLiar #ClotMorrison #Scoflake #ScareMo #MilkshakeMorrison #MealeyMouthMorriscum #ScottyBlahBlah #CanDooDooMorrison #MorrisonTheSpiritualAbuser #ScottyTheChosenOne #ScottyFromHillsong #ScottAlmighty

#ScottyThe

125

Big super funds have threatened to vote against company directors who do not make sure their businesses are committed to action on global heating that includes hitting net zero by 2050

The Guardian, 26 April 2021:

Big super funds have threatened to vote against company directors who do not make sure their businesses are committed to action on global heating that includes hitting net zero by 2050.

The Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (Acsi), which represents investors that manage more than $1tn in retirement savings and hold about 10% of the shares in the top 200 companies in the country, said some boards were not tackling the climate crisis quickly enough.

Its tougher stance comes after a week in which regulators and ratings agencies stepped up the pressure on corporate Australia to properly consider climate risks and the US president, Joe Biden, increased the pressure on the Australian government to commit to emissions cuts sooner.

Australian companies attempting to find new markets due to the trade war with China face a risk that Europe will impose border taxes due to the country’s high emissions. At the same time, new research by insurance group Swiss Re, released this week, estimates that Australia’s economy will take a hit of as much as 12.5% by 2050 if the globe warms by 2.6C.

Under a new climate policy, released on Monday, Acsi now expects companies to adopt and detail a corporate strategy in line with the international Paris agreement, which aims to limit heating to 1.5C, and commit to net zero emissions by 2050.

Acsi said that companies should also work out and fully disclose what physical and financial risk global heating poses to their assets, as well as making sure that their lobbying efforts – including through industry associations – do not undermine efforts to limit climate catastrophe.

It said it would also support “say on climate” resolutions, which ask companies to publicly report on their climate exposure, that are put forward by shareholders at annual meetings.

If companies consistently fail to comply with the new policy, Acsi may recommend a vote against directors when they come up for re-election at shareholder meetings.....

 

Australian Federal Politics: Newspoll 24-25 April 2021

 

The Australian 26 April 2021

Australian forest timber is already being exported as biomass to Japan and elsewhere, where it is burnt in order to generate electricity

 

Clarence Valley Independent, 13 April 2021:

VOICES FRO THE EARTH

In our quest to combat climate change, it seems that political philosophy and denial, spurred on by vested interests, are our greatest impediment to successfully avoiding an unmanageable outcome.

Recently the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, warned that the planet is on track to be 3 to 5 degrees warmer within 80 years. That’s more than double the warming that scientists believe we can safely endure.

In fact, it is now predicted that the manageable 1.5 degree maximum warming could be reached as early as 2024, after which, continued inaction will likely have catastrophic consequences.

With this dire warning front and foremost, one would think there would be some degree of urgency to address the situation, but no, instead, some Australia politicians are advocating for Clean Energy Finance Corporation money to be used to fund new coal-fired power stations, arguably the greatest source of greenhouse gas emissions.

On the other side of the equation, forests across the globe, one of nature’s most efficient carbon depositories, are being cleared at increasing rates for agriculture, and more recently to be burned to generate electricity. Apparently, the term “renewable” is being manipulated to imply it is somehow “clean” and acceptable, and that’s given denialists the opportunity to promote the use of ‘biomass’ here in Australia.

The escalation of biomass use is so great, that a group of over 500 international scientists have written to the Presidents of the US, the European Council, the European Commission, and South Korea, as well as the Prime Minister of Japan, asking them to intervene to end the practice of industrial scale wood-burning for energy production. They rightly argue that the practice is seriously undermining efforts, not only to address climate change, but to protect biodiversity as well.

Native forest timbers are already being burned to produce electricity here in Australia, although not yet at the industrial scale occurring overseas. However, Australian forest timber is already being exported as biomass, referred to as ‘biopellets’, to Japan and elsewhere, for burning to generate electricity.

The insanity continues!

John Edwards

According to the Australian Government Dept. of Agriculture, Water and the Environment “there is potential to expand Australia’s bioenergy sector to increase the use of wood residues from forest operations for electricity and heat generation and transport biofuel production”.

