Australia

Archived version: https://archive.ph/tbaxT

I was switching to that Up Bank (by Bendigo), but they straight refuse to let me fund my crypto account, so that's out because I just want basic control of my own money.

I also have a Bank Australia account, but, while they like to pat themselves on the back about sustainability, their service and product is crap, imo.

So what else you got?

Edit: Just realised I should probably have posted this to AusFinance, but ah well!

The Northern Territory is the heaviest emitter of CO2 per capita in the world and the Beetaloo Basin LNG project will only make it worse

Force refuses to answer questions about legality of detaining children in watch houses following supreme court ruling that three must be moved urgently to youth detention

Australia is ranked 93rd out of 133 monitored countries, and the lowest of any OECD nation, after decades of decline in manufacturing activity.

At this point, Australia does not have a purpose-built wind tower manufacturing facility to match rivals with enormous capacity.

Mr McKinna, who operates out of a converted particle board factory, says there's no excuse for Australia not to be making wind towers at scale, particularly as global competition heats up.

The energy market operator says the surge in renewable energy generation expected by 2050 needs to be connected by more than 10,000km of new transmission lines and 25,000 transmission towers - each needing up to 60 tonnes of steel.

Geoff Crittenden, CEO of Weld Australia, said Australia does not have the sovereign manufacturing capability to make this a reality.

• In short: A proposed undersea electricity project connecting Tasmania to the mainland is under threat due to increasing costs, with Tasmania's government flagging it wants to renegotiate the terms of the deal

• What's next? Tasmania's premier says he has spoken to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, and discussions about alternative funding are continuing

Plans by the federal government for Australia to generate more than four-fifths of its power from renewable sources by 2030 are coming under pressure amid claims the country is way off track.

Key points:

• There are increasing suggestions Australia will fall short of its 2030 renewable power target of 82 per cent

• Analysts predict Australia's share of renewable energy is on track to be about 60 per cent at the current rate of progress

• The forecasts come amid mounting opposition to projects such as transmission lines in some parts of Australia

“A 5.6-magnitude earthquake has struck southern Western Australia early on Sunday, with more than 1500 residents rattled awake by the event.

The quake hit north-east of Gnowangerup, a small town between Katanning and Albany on the state’s south coast, about 5.34am with homes as far away as Perth feeling tremors.”

Roger Cook’s government foreshadowed about-face with resources companies and Indigenous groups on Friday

Claims that decommissioned wind turbine blades have been secretly dumped in a shallow grave in a forest in far north Queensland have been thoroughly debunked this week – but not before being gobbled up by 2GB, Sky News, The Australian and various other Murdoch media mastheads.

The story spread via a video made by Nick Cater – executive director of the Menzies Research Centre, conservative columnist and would-be anti-renewables sleuth – that features him creeping through scrubland.

“I’m coming through here because I’ve been told there are old turbine blades that have been just dumped here,” Cater says against a soundtrack of cracking twigs and sombre piano.

“Here they are,” Cater tells the camera, gravely, standing next to the old blades. “This is renewable energy, by the way. Remember that word, ‘renewable;’ there’s nothing much renewable about these.”

The video was received with glee by Sky and then a video of Sky’s delirious treatment of the story – “and we haven’t even started on solar!” – was republished in full by The Australian. News reports were also published in local Murdoch owned papers around Queensland.

It turns out, however, that the “forest” is actually the private property of local Ravenshoe business Kidner Contracting, and the turbine blades – from Queensland’s first ever wind farm, the 12MW Wind Hill project – are not so much dumped as stored there, instead of being sent to the tip.

“We have taken possession of disused wind turbine blades from the Windy Hill Wind Farm and are storing them on our 280 acre free hold quarry which take up around 500m2,” says Kidner Contracting managing director Blake Kidner in a statement forwarded to RenewEconomy.

“We see future value in the blades in a circular economy. These blades were destined for landfill, but we took possession of them and were stockpiled onsite as we have been working on ideas for reuse of them.

“Eight of these blades have been rehomed – two of them for trials for recycling options to CSIRO just last year, and the others for training purpose to repair them in-situ in NSW and VIC, so they don’t have to be removed for repair or be replaced if damaged, as other blades removed just get buried.”

