An apology to Lord Deben
For anyone who thinks the ABC shows left wing bias, I suggest you have a look at the disgraceful display by Emma Alberici on Lateline last night when she tried very hard to discredit the chairman of the UK Committee on Climate Change, Lord Deben.
Her tone of voice the whole way through implied that this very eminent man was talking crap. Her attack on him and her defence of Tony Abbott’s policies were humiliating and shown to be so by Lord Deben.
The appointment of far right wingers Janet Albrechtsen and Neil Brown to the Nomination Board for the ABC and SBS must have given Emma some pleasure, though Jonathan Holmes does not agree. He said if Dr Watt, who made the appointments,
“thinks that these two are the most suitable people in Australia to ensure that appointments to the ABC and SBS boards are, and are seen to be, merit-based and non-partisan, he is profoundly stupid.
If, on the other hand, he has made the appointments at the unacknowledged insistence of Tony Abbott, he is pusillanimous.”
A clue to Alberici’s behaviour may be found at The Spectator where Neil Brown regularly spits his poison. Two weeks ago, in a rant against people who suggest income inequality is a problem, he said:
“It is like climate change, a defence for all seasons; whether we have cold snaps or hot snaps, floods or droughts, full dams or empty, good seasons or bad, it must all be due to climate change and don’t you dare deny the science, even if it is really religion.”
J. R. Hennessy describes Albrechtsen’s position on climate change as follows:
“Albrechtsen’s position on climate change is emblematic of the general corporate position: it might be happening, but who are we to try and stop it? It’ll cost too much. Besides, humanity is pretty tough. We’ll probably survive a raise in temperature. A warmer climate might even be nice. It’s probably the worst middle-ground position in the history of boring centrism. To accept climate change as probably real, potentially our fault, but not worth stopping is hardly an opinion worth articulating. It’s a moronic, self-serving position best whispered in an otherwise empty room rather than trumpeted on the front page of a bad newspaper.”
No doubt we will be seeing a lot more of Lord Monckton back on the ABC.
So in closing, I would like to offer my sincerest apologies to Lord Deben for the ignorant rudeness he endured at the hands of Ms Alberici, and to assure him that there are many of us who agree with his assessment and will see it as our duty to global action on climate change to vote out these colossal fossils as soon as we can.
Oh and Emma, saying “with respect” does not compensate for you supercilious self-important arrogance.
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Return to home pageThank you, Kaye Lee.
Was so embarrassing to watch. Thank you for this article. Well I won’t be watching the abc anymore. The right wing nut jobs have now cornered all media.
I initially thought that she was being overly tough, but then, thinking it through, and having no real suggestion of right wing bias or climate scepticism from Alberici in the past, I think she strengthened Lord Debens position, in that he defended himself well, and, I think, won the argument. I think, genuinely, that was her intent. If she had given him an easy ride, the right wing shills would have been out in force, decrying the leftish bias of the ABC.
Richard,
I disagree. Her disingenuous use of “with respect” indicated to me that she felt what she was saying was correct and that what Lord Deben was saying was crap. It’s like saying “no offence intended” when you know you are being offensive. I do agree however that he won the argument hands down.
I’ve always thought Ms Alberici was overtly right wing, smug and downright rude. Glad I didn’t watch Lateline last night…..
I was puzzled by Emma Alberici’s behaviour at first, then thought she was (a) trying to keep her job by appearing to be anti-climate change and getting on the good side of TA, or (b), she was giving the best argument against so as to bring out the best argument for. Lord Deben certainly responded well, I loved his passion and lack of restraint. I was hoping that Clive and the new senators would be watching. Maybe Ricky Muir was…..
I suppose my personal views colour my opinion. Perhaps she was just trying to play devil’s advocate in an adversarial kind of way. Whatever the case, Alberici is unimportant and Lord Deben did a wonderful job of refuting every argument she put up. I just wish, rather than interrupting him, she would ask a question then listen to the answer.
I’ve never thought E.A. was anything other than balanced in her interviews and stayed “on-topic’ rather than being an opinionated Liarbril spruiker like Leigh Sales. I didn’t see her last night and this commentary really surprises me.
I have heard Alberici at her worst before and don’t listen to Lateline when she is host.
Lawrence. click on the link in the first paragraph and watch it…it’s worth it just to hear what Lord Deben says.
