As 2016 draws to a close it is apparent that global greenhouse gas emissions are still rising - albeit a little slower than before

The Global Carbon Project was established in 2001 “to assist the international science community to establish a common, mutually agreed knowledge base supporting policy debate and action to slow the rate of increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere”.

It released its Global Carbon Budget 2016 this month.

Here are some of the Power Point graphs in this budget report:

NOTE: All the data is shown in billion tonnes CO2 (GtCO2 ) 1 Gigatonne (Gt) = 1 billion tonnes = 1×1015g = 1 Petagram (Pg) 1 kg carbon (C) = 3.664 kg carbon dioxide (CO2 ) 1 GtC = 3.664 billion tonnes CO2 = 3.664 GtCO2 (Figures in units of GtC and GtCO2 are available from http://globalcarbonbudget.org/carbonbudget)

Source: CDIAC; Le Quéré et al 2016; Global Carbon Budget 2016

In July 2015 The Climate Institute produced a fact sheet indicating that Australia was responsible for 1.4 per cent of all global greenhouse gas emissions, 26 tCO₂ annually per person (per capita) and 640 tCO₂ per unit of GDP.

Despite knowing these facts and despite having the effects of climate change literally in our face in Australia this last decade, the Turnbull Government is once again giving into short-term industry interests at the expense of the natural environment, soil quality and long-term water security - not just risking future domestic food shortages due to the degradation of a major food bowl but rather in a worst-case scenario risking widespread starvation as more and more land becomes hostile to reliable food production due to lack of sufficient environmental water flows keeping vital river systems alive.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 18 November 2016:

The federal government is consigning the Murray River to a "certain slow death" and killing the Murray-Darling Basin Plan by reneging on a promise to increase environmental water flows, South Australian Environment Minister Ian Hunter has said.

Before what was described as a heated meeting of the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council in Adelaide on Friday morning, Mr Hunter called on the Prime Minister to sack his deputy, Barnaby Joyce.

"We saw what happened in the millenium drought. It's beyond shameful that upstream politicians would even consider consigning the South Australians to the same fate in the future," said Mr Hunter.  

Without extra water, the mouth of the Murray would dry up, he said……

Powerless to rein in diplomats' excesses the Australian Government decides to name and shame

News media have been reporting on the flagrant disregard of Australian law by members of the diplomatic community for decades and finally in the Australian Capital Territory they are trying a new approach to traffic violations by diplomats.

ABC News, 17 November 2016:

Foreign diplomats who disregard Australian law will be named and shamed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade amid a crack-down on reckless driving.

The department has struck a deal with the ACT Government to ensure diplomats are no longer immune to having their licences suspended for serious offences that endanger the public.

Freedom of Information documents reveal the crack-down was prompted by concerns about a litany of offences on Canberra roads involving excessive speed and, on occasion, drink-driving.

One Saudi diplomat received a $1,811 fine after being caught travelling at 135 kilometres per hour near Parliament House at 2:00am on a Tuesday.

Another told police he had not had anything to drink despite returning a blood alcohol reading of 0.15, triple the legal limit.

DFAT's chief of protocol briefed 90 diplomats on the new rules in August and "strongly reiterated the message of compliance with Australia's laws".

Internal documents showed the department would no longer be redacting the names of diplomats who broke the law and refused to pay fines.

"[It is] DFAT's view the embassies/high commissions should face the reputational consequences if their officers disrespect the road rules or drive recklessly," the document said.

"This is a fundamental issue of safety. We expect diplomats not only to obey the law, but also to pay fines without delay."

The department has battled to get foreign diplomats to pay their fines for years causing frustration for staff, the police and the ACT Government…..

The documents revealed the department would not disclose a small number of offences because they "had the potential to damage Australia's international relations with some countries".

"In addition, the information released on this occasion includes advice on the new demerit point system for diplomats to be implemented in the ACT under which diplomats will no longer be immune from having their licenses subject to suspension for three months if they incur a total of 12 demerit points or more within a three-year period," one document said.

In the case of serious traffic infringements, DFAT's chief of protocol can request that ambassadors or high commissioners "express concern" to their diplomats or ultimately, cancel a diplomatic visa…..

BACKGROUND

The Canberra Times, 16 November 2016:

A Russian diplomat in Canberra has agreed to apologise over an incident where he allegedly went into a road rage against a young female motorist in the capital last month.

