Climate Council sounding the alarm on a severe bleaching event unfolding across more than 1,100kms of the Great Barrier Reef from Lizard Island to the Keppel Islands

 

Coral Bleaching, Heron Island
Great Barrier Reef
IMAGE: Divers for Climate, February 2024
Climate Council

Climate pollution is “cooking” the Reef with law reform needed

Climate Council

MEDIA RELEASE TUESDAY 5 MARCH 2024

THE CLIMATE COUNCIL is sounding the alarm on a severe bleaching event unfolding across the Great Barrier Reef, with new vision showing the damage that stretches more than 1100 kilometres from Lizard Island to the Keppel Islands.

Marine heatwaves are bleaching swathes of the Southern Great Barrier reef white, which have brought direct observers to tears. With an ominous marine forecast for the coming weeks, authorities could declare another mass bleaching event.

The Reef, a cherished global icon and home to diverse marine life and a cornerstone of Australian natural heritage, faces repeated and escalating threats from climate pollution, caused by the burning of coal, oil, and gas, including more frequent and severe marine heatwaves.

Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie said: “Relentless pollution from coal, oil and gas is Australia’s number one environmental problem and it’s literally cooking the Reef. Our environmental protection laws are outdated and in desperate need of an overhaul to prevent new reef-destroying gas and coal projects.

“At least five coal and gas projects have been waved through under our outdated law by the Federal Government since it was elected, and more than 20 other highly polluting proposals are sitting on the Environment Minister's desk right now. These projects will keep being waved through without stronger laws, endangering our Reef, all marine life and the livelihoods of Queenslanders who depend on a healthy, vibrant reef.

“Australians expect our national environment law will protect the precious natural environments like the Great Barrier Reef, and the numerous communities that depend upon it - not destroy them. Unless this law is fixed to make climate pollution a core consideration, the Great Barrier Reef will continue to deteriorate before our children’s eyes.”

Climate Councillor Professor Lesley Hughes said: "As ocean temperatures continue to increase, our precious Great Barrier Reef is in grave danger. The composition and diversity of our once mighty Reef has already been changed after repeated marine heatwaves and mass bleaching events driven by the relentless burning of coal, oil and gas. Our focus must be on limiting further harm as much as possible.

“Australians understand the Reef is irreplaceable. Many Queensland workers and communities rely directly on it for their livelihoods, and every one of us depends on a healthy ocean. Scientists and tour operators are being brought to tears by what they’re observing.

“The Reef can be restored, but it needs at least a decade to recover from a severe bleaching event, and the only way to ensure that can happen is to rapidly reduce climate pollution from coal, oil and gas. The only way to safeguard the Great Barrier Reef as well as everyone and everything that depends on it is to cut climate pollution at the source."

Dr Dean Miller, Climate Council Fellow and reef expert said: "We're seeing the most vulnerable corals to heat stress start bleaching along the length of the Great Barrier Reef, which is alarming.

“It's not just about how many corals are bleaching, but that the ones most at risk are suffering. This stress is affecting corals of all sizes, from the largest ones that have survived past bleaching events to the smallest, youngest corals.

“If the heat stress continues, we'll see more widespread bleaching affecting a higher diversity of coral species, which is a major concern for the reef's health and ultimately its resilience."

For a closer look at the impacts of climate change on the Great Barrier Reef, explore our collection of recently recorded footage.

The Climate Council is Australia’s leading community-funded climate change communications organisation. We provide authoritative, expert and evidence-based advice on climate change to journalists, policymakers, and the wider Australian community.

For further information, go to: climatecouncil.org.au

Or follow us on social media: facebook.com/climatecouncil and twitter.com/climatecouncil

What is happening on the Great Barrier Reef is not something concerned people on the NSW far north coast can ignore. In addition to the rich marine biodiversity along its est. 2,300km length, the southern section of the Great Barrier Reef as a feeding and breeding ground for edible fish forms part of the sustainability cycle for our regional wild caught fisheries. Keppel Island is less than 700kms from the Clarence Coast fishery, perhaps the largest estuary-ocean fishery in New South Wales. 

