Govt 'hindering' Poland climate change talks

'Australia should have stayed home': Bob Brown

The Greens say the Federal Government is hindering international climate change talks in Poland and should not have taken part.

The Government has not yet outlined its mid-term target for emissions reductions by 2020 but there is speculation cuts of between five and 25 per cent are being considered, depending on what international consensus is reached.

Greens leader Bob Brown says the Government's inaction is working against both Australian and international interests.

"This is dangerous climate change - Australia should be at least arguing for at least a minimum 25 per cent reduction," he said.

"It should be 40 per cent reduction by 2020.

"But Australia is acting as a spoiler. It would be better if Australia had stayed home.

"That would be a help, a better outcome in Poznan than the one we're going to get."

Related:

Australia squibs on climate promise
The Rudd Government has reneged on a commitment to present its 2020 target to cut greenhouse gases to UN climate talks that start today.

Greenhouse gases rise to record levels
Levels of climate-warming greenhouses gases rose to record highs in 2007, leading to a 1 per cent increase in the overall warming effect, the World Meteorological Organisation said.

Greens slam SA backing for clean coal
The Greens say the South Australian Government is taking a big backward step by promoting technology to turn coal into liquid fuels.

Greenpeace trio fined over smoke stack stunt
Protesters paint 'solar' on a smoke stack at Swanbank Power Station in July.

Scientists push PM for 25pc emissions cut
A group of top level climate change experts has written a letter to the Prime Minister arguing that cutting greenhouse gas emissions by only 10 per cent would be dangerous.

Greenpeace criticises clean-coal plans
The environmental group Greenpeace has called on the Federal Government to rethink its support for clean coal technology.

Garnaut too soft on emissions target: expert
A leading Australian climate scientist has criticised the greenhouse gas reduction targets proposed by the Government's climate change adviser Professor Ross Garnaut.

Green groups slam failure to set firm targets
THE Federal Government has refused to commit itself to any of the pollution reduction models outlined by its handpicked climate change expert, Ross Garnaut, saying it will make its own decisions by the end of the year.

Native forests should be part of the solution
The Greens leader Bob Brown says lifting Australia's reserves of native forests should be part of the Federal Government's solution to climate change.

Sea levels could rise 4m this century
An expert in climate change says the world's sea levels could rise by up to four metres this century.

Greens: Tougher ETS in Senate
Greens Leader Bob Brown has vowed to use his party's new power in the Senate to push for a tough emissions trading scheme (ETS). The Greens now share the balance of power in the Upper House and Senator Brown says he will use his vote to force stronger action on climate change.

Greens urge swift response to Garnaut draft
The Greens say the Federal Government can not be worried about electoral popularity and must move quickly when it responds to economist Ross Garnaut's draft report on climate change.

Climate change fight needs political ardour: Greenpeace
Greenpeace says the only thing Australia lacks in the fight against climate change is political will.

Leaving petrol off emissions trading scheme 'dangerous'
The Greens say any moves to leave petrol out of the Federal Government's emissions trading scheme will render it ineffective.

Aust's ecological footprint one of biggest in world: index
The annual Climate Living Index, which measures humanity's demand on natural resources, has listed Australia's ecological footprint as one of the biggest in the world.

Climate change hot topic at youth 2020 summits
More than 500 schools held talks during the past month ahead of the Federal Government's Youth Summit in Canberra this weekend. Ms Gillard says she is not surprised the environment is the number one concern of many children.

Greenpeace to give Treasurer carbon capture petition
A petition with 30,000 signatures will today be handed to the Federal Treasurer's office urging the Government to abandon its investment in carbon capture and storage.

Greens slam SA backing for clean coal

The Greens say the South Australian Government is taking a big backward step by promoting technology to turn coal into liquid fuels.

Linc Energy, which calls itself a clean coal company, plans to set up fuel refineries in the Arkaringa area of South Australia's far north.

The SA Government says that will create jobs.

Greens MP Mark Parnell thinks it will produce more greenhouse gas pollution.

"South Australia has always claimed leadership with renewable energy and with clean energy. This is a huge step backwards," he said.

"It's a dirty project that South Australia should not be supporting."

Greens name Meredith Hunter as leader

Meredith Hunter will lead the Greens in the ACT Legislative Assembly.

The ACT Greens have named Ginninderra MLA-elect Meredith Hunter as the party's leader.

The mother of three is one of four Greens to win a seat in the next ACT Legislative Assembly.

Ms Hunter, Shane Rattenbury, Amanda Bresnan and Caroline Le Couteur will hold the balance of power in the Assembly but are yet to announce which major party they will support to form a minority government.

The Greens will meet with both the Liberal and Labor parties tomorrow for further talks and have not said if they will seek a ministry.

