WEBVTT - The widening gaps in Albanese’s climate promises

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<v Speaker 1>From Schwartz Media. I'm Ruby Jones. This is seven AM.

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<v Speaker 1>Cyclone Alfred should never have tracked as far south as

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<v Speaker 1>it did, yet in March it tore through Brisbane, the

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<v Speaker 1>Gold Coast and the Northern Rivers, affecting four million people.

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<v Speaker 1>One of them was climate scientist and IPCC lead author

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<v Speaker 1>Joel Gurgis. She says the storm's freak southward drift, driven

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<v Speaker 1>by record warm oceans, shows the climate crisis is outrunning

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<v Speaker 1>politics today. Joel Gergis on how far governments have fallen

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<v Speaker 1>behind their climate promises and the bold action Australia must

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<v Speaker 1>take before the next disaster strikes. It's Thursday, June twenty six,

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<v Speaker 1>so Joel, welcome back to seven am.

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<v Speaker 2>Hi Ruby, it's nice to talk to you.

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<v Speaker 1>Likewise as we speak, Joel, though, you are, I believe

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<v Speaker 1>having repairs done on your house after Cyclone Alfred hit

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<v Speaker 1>back in March, So could you take me back to

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<v Speaker 1>that time. It must have been a scary moment. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>it sure was.

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<v Speaker 2>I mean I live in northern New South Wales, which

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<v Speaker 2>is well outside of the usual tropical cyclone built and

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<v Speaker 2>it's really really rare to have a Category two system

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<v Speaker 2>drifts so far outside of the tropics, and I actually

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<v Speaker 2>had to look up Queensland government websites for information on

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<v Speaker 2>how to prepare for approaching cyclone as we don't usually

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<v Speaker 2>get these systems so far south. And as a scientist,

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<v Speaker 2>it's really really disturbing to understand that the world as

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<v Speaker 2>we know it's really starting to change in ways that

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<v Speaker 2>really now feel really dangerous, and it's like life as

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<v Speaker 2>we know it is slipping away, and yet most people

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<v Speaker 2>don't realize it until it literally crashes through your own

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<v Speaker 2>front door.

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<v Speaker 1>And so your house, would I be right in saying

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<v Speaker 1>then it would not have necessarily been built to withstand

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<v Speaker 1>this kind of storm.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, So areas north of around Bunderberg in Queensland are

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<v Speaker 2>built to withstand cyclones. So while areas that are located

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<v Speaker 2>further south still need to be able to handle strong winds,

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<v Speaker 2>they aren't built to the same standards of those in

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<v Speaker 2>places like northern Queensland where cyclones are a known risk.

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<v Speaker 2>So we ended up having to board up all of

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<v Speaker 2>our east facing windows with thick plywood as the glass

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<v Speaker 2>was starting to flex in the really strong winds as

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<v Speaker 2>a cyclone approached. It was terrifying.

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<v Speaker 3>A very good morning you all across Australia.

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to the special edition of Weekend Today, live from

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<v Speaker 1>southeast Queensland, where cyclone Alfred has started to make.

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<v Speaker 2>Land Luckily, the category two system weakened before it made landfall,

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<v Speaker 2>as we go to where it has now dropped it

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<v Speaker 2>to a category one and it's right now over Morton.

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<v Speaker 1>Bay, fifty five kilometers northeast of Brisbane and heading towards

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<v Speaker 1>Briby Island.

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<v Speaker 2>But because it was really slow moving, the coat was

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<v Speaker 2>really relentlessly battered by destructive winds and waves and really

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<v Speaker 2>heavy rainfall for nearly a week. And the beaches are

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<v Speaker 2>a mess around here, and so many large habitat trees

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<v Speaker 2>which is really important for wildlife, actually came down in

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<v Speaker 2>the storm and it's going to take years for the

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<v Speaker 2>landscape to recover. And as you might imagine, these sustained

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<v Speaker 2>strong winds brought down power lines, huge trees fell onto

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<v Speaker 2>people's properties, including my neighbor across the road, and water

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<v Speaker 2>just blew into every single tiny gap in the windows,

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<v Speaker 2>seals or in the roof, I mean our roof fleeked,

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<v Speaker 2>and the damage in the ceiling of the room that

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<v Speaker 2>I'm talking to you in right now it's still under repair,

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<v Speaker 2>and as you might imagine, it's been a total nightmare.

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<v Speaker 2>But I'm not alone. I mean, there are around four

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<v Speaker 2>million people that were affected by Cyclone Alfred, and so

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<v Speaker 2>many people are still battling it out with their insurance

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<v Speaker 2>companies to get started on their repairs. Yeah, so it's

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<v Speaker 2>been a really tough time.