How one e-conveyancing firm ranks NSW coastal erosion, flooding and bushfire risks from 2023-2043

 

In its own words, InfoTrack is a leading SaaS technology innovator and has been the pioneer of e-conveyancing since 2000....From the moment a title search is performed on a property to be listed for sale through to settlement, InfoTrack’s platform transforms plain text into intelligent data that moves seamlessly between the real estate agent, the lawyer, the mortgagee and the seller.

Since November 2023 InfoTrack has been sending out media releases concerning current and expected climate change impacts most often mentioned in coastal zones - erosion, flooding and bushfires:

# From the Harbour to the Hunter, the Northern Beaches tots on the NSW coastal zone the Northern Rivers, the New South Wales suburbs most impacted by coastal erosion have been revealed, along with the 20 locations to be worst affected in the future;

# Rounding out the top five are Northern New South Wales’ Moree at number two, the Central West’s Forbes at number three, Walgett in the State’s North at number four, and the Riverina’s Moama at five.

Popular tourist locations also feature – the beautiful coastal town of Yamba, a mecca with holidaymakers, is named at number eight, Grafton in the Northern Rivers comes in at number 13, with bustling Port Macquarie, on the mid north coast, at number 15. The Central Western town of Dubbo sneaks in at number 20 on the list.....

“The data and models use high-resolution topographical data, detailed land cover information, and advanced weather models to accurately simulate flood depths and extents,” Mr Montagnani said.

“This comprehensive evaluation, provided by Royal HaskoningDHV’s division Twinn, encompasses various scenarios, including surface water, river, and tidal flooding, and integrates state-of-the-art climate models to provide flood risk assessments in the context of climate change.”

Interestingly, all the suburbs listed as most at risk now, remain the most at-risk decades from now.

Grafton is slightly more at risk of flooding in the future, going from 13 on the list of suburbs affected by flooding now, to 12 on the list of suburbs most impacted in 30 years, effectively swapping places with Condobolin; and

# Off the back of sweltering temperatures across New South Wales, new data has been released naming the top 20 suburbs most impacted by bushfires now, along with the locations to be most affected in the future.

Blue Mountains National Park comes in at number one currently, with Colo Vale in the Southern Highlands, and Booligal in the Riverina rounding out the top three, according to Groundsure ClimateIndex™ reports, available through InfoTrack.

Also making the Top 20 are popular Blue Mountains suburbs Kurrajong Heights (number 6), Blackheath (number 14), and Bilpin (number 13), and the Hawkesbury’s Lower Portland (number 19).

Northern NSW towns and villages feature in all three tables.

*click on all tables to enlarge*

Erosion

IMAGE: InfoTrack in Nationwide News, 14.11.23

Flooding

IMAGE: InfoTrack

Bushfires

IMAGE: InfoTrack

Prospective homebuyers can search a property address via InfoTrackGO to purchase a Groundsure ClimateIndex™ for that residence.

Climate Change Australia State of Play 2024: will there ever be climate resilient housing for the poor and disadvantaged?

 

IMAGE: The Guardian, 9 December 2023

Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), "ACOSS Summer Heat Survey 2024", 1 March 2024, excerpts:

* Introduction

Summers are becoming hotter with climate change. In fact, the last nine years were the world’s hottest on record, with 2023 being the hottest year to date. Australia is experiencing more very hot days and heatwaves, and Bureau of Meteorology data forecasts more days where the national daily average is over 40 degrees. For people in remote areas and places like central and northern Australia, high temperatures are already common and daily temperatures reach 35 degrees for over half the year.

Severely hot days and heatwaves affect people experiencing financial and social disadvantage worst because they have fewer resources and choices to protect themselves from extreme heat. This is an urgent and critical public health problem. Heatwaves cause more deaths than all other extreme weather events combined. In Australia, there were an estimated 36,000 deaths associated with heat between 2006 and 2017. A lack of access to energy-efficient homes is often a primary factor in these deaths.

People experiencing financial and social disadvantage are vulnerable to high temperatures because they often live in homes that are poorly insulated, with no or limited shading; and no air conditioning or fans to help cool indoor temperatures. Even if the home has air conditioning and/or fans, rising energy costs mean that people on low incomes often cannot afford to run them. They are also less likely to have rooftop solar, which would significantly reduce their energy bills.

