As the 47th Parliament sat for the first time, a group of young climate protesters were dragged out of Parliament House.
Climate group Tomorrow Movement brought a busload of young activists to Canberra on Tuesday to speak to parliamentarians about the need for climate action.
The group’s demands include increasing Australia’s carbon emissions target to speed up the decarbonisation of the Australian economy, a climate jobs guarantee, improving housing access, and launching a Senate inquiry to investigate these issues.
As Tomorrow Movement protesters filed into Parliament House, they were quickly stopped by police: “We were going to sit and do some speeches in the lobby when the police started dragging us out immediately without a chance to speak,” Desiree Cai told Crikey.
The group then reconvened on the lawns of Parliament House where its young members spoke about the extent of the crisis facing them. MPs such as Greens senators Peter Whish-Wilson, Larissa Waters, Jordon Steele-John and independent Monique Ryan came out to speak to them. No Labor or Coalition members did.
Cai was disappointed with Labor’s response. The group met Labor MPs while they were in opposition but now they are in government they need to do more, she said.
“The reason why we chose to do this protest on the first day is because we wanted to set the watermark high,” she said. “We wanted to say loudly on the first day that Labor’s plan isn’t good enough. They’re still funding fossil fuel projects, talking about new ones, when what we need is a big, transformative plan.”
The Labor government is set to pass its climate bill — including a carbon emissions target of 43% — in the House of Representatives today. Passing the bill through the Senate will require the support of the Greens and one other senator.
The Greens have indicated they intend to pass the bill as a “floor not a ceiling”, but have foreshadowed pushing for further climate action. This includes a ban on new coal and gas projects, a policy that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rejected last night.
Says it all. Our government still refuses to face reality. A little engineering could change parliament house into one big sauna to give them a taste of the future. Then lock them in, build a wall around it and slowly fill it with water. This is the future, you pillocks.
Water might leak – my preference would be quick setting cement, as a fitting last gasp (sic!) use of that CO2 intensive product.
We know that AA received the labor plan from the AEMO, – that it is based on my plan is neither here nor there, they are a Govt. department who’s job it is, is to plan Australia’s electrical grid for the future.
As an aside, it used to be run by old Fossil maniacs, but fortunately most of them are dead or retired, so AEMO is now able to attempt forward thinking.
The Labor plan is big, – to build a ring of extra super high voltage DC ‘wires’, little loss and much less copper, to gather the renewable energy, however generated, in whatever form, from all over Australia, so as it can be distributed to all Australians, in whatever scale is possible as the build continues.
Please Consider, this is an intensive resources start up situation, – even though there is already 27% of Australian grid electricity (a. Clean Energy Council,) coming from renewables, – and a lot more from where that came from underway, – it is all from the South Eastern part of Australia, same sun time of day, similiar influences of Highs and Lows, – not able to supply 24/7 electricity without very big storage.
The electricity to be generated fromall over the rest of Australia is from the majority of our renewable energy resources, – fantastic winds from the north south and west, the majority of Solar from the far North, (ie much closer to the equator) best tidal resource on the North coast of Oz,(although good in Bass Straight also, to be fair).
Again, this is all new grid connections, (wiring up Australia) and it is only after the new grid connections are in, that private industry can bid to construct wind/solar, etc. farms, so there is already a gap between the Govt wiring up, and the private industry, ( the majority of the costs) and what if they don’t step up to make their money, angling for a higher share, – or ownership of the wires, (- the Neo-liberal sick obsession about “Renting”, ie sitting on your bum with the money flowing in, and a big part of why the world is in such a mess today).
I would expect that The AEMO and Anthony A have discussed this whole issue at great depth, and the AEMO has recommended a probably safe figure of 43%, even though there might be a possibility of 80%, and certainly in the long term over 100%.
If the Govt, – not actually swamped by folk knowing anything about such a project, fails an agreed claim,(the 43%) then the insane, rabid and revengious Murdoch etc. overseas press will use it to have an absolute Hissy fit with all the bells and whistles, – not a good look for AA nor Oz, the drag arses might get back in..
Govts and Bureaucrats want to play safe, so let’s not claim 70% or whatever, even though that figure may be exceeded in the following electoral period in three years time, it will never be exceeded if the ‘coal corrupted’ get back in.
With the projected new coal enterprises, the Govt must make absolutely sure that they do not guarantee a price nor market for the FF proposals, – that way all is in the open and that Renewables require no fuel will mean that the new FF enterprises will fail, unless absolutely necessary, and neither can they bitch about it.
So, the greens should relax, and get on with energy efficiency, pulling down carbon, (eg Biochar,) protecting wildlife, etc. and work with, not against, the Govt, or their worse fears may be realised, and what then, Hey?
Labor receives almost as much in fossil fuel donations as do the coalition parties. Labor politicians get also jobs in the coal and gas sector when they leave parliament eg Martin Ferguson, Gary Gray.
I say to all of the younger generations, keep at it, keep protesting and above all, go as hard as necessary. In my youth we had Gough to bring what at the time were radical changes. Who have the young generations had since? No one! Look at the main issues, climate change, affordable housing, affordable dental care, affordable education! A docile labor govt is addressing none of these in a meaningful way. So go for it Gen Alpha, this is your time, make it count…
(I had to look it up, evidently the current Gen Alpha are the children of the Millenials)
Such lese majeste – “We were going to sit and do some speeches in the lobby…”! Who do they think they are, Sen Bob Brown? He was shouldered aside in that same lobby by beloved cuddly bear Kim Carr in 2003 when trying to speak to Bush the Lesser who had just addressed a Joint Sitting.
Disappointed in Labor. They should be a bit more gung ho here. Stop approving new projects. Stop funding fossil fuel projects. Have the bribers of the LNP alreasy got to them? I suspected it would happen but this has been a bit qicker than I thought.