Kidner says the “misinformation” pedalled in the video was illegally obtained by Cater, who was on the company’s property without permission.

“Nick Cater did not get any permission to enter our property, he has illegally obtained the footage, trespassed on our land,” Kidner says.

“The neat stockpile is not hidden in the forest. Nick’s political agenda does not show that there is a large shed and office within 100m of these, the camera man is standing on a quarry haul road.”

But Cater’s really not all that interested in the truth about the Windy Hill turbine blades, or Kidner’s motives for storing them.

The true aim of the video is to spread anti-renewables sentiment, more broadly, anti-wind energy sentiment, specifically, and anti-Chalumbin wind farm sentiment most specifically of all.

“This tells a story,” Cater says in the video, standing next to the ex-Windy Hill turbine blades. “One point four billion dollars for the Chalumbin wind farm and, in 15 years, they’ll just be sitting here like this.”

Ark Energy’s 600MW Chalumbin wind farm, proposed for near Ravenshoe in the state’s far north, has become the latest hobby horse of anti-wind lobby groups, whose efforts to derail Australia’s transition to renewables are becoming increasingly desperate.

Legitimate concerns about the project’s proximity to the adjacent Wet Tropics World Heritage Area last year saw it whittled back to less than half its original size, with 114 of the 200 turbines initially proposed cut from the plan to avoid sensitive ecological and cultural heritage sites.

Meanwhile, a dedicated community group set up in opposition to it, called Stop Chalumbin Wind Farm, has attracted well known anti-renewables politicians (Bob Katter, Gerard Rennick) and professional agitators (Cater) to its cause, which claims to be a battle of renewables vs nature and traditional owners.

Their efforts appear to be working. Just today, the ABC published a story on the project reporting that a group of traditional owners will go to Canberra “in a last-ditch effort to stop a controversial $1 billion wind farm from being built adjacent to World Heritage-protected rainforests in Far North Queensland.”

But the traditional owners of the land on which the project is being built, the Jirrbal People, are far from united against the project.

Last weekend, Jirrbal elder Brad Sam-Go, took out a full page in a range of Murdoch newspapers to declare his support for Chalumbin wind farm and to call out “misinformation being spread in the media.”

Sam-go says the Jirrbal Peoples “strongly support” the development of Chalumbin wind farm on their Country.

“It will bring opportunity for our peoples and help improve land that is now covered in weed and pests.

“The company has been working with us since 2019 to ensure they are respectful of Jirrbal Peoples’ connection to this area,” Sam-Go writes.

“The project is a win-win as we get local jobs on country and the environment gets a win too.

“If people want to oppose the wind farm for valid reasons they should be honest about it,” he continues. “But don’t misrepresent the truth and don’t misrepresent the views of the majority of the Jirrbal People. Our voice is our own.”

A media release issued on Thursday by the Wabubadda Aboriginal Corporation – the Registered Native Title Body Corporate that represents the interests of Jirrbal People – confirms its authorisation of the Chalumbin Wind Farm Area Indigenous Land Use Agreement.

“Whilst the details of the ILUA are confidential, the ILUA agreement includes mechanisms for protecting and preserving Jirrbal People’s cultural heritage and also has environmental protections,” the statement says.

And it adds, “All queries regarding matters affecting Jirrbal People’s Native Title rights and interests or cultural heritage interests should be directed to Wabubadda, in writing.”

The ABC speaks to Jirrbal woman Melita Asaki, who is opposed to the wind farm and will go to Canberra as part of a group, Including members of Rainforest Reserve Australia, to petition the federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek to reject the Chalumbin project.

Asaki tells the ABC that the Wabubadda Aboriginal Corporation does not represent all Indigenous people in the affected area. “They haven’t been out there and I don’t know who these people are,” she is quoted as saying.

In an email written in response to questions from the ABC reporter behind the story, seen by RenewEconomy, Ark Energy’s Anthony Russo says:

“It is my understanding from the NQLC [North Queensland Land Council, the Native Title Representative Body Aboriginal Corporation for the project area] that the ILUA with Jirrbal #4 People was subject to extensive consultation since 2019 and was authorised by majority on 7 May 2022.

