Cartoons of the Week

 

David Rowe

John Shakespeare

Cathy Wilcox

David Pope

Adani may have captured Australian governments but it has yet to achieve a social license from the national population

Frontline Action on Coal

Media release: Tuesday, November 2 2021

Juliet Lamont IMAGE: supplied

Second QLD coal port shut down in a week by same two climate activists.

Kyle Magee IMAGE: supplied

Environmental activists have stopped work this morning at North Queensland Export Terminal (formerly Abbot Point Coal Terminal) in Bowen, Qld.

The port, owned by Adani, has been shut down by the same two climate activists who stopped work at Hay Point Coal Terminal in Mackay, QLD one week ago.

Juliet Lamont and Kyle Magee used steel tubing to lock themselves on to coal loading infrastructure at the port, to coincide with climate discussions at COP26 in Glasgow, UK. The pair are asking the international community to “Sanction Australia” over the government’s inability to respond to the climate crisis appropriately.

Ms Lamont, mother of two, said “I’m locking on at Adani’s coal port to ask the leaders of the world at COP26 to lock Australia out of negotiations and forge ahead with the urgent, bold and visionary work needed to save us. Now.”

Lamont and Magee, who were arrested just one week ago for shutting down operations in Mackay at Hay Point Coal Terminal, are aware that the actions they are taking will see them arrested again. Both have stated they are “willing to face the consequences” as “the climate crisis presents an alarming fate for the future of all Australians”. Both Lamont and Magee are currently on bail from their previous action.

Magee, a father of two, said ”If the Morrison government is serious about tackling climate change, they should cancel all new coal mines now, including the Adani Carmichael mine, and invest billions in sustainable alternatives. Anything less than that shows a dangerous lack of understanding of very clear science.”

As COP26 begins this week, Australia still has no plans to commit to any new 2030 emission reduction targets, even though investors and climate science experts warn that our current strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change are vastly inadequate. Australia is the largest coal exporter in the world, and without 2030 targets a 2050 target of net-zero is likely to be impossible to reach.

Ms Lamont said "I'd like the international community to put pressure on our untrustworthy Morrison government who have completely set their citizens adrift in a climate emergency."

Rylstone Region Coal Free Community is on the cusp of a significant win - if Minister for Regional New South Wales Paul Toole manages to convince Premier Perrottet that exploration and mining in the district is a short-sighted and destructive idea

 

Because so much of rural and regional New South Wales is under threat of coal, gas and mineral exploration and mining, it is good to hear that some communities are seeing results for the effort they put in to protect the present and future of their districts and communities.

Lock The Gate Alliance, media release, 4 November 2021, excerpts:

We have some good news for you.....

Locals and the Lock the Gate Alliance have been fighting the proposed release of precious land near Rylstone for coal exploration.

Over 2,000 people made submissions opposing such a dangerous and irresponsible idea, and guess what: The government listened! 

Yesterday the Deputy Premier agreed the area should be coal free! How’s that for people power?

This terrific news is a testament to the hard work and creativity of the Rylstone Region Coal Free Community group who mustered together to protect their district from coal exploration. 

The NSW Deputy Premier Paul Toole said in NSW parliament yesterday that he will recommend against the controversial release of land for coal exploration near Rylstone and the Wollemi National Park:

“It is my intention to take this proposal to my colleagues, and it is my intention to actually rule it out,” Mr Toole said.

Together, we took action and helped protect land, heritage, culture and community - protection for good now looks very likely when this issue goes to cabinet for a final decision. Rylstone could be coal free by Christmas! 

Will you share the good news on social media and make sure that the government knows we the people don’t want dangerous coal mining? Click here to share.

Sharing the good news will also support locals like the Rylstone Region Coal Free Community who remain committed to stopping further expansion of coal mining in the region.

Together we can continue to protect land, culture and climate!

Nic, for the Lock the Gate Alliance......

Here’s how the ABC reported the news: NSW Deputy Premier to recommend government 'rule out' opening up new coal exploration zone

Another win for local community in the Battle for the Bylong Valley, NSW

 

Locals opposed the development of a the mine.(ABC News: Liv Casben)

The fight to stop a multinational mining company from devouring the Bylong Valley in New South Wales began way back in 2010.

