The following is the first blog in a series of posts, 1 Million Women’s weekly Reef Brief : A quick round-up of Great Barrier Reef-related news and policy developments for the week, as part of our campaign: IM Declaring the Reef in Danger (this post week ending Friday, 16 May , 2014).
1. FEDERAL BUDGET
If you were looking for any good news on government commitment to action on climate change, environmental protection including for the Great Barrier Reef, scientific research and clean technology in Australia, then you were in the wrong country this week. The first Budget night for current Treasurer Joe Hockey was a shocker for the climate-concerned.
The abolition of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) capped off a very bad run for climate and environmental policies, programs and agencies in Australia in recent months. Buried in the Budget paperwork is a paltry $40 million to seed fund a new Great Barrier Reef Trust, which is meant to be a central feature of a long-term strategy to protect the Reef, but the discussion paper for the Trust manages to omit climate change altogether.
You can read the government’s spin on the Reef Trust here: http://www.environment.gov.au/reef-trust
1 Million Women highlighted one small portion of the Treasurer’s Budget night speech that almost sounded like a vision for a sustainable future for today’s and future generations … except sadly he was only talking about cutting community services and benefits to fund more traditional development like roads to drive more economic growth via overconsumption and pollution. Joe Hockey said:
As Australians, we must not leave our children worse off.
That's not fair.
That is not our way.
We are a nation of lifters, not leaners.
So tonight, we present you with a budget that delivers a sustainable future for your children, and the generations beyond.
We sure do need to give the Reef’s future a lift, before global warming and climate change destroy it.
2. RENEWABLE ENERGY TARGET
The only real climate change relevant major government program left standing is the Renewable Energy Target (RET), for 20% of Australia’s electricity generation to come from renewable sources by 2020. Now that’s under threat too, and 1 Million Women made a submission this week to the RET Review Panel, commissioned by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, and stacked with fossil fuel advocates and climate doubters (if not deniers).
Among other things, the RET has driven wind-farm development and the amazing 1.2 million Australian households that have installed rooftop solar PV over the past five or so years.
Every bit of renewable energy means less coal and gas being burned for electricity, and less fossil fuel-driven carbon pollution affecting the climate future of the planet in general, and the wellbeing of the Great Barrier Reef in particular.
Submissions to the RET review close at 5pm today (Friday, May 16 th ), so now we are waiting to see what happens when the panel reports in July. Many are fearful that the RET will be cut back or abandoned altogether, delivering another victory to the forces of fossil fuel darkness in the energy and mining sectors.
Our submission said in part:
‘Sunshine is Australia's greatest natural gift, and Australians love solar energy. They like wind, hydro, large-scale thermal solar and other emerging renewable energy sources too, but they absolutely love rooftop solar panels.’
You can see all you need to know about the RET review here and read our submission via our Blog here
3. BOUQUETS FOR IKEA
Every bit of clean energy generated in Australia, and anywhere in the world for that matter, means less danger for the Great Barrier Reef. 1 Million Women was delighted this week to see the following reported in the media about IKEA. Well done!
Renew Economy reported: 'Swedish furniture giant IKEA has announced it will install 3.9MW of rooftop solar PV systems across all of its Australian east coast stores and warehouses, a project that will result in the nation’s largest commercial solar development so far. The project – which will see more than 16,000 panels installed across IKEA Australia’s five stores in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales, as well as two merchandise pick-up locations – will have an annual output of 5,495 million kilowatt hours (MWh) of electricity; enough to power 778 family homes for a year.' You can read more here .
For the Reef’s sake, 1 Million Women looks forward to the time when every Woolworths, every Coles, every IGA, every shopping centre, every service station and every government building have installed solar panels on their roofs. With the right policies, governments can ensure this becomes a reality. We live in hope that IKEA is not a lone voice.
4. BRICKBATS FOR ADANI
Last week we reported on the Queensland Government’s approval for the vast $16 billion Carmichael coal mining complex in the Galilee Basin, which would need a whole new port in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area.
Now our friends at Greenpeace Australia have done some great detective work on the Indian multi-national company behind the mine plan, the Adani Group, with Greenpeace’s Ben Pearson writing: ‘I’ve seen a fair few reckless coal companies in my time here. But rarely have I come across one so damaging as Adani … I wouldn’t trust these guys to water my back garden. I find it horrifying that a company with such an appalling track record hasn’t been banned from doing business in Australia altogether - much less given the green light by the Queensland Government to build the world’s biggest coal mine, and a mega shipping facility in the Great Barrier Reef.’
You can sign on to call on the Australian Government and Environment Minister Greg Hunt MP to reject the Adani mega-project here .