Posted
| UpdatedThe coal industry spent millions in the lead-up to the federal election on TV advertising and phone polling promoting so-called 'clean coal'. The ABC can now reveal that the campaign was funded by money deducted from state mining royalty payments. Coal producers were allowed to write off an industry lobby meant to fund clean coal research against royalties. But a share of that money was later diverted to 'coal promotion'.
Topics: coal, electricity-energy-and-utilities, mining-industry, alternative-energy, government-and-politics, australia
Posted
| UpdatedThe Prime Minister has confirmed he's considering using taxpayers' money to invest in so-called clean coal technology. It's part of the Government's attempts to keep energy security on the political agenda. While Malcolm Turnbull hasn't yet given the go-ahead for the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) to invest in carbon capture and storage, he says it's a technology that should be investigated. But those in the sector, including the head of the CEFC, says that clean coal is a risky investment, and would be an irresponsible use of the taxpayers' money.
Topics: coal, business-economics-and-finance, electricity-energy-and-utilities, alternative-energy, government-and-politics, parliament-house-2600, australia
Posted
A new report on the finances of Australia's states and territories reveals a tale of how two different economies on separate sides of the nation are faring. The Centre for Independent Studies report gives NSW an A grade for how well it uses its revenue. Western Australia, with its growing budget deficits, gets a C minus and is ranked as the worst state. But economists are divided about the true picture, with one arguing the sale of public assets in NSW could impoverish the state down the track.
Topics: states-and-territories, business-economics-and-finance, australia, nsw, wa
Posted
A Victorian Islamic community leader is launching Australia's first helpline for parents of Muslim teenagers. Trained Muslim counsellors will be on hand to support family members worried about their children. But the helpline's founder says the service needs extra funding to survive beyond 12 months.
Topics: religion-and-beliefs, community-and-society, australia
Posted
The month long Fringe Festival has just begun in Adelaide, but amid the fun and frivolity, performers are tackling some very serious issues on social change, based on personal experience. Caroline Winter caught up with the cast of 41 Seconds. Many have battled with mental health issues, and are hoping to start a conversation about a subject close to their hearts.
Topics: mental-health, arts-and-entertainment, performance-art, adelaide-5000, australia, sa
Posted
Victoria Police's Chief Commissioner says it's a myth that there's a proper testing regime good enough to detect the quality of drugs on-the-spot. But advocates say he's misinformed. They say there're using the same equipment as the Australian Border Force, and testing is the best way to save lives.
Topics: drug-use, community-and-multicultural-festivals, melbourne-3000
Posted
The Australian Medical Association says the nation is facing an 'ethical dilemna' by allowing foreign-trained doctors into Australia on skilled occupation visas. The doctors union also says this threatens to exacerbate a projected oversupply of locally trained doctors. Australia's National Rural Health Alliance is concerned that cutting the supply of foreign trained doctors could be problematic for regional areas
Topics: doctors-and-medical-professionals, immigration, australia
Posted
Australia needs a national strategy on obesity to bring it into line with global best practice in dealing with the problem. That's the finding of a largescale study by more than 100 nutrition and policy experts. It says a tax on sugary drinks and unhealthy foods should be introduced immediately.
Posted
| UpdatedThe New York -based Committee to Protect Journalists is normally focused on reporters at risk outside the US. But its executive director Joel Simon says the committee is now diverting a lot more of its efforts onto media freedom within the US. He says President Donald Trump's accusations that the media are 'the enemy of the American people' have caused deep concern among those working to defend the rights of journalists, and echo the messages used in authoritarian states. He declares 'we're at a very dangerous moment.'
Topics: media, world-politics, law-crime-and-justice, united-states
Posted
US President Donald Trump has been asked to explain comments he made about an apparent security incident in Sweden. He has been ridiculed on social media for referring to a weekend incident which had not occurred, but now he has clarified his remarks.
Topics: world-politics, united-states, sweden
Posted
| UpdatedHumanitarian agencies are scrambling to assist the thousands of Iraqi civilians preparing to take flight as the war against the Islamic State group moves to the west side of Mosul. US-backed Iraqi forces have begun a major new offensive to regain control there, now that they've successfully liberated Mosul's east. But with 750, 000 civilians trapped alongside thousands of Islamic State militants, providing food and shelter is a dangerous and difficult task.
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, syrian-arab-republic, iraq, united-states
Posted
The reliability of renewable energy generators is the focus of a Senate select committee in Adelaide today. The committee, established after South Australia's state-wide black out last year, is looking at how the country's electricity infrastructure is adapting to the changing environment. More than a dozen stakeholders are giving evidence, including energy generators and energy storage providers.