By 2015 Korean energy giant KEPCO held 7,385 hectares of freehold land in the valley for its proposed thermal coal mine.

In 2017 that landholding had grown to more than 13,000 hectares of Bylong Valley land. At that time the entire mining project was expected by KEPCO to directly impact/”disturb” est. 2,874.7 hectares within the 700 sq. km Bylong River catchment area.

IMAGE: The Land, 1 August 2017

Good agricultural land was being subsumed by this proposed mine and vital water resources threatened.

The Bylong Valley community and its supporters have fought on through a number of jurisdictions for the last ten years.

This is the latest legal success farmers & other residents from the area have achieved…….

On 14 September 2021 the NSW Supreme Court, Court of Appeal dismissed the KEPCO Bylong Australia Pty Ltd appeal of a Land and Environment Court of NSW judgment.

KEPCO was unsuccessful with respect to each of the five ground of appeal against the primary judge’s dismissal of its challenge to the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) decision and was ordered to pay the costs of the active respondent, Bylong Valley Protection Alliance Inc.

KEPCO can of course seek special permission to appeal to the High Court of Australia and, it seems likely that mindlessly pro-mining NSW Deputy Premier & Nationals MLA for Monaro John Barilaro will encourage such an action.

However, this 14 September Court of Appeal judgment was unanimous and that gives cause for comfort.

ABC News, 14 September 2021, excerpt:

Bylong Valley Protection Alliance (BVPA) president Phillip Kennedy hopes the decision will allow the community to rebuild itself.

"I'd really like to see this valley that's been purchased by Kepco under the pretense of a proposed coal mine 10 years ago when they started [to be given back]," he said.

"We would like to ask the South Korean government to release that land back, to allow the mums and dads and the farmers of Australia to come here and to bring it back to what it once was."

The appeal zeroed in on the interpretation of parts of environmental policy and whether or not the IPC's refusal was legally sound.

But today's verdict backed the IPC's judgement that the project would cause "long lasting environmental, agricultural and heritage impacts"….

Bylong Valley, NSW
IMAGE: ABC News, 17 April 2019

NSW Nationals MLA for Clarence Chris Gulaptis intends to fight against community and Clarence Valley Council opposition to mining in the Clarence River catchment

 

Original Image: The Daily Telegraph

The employment history of NSW Nationals MLA for Clarence & Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture and Forestry Chris Gulaptis (left) shows that from 2006-2007 he was involved with Land Partners Limited (formerly Aspect North & KFM Partnership) – a company which participated in the planning, design and construction phases of the Eastern Gas Pipeline in 1999-2000.

It also shows commencing around 2009 and presumably finishing when he won NSW Nationals pre-selection for the Clarence by-election in 2011, he was a senior operations manager for Brazier Motti Pty Ltd engineering and mining surveyors in Mackay, Queensland – a position he used to enthusiastically support the mining industry.

In 2007, 2012 and 2013 Gulaptis supported coal seam gas exploration on the NSW North Coast - including in the Clarence Valley.

The Berejiklian Government of which Gulaptis is a member is subsidisng mining exploration. Currently it has granted Perth-based Corazon Mining Limited a reimbursement of 50 per cent of per-metre drilling costs, up to a maximum of $200,000 with regard to its cobalt-copper-gold exploration lease near Mt. Gilmore (approximately 25km northwest of Grafton) in the Clarence River catchment area as part of the state's New Frontiers Cooperative Drilling program. 

So this comes as no surprise......

Clarence Valley Independent, 18 August 2021:

VOICES FOR THE EARTH

Political Inconsistency

The Clarence Catchment Alliance (CCA) has campaigned strongly for the past three years, educating the community on the potential threats posed by mining to our Clarence Valley environment, particularly water quality.

During that campaign, CCA volunteers diligently collected over 10,000 signatures on a petition calling for a ban on mining in the Clarence River catchment. That petition has been tabled in State Parliament and is scheduled for debate.

The Clarence Valley Council’s motion calling on the State Government to impose a moratorium on mining within the LGA, would have been partially prompted by that campaign, and the community support it generated.