The apology comes after MP Gai Brodtmann alleged two Russian diplomats threatened and bullied the motorist after one of the embassy staffers drove his car into hers at the Coles supermarket car park in Manuka.

The Labor MP says "consular staff from the Russian Embassy allegedly flouting local laws and threatening residents are the latest shocking example of diplomats putting the safety of the Canberra community at risk."

The diplomat in question Edward Shakirov said he and his colleagues found Ms Brodtmann's allegations "surprising" but he would try to resolve the matter with an apology to the other motorist.

Russian diplomats in Canberra have a well established record for racking up speeding and other traffic offences on the city's roads and then refusing to pay the fines, citing diplomatic immunity.

At the last count, the Embassy had more than 250 fines for speeding, illegal parking, running red lights and other offences around Canberra with local authorities powerless to to anything but send "courtesy letters".

In the latest incident diplomat Sergei Letiagin​ is alleged to have driven into the car belonging to young public servant Erika Bacon in a minor car park bingle.

According to Ms Brodtmann's letter of complaint to the Russian Ambassador, Mr Letiagin was unable to speak to Ms Bacon in English, so he summoned a colleague, Edward Shakirov, from the nearby Embassy.

Ms Bacon's account, backed up by witnesses at the scene, is that the two Russians then tried to bully her into accepting liability for the damage to her car.

Ms Bacon, a former employee of Fairfax Media, called police after, she alleges, the Russians became aggressive and threatening to her and to the passers-by who tried to help.

Canberra police and federal agents arrived to calm the situation down…..

Sydney Criminal Lawyers, excerpt, 7 October 2016:

Get Out of Gaol Free

One foreign official was caught driving at 135km/h at 2am, triggering a high speed police chase when he failed to pull over. After eventually stopping, the man failed to produce a driver licence of any description and blamed the incident on forgetting to take his antibiotics. A driver would ordinarily be charged with 'police pursuit' – or 'Skye's law' – a serious offence which can lead to full time imprisonment. However, he could not be charged due to his status as a diplomat.

Other examples include a diplomat who drove with a high range blood alcohol concentration of 0.15, and a Mexican Embassy staffer who refused to comply with a breath test, telling police:

"I don't want to, so I don't have to. I'm here with my family … I'll complain If I hear anything about this".

In another case, a Saudi Arabian diplomat was caught speeding through an intersection at 107km/h in an 80km/h zone. He refused to stop for police sparking a chase, which police ultimately discontinued due to safety concerns. Again, he could not be charged.

Diplomatic Relations and Immunity

Diplomatic immunity arises from the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, which was adopted into Australian law by section 7 of the Diplomatic Privileges and Immunities Act of 1967.

The section essentially protects diplomatic agents from being criminally prosecuted in foreign states. That immunity extends to family members, servants, administrative and technical staff.

The section is intended to promote relations between nations, but has in some cases had the opposite effect. Importantly, the immunity is not absolute as it can be waived by the diplomat's home country.

Waiving Immunity

A waiver of diplomatic immunity normally occurs when the government of the country where the alleged offence took place asks the diplomat's country of origin to waive immunity, and the latter agrees.

Cases of waiver are relatively rare. In the United States, a former Republic of Georgia diplomat who lost control of a car while driving drunk and killed a person resulted in such a waiver.

The diplomat was charged with one count of involuntary manslaughter and four counts of aggravated assault, and ultimately convicted and sentenced to 7 years' imprisonment.

In a case which occurred in Canada, senior Russian diplomat Andrei Knyazev lost control of his car, killing one person and seriously injuring another. He denied being intoxicated but refused a sobriety or breath test. In that case, Russia declined to waive immunity, instead prosecuting Knyazev when he returned home.

So while diplomatic immunity can enhance relations between countries, it should be used responsibly rather than as a licence to commit offences with impunity – which can result in animosity between sovereign states.

This is just not good enough, Premier Baird!

This lack of prior consultation with indigenous Native Title holders or registered claimants happens too often at state and local government level in NSW to be considered instances of accidental oversight.

It certainly does not show the NSW Government in a good light when it ignores both federal and state legislation and/or regulations requiring such consultation.