Further, people in rental properties are not able to make changes in their home that could make them more liveable, healthy and safe. Minimum rental standards could address this problem by placing requirements on landlords to ensure their property protects tenants against heat or cold. For example, the ACT requires landlords to have ceiling insulation and Victoria is implementing minimal rental standards.

ACOSS conducted a public, online Heat Survey over the 2023-24 summer to explore the intersection between high temperatures, energy performance of homes, energy costs and income. The data is gathered to advocate for support for people experiencing financial and social disadvantage to secure cooler, healthier and more climate-resilient homes, putting people with the least at the centre of government policy and planning.

The survey gives us valuable insight into how severely high heat affects people’s physical and mental health, their wellbeing and activity when they cannot cool their homes. The survey highlights how seriously poverty and poor energy-performing homes can reduce people’s resilience and capacity to cope with debilitating hot weather.

The ACOSS Heat Survey was open from 1 December 2023 to 28 January 2024. It was made available online via the survey tool, TypeformTM.

* Key findings

Exposure to high heat is a major threat to human health. More people die in Australia from heatwaves than all other extreme events combined. With climate change, Australia is becoming hotter. Very hot days and heatwaves are becoming more common. People experiencing financial and social disadvantage are worst impacted by these events.

Those worst affected experience a combination of:

• homes with poor energy performance;

• high energy prices;

• low incomes; and

• health conditions.

To track the intersection between housing, energy costs, heat, and people experiencing financial and social disadvantage, ACOSS conducted a public, online Heat Survey over the summer months, from December 2023 to January 2024. We received 1007 responses from people across the country, including: 66.1% receiving income support; 19.2% in social housing; 36.1% in private rental; 6.4% First Nations respondents. Additionally, 62.7% reported they or someone in their household has a disability or chronic health condition.

The survey found the majority of 1007 people surveyed (80.4%) said their homes get too hot. This was often to do with being in homes with low energy efficiency (e.g., no insulation or shading, dark roofing, no eaves).

More than half (56.7%) could not cool their home because:

• they do not have air conditioners or fans, or have them but they are broken, or have them only in part of the home or they are ineffective in cooling the home; or

• if they had functioning air conditioners and or fans, they could not afford to run them.

People most likely to struggle to cool their homes were:

• people in social housing (78.3%) or private rental (65.7%) with limited control to modify their home or access working efficient air conditioners to better deal with extreme temperatures;

• people receiving income support (60.8%) with limited resources to modify their homes, afford air-conditioning or fans, or afford the running costs to cool their home;

and

• First Nations people (71.9%), two thirds of whom were in social or private rental, and more than three-quarters of whom were receiving income support.

Exposure to high temperatures in the home has a range of serious negative impacts on household members. Respondents to the survey reported:

• Negative physical and mental health impacts, making them unwell (80.5% of all 1007 respondents; 94% of First Nations respondents). For many, the heat seriously aggravated existing chronic health conditions or disabilities.

• Having to seek medical attention for heat stress (14% of all respondents; 25% of First Nations respondents).

• Difficulty sleeping (94% of all respondents; 98% of First Nations respondents), reduced productivity for work and study, and raised tensions in the home.

• Avoiding everyday household activities due to the heat (like housework and cooking).

While medical and government advice often is to leave home to go to a cooler place during very hot weather, this is not always easy. Most people (90.5%) reported that they face mobility, cost and other barriers to doing so.

Many people reported challenges affording their energy bills which meant they couldn’t cool their home and/or afford other essentials:

• 59.8% reported finding it increasingly difficult to pay their energy bills, which affected their capacity to cool their homes.

• Many reported that high energy bills made it difficult to pay for essentials like food (46.7%), medicine (41.4%) or housing (34%).

First Nations respondents were even more likely to be struggling to pay for essentials such as energy and other bills (86%), food (75%), medicine (63%) and housing (58%).

A quarter of all 1007 people surveyed (25.8%) were currently in energy debt with their retailer or believed they would go into energy debt because they could not afford their next energy bill. People receiving income support (69.4%) and First Nations people (55%) were more likely to say they had an energy debt or that they considered it to be imminent.

