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Wedgie politics & the banality of ecocide On the adolescent inanity of politics at the end of the world as we know it There's something so banal about the way the latest "attempt" to "reform" Australia's "environment laws" is unfolding. [Is...

Blogging today on the inanity of politics and the banality of ecocide.

Here, perhaps for the first time ever, we have a piece of writing that includes Sun Tzu, Hannah Arendt, and Nelson Muntz.

I think it says something useful. And I think it is slightly hopeful, at the end.

Yes, I'm angry, and deeply saddened. I'm so tired of the enablers that are actively contributing to our dying planet. Pieces like @zoedaniel.bsky.social's do tremendous harm to genuine environmental law reform and are deeply upsetting to the many scientists and experts on the front lines.

Good intentions aren't enough to keep us from this slippery slope It is a very, very slippery slope to start cherry-picking about the rights provided to people, even when you abhor the decisions they make.

Good intentions won't save us on this slippery slope

www.thenewdaily.com.au/news/politic...

Trump’s latest target? The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, one of America’s last truly wild places. His administration just announced plans to open it up for oil and gas drilling, turning 1.56 million acres of pristine wilderness (home to polar bears, caribou, and migratory birds)

Queensland’s forests are still being bulldozed — and new parks alone won’t save them Queensland’s conservation ledger is in the red. Despite some new national parks, bulldozers are still clearing forests and vegetation across the state.

Despite decades of conservation promises, Queensland remains a globally significant hotspot for destroying forests and native vegetation.

This @theconversation.com story finds Queensland has lost at least 21% of its original woody vegetation since colonisation.

theconversation.com/queenslands-...

The abundance agenda brainworm has infected Labor's climate change reform The Productivity Commission wants us to focus on the 'costs' of climate action, neutralising an urgent safety issue into a bland optimisation and efficiency project, and in doing so, ridding it of any...

On the critical minerals deal that includes a clause to kill environment protections in Aus - here's my @crikey.com.au piece from a few weeks back 🙏🏽

www.crikey.com.au/2025/08/18/l...

"The Albanese Government is investing more than $600 million to better protect threatened plants and animals."

For context the the Albanese Government gave $12billion in spending & tax concessions to fossil fuels in the year 2024-2025. #auspol #climate
australiainstitute.org.au/report/fossi...

Some of our ocean’s most iconic species are vanishing — whale sharks, oceanic whitetip sharks, manta and devil rays.

Join us in calling for action. Sign the petition today: only.one/act/cites-2025

#CITESCoP20 #SaveTheMantas

Watt nears deal with Coalition to finally overhaul environment laws Environment Minister Murray Watt will sit down with his Liberal counterpart Angie Bell today, with quiet optimism in both parties that a deal might soon be struck to finally rewrite Australia's "broke...

I don’t know about you, but I’m a bit scared of any new ‘environment laws’ that Labor can get Matt Canavan and Andrew Hastie to vote for…I think they will be better described as ‘ how to build more mines faster laws’ www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

Campfire during ban blamed for Moreton Island fire A "careless" campfire lit during a fire ban sparked a rapidly moving blaze that has now burnt hundreds of hectares on Moreton Island, according to authorities.

"campfire lit during a total fire ban sparked a large bushfire on Moreton Island"
-if investigations confirm the cause, it's a great example of why many rules exist.
Not to suffocate freedoms, but to prevent harm; here-habitat destruction, animal loss, pollution

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-10...

Climate Change:

It's real.

It's us.

It's serious - and already dangerous.

But there are solutions.

The science is clear: the faster we cut emissions, the less suffering we will cause, and the better off we'll all be.

Outcry as Trump plots more roads and logging in US forests: ‘You can almost hear the chainsaws’ Critics say move to axe Bill Clinton’s ‘roadless rule’ that protected key old-growth forests will be devastating to environment

Who needs forests when we could turn everything into cornfields? 🤷🏻‍♂️

NSW’s fast-track planning laws could allow mines to be approved without environmental assessment Environmental assessments could go out the window for mining projects, windfarms and other developments, green groups say

There’s some pretty alarming stuff happening in NSW right now with big changes to the planning laws being rushed through Parliament.

The proposed amendments create major corruption risks and should be closely reviewed by ICAC.

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Australia is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It’s time to lift living standards for all | Cassandra Goldie We cannot improve productivity without closing tax loopholes, recognising overseas qualifications and tackling ableism, racism and ageism

Australia is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. It’s time to lift living standards for all www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The latest ABS data shows property investors are continuing to squeeze first-home buyers out of the market.

Salmon still being sold with invalid RSPCA tick Despite having its accreditation withdrawn in March, Huon salmon is still advertised in some major outlets as RSPCA-endorsed – in potential breach of consumer law.

Months after salmon giant Huon Aquaculture lost its RSPCA endorsement, many retailers are still promoting the salmon with the branding of the animal welfare group.

