Woodside faces shareholder rebuke to climate plan
Jonathan Barrett
Woodside Energy is bracing for an investor-led backlash of its climate credentials at its annual general meeting in Perth today, after several major shareholders disclosed they would vote against its emissions plans.
Critics have described Woodside’s strategy as overly reliant on offsets and not aligned with Paris climate agreements, even after it revamped its policies before this year’s AGM.
The country’s biggest oil and gas producer has also been criticised for pursuing plans to develop new fields, representing an expansion in fossil fuel production at a time opponents say the sector must rein in emissions.
Two years ago, a thin majority of votes were cast in the oil and gas company’s favour for its climate report.
Some of that support appears to have evaporated, leaving the climate report at risk of being voted down today. If that occurs, it would show Woodside has lost the majority support of shareholders for its climate plans, opening the way for investors to demand radical changes to its emissions plans.
Agitators are also vying to stop the re-election of Richard Goyder as chairman as a protest over his climate leadership.
Will van de Pol, the chief executive of climate activist group Market Forces, said Woodside was “steaming ahead with dangerous gas growth”.
All investors including super funds need to hold Woodside’s leadership to account over plans to ramp up emissions that would fuel devastating climate impacts.
Woodside has consistently argued that Australia needs new gas developments to protect against an energy shock and to be used as an alternative to coal for electricity generation.
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New South Wales falling behind on emissions reduction targets
Peter Hannam
NSW provides annual emissions figures, and the latest batch for 2023 show Australia’s most populated state is tracking further from its 2030 and 2035 reduction goals than a year earlier.
As the government itself concedes, “NSW is no longer on track for 56% abatement in 2030; the state is now on track for 44%-50% abatement by 2030”.
Similarly, for our 2035 target, NSW is now on track for 65%-70% abatement in 2035 compared to 70% suggested by the previous modelling.
Increased demand for electricity has nudged up emissions from that sector (even after the Liddell coal-fired power plant shut a year ago). Agriculture emissions also rose as crop and livestock activity increased, while carbon pollution from the buildings and manufacturing sector also lifted.
As for positive shifts, the take-up of electric vehicles has been faster than expected. The federal safeguard mechanism too should start reducing industrial emissions and there had been “an increased investment in offsets” in the land sector. (The latter will not be seen as a plus in some quarters – if those offsets turn out to be a chimera.)
Sydney University ‘carefully monitoring’ pro-Palestine protest at quadrangle
Sydney University says it is “carefully monitoring” a pro-Palestine encampment protest established at the quadrangle last night, and as a university its “role is to serve as a forum for debate and discussion”.
We reported on the protest earlier in the blog, which you can read here.
In a statement, a spokesperson from the university said:
We’re aware of a gathering at our Quadrangle and are carefully monitoring in line with our crowd management protocols to ensure a safe environment for all events including protests.
A wide range of views and perspectives exist among our community, and we strongly believe that as a university our role is to serve as a forum for debate and discussion in line with our Charter of Academic Freedom and Freedom of Speech.
While we remain absolutely committed to freedom of speech and academic freedom during this troubling time we have zero tolerance for any form of racism, threats to safety, hate speech, intimidation, threatening speech, bullying or unlawful harassment, including antisemitic or anti-Muslim language or behaviour.
Natasha May
Healthcare productivity up 3% due to improvements in quality
Improvements in the quality of healthcare – not reductions in cost, were the big drivers of productivity in the sector – new research from the Productivity Commission has found.
Productivity grew by about 3% per year between 2011-12 and 2017-18, bringing Australia’s healthcare productivity to rank third out of 28 high income countries, the research found.
It’s the first time the quality of healthcare – looking at the outcomes of the system – has been considered in an assessment of productivity, which the commissioner, Catherine de Fontenay, said provided a “much truer picture of its productivity.”
A healthcare system that gets people in and out of hospital quickly and cheaply isn’t much good if those patients aren’t getting better.