We note that while the people surveyed are currently housed, extremes of temperature present more severe health risks from exposure and threats to life itself to people living on the streets or sleeping rough.

Findings from the ACOSS 2024 Heat Survey raise similar concerns to the previous ACOSS 2023 Heat Survey Report and Sweltering Cities’ 2021 and 2022 Summer Survey Reports.

However, a hotter summer in 2023/24, coupled with rising costs for energy, housing, food and other essentials were reflected in people’s comments. There was a clear level of distress amongst people surveyed about the growing challenge to reduce the impacts of

heat while affording energy bills and avoiding – or compounding existing - energy debt.

For people experiencing financial and social disadvantage, especially those living with disability or a health condition, the situation of hot homes that cannot be cooled remains untenable, putting lives at risk. The situation facing First Nations people surveyed is much worse on almost every measure. Therefore, prioritising this report’s recommendations for First Nations communities is essential.

Almost all 1007 people who completed the 2024 Heat Survey (96.5%) called on governments to do more to improve homes to be more resilient to extreme heat (and cold) and to support people to be able to afford energy bills and other essentials....

Read the full 30 page report and recommendations at:

https://www.acoss.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/ACOSSHeatSurveyReport2024.pdf

North East Forest Alliance & Environmental Defenders Office fight on to protect the continued existence of native forests and the biodivsersity they contain

 

Environmental Defenders Office (EDO), March 2024 Newsletter, 29 February 2024:

Hope for NSW forests: Court decision upholds community’s right to challenge native forest logging

In the shadow of claims made by the NSW Forestry Corporation, communities have been led to believe that they have no rights to challenge decisions about industrial logging in NSW native forests or seek action over unlawful conduct when logging destroys hollow-bearing trees and critical habitat for threatened species.

But two recent court decisions have shattered those claims after EDO’s client successfully ran an argument which hasn’t previously been tested in the courts. After 20 years of resistance by the Forestry Corporation, it is now legally recognised that communities with a special interest have the right to hold the state-owned logging agency to account over its forestry operations in native forests.

NSW forests are remarkable for their diverse ecosystems, unique biodiversity and cultural significance. Encompassing semi-arid woodlands to lush rainforests, these globally recognised forests are home to an extraordinary array of plant and animal life, much of which is unique to the region.

Protecting our forests is one of the most important things we can do to manage climate change, preserve our precious biodiversity and prevent further species extinctions. Yet Forestry Corporation NSW logs around 30,000 hectares of state forest every year. Sadly, many of these forests are logged to be turned into low-value products, such as woodchips, that are exported to make cardboard and toilet paper.

Weak laws failing our forests

NSW Forestry Corporation is the state-owned logging agency that undertakes industrial logging in public native forests, including in nationally important koala habitat and areas that are still recovering from the catastrophic impacts of the 2019-20 Black Summer Bushfires. It is entrusted with managing two million hectares of public forests, yet in the past three years alone, Forestry Corporation has been fined 12 times for illegal logging activities. There are 21 investigations still pending. ¹

Forestry Corporation operates under bilateral agreements with the Federal Government, called ‘regional forest agreements’, or RFAs, which allow logging to bypass normal federal environmental scrutiny. No other industry benefits from such an allowance. Under the current system of RFAs, threatened species such as the koala, greater glider and gang-gang cockatoo are being driven to extinction and the ecosystems and landscapes that we depend on are being destroyed at an astounding rate.

For some 20 years, Forestry Corporation has asserted that the community cannot seek to challenge its public native forestry operations. On 20 November 2023, the NSW Land and Environment Court rejected that position.

Court decision confirms community right

The EDO represented the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) in mid-2023 challenging logging approvals in Myrtle and Braemar State Forests. The forests were severely damaged by the ferocious Black Summer Bushfires, which wiped out an estimated 70 per cent of the local koala population.

While NEFA was not ultimately successful, the court confirmed for the first time that the Forestry Act does not prevent persons with a special interest from taking legal action over forestry operations in NSW, including disputing logging approvals.

This is particularly important as NSW laws explicitly attempt to reduce the community’s right to challenge Forestry Corporation conduct regarding industrial native forest logging.