The body charged with removing this endorsement is Huon Aquaculture. http://satpa.pe/uT00apo

In a spectacular act of state-sanctioned greenwashing, the Albo gov awards Bonaparte CCS JointVenture, Major Project Status for ‘new clean energy & resource projects’

Anchor customer for Bonaparte CCS project is Inpex’s Ichthys LNG facility—in other words it's for enabling fossil fuel production

Queensland and federal governments strike Olympics funding deal A new deal has been struck between the Queensland and federal governments to fund venues — including a major stadium — for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Australian taxpayers will now help Jarrod Bleijie bulldoze Barrambin Victoria Park to build David Crisafulli's Colosseum. The Olympics is no longer about sport but has become a massive Joh Bjelke-Petersen style property grab. #qldpol www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07...

Attenborough’s Ocean is the film I’ve been waiting my whole career for – now the world must act on its message | George Monbiot The documentary shows the damage that fishing does to our planet. So why does the industry still hold governments to ransom? asks Guardian columnist George Monbiot

The plunder of our seas by industrial fishing is a monstrosity in which almost everyone unwittingly collaborates. For decades this truth has been deliberately hidden from us. Now at last the consensus is cracking.
This week's column.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

‘Half the tree of life’: ecologists’ horror as nature reserves are emptied of insects A new point in history has been reached, entomologists say, as climate-led species’ collapse moves up the food chain even in supposedly protected regions free of pesticides

When warnings of Insectageddon were issued a few years ago, there was widespread denial. Less so now. It's devastating. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Australia's largest gas project approved for operation to 2070 The life of Australia's largest oil and gas project will be extended to 2070, with Environment Minister Murray Watt giving the long-awaited environmental approval for Woodside's North West Shelf proje...

Australia's largest oil and gas project will continue until 2070, making a complete mockery of fake aspirations for "net zero emissions" by 2050.

This shameful decision was postponed until after a federal election, just 3 weeks ago.

Nobody voted for this.

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05...

See you in court: Murujuga custodian's message to Environment Minister for approving Woodside's gas plant Raelene Cooper is heading to the Federal Court to challenge the government decision to extend the life of the North West Shelf gas processing plant at Karratha without considering her application to p...

“What’s happening to the rock art at Murujuga is like Juukan Gorge in slow motion"- Josie Alec, Kuruma Marthudunera woman, Murujuga Traditional Owner, ACF First Nations lead

"See you in court"- Raelene Cooper, Mardathoonera woman, Murujuga custodian

Solidarity with Murujuga traditional custodians✊

This is a disgrace. Serious allegations of political interference into an issue of global cultural and environmental significance.

Please enjoy these shelter pups reacting to getting a kiss. Some are bashful, some have butterflies, and all deserve approximately 10 million more. 14/10 for all

‘We are witnessing ecocide’: Santander accused of funding vast deforestation The Spanish bank has funnelled $600m to firms clearing South America’s fragile Gran Chaco ecosystem for beef, palm oil and soya, Global Witness says

"We are witnessing ecocide"

Bank funnelling $100s of millions to firms clearing South America’s fragile Gran Chaco ecosystem for beef + palm oil.

This is what capitalism does: wipe out nature for profit. And it won't stop until our planet is dead.
www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

On a pristine Australian island the birds are so full of plastic they crunch It's an exclusive tourist destination and one of the most pristine places on the planet. It's the last place you would expect to find birds with bellies so full of plastic that they crunch if you sque...

Thank you for your vital albeit heartbreaking work, @seabirdsentinel.bsky.social.

www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05...

“I’m sad to say just yesterday we blew [the record] out of the water, and our new record holder is 778 pieces of plastic in an 80-day-old seabird chick, in one of the most pristine corners of our planet.”
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-05...

My dad has come to an arrangement with the public pool in Nottinghamshire where he swims: after everyone else has got out of the pool, he is permitted to do a somersault before he gets changed. “THEY OPEN UP THE STORAGE CUPBOARD AND LET ME GO IN THERE SO I CAN GET A GOOD RUN-UP,” he said. Last week my dad, who will be seventy in August, got his friend Malcolm, who is seventy-three, to film the somersault. “It’s shattered all his illusions,” my mum told me. “Until he saw the film he thought he was creating poetry in motion. But it’s really just an old bloke who can’t run fast doing a sideways flop.”

A thread of notes I've made in my notebook about my dad:

1. The Swimming Pool.

When the Labor majority govt trots out its environmental policy don't forget to ask:

‼️Where's the EPBC 'centrepiece' National Environment Standards meant to set clear, legally-enforceable policy objectives for protections, decision making & outcomes❓

‼️Will the EPA have decision-making powers❓

Tinsel the calico glares at you with a furrowed brow

“I asked chatGPT-“ ok, and I asked Tinsel, and she said you’re an uninspired, vapid dork who needs a computer to think for them.