Productivity growth was particularly strong for the treatment of cancers, likely due to the introduction of new cancer therapies in the 2010s.
De Fontenay said the growing cost of healthcare was still a concern, with a need to reduce costs without compromising quality as the population ages.
The report recommended that reducing risk factors such as obesity and alcohol consumption would help reduce the workload of the health sector.
Animals alliance urging government to legislate date to phase out live sheep exports
The Australian Alliance for Animals is urging the federal government to announce its plan for phasing out the live sheep export, nearly six months after an independent panel passed down its report.
Alliance spokesperson Dr Jed Goodfellow said stakeholders were desperately seeking certainty and want the government to legislate an end date for the live trade, and also allocate funds for the industry to transition to chilled meat exports.
The government has had six months now to analyse the details of the independent panel’s report and we know that the longer the phase out is delayed, the more animals will suffer unnecessarily as they’re sent into the stifling conditions of the Middle East and slaughtered without stunning.
The Labor party has promised to phase out the trade without delay at the last two federal elections, so it’s past time they delivered on their commitment.
Woodside faces shareholder rebuke to climate plan
Jonathan Barrett
Woodside Energy is bracing for an investor-led backlash of its climate credentials at its annual general meeting in Perth today, after several major shareholders disclosed they would vote against its emissions plans.
Critics have described Woodside’s strategy as overly reliant on offsets and not aligned with Paris climate agreements, even after it revamped its policies before this year’s AGM.
The country’s biggest oil and gas producer has also been criticised for pursuing plans to develop new fields, representing an expansion in fossil fuel production at a time opponents say the sector must rein in emissions.
Two years ago, a thin majority of votes were cast in the oil and gas company’s favour for its climate report.
Some of that support appears to have evaporated, leaving the climate report at risk of being voted down today. If that occurs, it would show Woodside has lost the majority support of shareholders for its climate plans, opening the way for investors to demand radical changes to its emissions plans.
Agitators are also vying to stop the re-election of Richard Goyder as chairman as a protest over his climate leadership.
Will van de Pol, the chief executive of climate activist group Market Forces, said Woodside was “steaming ahead with dangerous gas growth”.
All investors including super funds need to hold Woodside’s leadership to account over plans to ramp up emissions that would fuel devastating climate impacts.
Woodside has consistently argued that Australia needs new gas developments to protect against an energy shock and to be used as an alternative to coal for electricity generation.
Forbes mayor says women in regional and rural NSW are ‘not safe’
The mayor of Forbes shire, Phyllis Miller, said her grandchildren attended the childcare centre where 28-year-old Molly Ticehurst worked and that the entire community is feeling devastated by her death.
Daniel Billings has been charged with the domestic violence murder of Ticehurst while he was on bail for rape and stalking charges against her.
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, the local mayor said Ticehurst knew a lot of families and children through the community because of her job:
It is not only her family and adults in this town that are hurting, it’s also children that she cared for. It’s a very, very sad time for the community of Forbes …
My grandchildren actually go to that child care centre, so I had to take them very quickly on Monday morning, because of what happened. I think there’s a lot of families who had to do the same thing. For parents to have to go and tell their little children their carer and child care worker has died is a very big thing.
Miller said she would “absolutely” support reform around the state’s bail laws, stating she is “sick of hearing about women that are not safe”.
It is not safe for women to live in rural and regional NSW. We are not safe. We cannot hide like you can in the metropolitan areas. Everybody knows everyone and they know where everyone is. So we are not safe, and I’m determined to make us safe.
Chris Minns expected to announce review into state’s bail laws
New South Wales premier Chris Minns is expected to announce a review into the state’s bail laws.
This comes as Daniel Billings has been charged with the domestic violence murder of 28-year-old Molly Ticehurst while on bail for rape and stalking charges against her.
Minns said in a statement yesterday:
A family has lost their daughter, and a little boy has lost his mother… Details of a review are being finalised and will be announced on Wednesday.