“Like any group of represented people, there will be differing views amongst its constituents. We see this every day in local, state and federal governments. Governance is a matter for those organisations representing their constituents.”

This does not make it into the ABC story.

What are your thoughts on this? I think I’m somewhat on the fence. I firmly believe in the right to protest and that the only effective protests are those that are truly disruptive, but I can also understand the argument that people have the right to feel safe in their homes. Protest rights have been slowly eroded over time in most Australian jurisdictions and so an act like this is sometimes what’s needed to affect change. There’s also the point to be made that the harm that people cause through business decisions doesn’t end at 5PM on a weekday, and we should have the right to protest individuals and their specific actions as well as the companies that they represent.

Thoughts?

we are making an Australian flag in the bottom right corner, help if you want.

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Communicate on Matrix: Aus Flag: https://matrix.to/#/#australiacanvas:matrix.org Canvas: https://matrix.to/#/#lemmy-canvas:matrix.org

Transparency would help MPs ‘weigh up predicted wars, water shortages and supply chain collapses against every new coal and gas approval’

Archived version: https://archive.li/6efBd

Could you dodge the duopoly? We asked three people to try shopping for a week without visiting Coles or Woolworths and keep a diary of their results.

All three spent less money than they typically would, but that’s where the similarities ended.

Depending on your location and your existing grocery habits, shopping without the big two can either be a breeze, or an enormous inconvenience.

‘I desperately wanted to flake’: Molly Glassey, inner Melbourne

I’m a farmers’ market snob who supplements any weekend shortsightedness with a post-work Coles or Woolworths trip. So when I ditched the big two for a week, I thought it would be as simple as buying a bit more fruit and veg on my days off and dining out on self-satisfaction if all else failed.

I thought it would be easy.

But less than 24 hours in, sticky date pudding in the oven and no ice-cream in the freezer, I desperately wanted to flake.

IGA just doesn’t discount junk food like the big two do. Funky gelaterias aren’t an option in a cost-of-living crisis. All I wanted was half-price Connoisseur from Coles. Day two and it happened again; I set out to make tacos, forgetting we didn’t have taco shells, grated cheese or sour cream (don’t judge my obsession with Tex-Mex). Every day for my entire week of abstinence there was something I needed to top off a meal that I didn’t have on hand; dry pasta, tinned tomatoes, tissues! I thought about going to a chemist to stock up on tissues for my snotty toddler but felt awful paying on card for something under $5; a guilt I’d never faced at Woolies or Coles, let them cop the fee. Fight the power.

It was shockingly hard. Not because we have a toddler, but because I’m just so used to “popping” out and grabbing something. I wish I could blame the monopolistic capitalist entities, but I suspect the problem is me. Maybe it’s a hangover from Covid lockdown when going to the shops was a chance for fresh air: “Sorry darling, I need to pop out as we’re dangerously low on moth balls.”

But I definitely saved money this week. I’m a sucker for specials and end up spending more than I intend when I go to Woolworths and Coles. In fact, when I did “pop out” to IGA, I wasn’t at all wooed into buying more than I needed. These small grocers really need to work on their sneaky spending tactics.

While I despise Coles and Woolworths for their bright lights, cheap tricks and huge profits, I also find myself there multiple times a week, falling for it all and loving it.

Did you save any money? Yes, I definitely get sucked into buying more than I need when I go to Coles or Woolies.

Did you save any time? No.

Would you do this again? Sure, but not willingly.

‘I’m a convert’: Jasper Peach, regional Victoria

Where I live in regional Castlemaine there’s no Coles or Woolies. There is a massive IGA and its smaller counterpart that locals affectionately call the IGB. In our lovingly shambolic household with my social worker spouse and two little kids, Woolies deliveries usually arrive fortnightly. We buy pet food, cleaning supplies, dairy, freezer, pantry items and lunchbox snacks from the supermarket online.

Forgoing that online order this week has been a pleasant surprise.

I discovered my local shops have chivalrous staff to carry everything to your car. I felt like a cast member of The Sullivans, but with a slightly discounted bulk buy box o’ Bonsoy. The groceries I usually order online at great expense were widely available and not as pricey as I expected.

