Just finished hearings with the Enviro Minister. @amymacsouthbris asked some great questions on coal, emissions and climate action. Unfortunately, the new Minister either didn't have the questions or didn't want to answer.

Remember this square? Qld Environment Minister wouldn't indicate whether these 18 new coal mines will still be operating in 2050, and whether that's consistent with the governments’ target for net zero emissions by 2050.

https://t.co/mLVKes4TDq
In response to an Opposition Question, the Environment Minister says Qld will need to cut about 40M tonnes of carbon or 40% below 2018 levels to reach Labor's 2030 target of a 30% emissions reduction. But she stumbles when asked about the plan to get there...
Before the 2017 election Gov't promised a green paper on how to cut pollution for these targets, but it never happened. They promised it again this yr - now called a “Climate Change Strategy”. But...
When asked what funding has been allocated to develop the Climate Change Strategy and when it will be released, @meaghan_scanlon says repeatedly "the plan is a document... it is a document"... and that it will be developed internally.

No budget, no timeline.
On national parks funding, the pre-election Enviro Minister announced $28M to buy new land for protected areas as an “initial” investment. Then in the Budget we learnt that amount will actually be spread over 4 years, meaning we won’t reach the 17% protected areas target.
So @amymacsouthbris asks when we can expect national park funding beyond the “initial investment”. Gov't simply says the 17% target isn't achievable within the 3 year target.

When I ask whether they've abandoned the 17% target, they insist no - but give no timeline to reach it.
Last week @_LisaMCox reported the Fed Gov't wrote to Qld suggesting collaboration to delist part of the Moreton Bay Ramsar wetland for the Toondah Harbour dev't.

My Q: will Govt rule out endorsing a change to the Moreton Bay Ramsar wetland boundary to facilitate Toondah?
Encouraging response fr the Minister: "We’ve already ruled out changes to the boundary".

Presumably refers to this response to my Question on Notice, where the previous Minister advised a DG review had concluded there is no justification for the change: https://t.co/rKMPVQj6gH
The question is now: will the Qld Government rule out approving the Toondah Harbour development?

We've already seen expert advise that it would breach our obligations under the Ramsar Convention, causing unacceptable & irreversible damage to the wetland. It cannot go ahead.

More from Government

🔷 Rev. Raphael Warnock has become the first Democrat to win a Georgia Senate race in 20 years

The politician spoke to voters via MSNBC this morning

https://t.co/T9oJN2fjmo


Warnock is a pastor at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta where civil rights leader Martin Luther King once preached.

He will become Georgia's first Black senator


This blue victory gives the Democrats the chance to regain control of the Senate for at least the first two years of the Biden presidency


"With Biden proposing to reverse President Donald Trump's tax cut, increase the minimum wage, and strengthen oversight on various industries, some might argue that his agenda is not particularly market-friendly," says Vasu Menon, investment strategy director at OCBC Bank
The Government is making the same mistakes as it did in the first wave. Except with knowledge.

A thread.


The Government's strategy at the beginning of the pandemic was to 'cocoon' the vulnerable (e.g. those in care homes). This was a 'herd immunity' strategy. This interview is from


This strategy failed. It is impossible to 'cocoon' the vulnerable, as Covid is passed from younger people to older, more vulnerable people.

We can see this playing out through heatmaps. e.g. these heatmaps from the second


The Government then decided to change its strategy to 'preventing a second wave that overwhelms the NHS'. This was announced on 8 June in Parliament.

This is not the same as 'preventing a second wave'.

https://t.co/DPWiJbCKRm


The Academy of Medical Scientists published a report on 14 July 'Preparing for a Challenging Winter' commissioned by the Chief Scientific Adviser that set out what needed to be done in order to prevent a catastrophe over the winter

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