Federal minister for women Katy Gallagher told ABC News Breakfast today she hasn’t heard the details of what the premier is proposing. Speaking generally, she said:
I certainly support governments doing everything they can to keep women safe…
There’s still women who either lose their lives or are violently assaulted, or stalked, or harassed, or have coercive control placed on them, even when they have left relationships and done everything they can to keep themselves and their children safe. We must look at all ways we support and keep women safe in this country.
Laws are part of it. But as I said before, it goes much deeper than that.
Aboriginal community filled with ‘mixed emotions’ as four spears returned to traditional owners
The La Perouse Aboriginal community says it is a “long time coming” for spears stolen by Captain Cook to be returned to traditional owners.
As AAP reported yesterday: British soldiers took 40 spears from Aboriginal camps at Kamay/Botany Bay when James Cook and his crew first made contact in 1770. Only four remain and they had been kept at the University of Cambridge – until yesterday.
Dharawal man Michael Ingrey told ABC News Breakfast the community had been advocating for the spears to be returned for decades and this has been “a long time coming”.
The emotions are mixed. It’s great to have our objects back – not only for our community, but the wider Australian community to witness something that’s been preserved. But it’s also significant that a lot of the old people that started the campaign aren’t with us anymore to see their hard work and labour come to fruition.
Ingrey hopes the federal and state governments will work with the community to establish a facility on country to house the spears – both for traditional owners, and to educate the wider public.
Here is our report on plans for the spears to be returned, from last year:
More cops in Queensland amid uptick in recruitment
Queensland policing stock is set to be boosted by an additional 900 officers as the state government continues its crackdown on crime, AAP reports.
The government has announced 500 extra sworn officers and 400 unsworn officers into the state’s police service.
It comes on top of nearly 700 recruits undergoing training and more than 2,000 applicants in the pipeline, following a domestic and international advertising campaign.
The state’s police commissioner, Steve Gollschewski, who was sworn in on Monday, said the new personnel would “future-proof” the service and help keep pace with a growing population.
Despite the recruiting challenges being experienced in policing jurisdictions across Australia, the QPS is continuing to see a healthy pipeline of police recruit applicants.
The deputy premier, Cameron Dick, along with the assistant commissioner, Kevin Guteridge, are expected to announce funding boosts to frontline policing today.
UK barrister points to Australia’s ‘stop the boats’ campaign as country passes new legislation
In some international news: the UK government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda passed parliament yesterday, two years since it was first announced. The first flights could take off within days.
British barrister David Anderson spoke to ABC RN earlier this morning and was asked by host Patricia Karvelas if the legislation would achieve its stated aim to “stop the boats”.
Anderson said people in the UK have been looking towards Australia and its “perceived … success” around immigration law. He said:
Well, now [the legislation is] there, you’d like to hope that it will have some effect. People have been looking very much to Australia, what is perceived here as the success that you have had in stopping boats – rather a different situation.
Anderson also pointed to Alexander Downer – the former Australian foreign minister – being “very much part” of the Rwanda plan in the UK.
He’s part of the committee that is monitoring the safety of Rwanda.
The UK, especially its conservative political side, has a long history of holding up Australia’s immigration law as the gold standard. To learn more on Downer’s involvement in the Rwanda plan, you can read below:
NSW Health settle landmark $229.8m class action for underpayment of junior doctors
NSW Health has resolved a landmark class action brought on behalf of junior doctors alleging underpayments.
The settlement of $229.8m is the largest underpayment class action outcome in Australian legal history, according to a statement from Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, and more than 20,000 junior doctors across NSW are eligible to participate.
Dr Amireh Fakhouri, the lead plaintiff in the class action, said:
Our purpose in bringing this was to ensure junior doctors’ work was properly recognised. This was not about us asking for more money; it was simply about us being paid for the actual hours that we work.
I want to thank all my many colleagues who supported me in this case and especially those senior doctors within our hospitals who stood with us …
I am very pleased that NSW Health has resolved this action prior to trial. It is in everyone’s interests that doctors spend their time treating patients rather than in the courts.