Greens 'deserve' to take part in debate'

The ACT Greens have expressed disappointment that they will not be taking part in a leaders' debate at the Australian National University today.

With some polls pointing to a Green vote of more than 20 per cent on Saturday, the party says it deserves a place in the debate.

But Greens candidate for Molonglo Shane Rattenbury says his party will not be crashing the event as it did a Labor policy launch last week.

"The event last Friday was a specific situation where the Labor Party had been misrepresenting the Greens policy." he said.

"We felt the need to correct the record there but the Greens are keen to take part in serious debate during this election.

"So far all the debates at leadership level have taken part between the Labor and the Liberal Party and they have failed to address key issues."

Mr Rattenbury says the focus of the leaders' debate is too narrow and will not address key issues like climate change.

"The opinion polls are showing that one in five Canberrans is considering voting for the Greens next weekend," he said.

"That's a very significant proportion of Canberra residents and on that basis it does indicate that a number of people would want to hear what the Greens have got to say when it comes down to having a debate about the key issues affecting the future of the ACT."

Greens refer Sartor developments to ICAC

The Greens say they have referred six developments that were approved under former NSW planning minister Frank Sartor to the state's corruption watchdog.

The complaint refers to developments across the state including one at Sandon Point on the south coast as well as a large residential development near Catherine Hill Bay in the state's north.

Major developments proposed for Burwood in Sydney's inner west, Branxton and Bucketts Way in the Hunter Valley and Tralee near Queanbeyan have also been referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC).

Greens MP Sylvia Hale says in each case the former minister personally intervened to have the matters taken out of council hands.

"We are now focusing on these particular six because these are all donors of significant amounts of money to the Labor Party and they have all, in all six cases, [been] decisions that have been made that are favourable to those donors," she said.

Hillsong's schools recruitment drive

Parents send their children to public schools in the anticipation that they will not be indoctrinated," Mr Kaye said.

A NETWORK of Christian youth ministries with links to the Hillsong Church is attempting to recruit members in public schools through free lunchtime concerts and barbecues called "Exo days", church manuals reveal.

Exo or Excellent days are free events run by Christian students under the direction of Youth Alive, an arm of the Australian Christian Churches - formerly the Assemblies of God - of which Hillsong is the largest member.

Youth Alive describes the events as "a free lunchtime festival … put on by the Christian students as a gift to the school", but a leaders' manual prepared by the body reveals that Exo days are aimed at recruiting students to their local youth ministry.

A teacher at one public school said students had returned to class after an Exo day concert complaining about attempts to convert them, while the Federation of Parents and Citizens' Associations says it is an attempt to sneak evangelism into schools and reveals the need for new laws.

The Exo day instruction manuals include numerous references to recruitment and evangelism.

"The whole goal for Exo week and Exo day is to see your youth ministry grow," it states.

"The vision is to see evangelism and growth come from the students themselves in your youth ministry."

The manual includes "testimony" from a youth minister working outside Newcastle who states: "Exo day started a rapid increase in the number of salvations within our youth ministry.

"But, most importantly, Exo day has given our young people the belief that they can take their schools for Jesus."

The Youth Alive website indicates that about 30 NSW public schools have registered to hold Exo days.

Manuals given to the Christian students refer to Exo days as an opportunity to "show our peers that God wants us to have an excellent life" and encourage them to promote the event at school. Youth Alive declined to comment.

The revelations follow recent reports that Hillsong was running its Shine program - aimed at young women - in at least 20 NSW public schools.

The NSW Education Act says that "instruction" at public schools must be non-sectarian and secular except in designated religious education classes.

The NSW upper house Greens MP, John Kaye, said Exo days went against the spirit of the act, but that there was a need for new laws specifying "clearly and precisely who is allowed on school campuses and who is not".

Parents send their children to public schools in the anticipation that they will not be indoctrinated," Mr Kaye said.

"What these ministries are doing is seeking to rip off that legitimacy and authority and use it for their own purposes. We need a protocol that makes it clear that these kinds of things should not be happening."

A spokesman for the Department of Education said the events were not a cause for concern as they were not compulsory. He denied they breached departmental guidelines.

Neil Simpson, the principal of Batemans Bay High School, where Exo days have run for several years, agreed they were within guidelines. "It's 40 minutes at lunchtime … there's no hard-core message or evangelising," he said.

Mr Simpson said he was happy for students to be exposed to different cultural experiences, likening Exo days to the indigenous event NAIDOC.

However, a number of public school teachers said students had complained about evangelism.

A spokeswoman for the Federation of Parents and Citizens' Association said religious recruitment in schools was inappropriate. "We need to ensure that children when they go to school aren't exposed to discreet evangelism," she said.