So called “forest waste” is seen as a 23 million tonne per year biomass resource.

The now idle Redbank coal-fired power station at Warkworth, NSW, near Singleton, announced it expects to covert to biomass sometime this year and, in April 2021 is marketing this move as clean, green energy.

Since 2020 Hunter Energy has been seeking expressions of interest for timber from across north-east NSW to fuel this recommissioned power station.

In March 2021 SA port operator T-Ports has announced it had reached an agreement with Mitsui Bussan Woodchip Oceania, Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers (KIPT) and HarvestCo to export timber biomass.

Biomass Magazine, 20 January 2021:

Australia-based Kangaroo Island Plantation Timbers has been awarded a $5.5 million bushfire recovery grant from the Australian government to support the development of a biomass pellet plant and small-scale biomass power plant.

The facilities will be located on at KIPT’s timber processing hub at Timber Creek on Kangaroo Island, a region that experienced a devastating bushfire in December 2019. The island is located off Australia’s southern coast approximately 550 miles northwest of Melbourne.

Once operational, the pellet plant will be capable of accepting fire-damaged logs and any other logs that cannot be sold into export markets. Pellets produced at the plant are expected to be exported using the chip-handling facility at the proposed Kangaroo Island Seaport at Smith Bay.

The project will also include a small-scale power plant to support the pellet mill. That facility will be capable of dispatching base-load power to the electricity grid.

KIPT said due diligence work is underway on the pellet proposal with project partners. The company said it expects to achieve internal approval for the project during the first half of this year, subject to regulatory consent.

In Albany Western Australia, the Plantation Energy Australia (PEA) is running a wood pellet production plant which exports up to 125,000 tonnes of wood pellets every year, mainly to Belgium for use as energy.

On 22 April 2021 two Australian fossil fools came out to frolic under the public gaze - Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the virtual Leaders Summit and Saudi Arabian Oil Company director Andrew Liveris on the ABC program Q&A

Two fossil fools currently roaming wild in Australia
Saudi Arabian Oil Company director Andrew Liveris (left) and Prime Minister Scott Morrison (right)
IMAGE: Crikey, 16 September 2020

In March 2020 Australian Prime Minister & Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison created the National COVID-19 Co-ordination Commission Advisory Board with the aim of building a fossil fuel led economic recovery.

One Andrew N. Liveris - former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Dow Chemical Company, former director of DowDuPont, current director of Saudi Arabian Oil Company, self-styled advisor to Australian & US governments and an apparent chum of Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest of Cashless Welfare Card fame and Scott Morrison - became a Special Adviser to the Commission from April 2020 to September 2020 and head of the Commission's Manufacturing Taskforce.

Perhaps there is a hint in the following exchange as to why he is no longer mentioned in connection with the National COVID-19 Co-ordination Commission.

The man has a very large ego and a rather abrasive personality. He apparently also has a problem with basic maths.

ABC Q&A program, 22 April 2021 transcript, excerpts:

HAMISH MACDONALD:

Andrew Liveris, you’ve promoted this gas-led recovery. Many take the view that you’re committing us to fossil fuels for much longer than we need to.

ANDREW LIVERIS:

So, let me...

HAMISH MACDONALD:

Explain it. Justify it.

ANDREW LIVERIS:

...let me teach you a new term – fossil feedstock. OK? Let me...

NARELDA JACOBS:

Let me teach you a term.

ANDREW LIVERIS:

Yeah, please.

NARELDA JACOBS:

If you believe there’s a future in fossil fuels...

ANDREW LIVERIS:

Yeah.

NARELDA JACOBS:

...then you are a fossil...fool.

ANDREW LIVERIS:

Narelda...

ANDREW LIVERIS:

Thank you. I take it as a...I take it as a badge of honour that you would call me that. Fossil feedstock is all of your modern life. You want to live a modern life, you need a fossil feedstock. You can’t get carbon any other way. If you want a chemistry lesson, I’ll help you out the back.

MALCOLM TURNBULL:

Oh...

ANDREW LIVERIS:

What you’ve got to do...

SARAH HANSON-YOUNG:

Man...

MALCOLM TURNBULL:

Andrew. Andrew.

SARAH HANSON-YOUNG:

...you’re just...

