COAL MINING APPROVALS
We made it folks, welcome to the final Worm of 2024. In a fitting end to proceedings we’ve got rows over climate decisions and disagreements over economic policy to play us out.
The ABC, Guardian Australia, The Australian and others all led at certain points overnight on the Albanese government’s decision to approve the expansion of four coal mines.
The Australian reports the approvals “cover three mines in Queensland and one in NSW that produce coal used in steelmaking, and include a green tick for Vitrinite to proceed with its Vulcan South mine in the Bowen Basin”. The paper flags Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek claimed on Thursday that the decisions were made on a case-by-case basis.
“All of the mines produce minerals essential for producing steel for things such as homes, bridges, trains, wind farms and solar panels. There are currently no feasible renewable alternatives for making steel,” she said.
Plibersek said yesterday the government’s decisions related to extensions of existing operations, stating: “There are no new mines.” Her post on X yesterday claiming the Albanese government had not approved any new coal mines in 2024 has been given a community note disputing the claim.
Greens leader Adam Bandt described the government’s approvals yesterday as “despicable”, Guardian Australia flags. Joseph Sikulu, of the Pacific arm of campaign group 350.org, reacted with: “Australia’s commitment to climate destruction makes a mockery of the ‘family’ they claim to call the Pacific.” Gavan McFadzean, climate program manager at the Australian Conservation Foundation, said the approvals were “undermining Australia’s emissions targets and our claims to be a good global citizen and a good neighbour to Pacific nations”.
The site reports climate campaigners reckon the expansion of the coalmines “will release more than 850 million tonnes of CO2 over their lifetime — equivalent to almost double Australia’s annual emissions”.
The ABC highlights Greens environment spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young saying the announcement coming at the end of the last week before Christmas was “the ultimate dumping of rubbish on Christmas Eve”.
Talking of disagreements over climate policies, The Australian has the news Nationals MP Keith Pitt is quitting politics.
The paper reports he has warned the Nationals under leader David Littleproud were becoming irrelevant to its regional-based constituency with its commitment to net zero emission targets.
Pitt has previously called for the Nationals to withdraw their support from the Liberals’ net zero emissions goal. He told The Australian: “You’ve got to separate from your brothers and sisters in the Liberal Party because they have, on occasions, different views to us”. He added: “I am talking about the impact in the cost of committing to net zero emissions targets and the subsequent green policies that have to be paid for. And while there is literally zero impact on the temperature of the planet, it has huge impacts on the wallets of regional people.’’
Asked about Littleproud’s leadership, he said: “We clearly have very different views on what’s the priority and direction for the Nationals. In my view, political parties without purpose soon disappear.”
The paper adds it understands Coalition leader Peter Dutton will this weekend unveil his final frontbench reshuffle ahead of the federal election following the retirements of the likes of Senator Simon Birmingham.
AUSTRALIANS RETURN HOME
Hundreds of Australians were flown home from Vanuatu on RAAF flights on Thursday evening following this week’s devastating earthquake.
AAP says 136 Australians returned on two RAAF planes yesterday evening with 148 returning the day before.
The newswire says at least 14 people are feared dead and at least 200 injured as a result of the 7.3-magnitude quake on Tuesday.
The natural disaster is said to be the worst earthquake to hit the Pacific island nation in more than a century with widespread destruction and subsequent landslides.
The ABC reports Australian teams remain in Vanuatu working with local authorities on search and rescue operations as well as removing hazardous materials and supporting health officials treating the injured.
The broadcaster carries eyewitness statements from survivors, like Emer Entiana who said she was swimming with her family in a lagoon when she said the water “instantly turned brown”. “We were very far from where we stayed. It was shocking. We were struggling to get back to the hotel because there were landslides everywhere,” she said.
Shane Cook, who was in the capital Port Vila, said: “I watched buildings come down around me and I had no idea what to do, so we just started following the crowd running up a giant hill, because people started screaming ‘tsunami!’”
AAP highlights that local authorities have issued a low-to-medium risk of a cyclone and rain which could cause landslides, adding further urgency to recovery efforts.
Back in domestic news, The Sydney Morning Herald is leading with an interview with Treasurer Jim Chalmers in which he, unsurprisingly, says the Albanese government has been vindicated in its economic approach, despite this week’s mid-year fiscal update showing a budget deficit of $26.9 billion (following a $15.8 billion surplus last year) and the ongoing criticism from the opposition that government spending is putting pressure on inflation.
In a line used many times this year, Chalmers said: “It’s pretty clear that if we had taken a lot of the free advice we’ve been getting over the last 12 to 18 months, Australia would be in recession. We’ve rejected this free advice that says slash and burn in the budget for good reason, and we’ve been vindicated because there wouldn’t be growth in the economy were it not for our efforts.”