The CCA took their concerns, via Zoom, to local State Member, Mr Gulaptis, on 23rd April, where he vigorously argued that mining should be allowed, with any risks effectively managed by the stringent conditions that would be imposed. He also indicated he would be speaking to the Parliamentary debate, arguing against a ban on mining in his electorate.

So, when reading the ‘Northern Star’ the following day, specifically its article on the Dunoon Dam debate, the CCA team could be excused for being more than a little perplexed. The reason being, that on the very same day that Mr Gulaptis belittled the CCA’s campaign, and dismissed its 10,000-signature petition as NIMBYism, he is quoted as stating:

“… it is vital our communities have a clean and reliable water source.”, and then finished with: “It is often said that local government is the government closest to the people. Clearly that is not the case of the five elected councillors (that voted against the Dunoon Dam proposal) in this instance, who are ignoring the will of more than 10,000 constituents”.

Mr Gulaptis had previously been strongly critical of Clarence Valley Council, when it took notice of the more than 10,000 people who signed the CCA’s petition, and called on the State Government to impose a moratorium on mining.

It seems that some politicians only feel a need to consider the will of their constituents if it happens to agree with their own philosophy.

- John Edwards

The world can see evidence of Australia's methane pollution from space

 

Bloomberg Green, 22 July 2021:

Potent methane plumes have been detected in a key coal mining district in Australia, one of the world’s biggest exporters of the commodity, underscoring the fossil fuel’s role in exacerbating climate change.

Clouds of the invisible greenhouse gas, which is over 80 times more powerful than carbon dioxide at warming the Earth in its first couple decades in the atmosphere, were spotted near multiple mines last month, an analysis of European Space Agency satellite data by geoanalytics firm Kayrros SAS showed.

Methane detected over the Bowen Basin on June 21. Source: Kayrros SAS

Two large clouds of methane were spotted over the Bowen Basin on June 21, and were visible across more than 30 kilometers each. While Kayrros attributes the clouds to the coal sector, the plumes were diffused and could have come from multiple sources.

The leaking of methane into the atmosphere has come under increasing scrutiny as awareness grows over their harmful global warming effects. Scientists view reducing emissions from the fossil fuel industry as one of the cheapest and easiest ways to hold down temperatures in the near term, especially as improving technology makes it easier to identify polluters.

Efforts to curtail coal use have largely focused on the large amount of CO₂ generated when it’s burned, but mining the fuel is also problematic because producers can release methane trapped in underground operations to lower the risk of explosion. The coal sector is forecast to account for about 10% of man-made emissions of the gas by the end of the decade, according to the Global Methane Initiative.

The Bowen Basin is a key producing region for Australia, the world’s top exporter of metallurgical coal used in steel-making. For every ton of coal produced in the region, an average 7.5 kilograms of methane is released, according to Kayrros. That’s 47% higher than the global average in 2018, the geoanalytics company said, citing International Energy Agency data.

When contacted about the larger of the two plumes, Queensland’s Department of Environment and Science said it didn’t receive notice of methane releases in the two days through June 21. Coal mining companies have reporting obligations under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Scheme that is regulated by the federal government, the department said.

G7 Summit June 2021 confirms aim to eliminate unabated international thermal coal power generation from global power generation mix by 2030

