Category Archives: Energy

Australia’s coal exporters made windfall gain of $45bn last year, report estimates

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Report by Australia Institute finds a windfall profits tax could collect almost all this money for public use

Coal exporters from Australia reaped as much as $45bn in windfall gain in the 2021-22 year, with a similar bonanza likely this year, offering governments a budgetary boon for those willing to grasp it, the Australia Institute has said.

In a report released on Thursday, the institute’s economists said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent disruption to energy markets alone had delivered between $13bn and $23bn of gains to coalminers. All up, those gains totalled between $39bn and $45bn.

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Gas industry attempts to block price caps on fossil fuels shrugged off by Australian government

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Crossbenchers express surprise at lack of direct lobbying from resource companies who may have been blindsided by ‘reasonable pricing’ test

Gas industry concerns that price caps on fossil fuels will damage investment and supply have been shrugged off by the majority of parliament, with lobbying efforts from fossil fuel companies unsuccessful in scuppering Labor’s plans.

Despite weeks of strong public criticism from coal and gas companies about the proposed price caps and increasingly apocalyptic claims of energy disasters if skyrocketing profits were reined in, the parliament will pass the government’s proposal on Thursday.

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Man who fired gun inside Canberra airport was on parole for attempted murder – as it happened

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Butler defends decision to cut Medicare-funded psychology sessions

The federal health minister, Mark Butler, is speaking to ABC Radio following his decision Monday to cut the number of Medicare psychologist sessions. He’s come under serious heat for the move which experts say is “appalling.”

This program has been around for a number of years, and it has for many years had a limit of 10 sessions for people to access over that long period the average person has used 4 - 5 of those sessions.

This is a good program, I’ve been familiar with it for many, many years, but its problem has always been one of equity.

The evaluation found that the lowest-income communities have more than twice the levels of mental distress as the highest-income communities, but they get the lowest level of support and, under this program, that inequality was substantially worsened by these additional 10 sessions.

People like Prof Ian Hickey said at the time that those additional sessions in a sector with a limit workforce, was going to have the effect of cutting out other people, meaning other people couldn’t get any support whatsoever.

And the evaluation I .. released on Monday showed exactly that, that it had the impact of cutting more people out of the system. Most of those people were in some of the poorest communities, where the evaluation said there is the highest need.

The recommendation of the report was we would consider additional sessions for people with complex needs, now this system was not designed to focus on people with complex needs.

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Tech coalition aiming to create Australian high-powered laser industry with nuclear fusion ambitions

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Proponents say lasers can be used to generate energy but others say fusion power unlikely to ‘save us from climate change’

A coalition of technology companies intend to create a high-intensity laser industry in Australia, with potential applications including nuclear fusion.

It follows reports of an expected announcement from the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California that researchers have managed to get more energy out of a nuclear fusion reaction than they put in.

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Australia news live: Queensland police pay tribute to two officers killed in ‘absolutely devastating’ shooting ambush

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Two police officers and another member of the public were shot dead at a Wieambilla property, then two men and a woman were killed by police late last night. Follow the day’s news live

Police officers who were shot and killed on a regional Queensland property were searching for a New South Wales man last seen by his family almost a year ago, Guardian Australia understands.

On Monday, four officers attended the remote property at Wieambilla in the Western Downs region in connection with the disappearance of Nathaniel Train, 46, from Dubbo in NSW.

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Germany at risk of gas shortages as consumption cutting target missed

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Country has scrambled to open up new sources of energy since start of Ukraine war

Germany is saving less gas than necessary to rule out shortages this winter, the head of the German grid agency has said, as the country missed its crucial target of a 20% cut in consumption last week amid dropping temperatures.

Germany, which used to draw about half of its natural gas needs from Russia before the start of the Ukraine war, has scrambled to open up new sources of energy during the last ten months.

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UK ministers face legal challenge over North Sea oil and gas licences

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Three campaign groups challenge plans to award up to 130 new licences for exploration

The UK government is facing a fresh challenge in the courts over plans to award up to 130 new licences for North Sea oil and gas exploration, in the latest attempt to stop ministers’ proposed expansion of the country’s fossil fuel production.

Three campaign groups have written to the business secretary, Grant Shapps, explaining the grounds on which they consider the latest offshore oil and gas licensing round to be unlawful. They call for the decision to award the new licences to be reversed, arguing that new oil and gas exploration and development is incompatible with the UK’s own rules and international climate obligations.