I felt somewhat uncomfortable when Ms Alberici was interviewing Lord Deben, he was making a very salient point. Abbott has been proven to be a renegade in many policy areas; widely known, Lord Deben was forwarding a consensus view on climate change and actions needed. Science is not a political ideology.
The BBC has just decided that they will no longer give climate change deniers much air time on the basis that the science is in. It would be beneficial if the same happened with the ABC, but a forlorn hope now that people with extreme views are going to have input. It is already apparent that some ABC journalists are cowered by the abbott gang.
You could say that Stiglitz wasn’t given the best of treatment on QA the other night, with that dreadful creature Sloane camped on his face.
It is hard not be angry at Labor, also. They had six years in which to improve public broadcasting and squibbed the issue for fear of offending the likes of Maurice Newman.
Alberici is a little fascist joke, but then so many at the ABC are little better.
The news channel is a right jest.. their motto must be, ” only the real news is not shown here”.
We are very close to an irreversible aunthoritarian state in these troubled times.
I didn’t watch the programme, but will now, just to get my daily dose of outrage at the antics of the right-wing media, of which Enema Alberici is an exemplar.
“Invited to dinner and drinks at Kirribilli House is a rollcall of Mr Abbott’s strongest supporters: among them Andrew Bolt, Piers Akerman, Alan Jones, Janet Albrechtsen, Miranda Devine and Chris Kenny.”
I would pay NOT to be included in such company.
“I don’t assume anything. I assume these appointments were chosen by Dr Watt. You can always speak to him. I’m sure he’ll be happy to take your call,” Mr Turnbull told AM.
Speaking to the ABC, Mr Turnbull made the above statement : the ABC have tried on numerous occasions to get Dr Watt to take their call ; so far without success.
I imagine that he is too embarrassed to admit that he was compromised by persons within the PM’s department and, as a good public servant he does as he is told.
K.L. yep.. I’ve just watched it… I thought E.A. gave Deben a very good go… and am more inclined to think that as Richard L. said, was playing devil’s advocate… She posed the questions the moronic right of Albrechtson and Sloane would have put up which did allow him to knock them down and the fact that she didn’t follow up with the sort of carping fish-wife bitchiness and interruptions you see from Sales, Lane and Uhlmann makes me (for once) disagree with your summary.
Well said Kaye. I quite agreed, and wrote off a letter of complaint to the ABC last night.
Alborici was an embarrassment, ultimately to herself as Lord Deben saw through her attitude and shabby use of distorted statistics with great ease. I don’t beieve she was devils advocating, judging from her one line ‘Let me just give some the statistics’… patronising. Yes the ABC staff need to posture an anti left aproach to be safe in their jobs, be Emma doesn’t need to pretend, she has form from way back.
it made me wonder, though, who was doing her research for her, to have such tendenciously arranged statistical barbs to throw at him. Some stink tank operative, methinks.
I am hopeful that you and others are right Lawrence. I admit to paranoia about the future direction of the ABC. And not only the ABC. I just had an exchange with a woman on Tony Abbott’s page. I suggested that her views sounded like they came from Larry Pickering. Her response…..”Criky Kaye Lee, don’t you think that more than half of Australia thinks like Larry Pickering..”
I agree with BruceMichael. Alberici has form, and it is likely her statistics were provided to her by an on-staff denialist.
It is totally inappropriate for a journalist to play devil’s advocate on a scientific topic such as climate change. Journalists are supposed to be objective, not balance facts with fiction.
I don’t usually like celebrity interviews but some people know how to do it well. When Andrew Denton did his “Enough Rope” series he showed the value of asking a question that encouraged the celebrity (or expert) to speak and then being quiet. It is ridiculous to play the denialist game. I agree silkworm.
I heard the interview and thought she gave Lord D a grilling but, then, it gave him a forum to counter the climate deniers’ usual pseudo-arguments. Don’t be too hard on ABC journalists. They’re probably afraid of losing their jobs if they don’t appear to be supporting the government’s ideologies.
