Releasing its analysis on the eve of this year’s federal budget, the ACF called for policy reform matched by investment to build resilience to environmental threats.
The environment’s declining share of the budget has come as calls for greater action to address a climate emergency have grown. Scott Morrison has resisted pressure to join major developed countries in setting a science-based greenhouse gas emissions reduction target for 2030, and to date not joined more than 100 other nations in adopting a formal target of reaching net zero emissions by 2050.
On the natural environment, a legislated review urged an overhaul of national conservation laws after finding Australia’s natural heritage environment was in a state of decline and under increasing threat. Scientists warn Australia is in the grip of an extinction crisis that is likely to have worsened after last year’s catastrophic bushfires.
It said the company had worked hard to meet stakeholders to ensure the project “would benefit the entire community”.
Guardian Australia has previously reported that Walker Corporation, which has been a major political donor, lobbied the federal government to remove protections from an area of the wetlands as a matter of “urgent national interest”.
In August 2017, the former environment minister, Josh Frydenberg wrote to Steven Miles, who was then the Queensland environment minister, to suggest the two governments create a proposal to delist part of the Moreton Bay Ramsar wetland.
In May of that year, the Ramsar secretariat wrote to the federal government warning that the loss of wetlands for the development would “set a precedent for other developments in future”, not only for Ramsar sites within Australia but “also elsewhere in the world”.
Morning mail: budget’s big infrastructure spend, Jerusalem unrest, plunging sperm counts Imogen Dewey
Hello, and happy Monday. Sydney is on
Covid standby,
federal
budget comes out tomorrow (which people already have plenty to say about). It’s Imogen Dewey with the main stories for you this morning, plus a podcast about those
plummeting sperm counts.
Tuesday night’s budget as part of efforts to lock in economic recovery after the pandemic and drive down unemployment. While such investments improve the productive capacity of the Australian economy, the program will also help lay the groundwork for an election contest either late in 2021 or early next year. New analysis meanwhile shows the government last year spent just 16 cents out of every $100 addressing the
3 May 2021
Council plans to sell Peninsula land
Central Coast Council plans to sell six parcels of land on the Peninsula to assist with its financial position .
The land includes the Bullion St carpark in Umina and land occupied by a residential land lease lifestyle village in Fassifern St, Ettalong.
It also includes three blocks in residential areas: 23-23A Memorial Ave, Blackwall; 83-85 Brisbane Ave, Umina; and 7-9 Angler St, Woy Woy.
Two of the three sites contain established shade and habitat trees.
A treed area of one acre adjacent to Peninsula Plaza in Austin Butler reserve is also listed, which the shopping centre owner has offered to purchase.
Largest virtual gathering of world leaders tackles climate crisis
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United States President Joe Biden invited 40 world leaders to a virtual Leaders Summit on Climate from April 21–22. Country representatives included the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, or the 17 countries with the largest economies and greenhouse gas emitters.
“Thank you @POTUS @JoeBiden for convening the #LeadersClimateSummit,” wrote Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission president, in a tweet. “Europe will be the 1st climate neutral continent. But it does not want to be the only one. Let’s all commit to ambitious emission reductions by 2030, on the way to net-zero by 2050.”