ANDREW LIVERIS:

Listen.

SARAH HANSON-YOUNG:

You’re so patronising. Like, just...

ANDREW LIVERIS:

But...

SARAH HANSON-YOUNG:

Seriously.

HAMISH MACDONALD:

Let’s just try and keep it respectful amongst all of us...

ANDREW LIVERIS:

And you’re not?

HAMISH MACDONALD:

...and stick to the policy...

SARAH HANSON-YOUNG:

Well, I’m not the one shaking my finger at people, mate.

HAMISH MACDONALD:

Folks, let’s just keep to the policy, if we can.

ANDREW LIVERIS:

Yeah. Well, you’re yelling.

HAMISH MACDONALD:

Uh, why is it that Australia...why is it that Australia needs a gas pipeline, for example, across the Nullarbor to bring it to the east coast from the west? Can you just justify this promotion of a gas-led recovery?

ANDREW LIVERIS:

There’s 850,000 Australians employed by industries that use gas as a feedstock. 850,000. At the current pricing levels, they’re paid Japanese spot price. Spot price. So, Japan gets cheaper gas than we do for our industry. Those industries you need for everyday life. And I’ll take the commentary that I’m patronising and I’m yelling, ‘cause I’m passionate about this, ‘cause there’s a gap in our knowledge base.

I’ll buy Malcolm’s discussion on gas as a firming fuel anytime. I totally agree with that. Gas as a segue to hydrogen, I also agree with that. That’s the fuel part. The feedstock part is not well understood, and it absolutely, totally makes me... Try to understand, why is it not understood in this wonderful country of ours? These jobs need to be not only protected, but we need to grow them. So, we... This sequester of carbon…

HAMISH MACDONALD:

So, how long do we need gas for as a transition fuel, then?

ANDREW LIVERIS:

So, again, you use the word ‘fuel’, OK, and I’m trying to actually...

HAMISH MACDONALD:

Yeah, I understand the point you’re making about feedstock, but...

ANDREW LIVERIS:

You do?

HAMISH MACDONALD:

...ultimately, this is a question that’s been put to you about a commitment to fossil fuels longer-term.

ANDREW LIVERIS:

So, remember...

HAMISH MACDONALD:

So, I’m just trying to understand what you...what period you see us using gas as a transition for.

ANDREW LIVERIS:

The National COVID Commission work we did was for manufacturing, OK? It wasn’t for electricity. It wasn’t for doing the power balance, or any of that. The work we did was totally based on using the carbon for manufacturing. That’s the work we did. OK? I have no skin in the game to keeping natural gas for power, for anything other than a transition. There’s no reason to do that. Because it is an emitter. It’s not as big an emitter as coal, but it certainly is an emitter. So you’ve got to use it as a transition. That’s it. Until batteries become affordable and scalable, until we can actually get more Snowy Hydros. And why you need a gas pipeline is as much to provide that transition for that, but more for industry, which is why I’m trying to bring it back to the feedstock conversation.

MALCOLM TURNBULL:

Andrew, where are the 850,000 jobs that use gas as feedstock? 

ANDREW LIVERIS:

Fertilisers, plastics, chemicals, explosives… [my yellow highlighting]

NOTE: An estimated 16,511 persons are employed in the four industries cited by Mr. Liveris. See note below.

MALCOLM TURNBULL:

And there are 850,000 people working in Australia making plastics?

ANDREW LIVERIS:

Yes, yes.

MALCOLM TURNBULL:

Is that right?

ANDREW LIVERIS:

Not plastics – all those industries I just said.

MALCOLM TURNBULL:

I don’t think that’s true.

SARAH HANSON-YOUNG:

No. Yeah.

ANDREW LIVERIS:

That is true. I can send you the data.

MALCOLM TURNBULL:

I think you’ve exaggerated. I honestly think you’re way out of...

ANDREW LIVERIS:

Well...

MALCOLM TURNBULL:

...you’re way off the chart.

ANDREW LIVERIS:

Malcolm, I use the same people you used for research, as when you were prime minister. So, go talk to the people in Canberra.

MALCOLM TURNBULL:

OK. Well...