Bronwyn, one of my nearest and dearest is an ABC journalist. I didn’t mind the questions being asked because, as so many have pointed out, it gave Lord Deben a platform which he used well. My objection was the way in which the questions were asked. Rather than, ” something something….what is your view on this”, it was “with respect, that is crap”. That is what I object to.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-09/100-years-of-temperatures/5582146
Kaye Lee — I was surprised at the way EA conducted the interview. I wonder, though, how much pressure ABC journalists are under at the moment to toe the line — not that this is an excuse for rudeness.
Bronwyn, I will ring her tonight and ask that very question. We discussed it a while ago and her boss, at the time, was standing firm, but that WAS before Albrechtsen and Brown were appointed.
I saw the interview and was so embarrassed and angry at the interview style. I too apologise to Lord Deben although I’m sure he realised Albarici is not typical of the informed intelligent journalist. I disagree that she was playing devil’s advocate as mentioned in another comment, she is an extreme right wing conservative in my opinion and is really out of place on the ABC or the ABC as it used to be.
Many thanks for another lucid and cogent column, Ms Lee.
Your concerns about the direction of ABC News are well founded. It shouldn’t matter a jot how many of the ABC News “Stars” are conservatives as long as their journalism is strictly professional and ethical. However, the greatly increased frequency this year of egregious behaviour similar to that of Ms Alberici’s, especially on the ABC24 News channel, is a strong indicator that the Abbott government’s repeated threats and now their new Board appointments have constituted a green light to ABCNews conservatives to unleash their emulation of “SkyNews journalism”.
As another example, this week on Q and A, a right-wing audience member was gifted the opportunity to tell Nobel Prize winning economist Mr Stiglitz to shut up because he had no business coming to another country and expressing views in disagreement with the Abbott government’s. The normally loquacious “Moderator/Host”, Tony Jones, accepted this unfair criticism and didn’t even have enough decency to point out that the very reason Q and A invited Mr Stiglitz was for his expertise on economic policies.
I’d be despairing now, if there was no AIMN.
Yes I was a bit surprised at her rude interviewing style – a bit like Tony Jones. Lord Deben won the interview though, just refuted and knocked down all her lame arguments.
hemingway13 – yes that “question” to Mr Stiglitz was incredibly rude, I felt so ashamed to be an Australian. At least the next questioner said she was happy to receive advice from a Nobel lauriate. Tony Jones should not have allowed that, and that stupid, rude Liberal shill Judith Sloane – oh honestly!
The more I have thought about this the more I think Alberici was actually setting up the climate deniers to be knocked down… I think far ruder was the question to Stiglitz on Q & A in the realm of “What would an American know…etc” Tony Jones let that go by without a comment..and he is very quick also to close down a “left” opinion /answer which looks like it’s gaining audience momentum. I just wonder how much longer Clarke & Dawe will be seen accurately quoting Liarbril kafka-esque policy statements and other inanity’s in their hysterical fashion?
Tony’s spin doctors must be on holiday because I have been posting there today and am yet to be gagged…am expecting it any moment. This is the exchange I just had,
XXXXXX: Many times you hear people complain about what is happening and say someone should do something about that….. He is! Do not forget that you are also someone. Don’t like what is happening? Step up and bring change yourself then!
Kaye Lee: We had a government that stepped up and made the changes we needed for the future – more equitable education, action on climate change, the NDIS, the NBN, the Murray-Darling buy-back scheme, marine national parks, water table protective legislation, affordable paid parental leave, increased superannuation guarantee, increased tax free threshold, on and on it goes. And then we have Tony who is happy to give away our country to the highest bidder.
XXXXX: Kaye I really dont like your attitude and I would like you to change it before you decide to comment here again. Thanks.
Kaye Lee: Oh, gee, how can I please you? ironing perhaps?
I’m sorry too. That we have people in power who do not distinguish between science and science fiction. People for whom external facts are only the opinions of others and their own personal opinions are the facts that matter. To not know what actually consititutes a fact and to think they can transfer their facts to others by constant repetition. Brainwashing. This government has really opened our eyes.
Marg1,
You’re spot on about Tony Jones, whose ‘Nightline’ interviews are filled with his constant interruptions, conservative point-scoring and smug derision. Yet he sat there like a lump on a log while an honoured guest copped that excrement thrown at him. Poor fellow, our country.
I feel the great majority of Australian interviewers need to go to some sort of international school of interviewing.
Their interview style is arrogant and abrasive. They set themselves up as the ones who know.