Forestry Corporation also argued that the court cannot judicially review harvest and haul plans because all forestry operations had already been approved by the relevant Ministers in the overarching regulation, the Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approval (CIFOA). However, the court again rejected that position and found that such operational plans are open to challenge.

Forest groups fight on after disappointing court decision

Building on the NEFA decision, South East Forest Rescue (SEFR) then took a step further with court action in January 2024. SEFR is seeking an injunction to stop Forestry Corporation from conducting any forestry activities in certain state forests until adequate surveys for greater, yellow-bellied and squirrel gliders have been performed. SEFR is being represented by XD Law.

SEFR argued that Forestry Corporation is breaking the law by not performing adequate surveys for den trees and necessary exclusion zones around den trees are not being implemented. It is the first time in 25 years that the Forestry Corporation has been brought to court by citizens for failure to comply with native forestry regulations, in particular failure to conduct adequate surveys for gliders.

Drawing from the findings in the NEFA decision, her Honour found that persons with a special interest can also seek to enforce the conditions of the CIFOA against Forestry Corporation.

These two decisions mark a significant departure from the status quo of the past 20 years and set important precedent for the community to hold the Forestry Corporation to account over native forest logging.

President of NEFA, Dailan Pugh said regarding NEFAs legal challenge:

“While NEFA were disappointed that our legal challenge to the logging of important Koala populations in Braemar and Myrtle State Forests was not successful, it’s promising that the case did establish that NEFA have the civil right to enforce NSW’s logging rules, opening a door to litigation we thought had been shut to us since 1998.”

“We thank the EDO for the immense effort they put into this case and creating future opportunities for NEFA, and other groups, to challenge the culture of complacency around logging fostered by lack of public accountability.”

1 Register of Crown forestry investigations (nsw.gov.au)

On the afternoon of Thursday 29 February 2029 seven Liberal Party members in pursuit of a 'gotcha' moment rose to their feet in what can only be seen as an organised racist dog whistle in the House of Representatives to question the government based on 'facts' they knew to be false

 

On Tuesday, 27 February 2024 a report of a sexual assault in the Richmond area was made to Victoria Police.

That night Victoria Police charged a 43 year-old West Papuan Richmond resident, a former immigration detainee released under a 2023 High Court ruling, with sexual assault.

The next day, Wednesday 28 February, he faced the Melbourne Magistrates' Court sometime in the morning on charges of sexual assault of one woman, stalking and two counts of unlawful assault involving this woman and another in two separate incidents on the same day. He did not apply for bail.

Victoria Police held a press conference in the afternoon of the same day in which Commander Mark Galliot revealed that police had since interviewed another male Richmond resident in relation to the same offences and apologised for arresting and detaining the West Papuan man in a case of mistaken identity. This second man is not a person released from immigration detention under the High Court ruling and, does not appear to be a migrant, refugee or asylum seeker.

Within hours the charged man's case returned to the Magistrates Court where all charges against him were withdrawn due to "misidentification" and he was released.

Regardless of the relatively swift and public resolution of this incident, members of the Coalition Opposition rose in the House of Representatives on the afternoon of the following day Thursday, 29 February and began to ask questions of the Albanese Government along these lines:

Ms LEY (Farrer—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (14:04): My question is to the Minister for Immigration,

Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. When was the minister first informed that a serial sex offender that the

Albanese government had released from immigration detention had been charged with sexual assault, stalking and two counts of unlawful assault in Victoria?

Ms McKENZIE (Flinders) (14:08): My question is to the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. I refer to the minister's previous answer and ask: why did the minister fail to use his powers to seek to redetain this serial sex offender and protect these two Victorian women?

Mr FLETCHER (Bradfield—Manager of Opposition Business) (14:22): My question is to the Minister for

Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. Out of the 149 hardcore criminals released by the Albanese

government, how many rapists and sex offenders, apart from the one who has just been charged with sexual assault, remain at large in the community?

Mr CALDWELL (Fadden) (14:30): My question is to the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. On 13 February the minister assured the House that all 149 of the hardcore criminals the Albanese government released were being continuously monitored. Was this serial sex offender being continuously monitored at the time he is alleged to have sexually assaulted and stalked two women in Victoria?