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<v Speaker 1>So tell me more about the reasons that we are

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<v Speaker 1>seeing cyclones drifting further south like this, and as you mentioned,

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<v Speaker 1>staying in the area longer.

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<v Speaker 2>What we saw with Cyclone Alfred is really consistent with

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<v Speaker 2>what we expect as the planet continues to warm, so

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<v Speaker 2>as ocean temperatures get hot, our tropical cyclones will begin

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<v Speaker 2>to drift further south of these historically defined cyclone zones.

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<v Speaker 2>And that's exactly what we saw. And while most people

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<v Speaker 2>understand that, you know, when we burn greenhouse gases, that

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<v Speaker 2>extra heat gets trapped in the atmosphere, not everyone really

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<v Speaker 2>appreciates that the majority of the heat is actually absorbed

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<v Speaker 2>by the ocean. And in twenty twenty four, which was

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<v Speaker 2>the world's warmest year on record and global temperatures reached

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<v Speaker 2>one point six degrees above free industrial levels, we saw

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<v Speaker 2>extraordinary heat observed through the global oceans. So in the

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<v Speaker 2>Coral Sea where Alfred actually began its life, that area

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<v Speaker 2>actually recorded its warmest summer on record, and ocean temperatures

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<v Speaker 2>are around about a degree warmer than average. And so

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<v Speaker 2>while the damage was extensive, I really do think it

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<v Speaker 2>could have been a lot worse than It's probably a

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<v Speaker 2>matter of time until it is, so I see it

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<v Speaker 2>really as a preview of what's to come as the

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<v Speaker 2>planet continues to.

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<v Speaker 1>Warm, and what other dama are we seeing as oceans

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<v Speaker 1>get warmer.

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<v Speaker 2>Since twenty twenty three, we've actually seen a mass coral

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<v Speaker 2>bleaching event that's damaged eighty four percent of the world's

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<v Speaker 2>coral reefs.

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<v Speaker 3>Once vibrant coral reefs have lost their colors in what

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<v Speaker 3>scientists say is part of the worst global bleaching event

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<v Speaker 3>on record.

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<v Speaker 2>So that's a really hard number to get your head around,

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<v Speaker 2>and it's catastrophic.

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<v Speaker 3>Impacting more than eighty countries and territories.

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<v Speaker 2>Here in Australia, the Ningalu Coast, it's a World Heritage

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<v Speaker 2>area in northwestern Australia which is known for its pristine beauty.

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<v Speaker 2>It's quite a remote area and that area this summer

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<v Speaker 2>succumbed to the worst coral bleaching in its history, and

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<v Speaker 2>researchers who are working in the area had sort of

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<v Speaker 2>seen Ningolo as a bit of a hope spot because

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<v Speaker 2>of its unexpected resilience to marine heat waves. And actually

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<v Speaker 2>when they went down and did their underwater surveys, the

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<v Speaker 2>reports of people emerging from the water bailing their eyes out,

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<v Speaker 2>And I really do understand this feeling. It's truly heartbreaking

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<v Speaker 2>to be living through this era of irreversible destruction, particularly

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<v Speaker 2>when we know there are things we can do to

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<v Speaker 2>minimize the damage. And really, until the Albanezy government introduces

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<v Speaker 2>nature laws that effectively criminalize the fossil fuel industry's continued

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<v Speaker 2>desecration of country, we will lose more and more of

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<v Speaker 2>our precious places, even in the most remote last as

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<v Speaker 2>the last refuges like Ningaloo.

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<v Speaker 1>After the break? What John Howard and the Labor Party

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<v Speaker 1>have in common when it comes to fighting climate change? Joelle,

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<v Speaker 1>Let's talk more about the Labor government. They're well into

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<v Speaker 1>their second term now, so how would you assess its

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<v Speaker 1>approach to addressing the climate crisis.

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<v Speaker 2>Look, I feel like Labor is in a really conflicted position.

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<v Speaker 2>They want to be seen to be doing something about

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<v Speaker 2>climate change, but they don't really want to address the

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<v Speaker 2>cause of the problem, which is the burning of fossil fuels.

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<v Speaker 2>And the truth is is that Labour's now approved twenty

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<v Speaker 2>seven fossil fuel projects since it was first to lect

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<v Speaker 2>did in twenty twenty two. And as we all saw recently,

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<v Speaker 2>the first act of the newly appointed Environmental Minister Murray

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<v Speaker 2>Watt was to conditionally approve the extension of operations of

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<v Speaker 2>Australia's largest oil and gas production area off the Kimberley

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<v Speaker 2>Coast from twenty thirty out to twenty seventy. The upgrading

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<v Speaker 2>of Woodside Energy's Northwest Shelf gas processing plant, which isn't

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<v Speaker 2>too far from Ningaloo, paves the way for the development

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<v Speaker 2>of other fossil fuel projects off the remote Kimberley Coast.