Related:

Hillsong hits schools with beauty gospel
EVERY Tuesday afternoon during the first term at Matraville Sports High School, a group of young women take part in classes intended to boost their self-esteem. Some have personal problems, others have behavioural issues, while a few simply go because their friends do.

Public schools allowing Christian sex ed
The Greens say the New South Wales Government needs to better control which groups have access to public school classrooms. It has emerged that a Christian church-backed program is being taught as part of regular curriculum in some NSW schools.

Mayo vote environmental message - Greens

The Greens candidate for Mayo, Lynton Vonow, says the weekend poll in the Adelaide Hills-based electorate has sent a strong message to the major political parties.

Mr Vonow trails Liberal candidate Jamie Briggs by 3,265 votes on a two-party preferred basis.

There has been a 10.5 per cent swing away from the Liberals and Labor did not contest the poll, needed because of the retirement from politics of former foreign minister Alexander Downer.

Mr Vonow says the Liberals and Labor should treat the vote as a wake-up call.

"Not to take seats for granted and not to see this as business as usual," he said.

"The people of Mayo are recognising that the Greens are here.

"They're liking what they're seeing. They're liking that we're sticking up for the environment and they're recognising that the environment is of major concern and a priority."

The Liberals have claimed victory in the by-election but the Greens are not conceding until all votes have been counted.

Mr Briggs says water concerns will be a priority for him.

"There are big issues, nothing bigger than the river [Murray] and the lower lakes so I know the depth of feeling in the electorate about the river and I'm very keen to get into Federal Parliament and do the best I can to represent that issue," he said.

Voters give WA Greens record vote

Giz Watson says the result demonstrates community concern about the environment.

WA Greens MP Giz Watson says she is very pleased with the party's record success at the poll.

The Greens look set to receive about 11 or 12 per cent of the vote, which is about 5 per cent more than the last election, and should give them between 3 and 5 upper house seats.

Ms Watson says the result demonstrates the level of community concern about environmental issues.

"Climate change is an issue that people are very concerned about," she said.

"We ran very strongly on the looking for solutions in action on climate change, I think that's what people voted for us to do."

Native forests should be part of the solution

The Greens leader Bob Brown says lifting Australia's reserves of native forests should be part of the Federal Government's solution to climate change.

The Government's climate change adviser, Ross Garnaut, has suggested the concept known as biosequestration be boosted in Australia.

Professor Garnaut will release the next stage of his economic modelling into climate change tomorrow.

Senator Brown says ending the destruction of Australia's native forests and woodlands could reduce greenhouse output by 24 per cent.

"It is hugely prospective. Probably much more cost efficient and also has potential excellent job and economic spin-offs in Australia," he said.

"Our job is to get some of the old thinking in the old parties seeing the advantage that there is."

Arctic melt heralds more cyclones and floods: expert

There are more signs of rapid climate change in the Arctic.

Researchers say five ice shelves along Ellesmere Island in Canada's far-north have shrunk by 23 per cent this summer alone.

The shelves once covered an area of more than 5,000 square kilometres but now they are barely 10 per cent of that.

Warwick Vincent of the centre for northern studies at Quebec's Laval University describes the impact of the melting this year as staggering.

He says climate models suggest the most severe changes will take place in the highest northern latitudes, as a starting point for more substantial changes throughout the rest of the planet.

That means more hurricanes, cyclones and floods.

Greens introduce junk food ad ban bill

The Greens have introduced a bill in the Senate to ban junk food advertisements on television during peak children viewing times.

Greens leader Bob Brown says he wants to tackle childhood obesity by ending the multi-million dollar campaign by junk food companies to target children.

The Public Health Association and Cancer Council supports the bill, saying it is an important way to protect the health of children.

The council says the bill deserves bipartisan support.

Voters urged to write 'no sale' on ballots

The Greens say they will try to make this month's local government elections a referendum on the sale of the state's electricity retailers.

John Kaye says the Greens are urging people who oppose the plan to write 'no sale' on their ballot paper at the council elections in two weeks.

He says the Greens have written to the NSW Electoral Commissioner to ensure the ballots will be counted.

"We will have scrutineers in almost every polling booth in NSW who'll be counting this," he said.

"We'll be sending a strong message after the election to the Iemma Government that they are absolutely standing to loose out badly if they don't back off on privatisation."

Greens to amend Stolen Gen comp bill

The Australian Greens' spokeswoman for Indigenous issues says the party will be amending and re-introducing a Stolen Generations compensation bill to the Senate before the end of the year.

Senator Rachel Siewert says the previous bill, introduced by former Democrat senator Andrew Bartlett, included a cap on the amount of reparations awarded, which the Greens Party has scrapped from the amendment.