“Recognising that coal power generation is the single biggest cause of greenhouse gas emissions, and consistent with this overall approach and our strengthened NDCs, domestically we have committed to rapidly scale-up technologies and policies that further accelerate the transition away from unabated coal capacity, consistent with our 2030 NDCs and net zero commitments. This transition must go hand in hand with policies and support for a just transition for affected workers, and sectors so that no person, group or geographic region is left behind. To accelerate the international transition away from coal, recognising that continued global investment in unabated coal power generation is incompatible with keeping 1.5°C within reach we stress that international investments in unabated coal must stop now and we commit now to an end to new direct government support for unabated international thermal coal power generation by the end of 2021, including through Official Development Assistance, export finance, 14 investment, and financial and trade promotion support. This transition must also be complemented by support to deliver this, including coordinating through the Energy Transition Council. We welcome the work by the Climate Investment Funds (CIFs) and donors plan to commit up to $2 billion in the coming year to its Accelerating the Coal Transition and Integrating Renewable Energy programs. These concessional resources are expected to mobilize up to $10 billion in co-financing, including from the private sector, to support renewable energy deployment in developing and emerging economies. We call on other major economies to adopt such commitments and join us in phasing out the most polluting energy sources, and scaling up investment in the technology and infrastructure to facilitate the clean, green transition. More broadly, we reaffirm our existing commitment to eliminating inefficient fossil fuel subsidies by 2025, and call on all countries to join us, recognising the substantial financial resource this could unlock globally to support the transition and the need to commit to a clear timeline.” [CARBIS BAY G7 SUMMIT COMMUNIQUÉ, Our Shared Agenda for Global Action to Build Back Better , 13 June 2021, excerpt]

Students Win Landmark Climate Case. In Global First, Judge Determines That Federal Environment Minister Has Duty Of Care To Protect Young People From Climate Change

 

The group of teenagers took the federal government to court on behalf of "young Australians everywhere".

(ABC News Brendan Esposito)

Final Media Release

STUDENTS WIN LANDMARK CLIMATE CASE. IN GLOBAL FIRST, MINISTER HAS DUTY OF CARE TO PROTECT YOUNG PEOPLE FROM CLIMATE CHANGE

SYDNEY MAY 27, 2021: Eight high school students have welcomed today’s landmark judgment in the Federal Court of Australia that found the Federal Environment Minister has a duty of care not to cause them harm from climate change.

The students brought the class action against Minister Sussan Ley in September 2020, asking the court to recognise the Minister has a duty to protect young people around Australia from foreseeable future climate change harms.

The students alleged that approving a major extension to the Vickery coal mine in northern New South Wales would breach the Minister’s duty. An injunction was not ordered but there will be further submissions on what the duty means for the Minister’s decision and the mine.

“I am thrilled by today’s judgement,” says Ava Princi, 17, one of the students.

“I’m thrilled because this is a global first. We understand it is the first time a Court of law,anywhere in the world, has ordered a government to specifically protect young people from the catastrophic harms of climate change.

“My future - and the future of all young people - depends on Australia joining the world in taking decisive climate action.”

“But this case is not over. While the Court stopped short of preventing the Minister from approving the Vickery mine extension today, it has ordered parties to come together to find a way forward. We are still optimistic that the climate harms from this mine will not happen.”

In Sharma and others v Minister for the Environment the Court accepted evidence brought by independent experts that carbon emissions released from mining and burning fossil fuels will contribute to wide-ranging harms to young people.

The judgment means the Environment Minister should not make decisions that harm young people, however the judge stopped short of preventing the Minister from approving the Vickery Extension Project.

The judge called upon the parties to confer on orders over the future of the proposed project.

“I feel elated by this decision,” says Laura Kirwan, 17, another student behind the class action.

“This is a victory for young people everywhere. The case was about young people stepping up and demanding more from the adults whose actions are determining our future wellbeing. Our voices are powerful and I hope this case inspires more young people to push for stronger, fasterand deeper cuts to carbon emissions.

“Our futures depend on it.”

ENDS

Avi Prince, 17 years of age,  media statement here.

Australian Coal exports will continue at high levels, but the latest World Energy Outlook forecasts a big transition to renewables in the next two decades.

 

ABC News, 19 October 2020:

Demand for Australian thermal coal has peaked, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), and renewables will deliver 80 per cent of the world's energy needs in the next few years.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia has been saved by its mineral exports, especially iron ore and coal.

Exports are worth $70 billion and they have doubled in the past decade.

But the IEA's report said the global economic slump caused by the pandemic would cause a fall in demand for energy, with oil and coal the hardest hit.

Co-author of the report Tim Gould said while demand for energy was expected to rebound when the pandemic was brought under control, demand for coal was not expected to recover with it.

"Energy demand is set to fall by 5 per cent this year, the largest shock in 70 years," he said…..

In New South Wales mining corporations do not appear to accept the inevitability of King Coal's decline.

