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☆ Australia: Mass coral bleaching event underway at Great Barrier Reef
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-07 | by ( Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

This is the seventh mass bleaching event to hit the vast, ecologically important but fragile site and the fifth in only eight years. Covering nearly 133,000 square miles (345,000 square kilometers), the Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest coral reef, home to more than 1,500 species of fish and 411 species of hard corals. Severe mass bleaching at the Great Barrier Reef had previously been observed in 1998, 2002, 2016, 2017, 2020 and 2022. Sunrise over the Great Barrier Reef at Lady Elliot island on October 10, 2019. Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket/Getty Images/FileBy continuing on the current pathway, “we risk losing the Great Barrier Reef and the $6 billion sustainable tourism industry,” said Schindler.

Persons: CNN —, El Niño, ”, Tanya Plibersek, Anthony Albanese, Dr, Lissa Schindler, Lady Elliot, Jonas Gratzer, Schindler, “, David Ritter, Derek Manzello Organizations: CNN, Park Authority, Australian Institute of Marine Science, El, Australian Marine Conservation Society, Australian, Australia, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, Labor, Oceanic, NOAA, Reuters, Reef Watch Locations: Australia, Lady, Southern, Pacific

☆ Australia’s Great Barrier Reef suffers ‘extensive’ coral bleaching, as scientists fear seventh mass bleaching event
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-29 | by ( Helen Regan | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

CNN —The southern Great Barrier Reef is suffering from extensive coral bleaching due to heat stress, the reef’s managers said Wednesday, raising fears that a seventh mass bleaching event could be unfolding across the vast, ecologically important site. Jonas Gratzer/LightRocket/Getty ImagesThe Great Barrier Reef’s managers plan to extend aerial and in-water surveys across the entire reef over the coming weeks. Hotter ocean temperatures caused severe mass bleaching at the Great Barrier Reef in 2016, 2017 and 2020. Last year, the UNESCO World Heritage Committee decided not to add the Great Barrier Reef to its list of sites “in danger,” despite scientific evidence suggesting the risk of another mass bleaching event. Greenpeace’s Ritter said that following the decision, “the Australian government promised to do everything it can to protect the Great Barrier Reef.

Persons: Mark Read, Elliot, Jonas Gratzer, ”, Neal Cantin, Maya Srinivasan, ” Srinivasan, ” David Ritter, “, ” Ove Hoegh, Greenpeace’s Ritter Organizations: CNN, Park Authority, Australian Institute of Marine Science, El, James Cook University, Marine Park Authority, Greenpeace Australia Pacific, Foundation, Oceanic, UNESCO World Heritage Committee, Labor Locations: Keppel, Gladstone, Queensland, Australia, Cairns, Florida, Caribbean

Firms like PetroChina (601857.SS) and CNOOC Gas and Power have signed long-term contracts with Shell (SHEL.L) to buy "carbon neutral" liquefied natural gas (LNG), which uses "forest offsets" to balance out carbon emissions. Greenpeace, which has long opposed fossil fuel producers counting carbon offsets toward their emissions reduction goals, said the "carbon neutral" branding was misleading the public. "For oil and gas companies in particular, carbon offsets are a smokescreen to obscure their continued, redoubled carbon emissions," said Li Jiatong, project leader with Greenpeace in Beijing. Rising sales of "carbon neutral" LNG are being driven by a surge in gas demand, particularly in Asia. While it is still a major source of greenhouse gas emissions, gas is cleaner than coal and has been described as a "bridge fuel" in the global energy transition, but anti-fossil fuel groups oppose any new gas projects.

Persons: Stringer, Li Jiatong, PetroChina, COP28, Polly Hemming, Hemming, David Stanway, Andrew Hayley, Emily Chow, Sonali Paul Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Greenpeace, CNOOC, Power, Shell, International Energy Agency, Energy, Australia Institute, Thomson Locations: Nantong, Jiangsu province, China, Rights SINGAPORE, Beijing, Asia

SYDNEY, Oct 18 (Reuters) - Australia's top court on Wednesday quashed a levy on electric vehicles (EVs) by the state of Victoria, in a case that could make it more difficult for other states to pursue similar legislation. In 2021, Victoria introduced a levy of between A$0.02 ($0.013) and A$0.025 per km travelled in EVs, a tax that faced a wide range of opposition. After a case brought by two EV owners, the High Court ruled Victoria's excise duty can only be levied by the federal government. The states of New South Wales and Western Australia have previously announced plans to introduce similar legislation. Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Editing by Christian SchmollingerOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: David Hertzberg, Noah Schultz, Alasdair Pal, Christian Schmollinger Organizations: SYDNEY, EV, ABC, Australia Institute, Thomson Locations: Victoria, EVs, New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australian, Sydney

From a survey data perspective, the countries’ moves up the Best Countries list come as they gained in some of the project’s 10 subrankings. In the Best Countries rankings, Neelam points to Australia performing well on an assessment of whether a country is perceived as corrupt. While she announced her resignation in January – before the Best Countries survey was fielded – Neelam says he “wouldn’t discount the Ardern factor” in New Zealand’s rankings rise. New Zealand does have other things going for it that mirror Australia in some ways. Murray, of Karamea, says the country – considered the most scenic among respondents to the Best Countries survey, with Australia at No.