ANDREW LIVERIS:

I mean, they’re the same...

MALCOLM TURNBULL

I don’t mind you mansplaining me. That’s alright. (CHUCKLES)

ANDREW LIVERIS:

I’m not. I’m not, Malcolm.

MALCOLM TURNBULL:

You are, but it’s alright. It’s OK. It’s OK.

ANDREW LIVERIS:

That’s a pretty cheap blow.

MALCOLM TURNBULL:

It’s OK. It’s OK. It’s alright.

NOTES:

1.Fertiliser Manufacturing in Australia in 2021 employed 3,557 persons.

2.Plastics Manufacturing & Plastic Bottle Manufacturing in Australia in 2020 & 2021 employed a combined total of 8,154 persons.

3.Explosives Manufacturing in Australia in 2020 & 2021 employed 3,527 persons.

4.Basic Organic Chemical* Manufacturing in Australia in 2020 employed 1,273 persons. *The modern term “basic organic chemical” now refers to chemicals derived from both organic and carbon sources such as petroleum & natural gas.

5.Industrial Gas Manufacturing in Australia in 2021 employed 2,005 persons.

Meme of the Week

 

The Prime Minister for Word Salad
Courtesy of @stevethompson49

Quotes of the Week

"Picture the scene: an endless warming sea of hardhats and high-vis and blokes. Giant trucks. “Working class man” pumping over the PA. Morrison’s exhausted PR manager presumably celebrating the stagecraft by jizzing on a desk somewhere or fucking in the Parliamentary prayer room. Cameras rolling, shutters clicking, the curated image of “Scomo”, man of the people beamed far and wide, the media’s stenography for this self-interested sociopath in full swing." [Coloumnist Dave Milner witing in The Shot, 23 April 2021] 

Micalo Island on the Clarence Valley floodplain, April 2021

Micalo Island is a low-lying island in the Clarence River estuary, subjected to periodic flooding and tidal inundation. It remains an essential breeding and feeding habitat for a diverse array of important native fish species and other aquatic animals.

The island is within the final 6kms of the Clarence Valley floodplain before it meets the ocean and is surrounded by bodies of water local government mapping designates as “floodways”.

When the Clarence River floods the predicted flood depths in the centre of Micalo Island are likely to be in the vicinity of:

Flood 1 in 5yr 0.83-0.9, 0.9-0.98 metres

Flood 1 in 20yr 1.66-1.77 metres

Flood 1 in 50yr 1.75-1.86, 1.86-1.97 metres

Flood 1 in 100yr 2.09-2.2 metres

Flood Extreme 3.68-3.8 metres.

Like nearby Yamba, the island only has one road connecting it to the wider world, Yamba Road, which is frequently cut by floodwaters during flood events.

This is what Micalo Island looked like from the air in early April 2021, still covered in water even when the lower Clarence River was no longer in flood.

Micalo Island seen from the south
Photograph supplied

It will come as no surprise to readers who have experienced the collective madness of coastal developers, to discover that this island is seen as having largescale urban development potential.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison states that net zero emissions will be achieved through technology and "the animal spirits of our business community". I rather thought it was those very same animal spirits which had been globally polluting our atmosphere since the Industrial Revolution began in the 1700s

 

On 19 April 2021 at the Business Council of Australia Annual Dinner Prime Minister Scott Morrison informed the world that; “We are going to meet our ambitions with the smartest minds, the best technology and the animal spirits of our business community. We need to change our energy mix over the next 30 years on that road to net zero emissions…..It will be achieved by the pioneering entrepreneurialism and innovation of Australia’s industrial workhorses, farmers and scientists.

It will be won in places like the Pilbara, the Hunter, Gladstone, Portland, Whyalla, Bell Bay, the Riverina. In the factories of our regional towns and outer suburbs. In the labs of our best research institutes and scientists. It will be won in our energy sector. In our industrial sector. In our ag sector. In our manufacturing sector. That’s how you get to net zero.

It would appear that his first step on this journey is to make a token investment in ‘clean’ energy by way of $539 million in funding for new projects involving hydrogen product and capture & storage, which will apparently be fuelled by both black and brown coal – thereby increasing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions Australia releases into the atmosphere.