Earlier this year a Senate committee called for the Federal Government to set up a National Indigenous Healing Fund to provide services for the Stolen Generations.

Ms Siewert says there is room for both a healing fund and compensation.

"We think that there needs to be financial reparations," she said.

"That's what the Bringing Them Home report said and that's what we will be continuing to support, or re-introduce into the Senate, in an amended bill that provides for financial compensation to the Stolen Generations.

"The different states have various packages available for some forms of compensation but it is very limited and there is a great deal of criticism around it.

"There needs to be an approach by the Commonwealth and very definitely, obviously, the Northern Territory needs to be specifically dealt with by the Commonwealth."

Related:

Aboriginal coalition gives Govt health petition
A coalition of human rights, health and Aboriginal groups has presented the Government with a set of targets it says are necessary to improve the life expectancy of Indigenous Australians.

Aborigines want end to NT intervention
Thousands of Aborigines are petitioning to have the Northern Territory intervention abandoned.

Constitutional recognition for Arnhem Land
An Indigenous leader has asked Mr Rudd to recognise the rights of the people of Arnhem Land and has also called for full control of the land and waters.

Govt moves to take native title claims out of the courts
Lengthy court battles over native title claims could be done away with if the Commonwealth, state and territory governments have their way.

New NT laws: 'more Aboriginal people jailed'
The Australian Council for Civil Liberties says more Aboriginal people will go to jail under proposed mandatory sentencing laws in the Northern Territory.

NAIDOC week to focus on Indigenous inequalities
A series of events to mark the contribution of Australia's Indigenous people will be held across the country this week.

Income management extended for NT
Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin has announced income management will be extended for up to a year in four Northern Territory Aboriginal communities.

Intervention delivering 'empty shipping containers, no houses'
A member of the Maningrida community in the Northern Territory's Arnhem Land says he cannot see any infrastructure changes as a result of the emergency intervention, and wants to know where the money has been spent.

Abandon NT intervention: Commissioner
The Northern Territory's Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Tony Fitzgerald says the Federal intervention into remote Aboriginal communities should be abandoned and the legislation underpinning it should be repealed.

Stolen generation compensation ruled out
A FEDERAL parliamentary committee has recommended a "healing" fund be set up to help members of the stolen generations, but knocked back the suggestion of compensation payments.

Budget to roll out new welfare card
Welfare plan: The new card will be initially rolled out in NT Indigenous communities. The Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) says the Rudd Government's proposed welfare debit card is not the best way to help struggling families.

Racism to blame' for Aboriginal health problems
The Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTAR) group says racism is directly to blame for many health problems in the Aboriginal community.

Police cannot cope with backlash
Chief Minister, Paul Henderson, has warned the Federal Government that many indigenous people displaced by the emergency intervention are creating unrest and straining police capacity.

2020 Indigenous youth delegate calls for national body
An Indigenous youth representative at this weekend's 2020 summit says a new national Aboriginal body should be created to avoid some of the add-hoc policies surrounding the federal intervention.

Call for new indigenous body
Former ATSIC Commissioner Klynton Wanganeen says he will raise the idea of a new national body to represent indigenous communities at the 2020 Summit.

Roxon signs off on Indigenous health pledges
Indigenous Australians will have access to the same health services as the rest of the population by 2018, under a Federal Government plan.

Discrimination Act should apply to intervention: Calma
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner wants the Racial Discrimination Act immediately reinstated in the Northern Territory's Indigenous communities.

Porn ban in Indigenous communities 'racist'
The Australian National Adult Retail Association (Eros) says the Federal Government's ban on X-rated pornography in Aboriginal communities is pointless, racist and should be revoked.

Retailers' warning on welfare card shop spies
EMPLOYEES across the country will be at risk of entrapment by government "spies", retailers have warned, under a Federal Government proposal to control fraudulent use of a new welfare debit card.

Union urges PM to act on Stolen Generations promise
The Australian Education Union (AEU) wants the Federal Government to follow Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's apology to the Stolen Generations with a significant funding boost for Indigenous education in the Northern Territory.

Union calls for $2.9b to fund education shortfall
The Education Union is calling on the Federal Government to provide an extra $2.9 billion in funding for public schools

Govt, union defend remote community schooling
The Centre for Independent Studies says Aboriginal students in the Northern Territory are finishing school with the numeracy and literacy skills of five-year-olds.

Aboriginal delegation heads to UN
The National Aboriginal Alliance is taking its concerns about the Northern Territory intervention to the United Nations

Indigenous welfare quarantine scheme gets go ahead
Parents in four Cape York Indigenous communities could soon have their welfare payments quarantined if they do not take care of their children and homes and do not stay out of trouble with the law.

Union urges PM to act on Stolen Generations promise
The Australian Education Union (AEU) wants the Federal Government to follow Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's apology to the Stolen Generations with a significant funding boost for Indigenous education in the Northern Territory.

