Environment
Morrison’s plastic inaction feels like ‘last straw’ for environment
Mon 1 March 2021While the Morrison government arranges photo opps to cheer on McDonalds’ renunciation of the plastic straw, there is nothing to celebrate in the fact that plastic recycling has fallen from 12 per cent to 9 per cent on its watch.
Read more...Feral Cats report shows Morrison Government failures
Wed 17 February 2021Scientists in this space talk about not just actual extinction but the extinction of experience. Unfortunately, many Australians will go for a walk in the bush and see virtually no animals and think, ‘Well, this is Australia. It is a harsh landscape. There are just not that many animals around or perhaps they are hiding.’ That isn’t true. Our country used to be full of animals. They used to be everywhere until we destroyed it. We have an opportunity to stop that destruction, but the government needs to get the report, pay attention to it and respond with the kinds of measures that it calls for.
Read more...Bushfire and environmental protection failure
Mon 15 February 2021It’s bewildering that in these circumstances, the government has no interest in acting to address Australia’s failed environmental protection framework. Instead it seeks to maintain the status quo –a weak and ineffective set of national standards, with no monitoring and compliance agency to enforce them.
Read more...Bi-partisan cat inquiry reveals government failure to protect threatened species
Fri 5 February 2021On the current trajectory, the future for many of our native species, particularly mammals and birds, is bleak. Yet in response to the patent lack of target achievement under the current 5-year Threatened Species Strategy, the Morrison Government has recently announced a new 10-year strategy without additional resources or funding. This is an unacceptable case of kicking the can down the road, and Australia’s native wildlife will pay the price for this neglect.
Read more...Federal government drops plan for recycled content purchasing targets
Wed 27 January 2021Labor has accused the Morrison government of missing a major chance to boost take-up of recycled content in government contracting by opting not to set new rules for procurement.
Read more...Morrison Government fails to ensure Commonwealth purchasing supports recycling
Wed 27 January 2021The only waste policy change this Government has delivered is the straightforward framework that formalises the ban other countries have imposed on Australia’s waste exports. Yet in the absence of both the infrastructure for increased recycling and the end market for recycled material Australia’s growing waste will inevitably need to be stockpiled or landfilled.
Read more...Nothing but throwaway announcements: Govt misses its own waste targets
Mon 21 December 2020With Christmas in four days, and the first waste export ban due to start on 1 January, the Morrison Government looks set to fail on the delivery of key targets within its own National Waste Policy Action Plan.
Read more...Report: ‘From Rubbish to Resources’
Wed 9 December 2020It is worth starting, when we look at this area understanding the state of play, we do have a waste crisis in this country. Other countries have decided in the last 18 months or so, perhaps a bit longer than that, that they’re not going to accept waste from Australia and that’s forced us all, and particularly the general public, to realise that we’ve been kidding ourselves a little bit when it comes to how we deal with waste and resource management to a significant degree.
Read more...Environment Minister must protect the environment
Mon 30 November 2020If it’s too much to ask that the government do their job when it comes to environmental protection, they could try to stop actively making it worse: stop cutting resources to the environment department; stop weakening our environmental protection framework; stop ignoring the reality of climate change; and stop undermining the efforts of Australia’s scientists and conservation sector.
Read more...Australia’s waste is up, recycling down in latest accounts
Thu 19 November 2020This month’s data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics Waste Account shows that Australia’s waste and recycling performance has worsened at a time when the Morrison Government claims to be showing national and global leadership.
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