This folly was pointed out by ABC News on 21 April 2021:

Getting hydrogen into a pure, useable form takes a lot of energy and this process can produce a lot of emissions.

And so, that is why experts talk about different types of hydrogen — brown, black, grey, blue and green.

Only "green" hydrogen is produced entirely through renewable power and has zero emissions. The others use electricity made by coal (black or brown) or gas (grey), sometimes with carbon capture and storage (blue).

The Government call its hydrogen plans "clean" — a combination of hydrogen from gas and renewables.

The Climate Council says the term is "misleading" for average Australians.

Its website states: "Proponents of fossil-fuelled hydrogen have used this to describe fossil fuel hydrogen linked to carbon capture and storage, as well as renewably sourced hydrogen."

"Only the variety of hydrogen generated with renewables … belongs in our zero emissions future."….

The government insists real progress is being made on CCS technology.

However, many climate scientists believe, when it comes to fossil-fuel energy production, CCS is not a serious alternative to wind and solar power.

Some, like the Climate Council, see it as an attempt to prolong the use of fossil fuels.

"The Gorgon CCS trial has been a big, expensive failure. It is capturing less than half the emissions needed to make CCS viable," the Climate Council's website states.

"CCS is extremely expensive and cannot deliver zero emissions."

"There are still no successful projects operating anywhere in the world."

While The Guardian on April 2021 published these telling quotes:

Harry Guinness, a former Liberal adviser and chief executive of the centre-right thinktank the Blueprint Institute, said the US was planning to spend about 35 times what Australia allocated in the last federal budget on green stimulus, and the government would need to commit to serious finance if Australia was to make a transition to net zero by 2050 as Scott Morrison has said is his preference…..

“Our friends and allies are going to want to see tangible commitments. They’ve been quite clear about that, it’s no mystery,” Guinness said. “If we are in the game of bringing technologies down the cost curve we need finance and incentives, including pricing carbon. Actions speak louder than words.”

Tony Wood, the Grattan Institute’s energy program director, said there was little detail in what the government had announced on Wednesday, making it hard to assess, but that Australia was spending significantly less on hydrogen than some other countries.

He said Australia was also offering support for hydrogen made with fossil fuels where others were backing “green hydrogen” made with renewable energy only.

“I don’t see any evidence that Australia has developed positions that are leading the world,” he said…..

Announcing the funding on Wednesday, Morrison said hydrogen was “zero emissions gas”.

The Greens said as the government planned to support hydrogen made with fossil fuels as well as renewable energy its commitment was “just more cash for coal and gas”. The party’s leader, Adam Bandt, said it paled next to multibillio-dollar green hydrogen commitments by other countries including South Korea, Germany, Spain, France, Japan and Saudi Arabia.

“This government’s obsession with coal and gas is about to cost Australia as other countries invest heavily in green hydrogen, giving them the edge as future markets open up,” Bandt said. “With all our wind and sunshine, this is Australia’s competitive advantage to seize, but it is being lost.”…..

Richie Merzian, the Australia Institute’s climate and energy program director, said it appeared the government was “once again using climate action to support fossil fuel companies”. He said that under current commitments it was possible by 2030 the US would have halved its emissions and the UK cut its emissions by two-thirds but Australia was sitting on a 26% cut while still subsidising fossil fuels…..

I was talking to a public servant climate policy in his portfolio the other day who said 'at least when we were in enviro (dept) we felt like climate policy might relate vaguely to the environment. Now we're just the department for coal and gas. No ones even pretending anymore '

— Polly Hemming (@pollyjhemming) April 21, 2021

Morrison must think the Australian electorate and every OECD government around the world are so monumentally stupid as to not realise that these announcements (and their lack of detail, fuzzy timelines or no guaranteed funding) are solely for the benefit of US President Joe Biden 's two-day virtual Leaders Summit which began on 22 April 2021, with a weather eye out for the twelve-day UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) to be held in Glasgow during November 2021.

By the time all his half-promises and evasions concerning zero emissions have failed to meet the 2050 target date, Scott Morrison will be 81 years of age and I will be long dead - having lived all my life in a country which only genuinely attempted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for six short years between June 2007 to September 2013.