Aboriginal inmates '22pc and rising' of prison population
The Cooperative Research Centre for Aboriginal Health says new research is urgently needed to address the worsening rate of Indigenous incarceration.

Greens to work 'constructively' on emissions scheme

Greens leader Bob Brown says his party will not put any pre-conditions on negotiations with the Federal Government on its emissions trading scheme.

Federal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson has repeated today that the Coalition will not back the Government's preferred start-up date for the scheme of 2010.

Senator Brown says Dr Nelson is ignoring the fact that the scheme will be more expensive the longer it is delayed.

The Greens leader says while the Greens have firm policies on what targets should be set to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, they will work constructively with the Government in the Senate.

"The Greens have made it clear what we think the target should be, and of all the parties we're being constructive in saying what the answers should be," he said.

"But we will be negotiating with the Government and trying to get better outcomes.

"You don't get better outcomes by simply putting it off for a few more years."

Greens: Tougher ETS in Senate

Greens Leader Bob Brown has vowed to use his party's new power in the Senate to push for a tough emissions trading scheme (ETS).

The Greens now share the balance of power in the Upper House and Senator Brown says he will use his vote to force stronger action on climate change.

The Federal Government supports cutting greenhouse emissions to 60 per cent of the 2000 levels by 2050, but has not yet revealed what interim targets it will have.

Senator Brown says if the Federal Government fails to commit to deep cuts, he will move to change the legislation in the Senate.

"That requires a rigorous and comprehensive scheme which not only lowers Australia's 1990 pollution levels by 40 per cent by 2020 but which also turns down the growing rate of emissions by 2015 - seven years away," he said.

Related:

Govt releases 'disturbing' drought report
"When it comes to exceptional or extreme drought, exceptionally high temperatures, the historical assumption that this occurred once every 20 years has now been revised down to between every one and two years," he said.

Greens urge swift response to Garnaut draft
The Greens say the Federal Government can not be worried about electoral popularity and must move quickly when it responds to economist Ross Garnaut's draft report on climate change.

“Global Disruption” More Accurately Describes Climate Change, Not “Global Warming”–Leading Scientist John Holdren Leading scientist John Holdren says “global warming” is not the correct term to use; he prefers “global disruption.” “‘Global warming’ [is] misleading. It implies something that’s mainly about temperature, that’s gradual, and that’s uniform across the planet,” says Holdren. “In fact, temperature is only one of the things that’s changing. It’s a sort of an index of the state of the climate. The whole climate is changing: the winds, the ocean currents, the storm patterns, snow packs, snowmelt, flooding, droughts. Temperature is just a bit of it.”

Losing Ground 1/3 -Shishmaref, Alaska- You Tube Video - The foottage depicts an Alaskan native village of Shishimaref on a small island. The island is at risk of being eroded by ocean wave due to the global warming [Climate-Change]. This film consists of a series of interviews with the native people in the village and scenes of their lives. Directed by Japanese photographer Ryota Kajita.

Greenpeace protesters shut power station
Eight Greenpeace protestors have chained themselves to a coal conveyor belt at Erarang Power Station on the Central Coast, shutting it down in protest against climate change.

Climate change fight needs political ardour: Greenpeace
Greenpeace says the only thing Australia lacks in the fight against climate change is political will.

Leaving petrol off emissions trading scheme 'dangerous'
The Greens say any moves to leave petrol out of the Federal Government's emissions trading scheme will render it ineffective.

Aust's ecological footprint one of biggest in world: index
The annual Climate Living Index, which measures humanity's demand on natural resources, has listed Australia's ecological footprint as one of the biggest in the world.

Climate change hot topic at youth 2020 summits
More than 500 schools held talks during the past month ahead of the Federal Government's Youth Summit in Canberra this weekend. Ms Gillard says she is not surprised the environment is the number one concern of many children.

Greenpeace to give Treasurer carbon capture petition
A petition with 30,000 signatures will today be handed to the Federal Treasurer's office urging the Government to abandon its investment in carbon capture and storage.

Greens call for Royal Commission: NSW development

The New South Wales Greens say new concerns about the ICAC investigation into Wollongong Council are valid, after comments by standover man Ray Younan.

Mr Younan has said he had sources inside the ICAC team, who leaked sensitive information to him before the scandal was made public.

Mr Younan is currently living in Lebanon after he failed to appear before the inquiry in February. A warrant for his arrest has been issued.

Greens MP Sylvia Hale says her party's concerns will not be alleviated until there is a Royal Commission into the development process both in Wollongong and across New South Wales.

"I think there's been a failure to follow up on the activities of a number of people who have been persons of interest in the community but whose ... involvement in corrupt activities has not been properly investigated or brought to light," she said.

