We’re blessed with one of the world’s biggest quotas of sunshine. But thanks to Australia’s still backward-looking energy policies, solar power seemed destined to remain a single digit item in the electricity generation profile (trailing many less blessed countries) – despite the world-beating uptake of rooftop solar by households, schools
Author: Maria Taylor
Open door to assault on remaining biodiversity?
Time to comment now Don’t we love that word ‘reform’! The NSW Government’s ‘reforms’ of native vegetation, flora, fauna, endangered species legislative protections, are upending existing rules and permissions and many people are very worried on behalf of our environment –not least because the cheapest way to combat climate change is
Mother’s day killings start again + aggressive spin
Editorial by Maria Taylor Our neighbour across the border exhibits a fine sense of irony about motherhood. The ACT, encouraging the idea that killing and cruelty to animal families and dependent young is what we, Australians, do with our wildlife, once again around Mother’s Day announced the next in its notorious
Small farm model faces woes and opportunity
Notes from the fire front – personal accounts
Apocalyptic weather: one woman’s fire experience (followed by flood) Bronte Davies from Sydney, who was visiting ‘Merigan’, a sheep and cattle property between Tarago and Bungendore in the Mt Fairy area in mid-January, gives a dramatic first person account of what it was like for an ordinary person (without a fire plan
Trump, Brexit and the lessons we didn’t hear
Living in Australia and dependent on mainstream global news reports, many of us could not imagine that Donald Trump would become the 45th President of the United States. Of course Hillary will win, we assured ourselves as the polls tightened. How could it possibly be otherwise? There was little reporting
From Kerala to Queanbeyan: a migrant experience
National Parks slams Baird for opening door to land clearing
The Baird government has finally introduced its controversial land clearing legislation in Parliament despite almost uniform opposition from scientists and environment groups and a significant proportion of farmers. [But] The bucket of money that Mike Baird will pour into private land conservation won’t be enough to stem the loss of biodiversity
Speaking out: young grazier takes on the stereotypes
A cook book triggered Josh Gilbert’s light bulb moment about the benefit of a public alliance between environment and agriculture. The conviction brought him to a high -profile showdown in January when he resigned as chair of NSW Young Farmers in protest against the NSW Coalition government’s plans to gut the
Full frontal assault: Baird government proposes open season on native vegetation and animals
Time to stand and be counted Bulletin comment by Maria Taylor The Bulletin has reported in previous months that a new development assault on Australia’s flora and fauna is as critical an environmental issue as the destruction of the Great Barrier Reef. In NSW, a government legislative proposal is coming up this month