Australia

By Wesley Morgan, UNSW Sydney and Ben Newell, UNSW Sydney An emphatic election victory for the incumbent Labor government means Australia’s rapid shift to renewable energy will continue. As Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said on Saturday: In 2022, the Australian people voted to finally act on climate change. After three years of […]

Australia

First Nations Peoples are now Key to Australia’s clean Energy Revolution, after 65,000 Years of Caring for this Land

The Conversation

By Heidi Norman, UNSW Sydney (The Conversation) – Australia is on the cusp of a once-in-a-generation transformation, as our energy systems shift to clean, renewable forms of power. First Nations peoples, the original custodians of this land, must be central to – and benefit from – this transition. That is the key message of the […]

Australia

In Six Years, Australia has doubled its Renewable Energy, and 36% of Households have Rooftop Solar

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Australia’s Climate Council has issued a new report on clean energy in the country’s states. Winter is ending in Australia, but it is worrisome that their August was among the hottest on record this year, presaging a hot dry summer to come, and raising the real risk of further massive […]

Australia

Countries like Australia are Floating the idea of Recognizing Palestine to push Peace

The Conversation

Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra | – Foreign Minister Penny Wong has taken Australian policy a modest step towards embracing recognition of a Palestine state ahead of a two-state solution, as a pathway to a lasting Middle East peace. In a Tuesday speech to an Australian National University national security conference dinner, Wong said the […]

Australia

In First, Rooftop Solar Alone provides 101% of South Australia’s Electricity Demand

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Giles Parkinson at RenewEconomy in Australia reports that rooftop solar briefly generated 101% of South Australia’s electricity demand on Saturday around 2 pm local time. This milestone is important, since it was reached entirely with rooftop solar on residential and business edifices rather than with industrial-scale solar farms, of which […]

Australia

Australia’s Decision to again use the Term ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories’ brings it into Line with international Law

The Conversation

By Amy Maguire, University of Newcastle | – (The Conversation) – Australia’s minister for foreign affairs, Penny Wong, has announced Australia will return to use of the term “occupied Palestinian territories”. The Australian government will use this phrase to describe the territories in the West Bank and Gaza that Israel occupied in 1967. Australian officials […]

Australia

First-Nations-Led Youth Win Climate/ Human Rights Case against Mammoth Coal Mine in Australia

Juan Cole

By Justine Bell-James, The University of Queensland | – In a historic ruling today, a Queensland court has said the massive Clive Palmer-owned Galilee Basin coal project should not go ahead because of its contribution to climate change, its environmental impacts, and because it would erode human rights. The case was mounted in 2020 by […]

Australia

More Principled than Biden, Australia’s Labor Gov’t Revokes Recognition of Jerusalem as Israeli Capital

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The Australian foreign minister, Penny Wong, announced on Monday that the Labor Party government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese would reverse the country’s recognition of West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. She said in a statement that Australia’s embassy would remain in Tel Aviv. She said, “This reverses the […]

Australia

Women are turning the tide on Climate Policy Worldwide, including Australia

The Conversation

By Jacqueline Peel, The University of Melbourne; Annabelle Workman, The University of Melbourne; Kathryn Bowen, The University of Melbourne; and Rebekkah Markey-Towler, The University of Melbourne | – When the new federal parliament opened last week, a record number of female politicians took their seats: 38% in the House of Representatives and 57% in the […]