This is a snapshot of coal mining leases (red), coal assessment leases (yellow), coal exploration licenses (dark blue) and coal exploration applications (light blue), stretching from the Illawarra region in the south to the New England region in the north of the state as of 20 October 2020.

Image: MinView

Cartoons of the Week

David Rowe

Cathy Wilcox

Court of Appeal rejects Adani's application to search an activist's home & Supreme Court orders Adani to pay $106.8 million to four companies - in part due to its own "serious dishonesty"

ABC News, 27 August 2020:

Mining company Adani secretly sought to raid the Brisbane home of an activist to seize evidence but failed twice, court documents have revealed.

Adani and its Carmichael Rail Network applied for a search order, known as an Anton Piller order, against Benjamin Pennings in June this year.

It claimed Mr Pennings had possession of "confidential information on a computer at his home" which was being used in a concerted campaign of "intimidation and conspiracy" against the Galilee Basin coal project.

As part of the application, Adani claimed Mr Pennings had information to which only company executives and other select staff and contractors had access.

Anton Piller orders are searches carried out without notice to the defendant to ensure that evidence cannot be destroyed and is preserved to be used in judicial proceedings.

Adani's court application and subsequent appeal in July were also heard ex parte, meaning they were both heard without notice.

Adani has described Mr Pennings as the "principal" of a group of political activists called the "Galilee Blockade", whose objective is to prevent the development of the mine and railway.

In rejecting Adani and Carmichael Rail Network's appeal last week, the Court of Appeal ruled the evidence was "wholly inadequate to justify the order sought".

"The appellants have failed to establish the likelihood that Mr Pennings has any confidential information or that he has any confidential information stored at his home," the Court of Appeal judges said.

"They have failed to establish the likelihood that the use of any confidential information has resulted in any loss."

The Court of Appeal also raised concerns about the impact of a search order could have had on Mr Pennings' partner and children.

"Surely, to permit a search of a defendant's house, with the humiliation and family distress which that might involve, lies at the outer boundary of the discretion," the Court of Appeal judges said.

"This is because, for reasons that anyone can understand, the 'shock, anger, confusion' and the 'sense of violation and powerlessness' will be much greater in such a case and may be suffered not only by someone who is proved in due course to be a wrongdoer, but by entirely innocent parties as well."……

Read the full article here.

BACKGROUND

Mining Pty Ltd & Anor v Pennings [2020] QCA 169 (17 August 2020)

The Adani Group appears to have been the applicant or been named as a respondent in around seven court cases between 2013 and 2020.

This is the latest:

Adani Abbot Point Terminal Pty Ltd v Lake Vermont Resources Pty Ltd & Ors [2020] QSC 260 – 26 August 2020. Adani ordered to pay $106.8 million.

Excerpts from the judgment:

“[197] The applicant’s conduct was deliberate, not just heedless or indifferent ⁸¹ to the position of the remaining users. The applicant was fully cognisant as to the effect its behaviour would have in increasing the fixed costs to the remaining users. It desired that effect in order to advantage itself financially. That is, to achieve a gain for itself, the applicant engaged in calculated behaviour to the disadvantage of the respondents.⁸² This is evident in the timing and structure of the QCPL transactions.”

“[203] The applicant’s behaviour in attempting to disguise or camouflage the true basis of its dealings with QCPL involved dishonesty – [117] ff and [122], and so far as this proceeding is concerned, involved serious dishonesty – [98] and [121].”

Lock the Gate & Knitting Nannas Against Gas sound a warning over Berejiklian Government's sly move to take advantage of the current pandemic in order to further coal and gas industry interests

Knitting Nannas Against Gas, Fossil Fools Bulletin, 25 March 2020:

NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes’ push for the Independent Planning Commission (IPC) to proceed with public hearings during the covid-19 pandemic is has alarmed groups opposed to the Narrabri gasfield and the Vickery coal mine.

Stokes has instructed the IPC to continue with public hearings during the coronavirus crisis.

Lock the Gate NSW spokesperso Georgina Woods said people could not be expected to fully engage in the assessment process of major resource projects during a health crisis.