I don’t watch the likes of the Drum, Q&A or Lateline because I get so frustrated listening to people trying to answer a question put to them only to be interrupted by others talking over the top showing, not how clever they are, but how loud they are!
I doubt if I have listened all the way through an interview (apart from the aforementioned Andrew Denton’s) since the mid 70’s
I won’t watch Q&A because I find the confrontationist approach obnoxious . Civil debate may be less exciting but more adult and useful . Nearly all TV is not worth watching anymore, repeats or political lies ; too sickening. If Lord Deben is conservative this government must be moribund . NO vision at ALL
Is it really necessary to express a difference of opinion in such a manner Sambo – not necessary and shows a distinct lack of intelligence to have to resort to that.
Agree with you Winifred.
“Kaye Lee: Oh, gee, how can I please you? ironing perhaps?”
Whoever “XXXXX” is, churning out fallacious reasoning is that individual’s strong suit.
At Clive Palmer’s Press Club appearance this week, there were numerous questions about how he and the PUP Senators determine the party’s policy positions and how they would cast votes. In fact, 1/4 of the PUP caucus is an assertive female Senator wielding equal power to any man in that party, yet our “crack journalists” don’t care a fig whether the dozens of LNP women in Parliament have any direct influence whatsoever on the government’s domestic policies (given that Abbott’s sole female Minister is J. Bishop for Foreign Affairs).
hemingway13 and Mary, agree with you totally. I have written to ABC on occasions complaining about how Tony Jones asks a question then will not let the person answer it and will also let others (always seems to be rude, loud Liberal shills) interrupt their answers or talk over them. It never happens to the Libliars.
As I watched it last night, I was sitting on the fence early, as to whether Alberici was playing devils advocate or worse still, doing abbotts bidding & the longer it went the more it was the latter. To me, it looked like she was on the verge of bursting into tears & she looked very put out because Deben was running rings around her as she tried to defend abbotts climate change policy. & it wasn’t the 1st time she has given me doubts about her suitability to be an ABC presenter.
Well i am certainly no fan of Leigh Sales and i hope she does not come back. I thought EA was pretty tough but then why not? if Deben’s arguments were good enough he would win. They were and he did. How coul;d anyone say that the interview was left biased. I think it did us a favour. One point i would make is this, EA asked where in the world was a carbon tax proving effective? All he had to say was, AUSTRALIA!
people like alberici and jones are so enamoured with their considered questions that once asked they are often too busy practising the delivery of their next question to hear or to listen. The 24 hours is a complete waste of money but i suppose the autocue fronts wouldn’t cost much/ Few would be upset if the rabbott shut it down but after the daily help since it began he would be silly to do so. As for last night:
Alberici was rude, crude, emotionally incompetent and irresponsible in the lack of respect shown to her guest. She demonstrated all the physiological faults and characteristics the rabbott used to explain why he selected no women for the cabinet and put the party’s token woman as far from him as possible..
Albericci’s interview caused quite a stir so thanks for this article. I usually find her fairly reasonable compared to the likes of Sales and Uhlman. On this occasion though, I think that she totally overplayed the role of devil’s advocate. Moreover, she misjudged the interviewee, Lord Deben, who would hardly be aware of the context in which she is operating i.e. threats to the ABC and was, therefore, unimpressed with her unnecessary rudeness. It is interesting to compare last night with her tame interview of Maurice Newman on climate change in April : http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2014/s3990190.htm
Emma was simply doing her job thoroughly as she always has. A journalist must test both sides of the argument and I felt we came away from her Lord Deben interview with more of a certainty that our Prime Minister is barmy. Also that Abbott’s bigoted and clueless views are regarded with disdain and some alarm by those in command in other countries.
alberici as the devil’s advocate???? She was aggressive to gillard and labor but the only way she got near the rabbott was through the question ‘Would you like to talk whilst I listen?’ She is barely beyond autocue level journalism. Only uhlmann is more in the coalition’s pocket..
Q&A was interesting to contrast the people who are able to discuss and debate in a moderate, reasonable and reflective manner : Professor Stiglitz, Ross Garnaut and Christine Wong. People who have intellectual depth backed up by academic rigour.
Then you have Judith Sloan, a strident Right winger who wants only to hear her own opinions, dismisses anybody else and sees it as entirely appropriate to talk over other panelists and waggle her finger at a Nobel Laureate.