Greens urge swift response to Garnaut draft

Professor Ross Garnaut will hand down his draft report on an emissions trading scheme today.

The Greens say the Federal Government can not be worried about electoral popularity and must move quickly when it responds to economist Ross Garnaut's draft report on climate change.

Professor Garnaut hands down his draft report today on an emissions trading scheme that would mean a massive reshaping of the Australian economy.

The Government wants to cut greenhouse emissions by 60 per cent by 2050. Professor Garnaut proposes putting a cap on emissions and then trading permits for those generating them.

How the permits are allocated - either auctioned or given away is a key question - another is how ambitious the scheme should be.

It will be be more expensive if the target is to make deeper cuts and achieve them more quickly.

Professor Garnaut will discuss options for compensating households who will face higher electricity and other costs.

He will also touch on ways to ensure that the system protects areas most sensitive to the change like the coal producing regions.

Professor Garnaut will hold forums around Australia in the next few weeks and the Government will release a discussion paper later this month.

The Greens say there is no time to waste on the issue and Senator Christine Milne warns against a gentle introduction.

She says she is worried the Government will want a low carbon price for the start of the scheme, to ease the community into the changes.

"We don't have time for that, if you want to be a leader on climate change, you must set a high target," she said.

"This emissions trading scheme must be broadly based, rigorous, and at the start up be serious about reducing emissions, not have one eye at the outcome of the 2010 election."

"The worst thing that could happen would be a slow start based on Kyoto targets which would mean that we would [have] virtually no reduction in emissions in the first few years," she said.

"For the scheme to work it has to be as broadly based as possible so it must include the transport sector and hence fuel."

But the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said he will not be deterred by a scare campaign.

"This will be a tough decision we recognise that and we won't be walking away from it," he said.

The Opposition is calling for a cautious response to the draft report with resources spokesman David Johnson saying it will be a much bigger change than the GST was.

"The processing of fruit and vegetables requires energy and transport, now there's just a huge knock on effect here," he said.

"A very, very significant bottom line budget threatening compensation package for ordinary Australians is going to be required."

Australia must lead climate fight AUSTRALIA will suffer more from climate change than any other developed nation and must take the lead in global action to tackle the problem, Professor Ross Garnaut will argue in his report today.

The report, commissioned by the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, is designed to illuminate the costs of inaction. It is expected to find that global warming is proceeding faster than projected, and that doing nothing will be far more costly than expected.

Like the report by Britain's Sir Nicholas Stern, the Garnaut research is designed to raise public awareness. It is the first of several documents that will enable the Government to design systems to cut emissions.

The Opposition is arguing that Australia should not cut emissions before other countries because this would needlessly punish households and industry.

But Professor Garnaut's report will make a strong case for Australia to be at the forefront of international action to reduce emissions from carbon-based fuels and to stem the felling of carbon-absorbing trees.

Professor Garnaut, an economist from the Australian National University, will list three reasons why Australia will suffer more than any other rich economy.

First, because Australia is hotter and drier, small variations in temperature will have a bigger effect.

Second, because Australia is in a region that contains some of the most vulnerable, poor countries in the world, such as Indonesia and the small states of the South Pacific, it can expect to be affected by their problems.

Third, because the structure of the economy means that export prices will be punished severely by the climate-related slowdown in poor countries.

And the Garnaut report is expected to make the case for Australia to act urgently, even if big developing nations such as China and India do not.

Inaction would in effect be a veto on action by poor nations, Professor Garnaut argues.

The reason is that the existing global framework for dealing with climate change, the Kyoto Protocol, enshrines the principle that developed countries must move first. There can be no real progress in having developing countries make binding commitments to cut emissions until developed nations do the same, the report will argue.

"The task is to make it clear that the developed countries have gone beyond blocking," Professor Garnaut has said previously.

Sir Nicholas has expressed disappointment that the media has focused on a single number in his report, published in October, that the effects of climate change could cut economic output by 20 per cent a year from current levels by 2050 if no action was taken.

Professor Garnaut will go to lengths to emphasise that there are four categories of likely damage to the economy.

Today's report, a draft whose final version is due in September, will quantify only one of these, the conventional macroeconomic cost that can be estimated by economic modelling.

The second category will be the effect on particular aspects of the country. For example, Professor Garnaut has commissioned research into the medical consequences of climate change, including deaths from heat stress.

The third category will be the cost of mitigating the effects of global warming.

The fourth will be a survey of how climate change affects things Australians value for more than just economic reasons - the bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef, the inundation of the Kakadu wetlands, and the loss of the West Australian karri forests, for instance.