Persons: Paul Murray, I’ve, he’s, ., –, Austin Billimack, he’d, “ Oz ”, ” Billimack, Zealand’s, Murray, Ryan Neelam, it’s, “, ”, Allan Behm, “ We're, Anthony Albanese, Scott Morrison, Albanese, Behm, Morrison, Morrison . New, Jacinda Ardern, – Neelam, Barack, Obama, Eric Crampton, Crampton, Ardern’s, Karamea Organizations: ” Global, U.S . News, FIFA, Australia, New Zealand, Lowy Institute, The Australia Institute, Labor Party, Best, New Zealand Initiative, Zealand Locations: Karamea, New, New Zealand, . Murray, Auckland, Wellington, Australia, Melbourne, Wisconsin, Australia’s, Oceania, Sydney, Australian, Canberra, Nauru, Morrison ., Christchurch , New Zealand, –, Canada

People walk past a Woolworths supermarket following the easing of restrictions implemented to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Sydney, Australia, June 16, 2020. A day earlier, Coles said a cost blowout sent its underlying annual profit lower. Woolworths said its earnings margin from food was 6% in the year to end-June, from 5.3% a year earlier. The company gave no profit guidance except that growth in Australian food sales, its main earnings driver, remained strong although inflation was moderating. "We think the result will be taken well in the context of yesterday’s weaker result from Coles," Citi analysts said.

Persons: Loren Elliott, Coles, Brad Banducci, Jim Stanford, Byron Kaye, Nausheen, Archishma Iyer, Krishna Chandra Eluri, Stephen Coates, Muralikumar Organizations: Woolworths, REUTERS, JPMorgan, Macquarie Group, Citi, Centre, Future, Australia Institute, Thomson Locations: Sydney, Australia, Coles, Bengaluru

☆ Great Barrier Reef stays off UNESCO ‘in danger’ list but hot El Niño summer looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Hilary Whiteman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

“A lot of climate scientists are shocked by the fact that it wasn’t put on the list,” Kimberley Reid from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes and Monash University told CNN. Covering nearly 133,000 square miles (345,000 square kilometers), the Great Barrier Reef is home to more than 1,500 species of fish and 411 species of hard corals. Environment minister Tanya Plibersek told reporters Tuesday she made no apology for lobbying UNESCO to keep the Great Barrier Reef off the “in danger” list. Bleaching events and global warming have done significant damage to the Great Barrier Reef. Tourists, divers and marine biologists enter and exit the waters of the Great Barrier Reef on August 10, 2022 on Hastings Reef, Australia.

Persons: El, wasn’t, Kimberley Reid, I’m, ”, Reid, Tanya Plibersek, Michael Robinson Chavez, ” Plibersek, that’s, Terry Hughes, El Niño, ” Hughes, David Booth, government’s, “ Will, Booth, Jodie Rummer, “ That’s Organizations: Australia CNN —, UNESCO World Heritage, ARC Centre, Excellence, Extremes, Monash University, CNN, “, Heritage, UNESCO, Labor, Washington Post, Coral Reef, James Cook University, Australian, of Meteorology, Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, World Meteorological Organization, UTS, Reef Society, Federal Government Locations: Brisbane, Australia, Paris, Hastings Reef

☆ Point of no return: Australians fight for the right to work from home permanently
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Byron Kaye | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

You can actually finish work at five, rather than finishing at five spending 45 minutes trying to get home." When you have a jolt, you never return to the way the world was," said John Buchanan, head of the University of Sydney's Health and Work Research Network. That same week, the public sector union struck a deal the which lets Australia's 120,000 federal employees request work-from-home an unlimited number of days. By comparison, Canada's federal workers ended a two-week strike in May with a wages agreement that came without the WFH protections they wanted. Among employees with WFH experience, 19% wanted to return to the office full-time, the survey found.

Persons: David Gray, SYDNEY, Nicholas Coomber, Coomber, Jamie Dimon, Elon Musk, John Buchanan, We're, Jones Lang Lasalle, Melissa Donnelly, WFH, Mathias Dolls, Jim Stanford, Stanford, Byron Kaye, Miral Organizations: REUTERS, JPMorgan Chase, Twitter, University of Sydney's Health, Work Research, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank, NAB, European Union, Community, Public Sector Union, CBA, ifo, Macroeconomics, Stanford University, Workers, Centre, Australia Institute, Thomson Locations: Melbourne, Southbank, Australia, New Zealand, Tokyo, New York, JLL.N, Hamburg

☆ Australia's biggest state unveils plan for cashless poker machines
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SYDNEY, Feb 6 (Reuters) - The leader of Australia's most populous state on Monday unveiled a plan to make all poker machines cashless within five years to fight money laundering and problem gambling, setting up a political battle ahead of a state election next month. New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet said his government would make every poker machine cashless by 2028 and offer interest-free loans for pubs and clubs to buy new cashless gambling machines that would only allow players to bet from a bank account. Perrottet said his proposal "solves problem gambling, solves money laundering, protects jobs and industries". Australia, with a population of 25 million, has about one-fifth of the world's 1 million legal poker machines, according to think tank the Australia Institute. The centre-left Labor state opposition has stopped short of calling for mandatory cashless poker machines, saying only that it would support a limited trial of the measure.

But it is spreading across finance, energy, retail and aviation, threatening to push up labour costs in industries facing supply-chain bottlenecks and worker shortages. The turmoil is especially pronounced because union power was curtailed in Australia under laws in place since the 1990s. In the year to June, the average Australian wage rose 2.6%, compared with inflation of 6.1%, according to official data. Despite seven interest-rate hikes since May, inflation is set to climb further before subsiding in 2023, the government says. But in the current climate in Australia, workers are in no mood to back down.

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