Strange days when senior members of our government see it as a triumph of political achievement to destroy positive legislation and even indulge themselves in group hugs.
Alberici was, I suppose, adopting an adversarial position that represents the position of the Australian government leaving it to Deben to counter that position and he did: nothing could be worse than listening to a so called interview between the likes of Alan Jones and Joe Hockey where two people just agree with each other.
The behaviour of Sloan and that odious audience member who told Stiglitz to go back to America, followed by the Alberici interview, which I felt made Australia out to be a moronic selfish nation (the position of the Australian government), made me wonder if I am living in a bubble so I did a little surfing yesterday outside of my usual circles.
Conservatives do not want to discuss anything at all. They don’t question anything. They are impressed by Tony’s photos. In fact Tony was so impressed with his photo in the Pilbara that it leads two threads and is his new facebook pic. The comments were along the lines of “Onya Tone, what a good looking man”. “I can’t wait to get cheaper appliances…well done.” When I asked if they were also looking forward to more expensive medicines or if they had considered the number of jobs lost due to the death of manufacturing I was, of course, rounded on, followed by the usual trick of trying to have my facebook account shut down.
I fear that I have been somewhat naïve in thinking that people actually realise what is going on. So many truly do not have the faintest idea and, even if you try to talk reasonably with facts and links, they get very aggressive. It’s like a soccer hooligan mentality. I don’t know how to communicate with people who don’t care about facts. The experience was NOT a heartening one 🙁
Listen to Penny Wong 🙂
http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2014/jul/09/penny-wong-speech-coalition-arrogant-carbon-tax-video
http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/council/news-and-updates/videos-podcasts/city-talks/joseph-stiglitz-the-price-of-inequality
People in Australia may not get what is happening but the rest of the world is certainly aware and the overseas press is damning.
http://www.independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/abbott-continues-to-trash-australias-international-reputation,6652
I watched lateline last night and tony jones thought his job was to interrogate Labor in the person of Tanya Plibersek against a background of timid gentle discussion with any govt rep.
Its over for me with tony jones and alberici. Too much ministry of magic rubbish and rita skeeterism.
Someone could write a thesis on the diminution of progressive political thought through trying to engage with a right-polluted media agenda…
I must agree that it is a very tenuous time for the ABC under this government. It is very concerning that if it falters, and Fairfax gets weaker, the major media voice in the country could be Murdoch’s ….. too much of the public are mislead far too much as it is …..
It’s a problem often encountered in the climate ‘debate’.
More here: http://resourceinsights.blogspot.com.au/2006/07/why-its-hard-to-debate-cornucopian.html
Re Alberici, I suspect she was rather upset that she didn’t get the gig when Leigh Peta Sales went on maternity leave. To be pipped at the post by Sarah Ferguson was probably galling. Perhaps now, she is adopting an approach to ‘interviewing’ that’s more attuned to a changed political climate, so to speak.
Btw, could Peta Sales be related to Peta Credlin? After all they share a common name.
Just jokin …
“Sri Lanka is a peaceful place”
Tony singing the praises of his new ‘best’ friend has not gone down well in China. But apparently the Chinese don’t respect you unless you ‘talk tough’, at least according to Julie Bishop who apparently understands such things.
And would you believe that the US and China are talking on climate change?
They signed eight (8) pacts when all we got was one (1) signing. Quelle horreur!
What a waste of time, climate change is crap. Just ask our latest japanophile leader.
The interview certainly had its disconcerting elements. What I did note was that Deben was not the least bit phased at any point. This could be due to experience and the composure that comes with that, or him having been given a heads-up that the interview would be “challenging”.
I would imagine that the composure is easier to maintain when you KNOW you are right and have all the facts to back it up….though perhaps not. I find myself losing composure in the face of wilfully blind ignorance. And it is interesting that Abbott is now using Lateline as a propaganda unit – telling them he would have an announcement to make at 12:45 the next day BEFORE the Senate had voted. It appears Lateline and Sky have something in common now.
Yes it’s all very easy to stand outside the metaphorical ‘phone box’ and theorise what is being said and why. One sociologists, whose name escapes me for the moment, suggested that the best solution was to simply ask the person doing the speaking.