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Senator says plan ‘a Band-Aid on a festering wound’ – as it happened

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Severe weather warning for damaging winds in NSW and Victoria

Several children have been injured after a firework shot into a crowd during a Christmas event in Sydney’s northern beaches last night.

An 11-year-old boy was initially taken to Royal North Shore hospital, before being transferred to the Children’s hospital at Westmead for treatment of burns and a chest injury.

An eight-year-old girl was taken to Northern Beaches hospital for treatment of burns and a wrist injury. She has since been released.

Police have been told a 12-year-old boy was taken to hospital by his parents for treatment to minor burns and has since been released, and six other people were treated on scene by NSW Rural Fire Service for minor injuries, and left prior to the arrival of paramedics and police.

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Energy users and ex-ACCC boss praise government for staring down ‘bullies of the gas industry’

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Industry argues capping gas at $12 a gigajoule risks future investment but experts say price is top end of range forecast before invasion of Ukraine

Energy users and the former boss of the competition watchdog have congratulated the Albanese government for staring down the “bullies of the gas industry” in a bid to lower domestic energy bills.

The federal government last week announced an energy relief plan that would cap coal and gas prices and deliver $1.5bn in assistance to struggling lower-income Australians.

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MPs’ Pacific islands tour to show bipartisan support – As it happened

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Senior politicians from both major parties to travel to Vanuatu, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and Palau this week. This blog is now closed

The Bureau of Meteorology expects scattered showers expected over South Australia.

Meanwhile the heatwave that has settled across northern Australia is expected to ease.

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Chris Bowen defends energy price relief plan – as it happened

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Households expected to save around $230 on average after national cabinet agrees to energy price cap scheme. This blog is now closed

Mountain mist frog’s call preserved on Songs of Disappearance

Sticking with the mountain mist frog, which has just been declared extinct, a kind reader has just sent me a Spotify link to a recording of its calls, as part of a collection called Songs of Disappearance. The frog has not been seen for 20 years.

We know what’s causing this crisis: habitat destruction, invasive species and climate change. We know the solutions to the crisis: stronger environment laws, stronger climate action and increased investment in habitat protection and restoration.

The Albanese government is heading in the right direction by instituting an overhaul of our flawed national environment law, but it must not delay or cut corners.

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$1.5bn energy price relief package for Australians including caps on coal and gas

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Treasury advised the PM and premiers not to deliver the rebates as cash handouts due to risk of fuelling inflationary pressure

Canberra and the states have agreed to cap coal and gas prices, and provide additional rebates for Australians on low and middle incomes, as part of a $1.5bn intervention that will shave hundreds of dollars off power bills.

After a national cabinet meeting on Friday, governments have agreed to cap gas prices temporarily at $12 per gigajoule and cap coal prices at $125 per tonne. Parliament will be recalled next week to implement the change.

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Australia news live: national cabinet to discuss energy fix; Victorian Labor poised to surpass 2018 ‘Danslide’

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Reducing bills will be main focus of virtual gathering of the prime minister, premiers and chief ministers. Follow all the day’s news

Ears to the ground as national cabinet meeting approaches

The rumour mill is running hot ahead of national cabinet. Here’s some of what people have been saying.

During an interview with Patricia Karvelas this morning, the climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, said:

Well, I’ve confirmed that certainly people will see a reduction in their bills … The reduction will happen not in a handout, but when they get their bill. It’ll be baked into the bill.

The NSW government is leading the push for a rebate, which is believed to have in-principle backing of the Albanese government. The rebate in NSW could be worth as much as $280 for households.

The temporary rebate would be in addition to existing energy rebates already offered in NSW and Queensland for low-income households and are designed to cover the six to 12-month gap until price rises are projected to flatten under coal and gas price caps.

The future is renewable. Let’s be very blunt. Coal-fired power stations are going to close. That’s a statement of fact. We need to replace them. The transition to renewables has been too slow, and too disorderly.

The task here is to ensure that new energy comes on not after coal-fired power leaves, because that’s too late, but before.

What this is, is the safety net under this transition to ensure we have reliable energy.

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Rome’s solar-powered Christmas tree lights spark row over ‘ugly’ panels

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Critics accuse authorities of ‘bogus environmentalism’ over installation in historic Piazza Venezia

A row has broken out over two “ugly” solar panels intended to power the lights on Rome’s traditional Christmas tree.