NSW falls behind on cutting emissions
NSW is performing poorly in its greenhouse gas reduction program and is on track to miss its own targets, according to leaked cabinet documents.

The state is relying heavily on the introduction of the Federal Government's emission trading scheme to cut its carbon emissions 60per cent by the middle of the century.

The documents, prepared for cabinet by the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change, say the Government may have to introduce more modest plans.

"Current projections indicate we will exceed the 2025 target by at least [20 million tonnes of greenhouse gases] and stronger national and state strategies are needed," the documents say.

They signal that the Government's climate change policy will shift from large-scale greenhouse gas abatement and focus more closely on energy efficiency.

NSW had planned to stabilise carbon emissions at 155 million tonnes a year by 2025 and to reduce them to 62 million tonnes by 2050.

The documents say some areas of the state's approach to climate change were showing "solid progress" but acknowledged the national emissions scheme would be the "dominant abatement instrument".

Of the five main areas identified for attention in the cabinet documents, none deal with the mining and burning of coal, which contributes close to 40 per cent of the total carbon emissions for NSW.

"On the day the Garnaut draft report on climate change is due these documents signal that the NSW Government must fundamentally lift its game," said the Greens MLC Lee Rhiannon.

"These documents show how behind closed doors Premier Iemma has given up on climate change and is pinning his hopes on the Federal Government to make the hard decisions."

The State Government agreed it was relying on a national emissions trading scheme, the broad form of which is to be unveiled within days by the federal Minister for Climate Change, Penny Wong, to produce the big cuts.

The federal scheme will put a cap on total greenhouse gas pollution and penalise industries that release more than their allocated amount of carbon into the atmosphere.

But the NSW Minister for Climate Change, Verity Firth, said targets were set in 2005 in the knowledge that emissions trading was coming soon.

"We've always recognised that a national emissions trading scheme is the best way to make deep cuts to our emissions," she said. "During the wilderness years of inaction and denial by the Howard government, NSW filled the void and led the other states in developing a national emissions trading scheme."

Ms Firth said the state's GGAS scheme - a limited form of emissions trading in the electricity sector - had positioned NSW as a world leader in combating climate change.

"We set these targets in 2005 in the knowledge that we would need an emissions trading scheme to reach them - whether run by the Commonwealth or jointly by the states," she said.

Ms Firth pointed to the state's $150 million energy efficiency strategy, the Climate Change Fund, a government commitment to make its own operations carbon neutral by 2020, and some incentives for the development of renewable energy, as proof of its commitment to act.

Related:

“Global Disruption” More Accurately Describes Climate Change, Not “Global Warming”–Leading Scientist John Holdren Leading scientist John Holdren says “global warming” is not the correct term to use; he prefers “global disruption.” “‘Global warming’ [is] misleading. It implies something that’s mainly about temperature, that’s gradual, and that’s uniform across the planet,” says Holdren. “In fact, temperature is only one of the things that’s changing. It’s a sort of an index of the state of the climate. The whole climate is changing: the winds, the ocean currents, the storm patterns, snow packs, snowmelt, flooding, droughts. Temperature is just a bit of it.”

Losing Ground 1/3 -Shishmaref, Alaska- You Tube Video - The foottage depicts an Alaskan native village of Shishimaref on a small island. The island is at risk of being eroded by ocean wave due to the global warming [Climate-Change]. This film consists of a series of interviews with the native people in the village and scenes of their lives. Directed by Japanese photographer Ryota Kajita.

Greenpeace protesters shut power station
Eight Greenpeace protestors have chained themselves to a coal conveyor belt at Erarang Power Station on the Central Coast, shutting it down in protest against climate change.

Climate change fight needs political ardour: Greenpeace
Greenpeace says the only thing Australia lacks in the fight against climate change is political will.

Leaving petrol off emissions trading scheme 'dangerous'
The Greens say any moves to leave petrol out of the Federal Government's emissions trading scheme will render it ineffective.

Aust's ecological footprint one of biggest in world: index
The annual Climate Living Index, which measures humanity's demand on natural resources, has listed Australia's ecological footprint as one of the biggest in the world.

Climate change hot topic at youth 2020 summits
More than 500 schools held talks during the past month ahead of the Federal Government's Youth Summit in Canberra this weekend. Ms Gillard says she is not surprised the environment is the number one concern of many children.

Greenpeace to give Treasurer carbon capture petition
A petition with 30,000 signatures will today be handed to the Federal Treasurer's office urging the Government to abandon its investment in carbon capture and storage.

Youth Day laws 'undermine basic rights'

The New South Wales Bar Association says new regulations for World Youth Day undermine basic rights and are an affront to freedom of speech.

Under the new regulations, people who refuse to stop engaging in conduct that causes annoyance or inconvenience to pilgrims can be arrested and fined up to $5,500.