Click on image to enlarge

Common Era 2016: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it*

Richard I. Evans, 2005, The Third Reich in Power, excerpt from Chapter 17 “Division of Spoils”:

…. Hitler made generous subventions to a number of other aristocratic landowners to help them with their debts and keep them conspiring with the ex-Kaiser.

In order to facilitate such generosity, the funds allocated in the state budget for Hitler’s personal disposal increased steadily until they reached the astonishing sum of 24 million Reichsmarks in 1942. Hitler could add to these sums the royalties derived from sales of My Struggle, purchased in bulk by Nazi Party organizations and a virtually compulsory item on the ordinary citizen’s bookshelf. These amounted to 1.2 million Reichsmarks in 1933 alone. From 1937 Hitler also claimed royalties on the use of his portrait on postage stamps, something Hindenburg had never done; one cheque alone handed over by the Minister of Posts was for 50 million Reichsmarks, as Speer, who was present on the occasion, reported later. The annual Adolf Hitler Donation of German Business added a further sum, along with fees and royalties paid every time one of Hitler’s speeches was published in the papers. Hitler also received considerable sums from legacies left to him in the wills of the grateful Nazi dead. When all this was taken into account, it was clear that Hitler had little use for the modest salary of 45,000 Reichsmarks he earned as Reich Chancellor, or for the annual expense allowance of 18,000 Reichsmarks; early on in his Chancellorship, therefore, he publicly renounced both salary and allowance in a propagandistic gesture designed to advertise the spirit of selfless dedication in which he ruled the country. Nevertheless, when the Munich tax office reminded him in 1934 that he had never paid any income tax and now owed them more than 400,000 Reichsmarks in arrears, pressure was brought to bear on the tactless officials and before long they had agreed to write off the whole sum and destroy all the files on Hitler’s tax affairs into the bargain. A grateful Hitler granted the head of the tax office, Ludwig Mirre, a pay supplement of 2,000 Reichsmarks a year for this service, free of tax.

Hitler’s personal position as the Third Reich’s charismatic Leader, effectively above and beyond the law, gave not only him but also others immunity from the normal rules of financial probity. His immediate subordinates owed their position not to any elected body but to Hitler alone; they were accountable to no one but him. The same personal relationships replicated themselves all the way down the political scale, right to the bottom. The result was inevitably a vast and growing network of corruption, as patronage, nepotism, bribery and favours, bought, sold and given, quickly assumed a key role in binding the whole system together. After 1933, the continued loyalty of the Party faithful was purchased by a huge system of personal favours. For the hundreds of thousands of Nazi Party activists who were without employment, this meant in the first place giving them a job. Already in July 1933 Rudolf Hess promised employment to all those who had joined the Party before 30 January 1933. In October the same year, the Reich Office for Unemployment Insurance and Jobs in Berlin centralized the campaign to provide jobs for everyone with a Party membership number under 300,000, all those who had held a position of responsibility in the Party for over a year and anyone who had been in the SA, the SS or the Steel Helmets before 30 January 1933. 

* George Santayana, 1905, The Life of Reason

Just because it is beautiful........(17)

Here's some slow-mo whale watching action from the weekend with @sydneywhales... talk about non-stop breaching!  pic.twitter.com/2BdZIcpyS5

— Australia (@Australia) November 7, 2016

Even before that environmental vandal NSW Premier Mike Baird further weakens state environmental law large scale land clearing is increasing

ABC News, 14 November 2016:

In a country with one of the highest land clearing rates in the world, laws making it easier for farmers to clear native vegetation from their properties are expected to be passed in New South Wales within days.

Earlier this month, a leading scientist advising the Baird Government on the proposed changes quit in protest.

Professor Hugh Possingham warned that rather than protecting biodiversity, the laws would allow a doubling of broad-scale clearing that would put some native animals at risk of extinction.

The current laws are supposed to prevent that kind of clearing without permits.

But a Lateline investigation shows the State Government's environmental watchdog has dropped investigations into illegal clearing, after direct political intervention…..

The shocking 2014 murder of environment officer Glen Turner by farmer Ian Turnbull highlighted the ongoing battle being waged in the bush, where huge economic pressure for higher returns clashes with the need to conserve native vegetation.

Australia now has the 5th highest rate of land clearing in the world.

In 2015, a study by NSW Parks and Wildlife found that 60,000 hectares was being cleared per year in the state — a four-fold increase on previous State Government figures……

For two years until end of 2015, the Priestleys collected evidence of alleged illegal clearing and sent it to the State Government watchdog, the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH).

