I wonder what readers think. On the very day the TURC was exposing corrupt CFMEU officials in Canberra – the Choppergate story broke leading to weeks of free kicks for Labor. Now the Federal Court blocks the Adani coal mine in Queensland on grounds the Federal Environment Minister did not adequately consider the effect of the project on a skink and a snake. I read somewhere where this could be rectified in a couple of months. We will see. The Prime Minister has commented on the court decision saying it is “bad for the country” – however it seems clear the Senate is unlikely to pass any laws making environmental legislation less able to be exploited by Green zealots. Wait for climate to be brought into this.
Global cooling might begin next year, so it would be better if they could find alternative accommodation for the skink, snake and birds.
Well some Beluga and Bowhead whales have been sighted off the UK this summer! Looking for real estate?
The case of the new surface ships for our Navy is interesting too, reading the media it is a given that building them in Adelaide will be good for the workers, good for industry, good for the town and state blah blah. Yet these are the same constructors that gave us the disastrous Collins Class subs at huge cost. Does anybody look at what is the best deal for taxpayers and the Navy?
What could we get for the $40Bn if we asked the US to supply some of their state of the art product. I hope that if our Navy has to engage an enemy again that the ships and all their systems are the very best we could get for the money.
The Carmichael mine is meant to supply Adani in India with fuel for their power stations there. To that end, Adani is essentially selling the raw coal to itself so end pricing is of concern only to Adani (this point is completely ignored by the activists gleefully claiming that the mine is uneconomic – although they never quote Adani’s putative mining costs)
As far as environmental regulations go, these will only increase (as they have for the last 25 years). Even back then, the problem was pointed. As an example, an operating mine I was involved in had a very heavily monitored creek running through its’ “back blocks” – operations in no way impinged on this creek but we monitored it day and night in any case. Nevertheless. we found that an anonymous phone call to the EPA claiming a platypus had been sighted in the creek was sufficient to stop operations dead while said animal sighting was investigated. The EPA under the Act required no proof of sighting, just the bald statement from the anonymous phone call. After 3 months of frenetic and expensive investigation with no platypus in evidence anywhere, operations re-started. Four weeks after that, a second anonymous phone call on the same topic turned up and the entire circus was repeated … in the end, we appealed to the Minister for relief from this perniciousness
That example was in State law, but of course the Senate will not repeal any similar regulations. Worse, local Councils are adding their own regulations all the time
Andrew Bolt has this pertinent article re our Naval ships.
Submarines are to defend Australia, not create jobs
blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/submarines_are_to_defend_australia_not_create_jobs/
How does the right side of politics allow the left to turn this essential national taxpayer expenditure into a benefit for unions and their feather-bedded members?