Coal, coal, coal. Major flood warning. A Liddell disagreement.
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| Good morning, early birds. Cbus Super has invested $128 million across 23 coal companies despite pushing the tagline “invest in a better future”, and Queensland is staring down a tropical cyclone. | | It's the news you need to know.
Chris Woods
Reporter | |
| | | | | | CAUGHT BLACK-HANDED An investigation from The Age has found $56 billion superannuation fund Cbus has invested $128 million across 23 coal companies, despite publicly embracing climate action and pledging to reduce fossil-fuel exposure. The Melbourne-based fund, which represents the construction and building industries, has also backed 90% of shareholder resolutions from those coal companies. Cbus investment officer Kristian Fok has defended the exposure, arguing “divestment is a simplistic approach”. | FLOODS, FLOODS FOR DAYS The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a major flood warning for the Upper Brisbane River, The Courier-Mail ($) reports, while the state stares down a tropical cyclone currently in New Caledonia with the potential to move south-west later in the week. As storms continue throughout both Queensland and NSW, The Daily Telegraph ($) reports some residents of the bushfire-and-flood-hit town of Lake Conjola have accused the council of mismanaging water releases from the lake. For all national BoM warnings, click here. | JUST A LIDDELL TAXPAYER DOSH Extending the life of just half of NSW’s Liddell coal plant will cost up to $100 million a year and be continually plagued by reliability issues, The Sydney Morning Herald reports, as a joint federal and NSW taskforce prepares to deliver its final report on an extension. FUN FACT: AGL doesn’t want to keep Liddell open and has planned for the replaced capacity. There’s no non-ideological reason we should even be talking about spending hundreds of millions of taxpayer funds on it. | LLEW'VE DONE IT AGAIN Deputy Speaker Llew O’Brien — freshly elected to the role despite the government’s best efforts — has told The Australian ($) his old boss Michael McCormack held a partyroom meeting in regional Victoria in 2019 to coincide with the Melbourne Cup. This comes amid internal fighting between Liberals and Nationals over building a new coal plant, The Age reports. | THEY REALLY SAID THAT? | “ | The science tells us that where we need to be is at net zero emissions by 2050. So let’s start there, and let’s work our way [back] — what are the milestones, how do we hold ourselves accountable… — Jennifer Westacott |
The head of the Business Council of Australia supports a transition plan for net-zero emissions by 2050, with a core milestone being a ~45% reduction by 2030. Notably, the latter is a target Labor took to the last election… the one a certain business group lobbied against as “economy wrecking“. | CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY | | | | “There is some dispute as to what constitutes the most difficult dive in official competition, but some say it’s the back one-and-a-half somersault, with four-and-a-half twists.” |
| | | | “Independent MP Zali Steggall’s climate change bill, launched this morning in Canberra, seeks to remove the primary impediment to serious climate action in Australia: major party politicians.” |
| | | | “Glencore Australia, which, in part, mines and exports coal, has ‘optimised’ its Google search result to boast about its $1 million donation to Australian bushfire relief and recovery.” |
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| | | THE COMMENTARIAT Could this man be our next premier? — Dennis Atkins (InQueensland): “After his colleague and former deputy leader Bridget McKenzie walked the plank for her administration of the rorted community sports grants program, Matt Canavan watched his old boss and close ally Barnaby Joyce throw caution to one side and challenge party boss Michael McCormack.” Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer and the saddest defence of sexual assault I’ve ever read — Jenna Price (The Sydney Morning Herald): “Maybe we do need to concentrate on men’s rights. I say this after hearing the compelling interview with Donna Rotunno by Megan Twohey. Rotunno is Harvey Weinstein’s lawyer and Twohey is the co-author of She Said: Breaking the Sexual Harassment Story that Helped Ignite a Movement.” Jokowi’s visit shows the Australia-Indonesia relationship is strong, but faultlines remain — Colin Brown (The Conversation): “Indonesian President Joko Widodo – Jokowi – has shown himself to be generally less interested in international affairs than his predecessor, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY). He has also been less committed to the Indonesia-Australia relationship.” | HOLD THE FRONT PAGE | WHAT’S ON TODAY Canberra The High Court will today announce whether the federal government can enact that final hypocrisy of colonisation, and deport Indigenous Australians. Bushfire survivors will use burnt debris to create a symbolic “trail of destruction” from Parliament to the Minerals Council of Australia’s head office. Independent MP Zali Steggall, ACT Climate Change Minister Shane Rattenbury, and Business Council for Sustainable Development (and former Liberal leader) Dr John Hewson will speak at BCSD’s “Clear the Air: Australian Climate Action Summit 2020”. Melbourne Kevin Rudd will launch the Asia Society Policy Institute — Melbourne at the State Library of Victoria. Sydney Infamous climate denialist/sceptic/depends-on-his-mood Bjorn Lomborg will address the Centre for Independent Studies. Perth Extinction Rebellion will deliberate on a WA response to the climate crisis at a “People’s Parliament”, and will then deliver that agenda directly to WA Parliament. Hobart Day one of the Tasmanian government’s inquiry into finfish farming will hear from conservationists, scientists and sustainable agriculture. |
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