Follow the Money: Government still ignoring climate reality

More than half a million Australians could be at risk from rising sea levels yet the Federal Government continues to approve new fossil fuel projects.

Australia’s first National Climate Risk Assessment makes for bleak reading with the Climate Council calling it a “horror story” and “the kind of bed-time reading that should keep Ministers up at night”.

Not only does it warn of more frequent and intense natural disasters, the report also forecasts significant increases in heat related deaths, acidifying oceans and a possible $600 billion wiped from property values nationwide by 2050.

“This report is a reminder, if we needed one ever, that the cost of inaction will always outweigh the cost of action,” said Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen.

However, the Australia Institute’s executive director, Dr Richard Denniss, isn’t buying the Government’s concern.

“The Australian Government is walking both sides of the street,” Dr Denniss said when he joined Ebony Bennett on The Australia Institute’s Follow the Money podcast.

“They’re saying: we’ll admit there’s these risks, look at this scary report, but when it comes to doing something about it, we’re not acting with any urgency at all.”

The report was released just days before the Albanese Government announced its “ambitious and achievable” 2035 emissions target: set at a range of 62% to 70% reduction on 2005 levels.

However, more tellingly, it was released days after the same government gave the final green light to a 45-year extension of the Woodside North West gas export terminal in Western Australia.

“Let’s be clear, they’ve ignored the science they’ve just commissioned, in approving new gas and coal mines,” said Dr Denniss.

“The houses of one and a half million Australians might be at risk.

“All sorts of people living in coastal areas are going to experience such regular flooding that what’s a safe place to live now will be unliveable again.”

Dr Denniss predicts there will be whole parts of Australia that insurance companies will refuse to cover which means bank won’t lend money to prospective homeowners.

“That’s one of the reasons the houses are going to collapse in value … no one’s going to be able to get a mortgage to buy them.”

It’s estimated the Woodside project will add around 90 million tons of emissions to the atmosphere annually: the equivalent of building 12 new coal fired power stations.

“For decades, the idea that we have to act for future generations has been a great excuse to not do anything right now,” Dr Denniss said.

“I think it’s only dawning on a whole bunch of people that this is not about helping your grandkids. If you’re 55 or younger, this is about you.

“For a 22-year-old we’re talking about the world they’ll inhabit at 45, so you can see why young people are far more concerned about climate change than the 60 year olds in Parliament.”

And yet the Government still spends $14 billion a year on fossil fuel subsidies.

Environment Minister Murray Watt said he considered “rigorous scientific advice” before approving the massive North West Shelf gas project to operate until 2070.

“In making this decision, I have imposed 48 strict conditions,” he said in a statement.

Dr Denniss said the Government is trying to assure people it cares about climate change while doing as little as possible in a bid to avoid a fight with the fossil fuel industry.

“Imagine if we tried to ban asbestos without making the asbestos industry sad.

“Here’s Australia trying to tackle climate change without making the gas and coal industry sad.”

He’s warned that the Government is much better at playing accounting games than decarbonising, and Australians won’t need a time machine to see and feel the brutality of climate change.

“These costs of climate change are going to hit before young people get their super, before young people pay off their houses. We’re not talking about future generations anymore. We’re talking about now.”