Mr SUKKAR (Deakin) (14:41): My question is to the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. When did the minister inform the Prime Minister that this serial sex offender had committed new crimes against the Victorian community?

Mr DUTTON (Dickson—Leader of the Opposition) (14:52): My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime

Minister, the immigration minister is a disaster. His decisions have put Australians at risk—

Government members interjecting—

Mr DUTTON: My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, the immigration minister is a disaster. His

decisions have put Australians at risk, and women in Victoria are alleged to have been sexually assaulted. A hundred and forty-nine hardcore criminals—

Ms Thwaites interjecting— ......

Mr DUTTON: A hundred and forty-nine hardcore criminals have been released into the community. The minister has not taken a single application to redetain one of these criminals, and now more Australians are being harmed, with the likely risk extending to many more Australians. When will you show leadership, stop being so weak and sack this minister?

The Prime Minister's response.

Mr ALBANESE (Grayndler—Prime Minister) (14:53): 'We are not in a position to defy an order of the High Court, and no-one is suggesting that they should do that.' Not my words—the words of Senator Paterson. 'Under the Constitution, you can't detain someone indefinitely. We accept that.' Not my words—the words of the Leader of the Opposition. 'The High Court made the decision. We respect that decision.' Not my words—the words of the shadow minister for immigration. I'll tell you what's not strong. I'll tell you what strength is not. Strength is not asking for responses that would endanger judicial processes. That is not strong. There is no strength whatsoever in that. What is appalling is that the Leader of the Opposition knows full well that that is the case because he has been in that position, including when he was responsible for the legislation which our legislation was based upon. It was his legislation that he presided over, and he knows that that is the case.

[House of Representatives, Hansard, 29 February 2024, pp. 19, 22, 23, 25, 27]

There is little chance in light of the scant two days until the Saturday 2 March Dunkley federal by-election in Victoria that these Coalition MPs - especially Ms. McKenzie and Mr. Sukkar - were not aware of the details of the case of mistaken identity by the afternoon of Wednesday, 29 February 2024. After all, Victoria Police calling a televised press conference 24 hours earlier to essentially admit a wrongful arrest was a notable event.

It appears Ms. Ley was so determined to poison the Dunkley by-election well that she sent this tweet 1:03 hours before she asked her question in the House.

Once the mainstream media began to pick up on these misleading statements being made under parliamentary privilege and on social media, Leader of the Opposition & Liberal MP for Dickson, Peter Dutton, was quick to further mislead and infer the Minister for Immigration was to blame. Presumably for not immediately alerting them to the fact that they were about to accuse the wrong person of sexual assault. 'How were we to know?'

However, despite such a juvenile excuse in front of the camera, the fact remains that in the House and elsewhere this was deceitful politicking and racist dog whistling at its worst.

By the evening of Thursday, 29 February Victoria Police had publicly released details of the second man who was identified as a person of interest for the same offences on Wednesday 28 February 2024.

Finally, two days later at approx. 9pm on Saturday, 2 March, three hours after the polls closed, the Dunkley federal by-election was called for Labor by Antony Green and the Liberal candidate publicly conceded.

So the Coalition's sordid attempt at political theatre had missed its mark.

COUNTING THE VOTES: Dunkley federal by-election today, Saturday 2 March 2024 - time to watch for the AEC virtual tally room to come online around 6pm tonight

Australian Electoral Commission (AEC)  Virtual Tally Room link:

https://tallyroom.aec.gov.au/HouseDivisionPage-29778-210.htm

ABC News 24 Live Stream - live coverage Dunkley by-election

https://iview.abc.net.au/show/abc-news-24

Anthony Green ABC's chief election analyst:

X/Twitter

@AntonyGreenElec

Dunkley By-election 2024 Results at

https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/dunkley-by-election-2024

UPDATE:

9pm by-election called for Labor. 

Liberal candidate concedes.

Quote of the Week

 

"Full of shit and full of himself, Scooter has left the building. His greatest contribution to Australian governance is his departure from it."

["Grumpy Geezer" writing about Scott Morrison's final departure from federal parliament 21 months after he led his government to defeat in May 2022 general election, The Australian Independent Media Network 28.02.24]