Topics: alternative-energy, electricity-energy-and-utilities, australia
Posted
An energy catastrophe is likely in Australia unless baseload power generation can be guaranteed, Bluescope Steel chief executive Paul O'Malley has warned. Mr O'Malley told the ABC that if coal fades as an energy supply then industry needs to use gas to ensure baseload energy
Topics: electricity-energy-and-utilities, oil-and-gas, coal, australia
Posted
The Labor party is accusing the Federal Government of hijacking the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to pay for coal. The Coalition says it is considering changing the rules governing the green energy fund to enable it to invest in what it is calling 'clean coal'. Under its current rules, the $10 billion Clean Energy Finance Corporation is banned from funding carbon capture and storage. But the Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says the Government is considering introducing legislation to allow it to happen. The Opposition is scathing of the proposal, with the Shadow Climate and Energy Minister Mark Butler saying clean coal technology isn't economically viable.
Topics: electricity-energy-and-utilities, government-and-politics, parliament, australia
Posted
| UpdatedA shortage of cyber security experts is now being felt at even the nation's most powerful spy agencies. And it's a problem that's going to get worse, with tech giant Google gearing up to launch a hiring raid for Australia's best and brightest hackers. For Government, competing with private companies on salaries is hard enough, but when you add layers of bureaucracy and long waits for security clearances it's no surprise the private sector seems so attractive.
Topics: security-intelligence, defence-and-national-security, science-and-technology, computers-and-technology, hacking, australia
Posted
| UpdatedMalaysian police are looking for at least four more suspects who they believe were involved in the apparent assassination of the half-brother of North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un. They have contacted INTERPOL for help in finding the men who left Malaysia on the day Kim Jong Nam was murdered.
Topics: murder-and-manslaughter, law-crime-and-justice, crime, malaysia, australia
Posted
| UpdatedTony Wood is the Director of the Energy Program at the Grattan Institute, he's written reports on renewable energy and more recently, the South Australian blackout. Before joining the Institute, Mr Wood worked as a senior executive in the energy industry for 14 years.
Topics: alternative-energy, business-economics-and-finance, industry, environment, government-and-politics, australia
Posted
| UpdatedIraq's Prime Minister says government forces have launched a new operation to destroy the Islamic State group in Mosul. They have advanced to within a few kilometres of the south western outskirts. The UN says the estimated 700,000 people still living there are under immense pressure with fuel and food in short supply and as many as 400,000 could flee. Middle East correspondent, Matt Brown, was in east Mosul, filming for Four Corners, when government forces gained control there and filed this report on the nature of the fighting.
Topics: unrest-conflict-and-war, terrorism, iraq, australia
Posted
| UpdatedThere are signs that the Federal Government is preparing to make changes to energy policy to support coal fired power plants. Finance Minister Mathias Cormann is jointly responsible with the Treasurer for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation. Senator Cormann says the reason private investors are not backing coal fired power station is not because the technology is risky, but because of what he says is the 'reckless and ideological pursuit of state-based 50 per cent renewable energy targets'.
Topics: business-economics-and-finance, industry, environment, alternative-energy, australia
Posted
| UpdatedOlder Australians looking to spend a little less time in hospital may only have to take a few extra steps. A study, published in the Medical Journal of Australia, finds that doubling the average amount of steps per day could save millions for the national hospital bill.
Posted
| UpdatedThe White House has for the first time explicitly denied that US intelligence agencies are worried about contacts between Donald Trump's campaign team and the Russian Government. Among the many controversies swirling around the Trump Administration, tension with and leaks from the intelligence community have been among the most damaging. But, as Greg Jennett reports from Washington, the White House is blaming the media for distorting the truth.
Topics: world-politics, government-and-politics, united-states, australia, russian-federation
Posted
| UpdatedThe Federal Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has revealed to AM the Government's considering lifting a ban on Government investment in carbon capture and storage. Labor's dead against such a move, saying it would further undermine the Government's green energy bank.
Topics: government-and-politics, industry, environment, australia
Posted
You may not have heard, but Britain is currently in the midst of a crisis. The nation is suffering a shortage of green vegetables after floods and frost in Spain - the source of about 80 per cent of certain produce to the UK - led to slashed imports, empty supermarket shelves and a 300 per cent rise in the price of some varieties of lettuce.
Topics: agreements-and-treaties, food-and-cooking, united-kingdom
Posted
| UpdatedNASA, America's National Aeronautics and Space Administration, recently held a competition in the hope that someone would devise a space suit with an in-built waste management system that could allow astronauts to stay in their suits for up to six days. The winner was Dr Thatcher Cardon, a family doctor, flight surgeon and Air Force colonel. His system utilises a fold-out bedpan and uses the vacuum of space to aid the process.
Topics: space-exploration, awards-and-prizes, united-states
Posted
| UpdatedAn American family has praised the generosity of a Papua New Guinea villager who returned a gold ring lost by a US serviceman during World War II. After being unearthed in a vegetable garden in a village in the east of the island nation, the high school graduation ring was eventually returned to a grateful family in New Jersey after a series of conversations, coincidences and detective work.
Topics: human-interest, world-war-2, papua-new-guinea, united-states