Australia slammed for climate inaction

WE DIDN’T START THE FIRE

Key architect of the Paris climate agreement Laurence Tubiana has slammed the Coalition government’s inaction on carbon emissions as both going “against the science” and an economic and diplomatic risk for Australia.

According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the French diplomat and economist also rejected Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s belief that Australia will meet its 2030 goal “at a canter”, instead pointing to “the consensus in the scientific community” on carbon records and trajectories. With an upcoming IPCC report set to warn that Earth will exceeds it 1.5°C threshold by 2040 without drastic action, Tubiana is also calling for Australia and other countries to improve their 2030 pledges.

Elsewhere, Labor’s candidate for the Wentworth byelection Tim Murray has declared support for an emissions trading scheme, the Greens have unveiled plans for a publicly owned electricity grid to connect Renewable Energy Zones, and Liberal MP and chair of the backbench energy committee Craig Kelly has told Sydney members not to worry about global warming and that fossil fuels “protect us” from a dangerous climate.

DOWN ON THE FARM

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack has called on Scott Morrison to implement an “agricultural visa” to fill an alleged shortage of farm workers through the upcoming summer months. The Australian ($) reports that the Nationals and Liberal parties are split on the proposed new visa class, with McCormack’s call for an increase in numbers of temporary foreign workers at odds with Liberal colleagues concerned the push would create pressure for Australian and Pacific Islanders workers.

On the Opposition’s side of industrial news, ACTU secretary Sally McManus will tonight call on Labor to back a radical new workplace relations package, to include revamped industry-wide bargaining powers, while the NSW division of the AMWU is threatening to pull support for Labor over the party’s acceptance of the Trans-Pacific Partnership ($).

LOVE IS THE DRUG

Virgin boss Richard Branson will this month help launch a church-led campaign to decriminilise illicit drugs in NSW and the ACT. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the NSW and ACT synods of the Uniting Church will be joined by Branson and 60 other organisations including the Law Society of NSW, the NSW Bar Association, and the NSW branch of the Health Services Union, at an October 12 campaign launch.

[free_worm]

THEY REALLY SAID THAT?

Presidential Alert. THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.

US Federal Emergency Management Agency

Most people in the US received their first presidential alert this morning. Despite the many memes about Donald Trump‘s Twitter feed being forced onto everyone’s phones, the messages do not come directly from the president and are legally not allowed to be political in any way.

CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY

Bracing for the backlash to women’s sportKate O’Halloran

“In her 1992 classic, Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women, Susan Faludi argues that perceived or real strides toward gender equality are predictably accompanied by a ‘backlash’ to inroads made. ‘If fear and loathing of feminism is a sort of perpetual viral condition in our culture, it is not always in an acute stage’” she writes. ‘Such flare-ups are hardly random … they have always arisen in reaction to women’s progress.’”

Encryption laws will target whistleblowers, journalists, civil society groupsBernard Keane

“The iron law of mass surveillance is that the laws will be justified with an emotive appeal to the need to stop terrorists and catch pedophiles, but such scum will rarely, if ever, be caught or stopped. Instead, lesser offences in the eternal War on Drugs will be the primary target, and the laws — and the bureaucratic and technological infrastructure that supports them — will invariably be used to pursue those who have embarrassed governments.”

Queensland man detained for over 40 years beyond sentenceGreg Barns

“Detaining individuals beyond their sentence is troubling enough in a democratic society but to botch the legal process when a person makes a bid for freedom is disturbing. The decision by Queensland’s Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath to continue detaining a prisoner — who will turn 80 in December this year — was found wanting in a review of the decision by the Queensland Court of Appeal handed down last Friday.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Indonesia tsunami: survivors queue to escape widespread destruction of Palu in Sulawesi

Malcolm Turnbull given a formal overseas travel entitlement not granted to other ex-PMs

LGAQ warns families could be dumped with cost of waste levy ($)

A Shorten Labor government would extend subsidised education to three-year-olds

Proposal to slash tradie licensing fees a pitch by NSW Government ($)

Scott Morrison’s GST shake-up could rip $5.5 billion from NSW warns Treasurer Dominic Perrottet ($)