Last year, without explanation, the OEH halted its investigation.

"I'm completely devastated," Claire Priestley said.

"I've grown up on that land, I've been out there my whole life. It's devastating to see that a large conglomerate can come into this community, it seems like they have a special privilege to just clear what they want."

Mr Priestley has photographed what he claims is the aftermath of broadscale land clearing, including images of several bulldozers and piles of smouldering native vegetation.

"You can virtually clear the size of the moon and get away with it but you can be in trouble for trespass by taking photos."

Approvals for native clearing are required to be on a public register.

The NSW Environmental Defenders Office recently searched for any approvals given to the Harris business to clear land on its properties west of Walgett.

"We have searched those registers. They're complex registers. You navigate through them by GPS coordinates," EDO chief solicitor Sue Higginson told Lateline.

"With the resources we've had available to us we have searched those registers and we have not turned up any approval for the native vegetation clearing that the Priestleys have witnessed on the Harris properties."

Lateline can also reveal that the Office of Environment and Heritage dropped an investigation into alleged illegal clearing by 12 farmers in the nearby Wee Waa area due to what it believed was the risk of a "catastrophic consequence" if environment officers entered farmers' properties.

The decision to suspend the Wee Waa investigation was the result of an email sent in May 2015 by Nationals state MP Kevin Humphries, urging the investigation be dropped because it was "too explosive" and "not warranted".

Mr Humphries, the Member for Barwon, warned that farmers were looking to blockade any attempt for an on-site visit by OEH and if the visits went ahead it would be "the start of something that will escalate very quickly between farmers from around the state and the authorities".

Despite Mr Humphries' email, there is no evidence that the farmers were planning to blockade OEH inspectors.

Mr Humphries denies the email perverted the course of justice…..

Former station manager Bill Keene has accused the OEH of being unwilling to stop big players in Australia's agricultural industry.

"No doubt they're monitoring it, they're just not doing anything. They're all noise," he said.

For 28 years Mr Keene managed Brewon station, now owned by P & J Harris & Sons.

He was invited by the OEH to be a witness in an investigation of the Harris company's alleged illegal clearing before the Priestleys complained to the agency.

Mr Keene claims he provided information of illegal clearing on Brewon station to the OEH based on satellite imagery of the property.

He left the area a decade ago but he has reviewed recent aerial footage of the Brewon station obtained by Lateline which he compared to a 2013 Google map.

"I've seen from one end to the other and I know the country inside out. All this country to the west has all been cleared and sown under wheat.

"There's been a massive expansion of clearing and to the best of my knowledge it's been done without permission."

"It's all wheat now. That country's fragile out there and I don't see why people should blatantly illegally clear things like the TSRs [trade stock routes].

"They're there for a reason, they're Crown land. They don't own them so why can they try and squeeze an extra few bags of wheat or whatever?"

Tony Graham, the manager who succeeded Bill Keene on Brewon, said the previous station owners would have loved the opportunity to farm more country.

"We did contact the relevant authorities to try and get that done but no permits were ever issued and under no circumstances was I aware we'd be able to do that.

"That's the reason why the Native Vegetation Act was put in place, just for the protection of that native vegetation."

When the Harris business bought the property in 2010, Mr Graham was told his service was no longer required.

A year later, the Office of Environment and Heritage asked him if he too would be a witness against the business.

"I was given some aerial maps, satellite imagery pre-2010 and post-2010.

"I was asked which country we had set aside for farming and for grazing and it was pretty obvious from those aerial images that it was chalk and cheese as to what had occurred to the country post my time as manager of Brewon.

"Just on those aerials in excess of 5 to 8,000 acres that we certainly didn't have anything to do with, country that I believe had been cleared."

After two years of consultations, Bill Keene and Tony Graham were told the Harris investigation would not go to prosecution.

Tony Graham: "I was very upset. I was very angry given the time myself and another of the previous managers put into it."

The Harris Business repeatedly declined interview requests, referring Lateline to its lawyers.

It denies all allegations of illegal land clearing.

It dismisses Chris and Claire Priestley as bitter losers, accuses the family of waging a vicious hate campaign, and highlights the fact the siblings' mother apologised for earlier defamatory statements, which she also retracted.