She called on the Berejiklian Government to suspend the IPC assessments of Narrabri and Vickery until the pandemic was over.

“It is deeply disturbing Planning Minister Rob Stokes expects the

Independent Planning Commission to press ahead with a public hearing for controversial projects like the Narrabri gasfield and Vickery coal mine in the context of a global pandemic,” she said.

People will miss having say on projects

“The Covid-19 outbreak is upending the lives of people globally and New South Wales is no exception.

People are frightened, and understandably so – the last thing many want to do is gather publicly, or miss out on their opportunity to have their say on these highly damaging projects.

“The Planning Minister cannot possibly expect the Commission can

adequately or fairly undertake public consultation in this context.

“People in rural New South Wales have limited internet capacity and in towns and cities we are bracing for further disruption while we put all our efforts into limiting the spread of this virus.

“The Planning Minister needs to put public health and basic fairness first and allow the IPC to suspend its consideration of the Narrabri gasfield and Vickery coal mine until the pandemic has passed and people are able to fully participate, as is our right.”

Read the full article at https://knitting-nannas.com/fossil_fool.php?id=138

If you have ever wondered how Scott Morrison forms his opinions on everything from climate change & coal mining to taxation & punishing the poor......

Scott John Morrison does not appear to be a man with an abundance of intellectual curiosity, his employment history* is lacklustre with most of positions he held lasting less than 3 years and, his work ethic is not strong given he granted himself three holiday breaks in the first full year of his primeministership.

So to whom (besides the Institute of Public Affairs) does Morrison turn to when he is deciding his policy positions?

A clue might be found here......

 Michael West Media, Hon Scott Morrison MP, excerpt, 2020:

Mining Connections

John Kunkel, the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff: before his appointment to his current position by Morrison in 2018, Kunkle served as Rio Tinto’s chief advisor for Government Relations, working as a lobbyist for the multinational mining firm. Rio is one of Australia’s top coal miners. Before this Kunkel was Deputy CEO of the Mineral Council of Australia for over six years.

Brendan Pearson, Senior Advisor for International Trade and Investment for the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) 2019 to present. Pearson was the CEO of the MCA from 2014 untl 2017, where BHP Billiton pressured the MCA over Pearson’s radically pro-coal stances and insistance on government-subsidised coal projects.

Lobbying Connections

Former mining lobbyists who now hold key positions within Morrison’s staff include The Prime Minister’s Principal Private Secretary, Yaron Finkelstein, the former CEO of Crosby Textor (now C|T) a multinational lobbying firm with close ties to the Liberal Party and the mining industry. Other C|T alumni include Liberal Party campaign director, Andrew Hirst and his deputy, Isaac Levido, as well as James McGrath, LNP Senator for Queensland and prominent public advocate for Adani’s Carmichael coal mine.

A further pro-mining lobbyist connection is Stephanie Wawn. Wawn is a

senior advisor to Morrison and was previously employed as a manager for CapitalHill Advisory. CapitalHill’s clients included coal miner Glencore and pro-coal think tank, the Menzies Research Centre.

Media Connections

​Another way in which the mining lobby exerts influence is via the Prime Minister’s communications team. Many of Morrison’s senior communications team have long-held ties to the Murdoch press. News Corporation is pro-coal and anti climate change.

Positions taken by News Corp staffers in the Prime Minster’s office include Matthew Fynes-Clinton’s role as speech-writer. Fynes-Clinton was former deputy chief of staff and editor of The Courier Mail. Press Secretary, Andrew Carswell, formerly chief of staff at The Daily Telegraph and advisor Thomas Adolph, formerly with The Australian.

NOTES

* Jobs held since 1989:

National Manager, Policy and Research Property Council of Australia 1989-95. 
Deputy Chief Executive, Australian Tourism Task Force 1995-96. 
General Manager, Tourism Council 1996-98. 
Director, NZ Office of Tourism and Sport 1998-2000. 
State Director, Liberal Party (NSW) 2000-04. 
Managing Director, Tourism Australia 2004-06. 
Principal, MSAS Pty Ltd 2006-07.
Member iof the Australian Parliament 2007- present.