Via the AFR:
It’s the cover-up that has backfired, whipping Scott Morrison’s well-earned pre-Christmas break into a controversy.
Over the weekend, the Prime Minister’s minders ordered the media not to report that he had taken leave. This bizarre overreach was designed to protect Mr Morrison from churlish criticism for leaving his post while the bushfires raged.
Get your shirt today:
Not that any of it is problem. The Albotross around Labor’s neck has somehow postioned his party as at fault, even though it hasn’t governed for a decade and claims to be green, as he is hoisted ever higher on his coal petard:
Anthony Albanese has declared “renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels” as he rejects the need for a new coal-fired power station to be built in Australia.
The Opposition Leader said there was “no law against” building a new coal-fired power station and there was nothing stopping investment in traditional form of generation.
“I have said very clearly I do not believe there will be new coal-fired power stations built in Australia,” Mr Albanese said.
“If it was going to occur it can occur at any time. There is no law against it. The market is speaking and the market is saying renewables are the cheapest form of new energy.
“Markets will determine what the economics are of projects. And the economics of projects are showing that renewables are cheaper than fossil fuels and that change has occurred over a period of time. And one would expect that would continue.”
Liberal National MPs are pushing Scott Morrison to support the construction of a new coal-fired power station in central Queensland.
With the International Energy Agency predicting Australia’s coal exports will increase of the next five years, Mr Albanese said new coal mines would be built if there was global demand for the resource.
He said he was “pleased” by any jobs created in the coal sector by growing global demand.
So, the Albotross supports coal, no renewables, no coal, no renewables, no coal, no renewables…ad infinitum…I’m so glad Albotross has clarified Labor’s climate messaging.
Amid global headlines, at Bloomie:
Australia recorded its hottest day on record as the country’s populated eastern seaboard grapples with smoke from devastating bushfires, while the rush to the relief of air conditioning puts pressure on a vulnerable power grid.
The average maximum temperature across the country reached 40.9 Celsius (105.6 Fahrenheit) on Tuesday, beating the previous record of 40.3 Celsius on Jan. 7, 2013, according to the country’s weather bureau. The worst of the heat came across the continent’s interior, with vast swathes of territory experiencing severe heatwave conditions.
And building catastrophe:
Premier Gladys Berejiklian is warning that NSW is entering a period of grim uncertainty as a record-breaking heatwave combines with forecast 100km/h winds, threatening to ramp up bushfires already out of control across the state.
The Rural Fire Service has issued “extreme” fire warnings for the Sydney, Illawarra/Shoalhaven and Southern Ranges, with the surrounding fire areas all graded as “severe”.
More:
Exhausted firefighters have spent weeks fighting the Green Wattle blaze, just south of Sydney, and have been caught up in the Gospers Mountain fire, to the north of Sydney, for even longer.
But with conditions expected to deteriorate today – including a record-breaking heatwave and “turbulent” winds, there are fears the two damaging fires could merge into one huge blaze.
Last week, the fires were less than 30km apart.
“Over the next few days, we’re going to see firefighters and emergency services, and all those communities close to the fires, be challenged with a new threat as we head into a heatwave that will dominate most of the state,” RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons told reporters yesterday.
“We’ll have high sustained fire dangers for something like 15 hours.”
Strong northwesterly winds, with speeds of 40km/hr, are expected to push the Gospers Mountain blaze south around lunchtime, The Daily Telegraph reported.
And by 2pm, a westerly blowing through will push the fires – and all the smoke that comes with them – towards Sydney.
More:
Australian businesses are calling for a more ambitious national climate policy, backing a target of net zero emissions by 2050 and raising concerns about the lack of a coordinated energy policy and the government’s proposed use of carryover credits.
The findings are contained in a Carbon Market Institute survey of more than 200 businesses, to be released on Thursday, which reveals 96% of those surveyed believe Australia should not delay the transition to a decarbonised economy.
About a third of businesses surveyed are emissions intensive companies that have obligations under the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act, and include the mining, oil and gas and manufacturing industries. Others surveyed include investors, carbon project developers, carbon market experts and professional service providers.
The survey finds widespread concern among business and industry groups about the government’s current policy settings, with 94% saying the approach is insufficient to meet Australia’s 2030 Paris commitment to cut emissions to 26%-28% of 2005 levels. This was an increase from the 92% who expressed the same view in 2018 when the survey was last undertaken.
As ScoMo sips Mai Tais under pristine blue skies on a beach half a world away, while Labor self-immolates at home despite not even being in power, our thoughts go out to burning Sydneysiders.
