Australia is already feeling the pinch of economic and carbon transitions underway as the world inches closer to a climate agreement in Paris in December, 2015. Our Prime Minister has backed coal as a path of human prosperity right at the moment when coal is rapidly becoming anaethema due to the toxic affect of coal […]
Australian Government funds $4 million sweet deal for #climate contrarian Bjorn Lomborg – @Takvera
April 17, 2015
This sweet deal for statistician and climate contrarian Bjorn Limborg is likely to really piss off Australian climate scientists. With one fell swoop the Government has alienated climate scientists, and probably a heavy proportion of other academics and the general public. The Abbott Government is funding climate contrarian Dr Bjorn Lomborg, a Danish Professor of […]
Tax exempt status of Environment NGOs targeted. Are you a #FriendofFoE? asks @Takvera
April 12, 2015
Hundreds of thousands of Australians each year volunteer with or donate to environment not-for-profit organisations like Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, the Wilderness Society, to name just a few. Now it seems the Federal Government is stepping up it’s attack on these organisations through tightening the definition and taxation exemption status for donations to these […]
Transition from #coal to #solar critical for Port Augusta – @Takvera
April 6, 2015
The Port Augusta community have called for South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill to step up to help fund construction of a solar thermal power station. The call from Repower Port Augusta comes in reponse to an Alinta Energy assessment (Draft Milestone 3 Balance of Study Report March 2015 PDF) that found a solar thermal power […]
Marching to the same tune #MarchInMarch #Perth: @RickHM reports
March 23, 2015
[View the story “Marching To The Same Tune – #MarchInMarch #Perth Sunday March 22nd 2015” on Storify]
If Senate won’t defeat #DataRetention bill terrorists and criminals will: @sortius comments
March 23, 2015
With the federal government’s metadata retention bill having passed the lower house, and all but assured to pass the senate, the technical implications are still sketchy at best. Costing an estimated $400 million a year (a figure that will no doubt be revised up substantially), the legislation isn’t a cheap exercise in flag waving like […]
John #MalcolmFraser AC 22nd Prime Minister of #auspol: @Jansant tribute
March 21, 2015
Former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser (@MalcolmFraser12) has left the building, and it feels empty without him. The man who had once torn Australia apart, became a voice of reason, decency and compassion in a sea of gutter level race fuelled political strategy. A child of the squattocracy, that in the end, was the reasoned and […]
Torture report makes @IntlCrimCourt action against @TonyAbbottMHR’s #auspol likely: @jansant reports
March 14, 2015
On Monday, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture, Juan Mendez, released a report (below) that found Australia in violation of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). The report found multiple violations and identified the systematic nature resulting from government policy. Juan Mendez, is a survivor of […]
International human rights body tells @TonyAbbottMHR #IStandWithGillianTriggs. @Jansant reports
February 25, 2015
The International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (ICC) has written (full text below) to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott (@TonyAbbottMHR), expressing “grave concern” about recent Government attacks on the President of the Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), Gillian Triggs (@GillianTriggs). The letter was carbon copied to the […]
Civil liberties councils bring #Citizenfour to Canberra. @jeevens reports.
February 11, 2015
There’s a nagging sensation in your gut when you watch Citizenfour. The BAFTA award-winning documentary by Laura Poitras is an exploration of the modern surveillance state, the Five Eyes Alliance (of which Australia is a part), and the Edward Snowden revelations, and the concerns it raises – particularly for those who haven’t been following the […]