The same provision did not apply during last year's APEC Summit in Sydney.

The association says the terms are too vague and the penalties are excessive.

It says if existing laws are considered sufficient to regulate conduct at events like the Mardi Gras or the Rugby World Cup, they should be good enough to cover World Youth Day.

The Bar Association has also accused the Government of avoiding public scrutiny by creating a criminal offence by regulation, rather than making it an Act of Parliament.

It says the NSW Government is trying to restrict freedom of speech.

Association president Anna Katzmann SC says the laws are ridiculous because any person displaying opposition to the event could be affected.

"If I were to wear a t-shirt proclaiming that World Youth Day is a waste of public money in a World Youth Day-declared area, and I refuse to remove it when an officer, an authorised officer of the Rural Fire Service asks me to do so, then I'm potentially committing a criminal offence," she said.

The Greens say the powers aim to shut down protests and provide a sanitised view of Sydney.

Greens MP Lee Rhiannon says the definition of causing annoyance is open to interpretation and the subsequent penalties are excessive.

"If somebody exposes themself to a World Youth Day participant they face a fine of $1,100, but if they wear an anti-Catholic t-shirt, the fine could be $5,500," she said.

But Deputy Police Commissioner Dave Owens says officers will act reasonably in determining what is offensive.

"Police officers do it every day of the week," he said.

"As I've said, they have a discretion. We're not the fashion police, we're not kill-joys."

World Youth Day spokesman Father Mark Podesta rejected suggestions the Catholic Church requested the special powers.

New Senate will be unstable: Democrats

Outgoing Democrats Senator Natasha Stott Despoja says federal parliament's upper house after July 1 will be a very unstable place and there is a "hard, long road" of compromise ahead for the Rudd government.

The Greens, Family First's Steve Fielding and anti-pokies campaigner Nick Xenophon will hold the balance of power, ending the coalition's three-year control of the Senate.

Senator Stott Despoja said people had better get used to the situation.

"The government's going to have to bargain, and negotiate, and compromise, and do deals with the cross bench senators," she told reporters.

"Welcome to a very unstable place. Certainly after July 1, any one senator can kill a bill, or kill a government policy."

Senator Stott Despoja said balance-of-power situations in the past had worked well, especially when the Democrats held that balance.

But without the Democrats it was hard to predict what would happen.

"I suspect that some legislation will be held up.

"I'm sure some things will be blocked, but I can see a hard, long road of negotiation and compromise ahead for this government.

"My message today is ... who knows what the future holds?"

All four Democrats senators are leaving parliament at the end of this week after the party failed to win a seat at the November federal election.

But the Democrats are planning a comeback in a different guise, forming a new political entity with other minor parties.

Carbon sink tax bill 'seriously flawed'

There were extraordinary scenes in the Senate last night as the Greens combined with the Nationals and the Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan to attack part of a tax bill.

It was originally drafted by the previous Coalition government and has been reintroduced by Labor.

It gives a full tax deduction for the cost of planting forests as carbon sinks.

But Senator Heffernan, the Nationals and the Greens argued passionately in the Senate last night that it is flawed.

Senator Heffernan says the bill does not stop the trees being cut down or allowed to die within a year.

"There is absolutely no way in this legislation that you can prevent me from planting these trees and the year after I collect the tax deduction - me ploughing them in," he said.

"It is a national disgrace if we allow this Parliament to pass this legislation in the full knowledge that it is completely and fundamentally flawed."

Greens Senator Bob Brown agrees the bill is seriously flawed.

Nationals Senator Barnaby Jocye has called it a load of rubbish.

"Its very rare - to be honest - I would agree with the Greens but tonight's going to be one of those nights," Senator Joyce said.

But Government Senator Stephen Conroy says the bill was initially brought in by the previous Government.

"To be muttering up the back about what an evil plot this is - its your bill," he said.

The senators do not deny that they are negotiating on ways to to fix the problems they have complained about.

The Coalition is understood to be discussing technical aspects of how to do that.

Radiation checks lessened at mine: Greens

The Greens say standards for radiation monitoring at the Olympic Dam mine owned by BHP Billiton have been watered down by the South Australian Government.

SA Greens MP Mark Parnell says documents he has obtained under freedom of information raise serious concerns about how often testing for radiation occurs at the mine in outback SA.

He says reports provided to the Environment Protection Authority by BHP Billiton lack detail about radiation exposure for people working in areas of the uranium and copper mine where the risk is highest.

Mr Parnell says tougher reporting standards are needed.

"Our criticism here is of the Government because it's the Government that sets the standards for radiation monitoring," he said.

"BHP Billiton will only do what the Government makes them do. If the Government waters down the standards then it's their responsibility if workers are being put at risk."