Power interconnector between SA and NSW should open by 2021, bringing energy security and lowering prices ($)

Nobel Prize in Chemistry awarded for using evolution to develop new chemicals

Manus Island refugees and asylum seekers petition PNG chief justice over ‘unfair’ delay

Parliamentary library was pressured on My Health Record advice, emails reveal

US warns on China’s debt-trap diplomacy ($)

THE COMMENTARIAT

Remember the energy crisis? It’s coming back ($) — Jennifer Hewett (Australian Financial Review): “But none of it directly addresses the even greater illusion — that this will produce the reality of lower prices that can be convincingly spruiked in time for an election. The best the government can hope to achieve is to finally persuade enough voters that Labor’s promise of a much higher percentage of renewables will lead to higher prices and less reliability.”

It is greed that has led Australian banks to steal from dead people — Richard Denniss (The Guardian): “Greed is good. Or so said Michael Douglas’ character Gordon Gekko in the 1980s hit film Wall Street. Gekko went further, stating ‘Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind’. But greed also leads Australian banks to steal from dead people.”

My best mate’s pain changed my mind about cannabis ($) — Jas Rawlinson (The Daily Telegraph): “For over 15 years I have watched her struggle daily with endometriosis, fibromyalgia, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) (I guess you could say she hit the jackpot in terms of agonisingly painful, incurable, debilitating illnesses), and I constantly ask myself: when will our governments finally provide easy and legal access to one thing that could dramatically improve the lives of the estimated 20% of Australians who suffer from chronic pain?”

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Brisbane

• The Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples will conduct a hearing.

• Journalist Leigh Sales will launch her new book Any Ordinary Day in conversation with presenter Sarah Kanowski at Brisbane City Hall.

Melbourne

• ACTU secretary Sally McManus will unveil a new industrial relations proposal at a John Curtin Research Centre event.

• Gender equity and family violence leaders will mark the establishment of Respect Victoria as an independent statutory authority and lay out the agency’s priorities.

• The first of the 2018 Melbourne art trams, designed by Gunditjmara artist Hayley Millar-Baker, will be unveiled.

• Brunswick Town Hall will host a “Housing in crisis: stop the public housing sell-offs” public meeting with Moreland City Council Mayor John Kavanagh, Victorian Greens leader Dr Samantha Ratnam, and others.

• Australian of the Year 2015 and domestic violence campaigner Rosie Batty will provide a keynote speech for gender equality group 100% Project’s 10th Anniversary Dinner, and appear on a panel discussion with City West Water CEO David Ryan, Australia Post CFO Janelle Hopkins, Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Wendy Steendam, and KPMG partner Michael Hiller.

Canberra

• Former United States Director of National Intelligence James Clapper will launch his recent book Facts and Fears at ANU National Security College.

• Legal professor Lorana Bartels will present a new report, “Custody in the community as an alternative to imprisonment”, at the Australian National University.

Sydney

• Federal Labor MP Anthony Albanese, Richmond MP Justine Elliot and the state candidate for Tweed Craig Elliot, will speak at a doorstop “to discuss the Nationals’ plan to impose a new hospital on the community at Cudgen”.

• The 13th annual CHOICE Shonky Awards will celebrate the shonkiest products and companies taking advantage of Australian consumers.

• The University of Sydney will host a panel discussion on “Planet versus profit: striking a balance” as part of its Sydney Ideas series.

• Human rights advocate Father Rod Bower will discuss his new book Outspoken at Kincumber Library.

Perth

• Chair of the Education and Health Standing Committee Janine Freeman MLA, former WA Chief Health Officer Professor Tarun Weeramanthri and Community Partnerships Director at the Australian Council on Smoking and Health Noni Walker will speak at Public Health Association event “How to win friends and influence policy: effectively engaging in consultation”.

• The National Environmental Science Program Threatened Species Recovery Hub will host a full-day Perth roadshow and workshop with Australian academics and environmentalists.

Adelaide

• The Department of Trade Tourism and Investment will present the 2018 Business SA Export Awards.

Darwin

• Economist, adviser to the South Australian government and author of The Airport Economist Tim Harcourt will speak in conversation for October Business Month.