Key events
‘Absolutely crazy’: Hanson-Young calls on state governments to end native forest logging as talks intensify at biodiversity Cop
There’s also a push to commit countries to protecting 30% of the world’s lands and oceans by 2030 at the biodiversity Cop. The Albanese government made that target one of its election promises, but Sarah-Hanson Young says it’s not enough.
But the big question is what happens to that remaining 70%?
We need the framework and the rules and the regulations, and the commitment to making sure that that remaining 70% of the world’s landmass and oceans aren’t just destroyed because we are at a tipping point.
In Australia alone is the is ranked third in the world or extinction and threatened species. It is not good enough. We need to change business as usual. Business as usual is pushing us down a path where by 2050 we will lose a koala, by 2030 many more other species will be gone or facing extinction.
We need to put a halt to extinction now. We need to stop destroying the critical habitat. In Australia, that would mean stopping things like stopping native forests logging.
It is absolutely crazy that at the same time as we’ve got world leaders talking about plans to restore nature to be planting more trees. Back home in Australia, we have governments that are allowing the destruction of our native forests, whether that’s Victoria New South Wales orientates in Tasmania, where they are both logging and mining the Tarkine.
Biodiversity summit targets ‘watered down’, Hanson-Young says
Greens spokesperson for the environment Sarah Hanson-Young spoke to RN Breakfast from Montreal where she is attending the biodiversity Cop alongside environment minister Tanya Plibersek and independent senator David Pocock.
At the summit, 190 countries have been meeting to try to agree on 22 targets to enable the world to halt biodiversity loss but Hanson-Young says “the key targets around halting and stopping extinction has been watered down significantly”:
The text that was put on the table today and the minister is now finalising is weaker than what many of us wanted – this was meant to be the “Paris” moment for nature and our environment.
Housing tops parliament’s new year agenda
Affordable housing will be the next parliamentary priority as the federal government releases its promised plan to help ease the crisis.
After addressing election commitments to tackle the climate crisis, childcare costs and establish a national anti-corruption commission in 2022, the government has revealed housing as being first on its agenda for 2023.
Proposed laws to establish the housing australia future fund as well as two independent advisory bodies have been published. Consultation on the proposals will be open until mid-January before parliament’s return in February.
The $10bn future fund is expected to provide ongoing investment returns which will go towards new social and affordable homes.
Housing minister Julie Collins said returns from the fund would deliver the government’s commitment of 30,000 new social and affordable homes in the fund’s first five years.
This would include 4,000 homes for women and children impacted by family and domestic violence or older women at risk of homelessness.
– from AAP
Good morning!
Two of the nine people being sought by Victoria police over Saturday’s pitch invasion at the A-League Men Melbourne derby have made themselves known to investigators.
The invasion of the Melbourne Victory/Melbourne City football clash left a player, a referee and a TV camera operator injured. Images of nine men showed one holding a bucket of sand, another holding a lit flare in the stands and another hanging from a goalpost.
Our sport editor Mike Hytner has more on this story:
In weather news, South Australia braces for more flooding as two Murraylands towns are threatened by levee breaches.
South Australia’s State Emergency Service has issued watch and act warnings for Ponde and Murrawong, due to a levee breach and potential levee breach respectively.
In Ponde, the levee broke early yesterday morning and has filled flood plains more than a kilometre from the river.
A dingo attack on a young boy on Fraser Island late yesterday has left the child in hospital.
The attack happened as the boy – believed to be five years old – was playing on a beach on the island, also known as K’gari, when he was “jumped on” and bitten.
RACQ LifeFlight Rescue said:
The child sustained multiple minor bites before his father managed to get the dingo off him.
Deadly civil unrest in Peru has left Australians stranded in the country. The Department of Foreign Affairs said 171 Australians had made contact with the Australian embassy in Lima.
Protests broke out across the country last week, sparked by the ousting of former president Pedro Castillo – this explainer will help you understand it a little better.
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