So, hello Ms Alberic, what were you thinking? What game were you playing? Tell us please. And ASAP.
I Tweeted her yesterday. She ignored it. As you’d expect. 😉
I agree with those who saw Alberici as playing the devil’s advocate. She asked the kinds of questions asked by deniers and Deben answered them perfectly. It would have dismayed the deniers.
As for Alberici’s manner, it could be said she had a ‘supercilious’ grin, but then to see all the big questions being answered she must have felt a little embarrassed to have to ask them.
What both Deben and Stiglitz demonstrated is how ignorant so many Oz citizens are because the MSM keeps the truth well under wraps. Take for example the idea that no one else in the world is doing anything about climate change and even if they are, it is not working. These two within a couple of days debunked some of the ignorance by telling us what is really happening overseas. Also quite revealing was their understanding of what is happening in Oz – and they are not impressed.
It seems to me we are so intimidated by the Murdoch version of things that we cringe when we hear it. So with Alberici’s parroting of denier-speak; we know that there is another way. Whether Alberici actually believes in denier-speak, her questions were quickly debunked for what they are.
[I feel the great majority of Australian interviewers need to go to some sort of international school of interviewing.
Their interview style is arrogant and abrasive]
On this point I am really very curious as to whether the fact that Murdoch owns 70% of the press media has meant that Unis have adapted their journalism/media training to fit into the confrontational or emotion inducing style he seems to like, so that these people can possibly get jobs post uni.
The problem is that the more conservative cretins that are appointed to boards by people like him or Abbott means the more they will appoint like minded CEOs, who will appoint like minded execs, who will appoint like minded middle managers who do the interviews for the Uni leavers.
After having to listen to the CRAP that Abbott and his band of followers expound, it is no wonder that AE, Sloane and the likes of Tony Jones et al have been able to enforce their own brand of B.S. on an audience of clear-minded thinkers. You know that watching Abbott, Hockey, Bishop (both) and all of the above, not to forget Alan Jones and his ilk almost makes you feel like puiking. Being a Queenslander, it seems appropriate that we are able to still smile. And although my wife and I do not require a job, we have children and grand-children who will one day require some of these jobs that are BETTER than what they already have. All I can say is the sooner you Mr. Abbott and the bunch of morons that you have appointed to see us through this debt, deficit and disaster we are facing due to the incompetence of the previous government, the better. YOU SCUMBAG!!!.
The interview by Emma exposed the so-called Lord as a self-opinionated Briton trying to lord it over us Aussies. After all, he does have commercial interests in renewable energy entities, and his opinions needed to be heard in that context. As Emma rightly pointed out, Australia’s emissions are only one percent of the world output, and the carbon tax will do very little if anything to change that. His claims about what is happening in Europe and elsewhere were very rightly exposed by Emma as overstated nonsense.
Go Emma! One of your best presentations.
Graeme,
That’s one way to interpret the interview, but curiously one devoid of the presentation of facts, therefore one of purely rhetorical value. Got more?
Graeme L
Lord Debnam is a Lord by definition in the English system, he is so-called because he indisputably is. Did you express similar outrage at the fossil fuel sponsored finger wagging, anti-scientific denialist lectures delivered to ‘us aussies’ by the Pommy conman Christopher Monckton, who spuriously claims lordship and has no credentials or qualifications?
Australia accounts for about 0.25% of global population, but over 1% of the overall carbon output; this suggests we could do more to reduce our emissions. the carbon price in effect has had an increasing effect in achieving this.
Out of a desire for clarity, do you acknowledge the overwhelming consensus amongst scientists within the field that human activities pertaining to the immolation of living and stored carbon(amongst other activities) are warming(predominantly) the biosphere(amongst other detrimental effects), or are you another ‘skeptik’ who denies the causalities of massive, planet-wide actions?
An apology to Lord Deben,
Sorry, I will try to refrain from getting your name wrong in future,
Sincerely
Borvus coreus.
Graeme, add in our exports
The amount of carbon dioxide emissions that Australia exports is already double the amount that is emitted within Australia. Australian coal exports contribute around 3.3 per cent of total global carbon dioxide emissions and together with domestic emissions this puts Australia in sixth place after the far more populous nations US, China, Russia, India and Indonesia.