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<v Speaker 2>So although governments like to claim the moral high ground

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<v Speaker 2>on its sort of climate credentials, talking up its commitment

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<v Speaker 2>to renewable energy and green manufacturing, the Woodside decision is

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<v Speaker 2>proof of Labour's allegiance to fossil fuel companies until the

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<v Speaker 2>bitter end, and unfortunately it's entirely inconsistent with what the

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<v Speaker 2>science says we need to do to stabilize the Earth's

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<v Speaker 2>climate to really try and minimize the harm to human

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<v Speaker 2>societies and ecosystems. So, no matter how people want to

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<v Speaker 2>rationalize it, the physics doesn't actually care about politics. These

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<v Speaker 2>changes are going to play out whether or not we

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<v Speaker 2>understand the science of climate change. And the fact is

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<v Speaker 2>that every ton of carbon, no matter where it's burnt,

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<v Speaker 2>will remain in the atmosphere for hundreds of years, and

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<v Speaker 2>that locks in higher levels of global warming that will

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<v Speaker 2>commit the world to irreversible changes and really stretch the

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<v Speaker 2>limits of human adaptation.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's talk a bit more about the science, because according

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<v Speaker 1>to the government, Australia is on track to reach its

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<v Speaker 1>Paris targets. And the official data shows that Australia's emissions

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<v Speaker 1>have been dropping since two thousand and five and in

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<v Speaker 1>twenty twenty four were twenty seven percent below two thousand

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<v Speaker 1>and five levels. So are we on track in that regard?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, this is a really interesting question. I mean, the

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<v Speaker 2>Australian government has a long history of relying heavily on

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<v Speaker 2>the land sector to demonstrate progress towards reducing emissions, but

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<v Speaker 2>at the same time they're continuing to export vast amounts

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<v Speaker 2>of coal and gas to the rest of the world,

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<v Speaker 2>and so it's a John Howard era approach to reducing emissions.

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<v Speaker 2>It's true the latest greenhouse gas emissions figures for December

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<v Speaker 2>twenty twenty four, that quarter, it shows that Australia's emissions

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<v Speaker 2>are still increasing despite this reported overall decline of twenty

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<v Speaker 2>seven percent since two thousand and five. But if you

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<v Speaker 2>drill down a bit further, these figures rely heavily on

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<v Speaker 2>low integrity carbon credits that underpin the government's Safeguard Mechanism

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<v Speaker 2>offset scheme. So by planting some trees or avoiding deforestation,

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<v Speaker 2>the government claims that we're more than halfway to reaching

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<v Speaker 2>that forty three percent reduction that's needed by twenty thirty.

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<v Speaker 2>But when you remove the inflated contribution of the land

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<v Speaker 2>sector and just count actual emission reductions across all polluting sectors,

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<v Speaker 2>Australia's emissions have only fallen by two point eight percent

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<v Speaker 2>since two thousand and five. So obviously this falls well

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<v Speaker 2>short of meeting the government's legislative target of forty three

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<v Speaker 2>percent reduction that we need by twenty thirty. But essentially

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<v Speaker 2>the Safeguard mechanism allows our largest industrial polluters to buy

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<v Speaker 2>these carbon credits to balance out their emissions instead of

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<v Speaker 2>actually requiring them to reduce the huge volume of carbon

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<v Speaker 2>they're dumping into the atmosphere for free. And actually, when

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<v Speaker 2>we look back to the global stock take which was

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<v Speaker 2>conducted at COP twenty eight, it showed that current policies

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<v Speaker 2>are on track to reduce emissions by just two percent,

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<v Speaker 2>not that forty three percent that is needed by twenty thirty.

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<v Speaker 2>And the reason why we're collectively failing is because governments

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<v Speaker 2>like Australia have policy loopholes that allow this to continue.

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<v Speaker 1>And you mentioned that you would like to see the

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<v Speaker 1>Albanezy government introduce laws that criminalize the fossil fuel industry

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<v Speaker 1>in cases where it causes damage to the country. So

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<v Speaker 1>tell me more about what that would look like.

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<v Speaker 2>Look, I think it's a very simple concept of polluter pays.