Fakhouri is represented by Maurice Blackburn lawyers and Hayden Stephens & Associates. Hayden Stephens said the landmark settlement “represents a seismic shift in the way junior doctors are treated in their workplace”.
The settlement is subject to court approval. Subject to approval, the process for assessing claims of eligible former and current junior doctors will commence late this year, a statement said.
Rowland discusses end-to-end encryption ahead of Asio boss’ speech today
As we flagged earlier, Asio director general Mike Burgess will use a major speech today to argue “privacy is important but not absolute”, while the AFP commissioner Reece Kershaw believes “there is no absolute right to privacy”.
Burgess has said Asio’s operations are being compromised by extremists using encrypted messaging. The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, was just asked if the government is considering more laws around this.
She told ABC RN:
We’re definitely concerned about this and it’s one in which we are engaging with regulators and governments around the world.
Rowland noted that, at the same time, there is the responsibility to maintain privacy. She received a briefing on this matter from Kershaw in the last few days, she said.
He has been very clear in terms of the industry needing to do more, and in terms of the agility – which is there within their forces – to be able to continue doing their jobs.
Online content proliferates ‘almost infinitely’ and can never be completely policed: Rowland
Michelle Rowland said the video of the Wakeley stabbing is the subject of so much attention, compared to other violent content online, because it is classified as “class one material”. She told ABC RN:
Class one depicts real violence. It has a very high degree of impact, [it’s] gratuitous and likely to cause offence to a reasonable person. In this case, the very high degree of impact is reached by virtue of the terrorism designation that has been given to this particular event.
In terms of other graphic content that exists online, Rowland said a review is ongoing into Australia’s classification scheme:
There’s also an inconsistency in the way content is treated in the online world and in the analogue world, as well. This harmonisation is one that’s long overdue. It’s also one that regulators are grappling with and it’s one that we are taking forward as part of not only our classification, but our online safety framework in order to ensure that it is fit for purpose.
Rowland acknowledged that the proliferation of online content is “almost infinite” and said:
There will never be a time when every piece of content is capable of being recorded or policed. But what we can do as governments and as regulators is ensure that we operate responsibly and collectively to keep people safe.
eSafety takedown notices target specific URLs, communications minister explains
ABC RN host Patricia Karvelas said the ABC had confirmed the video of the Wakeley stabbing attack was still on Facebook.
Communications minister Michelle Rowland said the takedown orders issued by the eSafety commissioner are “issued at a particular point in time regarding certain URLs, so they do change over time.”
That is why some viewers will see this content… That is part of the subject matter of the case concerning X right now.
Rowland said people should report any graphic content they see to esafety.gov.au, and to the platform itself.
Karvelas: It’s your view that Facebook is complying each time? So it’s kind of like whack-a-mole, isn’t it?
Rowland responded:
We know that people are viewing this content still because it is proliferating on other realms… The reason why it is capable of being disseminated at speed and scale, irrespective of the notices and the compliance to date that eSafety has noticed amongst other platforms, is because it continues to be shared.
Communications minister defends eSafety commissioner’s direction for X to remove content
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, has defended the eSafety commissioner’s direction for X to remove content related to the Wakeley stabbing.
Speaking to ABC RN this morning, Rowland said the eSafety commissioner was exercising their powers under Australian law and there is an expectation across the country that “all platforms, anyone who operates [here] will comply with those laws”.
And that is exactly what is being prosecuted in this instance.
Rowland said the next hearing is expected today. You can read a full explainer about the saga so far, below:
In a tweet, X boss Elon Musk had questioned whether the eSafety commissioner should “have authority over all countries on Earth?” Rowland responded and said this matter is about content subject to Australian law:
This is a matter that’s before the court so I am not going to engage in the substantive deliberations here, but the eSafety commissioner has exercised their powers in accordance with a law passed by our parliament. The expectation is that platforms will comply.