I usually shop for fresh produce at Harvest and their neighbour Sprout for bread, so no habit change was needed there. Both stores are open a couple of days a week and the proprietors run a soup kitchen on Monday nights. Having a relationship with shop owners such as Jo, Ro, Patricia and Paul is a special part of small-town life.

Vegetables used to languish in the crisper after I’d shopped for an impossible menu plan. I’ve found combating perishable supplies one or two days at a time is far thriftier than buying things that disappear from my field of vision (and thus my memory) the moment they’re put away.

We were already buying toilet paper in bulk and using period undies rather than buy disposable period products. We shopped for meat from our freezer stash, a mix of items bought on special and a monthly organic meat delivery from the nearby Jonai farm.

I routinely go hog wild at the discount shop Cheaper Buy Miles whenever I’m in Melbourne. Fighting food waste! Fellow tightarses! Discount wheels of fancy cheese! I was in town for a writers’ group this week and picked up this bonanza of goodies for $81 on the way.

There were building blocks for many of the week’s dinners here. Cheaper Buy Miles’ $3 meal kits are often to solution to the “you want dinner again?” problem. You just add protein, veg and $1 noodles.

So long as the icy poles and snack plates are plentiful (chopped raw veggies, cheese, crackers, salami, fruit) the kids really don’t give a hoot about dinner. The kids just want to watch Bluey, eat mostly carbs then drink some milk and go to sleep.

Did you save any money? Yes, this week $197!

Did you save any time? Yes! Even though Woolies delivery sort of saves time, the reasons for delivery aren’t applicable once you shop a few times a week and stop prepping for the apocalypse.

Would you do this again? Absolutely – I’m a convert.

‘I’ll always need a major to cover the gaps’: Mostafa Rachwani, western Sydney

Western Sydney is still awash with ethnic grocers, from Lebanese to Indian, Indonesian, Greek, Nepalese or Turkish, and I believed I was well-equipped to go a week depending on them.

As a single man living alone, I thought it would be a breeze, especially considering I usually visit my local Lebanese grocer, Fruitopia, on shopping trips anyway.

I am lucky in that my local shopping centre, Lidcombe, has three independent grocers, and a spice shop thrown in for good measure.

My initial plan was to get as many fruit and vegetables at Fruitopia as possible, back it up with a visit to the iconic (it has its name in lights out front, so people can take selfies there) Fresh Asiana for anything I’d missed, then hope for the best.

Fruitopia was well stocked when it came to fresh produce. I picked up most of my usuals, including lettuce, tomatoes, onions, radishes and chilis.

I was pleasantly surprised to see it also had a fantastic dried pasta selection, plenty of cheeses, a lot of sauces and dips, and an incredible snack aisle, including a surprisingly extensive range of Cheetos, and Lotus Biscoff biscuits (a Muslim community favourite).

It also had a predictably good selection of spices, although the only canned tuna was chilli-seasoned, which says a lot of its expected clientele.

By then I was just missing some minor cleaning goods, paper towels, bread and some fresh herbs, which I prefer to get from Asiana anyway.

And while Asiana had more fresh herbs than I could use, as well as the kimchi and sesame oil I was looking for, they didn’t have bread or paper towels.

This is when doubt set in. While I found some sliced bread at the local BreadTop, I ended up walking away without paper towels, and felt strangely sad about it.

I don’t normally do one big shop a week, preferring to shop when I need something, so it’s hard to do a direct comparison, but I would say I normally spend between $70 and $80 on a big stock-up.

The groceries, alongside a quick stop at my local halal butcher (my regular anyway) amounted to just over $60; but it took roughly 15 minutes longer than usual and I had to spend a week mopping spills up with face tissues (expensive and inferior).

Did you save any money? Yes, roughly $10

Did you save any time? Nope! Going up and down the stairs between the different grocers and hunting for a final few items added about 15 minutes to my shop.

Would you do this again? I really wanted to do it all, and I really enjoyed the wider selection and slightly cheaper options at the independent grocers, but I think I’ll always need a major supermarket to just cover the gaps.

Celeste Liddle writes on Stan Grant's permanent departure from Q+A and what it represents