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<v Speaker 2>The basics are that eighty percent of emissions come from

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<v Speaker 2>the burning of coal, oil and gas, and the remaining

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<v Speaker 2>twenty percent comes from changes in land use, so things

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<v Speaker 2>like deforestation. So until we get to the root cause

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<v Speaker 2>of the problem, we're going to continue to see the

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<v Speaker 2>problem get much worse and the fossil fuel industry and

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<v Speaker 2>countries like Australia particularly are gambling heavily on carbon capture

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<v Speaker 2>and storage to work. But when you actually look at

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<v Speaker 2>the detail around that, organizations like the United Nations Environment

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<v Speaker 2>Program have reported that around eighty percent of CCS projects

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<v Speaker 2>over the past thirty years have failed, and currently operational

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<v Speaker 2>CCS plants can only offset around about zero point one

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<v Speaker 2>to two percent of global carbon emissions. That's one tenth

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<v Speaker 2>of one percent of global emissions. So operations would need

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<v Speaker 2>to be scaled up roughly eight hundred times to offset

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<v Speaker 2>current global emissions. So I really see this as just

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<v Speaker 2>another delay tactic to keep the fossil fuel industry alive

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<v Speaker 2>for longer. And as I mentioned those fundamentals is that

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<v Speaker 2>it's the burning of fossil fuels that is continuing to

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<v Speaker 2>warm our planet. So until we address that root cause

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<v Speaker 2>of the problem, things are going to get worse. If

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<v Speaker 2>you do look at what is happening globally, the world's

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<v Speaker 2>consumption of fossil fuels climbed to a record high last year.

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<v Speaker 2>We have Trump calling to boost oil drilling even more

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<v Speaker 2>now with what's happening in a run, So does it

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<v Speaker 2>feel to you like the global moment for change where

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<v Speaker 2>there was any form of consensus on acting on climate change,

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<v Speaker 2>that that moment has passed us by. Look, it's certainly

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<v Speaker 2>a grim time. I'm not going to lie to you.

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<v Speaker 2>It is a moment where it's complex. But when we

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<v Speaker 2>stop and we zoom out, I mean, human history is

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<v Speaker 2>littered with walls and unrest and this is probably going

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<v Speaker 2>to go on until the end of time. But the

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<v Speaker 2>world scientific community has been warning for years that high

0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:41.239
<v Speaker 2>levels of global warming are going to make life intolerable

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<v Speaker 2>for people and ecosystems. The world has already warmed by

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<v Speaker 2>one point two degrees since pre industrial times, and current

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<v Speaker 2>policies have us on track for essentially three times that

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<v Speaker 2>warming by the end of this century. And I actually

0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:01.000
<v Speaker 2>think it's really hard for people to truly comprehend upon us.

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<v Speaker 2>One of the key conclusions from the IPCC six Assessment

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<v Speaker 2>report is that every fraction of a degree matters, And

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<v Speaker 2>just because we're currently off track to achieve the goals

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<v Speaker 2>of the Paris Agreements to limit warming to under two degrees,

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<v Speaker 2>it doesn't mean that we abandon these goals. In fact,

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<v Speaker 2>we really need to redouble our effort and our resolve

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<v Speaker 2>and given that everything that's at stake, giving up really

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<v Speaker 2>isn't an option, even though the situation often feels really futile,

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<v Speaker 2>because the truth is is that we know what we

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<v Speaker 2>need to do and we just have to have the

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<v Speaker 2>political courage to do it. I read a really nice

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<v Speaker 2>piece by Western Australian writer Tim Winton and he said

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<v Speaker 2>that the science is clear on this and the morality

0:13:42.720 --> 0:13:45.080
<v Speaker 2>should be too, And I really do think it's as

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<v Speaker 2>simple as that.

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<v Speaker 1>Joel. Thank you so much for your time today. Thanks Ruby.

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<v Speaker 1>Also in the news today, more than one hundred Australians

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<v Speaker 1>have been airlifted out of Israel aboard an Australian military

0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:10.079
<v Speaker 1>jet after the country's airspace was opened amid a cease

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<v Speaker 1>fire between Iran and Israel. Treasurer Jim Chalmers says there

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<v Speaker 1>are still thousands of Australian citizens who have registered to

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<v Speaker 1>evacuate Iran and Israel, and that the Department of Foreign

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<v Speaker 1>Affairs and Military are working to ensure that they can

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<v Speaker 1>be safely removed from the danger zone. And journalist Antonettatoff

0:14:28.400 --> 0:14:31.200
<v Speaker 1>has been awarded at least seventy thousand dollars after the

0:14:31.200 --> 0:14:34.360
<v Speaker 1>Federal Court found that she was unlawfully terminated by the

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<v Speaker 1>ABC amid complaints about her views on Gaza. The court

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<v Speaker 1>found the broadcaster contravened the Fair Work Act by terminating

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<v Speaker 1>her employment as a casual broadcaster for ABC Radio Sydney

0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:49.320
<v Speaker 1>for reasons including that she held a political opinion opposing

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<v Speaker 1>Israel's military campaign. A further hearing has been ordered to

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<v Speaker 1>determine if the ABC should pay any additional financial penalty

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<v Speaker 1>under the Fair Work Act. I'm Ruby Jones. This is

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<v Speaker 1>seven AM. Thanks for listing h