There is always much anticipation in the Italian capital when the fir arrives at the Piazza Venezia in the historic centre – a Unesco world heritage site – with many giving their view on the choice of decoration.

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Big energy users not holding their breath on national cabinet help amid ‘outrageous’ prices

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Companies hoping, but not expecting, Albanese government can implement price caps on gas and coal

Australia’s big energy users aren’t confident national cabinet can pull a rabbit out of its hat when it meets on Friday to discuss a crucial deal to reduce gas and electricity prices.

They’ve been disappointed before – for about a decade, some say.

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Australia’s diesel price spike causes rethink in reliant regional areas

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‘We have had to rethink the ways we do things’, says farmer who dusted off his 1973 petrol-powered truck

Nick Holliday’s 1973 International Acco truck sat dormant out the front of his farm for years, as a decoration collecting dust. But diesel price rises have given the old truck a new lease of life.

“We have had to rethink the ways we do things,” Holliday said.

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Andrews government on track to surpass ‘Danslide’ – as it happened

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Government yet to cap wholesale coal price, but still aiming to land ‘before Christmas’, treasurer says

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking to ABC Radio. RN Breakfast host Patricia Karvelas asks him:

Has the government resolved to cap the wholesale coal price at $125 a tonne and the gas price at $13 a gigajoule?

There hasn’t been a concluded view reached yet, and that’s because this is a challenge of such complexity and such consequence for industry and for Australians around the country, that it needs to be a genuine partnership between governments and that requires all sides to come to the table in a reasonable and a constructive way, which recognises that one level of government can’t fix this all on its own.

The need for Aukus is even clearer today. More than ever, our three countries share of similar outlook on the key challenges and opportunities confronting our world. Aukus will enhance our shared ability to sustain peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific, and since creating this trilateral security partnership our defense forces, industries, and scientific communities have been hard at work. Over the past 15 months we’ve made great progress toward identifying a pathway for Australia to acquire conventionally armed and nuclear-powered submarines. Today on behalf of President Biden, I want to reaffirm the US commitment to ensuring that Australia acquires this capability at the earliest possible date, and in adherence with the highest nonproliferation standards.

And central to that is Australia being able to acquire a nuclear-powered, highly capable submarine and we are deeply grateful for the work that we’ve been able to do with both the UK and the US to enable Australia to acquire that capability. And it’s not lost on us the significance of the US and the UK, working together and transferring this technology to Australia. And there has been an enormous amount of work being done by our officials to bring this about, and obviously to bring today about. I think as we talk today, we’re all going to speak to the fact that we’re on track to be able to make this announcement in respect of what will be the optimal pathway for Australia to take in the first part of next year, which is what we have always intended to do.

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NSW ‘almost ready to sign up’ to coal price cap to provide energy price relief

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State’s energy minister, Matt Kean, says ‘It’s not about royalties, it’s all about consumers’, putting pressure on Queensland counterpart

New South Wales is prepared to agree to a price cap on coal without compensation to provide energy price relief to consumers and business, adding pressure on Queensland to follow suit.

Meanwhile, a meeting of energy ministers in Brisbane on Thursday has agreed, as expected, to move ahead with a so-called capacity investment scheme to help accelerate the take up of new storage in the electricity grid.

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Qatar’s gas output increase could cause catastrophic global heating, report says

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If Qatar exploits all its reserves it will add 50bn metric tons of CO2 to atmosphere, more than entire annual emissions of whole world

Qatar’s longest lasting legacy following the World Cup won’t be football or even its human rights record – it will be the climate crisis, according to a new report warning that its huge expansion of gas extraction could push the planet into catastrophic global heating.

Should Qatar exploit all of its oil and gas reserves it will eventually add an enormous 50bn metric tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere once burned, which is more than the entire annual emissions of the whole world, the new research, shared with the Guardian, has found.

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Could Cumbria coal mine be stopped despite government green light?

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Mine could affect Britain’s climate commitments, which some believe could help get decision struck down

The government has given the green light to a new coalmine in Cumbria, the first in the UK for more than 30 years, but already moves have begun to challenge the decision before construction work can start.

Climate campaigners are examining the decision with a view to a legal challenge, based on the UK’s national and international legally binding climate commitments.

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