The paper said the treasurer signalled further plans to help households would be announced before the federal election next year with savings and tax measures being used to help fund the policies.
On brand, Dutton this week called for lower spending without giving any information on what the Coalition proposes to cut, with shadow treasurer Angus Taylor saying: “It’s not austerity, but it is restraint in the growth of spending that matters so much.”
ON A LIGHTER NOTE…
“They keep each other young,” is how Bernie Littman’s granddaughter described the 100-year-old’s recent marriage to 102-year-old Marjorie Fiterman.
The pair found love in a Philadelphia nursing home after moving onto the same floor after their spouses passed away.
They tied the knot earlier this year after a nine-year relationship and, with a combined age of 202 years and 271 days, have now been declared the world’s oldest newlywed couple by Guinness World Records.
The organisation said “Bernie hit it off immediately with Marjorie when they first met at a costume party on their floor, and the romance began shortly after”.
Bernie’s granddaughter Sarah Sicherman wrote on social media: “Today my 100-year-old grandfather married his 102-year-old girlfriend! They both had 60-plus years of marriage to their first spouses and found love again at 100 years old!”
And with that, the Worm is done for 2024. Thank you for tuning in this year, we’ll be back in your inbox with all the news you need to know on January 6, 2025. Have a wonderful holiday period — don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.
Say What?
The pen has run dry, its ink no longer flowing — yet Mr Curly and his ducks will remain etched in our hearts, cherished and eternal.
Michael Leunig’s studio
A post on Instagram from the Australian cartoonist’s studio announced the death of 79-year-old Michael Leunig on Thursday evening.
CRIKEY RECAP
Despite the overall strength of the field, one person has stood head and shoulders above the rest. It brings us great pleasure to award the top gong to someone whose shitstirring has defined not only the year but also this session of federal Parliament. They have an uncanny ability to get under the skin of seemingly everyone — politicians, media commentators, average punters — and to use that ability to drive attention towards their political cause.
His political opponents visibly loathe him. Hell, even those sympathetic to his cause aren’t all too fond of him. And, most tellingly, the most powerful man in the country, Anthony Albanese, very clearly fucking hates him.
You already know who I’m talking about, don’t you?
When I started writing my weekly column Forget the Frontbench, examining the players shaking up Australia’s major party duopoly, a hung parliament looked possible. As the year has worn on, it has become all but a certainty, with the latest Accent/Redbridge MRP putting the odds above 98%. It’s therefore vital to examine the growing third force, the “bums on seats” who can no longer be dismissed as “other” — as polls and graphs regularly do.
So what have I discovered from six months of chatting with our diverse new crossbench? Here are five things I’ve learnt or confirmed through this column so far.
We began Crikey’s Movers and Shakers series with a look at what the biggest names in Australian journalism considered to be the last great piece of journalism they read. We finish the series with a look at their media diets.
READ ALL ABOUT IT
With guilty verdicts, victim’s rape ordeal in France becomes a message of hope (The New York Times) ($)
Putin says he should have launched full Ukraine invasion earlier, as he holds marathon live event (BBC)
GOP scraps government funding bill after Trump demands changes (CNN)
Dutton said a reactor’s waste would fill a Coke can. Try 27,000 of them (The Sydney Morning Herald) ($)
John Pesutto ordered to pay Moira Deeming’s court costs in the run up to the federal election (The Australian) ($)
Raygun musical creator announces ‘completely legal’ new show after legal threat from breaker (Guardian Australia)
THE COMMENTARIAT
Dutton not match fit after dodging the pack, or so Labor hopes — Phillip Coorey (AFR): The Coalition swears its worst week of the campaign was when Albanese was sidelined with COVID-19 and Jim Chalmers, Penny Wong, Richard Marles and Jason Clare shared the duties. If only because it highlighted the depth behind Albanese, something the Coalition frontbench lacks.
There is a belief, or at least a hope, in Labor that it can bring Dutton undone under the glare of the campaign because he is not believed to be match fit.
One senior member of the government notes that on three significant occasions this year when the opposition leader has made a foray into policy detail, he’s found himself on the sticky paper.
Angus Taylor’s word salad blurs the truth about power bills under the Coalition’s $331b nuclear plan — Brett Worthington (ABC): It’s not like Taylor or Dutton will be in the federal Parliament when the rubber hits the road on the savings by 2050, which is when Taylor says Australians will have to wait to see the full 44% delivered.
But it can’t go without being said that the 44% household claim simply isn’t backed up in the modelling the Coalition relied upon to cost its plan.
Frontier Economics didn’t model what nuclear would mean for household prices because the Coalition didn’t ask it to.
Forget economics 101. Not asking for something that could give you an answer you might not like is politics 101.
To quote the shadow treasurer himself: Well done, Angus.