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/comment/peabody-and-the-coal-juggernaut-20140429-zr17k.html#ixzz373b4IL2R
But wait…we have more
the total contribution of these two proposed coalmines in the Galilee basin (Kevin’s Corner and Alpha) will be 124 Mt CO2-e a year for 30 years or a whopping (I think this adjective is now allowed) 3,745 Mt Co2-e. That’s 3.7bn tonnes of CO2-e.
Yet the vast bulk of those emissions will not make it to Australia’s emissions accounts, because the coal will be exported and burned, mainly in India. The climate, however, couldn’t give a monkey’s where the emissions come from. The impact is still the same.
The UK emitted 571.6 Mt of CO2-e last year. The total contribution of the two Galilee basin mines – if stopped – would be like making Britain carbon neutral for six years.
Yet these two megamines might just be the very large tip of a melting iceberg for the Galilee basin.
The Queensland government has today announced a strategy to speed up coalmining projects in the Galilee basin, giving “first movers” a discount on the royalties they will pay for mining the coal as well as making approvals easier.
The Indian-owned Adani Mining also has plans awaiting approval for a Galilee mine which, at its peak, would be producing 60 Mt of coal a year – double the capacity of the Alpha project.
Newly elected federal MP Clive Palmer’s China First coal project also wants to mine about 40 Mt of coal a year from the Galilee basin, with the project now awaiting approval by environment minister Greg Hunt.
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/planet-oz/2013/nov/07/climate-change-keystone-galilee-queensland-coal-mining
I too was surprised at Emma Alberici’s defense of coalition policy on climate change, but I took it as her way of hanging out LNP policy in clear view, so that Lord Deben had a clear shot at rebuttal.
Alberici has form – she did similar to Wayne Swan (from memory) 2 or 3 years ago – I stopped watching Lateline when she is hosting.
I see the Liberal Party is putting out propaganda brochures saying the Carbon Tax is costing Australians 11 million per day. I challenged the right winger who posted it, someone I personally know, and got a savage abusive rebuke. I then asked how much Abbott’s DAP will cost Australians each day with no compensation let alone his PPL and other cuts that makes the carbon price minuscule in comparison. Before cutting me off so I could not reply with more facts, they said that all those costs were Labor’s fault as well.
It’s interesting that Qantas has removed the carbon price surcharge without lowering prices. Woolworths said there were only 5 items that had been put up in price due to the carbon charge. Electricity has just gone up and I see that they are requesting further price rises. Could I suggest that an increase in the fuel excise is going to cost us a lot more. I think those who are relying on the promise that cost of living will go down if we repeal the carbon price will be sadly disappointed.
Mobius Echo
The Coalition are very loose with the numbers. The ‘economic crisis’ claim was based on the falsehood that the economy was $667bn in debt now, when in fact that figure is a projection for the future.
Then we have this story that repealing the Carbon Tax will save taxpayers $550 pa, whereas Richard Dennis and Matt Grudnoff for the Australia Institute(2011) say that if the coalition do what has to be done to achieve a 5% reduction in emissions, their DAP will cost taxpayers $1300 pa, but it will not appear on their tax bills.
The claim was that the Labor NBN would cost $100 bn plus, but this figure has been denied by other reports. The Coalition NBN is supposed to be cheaper at first, but will cost a great deal more with updates and maintenance.
The claim is that the Sovereign Borders military operation is costing less than Labor’s border protection, but we have no figures and we do not know how long the Coalition will be able to maintain the vigilance.
Then we have weird numbers in the Budget, where young people are not paid for six months and people employed in the Green Army are paid half the minimum wage – and other ripping away from the poor and vulnerable.
But the claim is all this is not their fault; it is the fault of someone else.
Emma A was very rude-It is not a good look Emma! Be argumentative if you must!–if you have been told to be so!–after all it will prove that the ABC is not biased?? ?-perhaps ? but on a subject like Climate Change-? Recognised world wide by all scientific agendas, you have behaved in too severe a manner–Good interviewers need a solid case and knowledge of the subject–You obviously do not know much about climate change! Take a tip- Read up a bit before an interview and show respect for those who are polite and have the knowledge
I watched show, could tell Emma Alberici spoke from what was written down on paper. Remember its Mr Abbort is our Prime Minister winkle winkle say no more 😉
Sarcasm and sick humour does its authors no credit whatsoever!