TRY AND MAKE SOME SENSE OF THESE TWO LATEST PIECES OF NEWS!
1. In the post-colonial period after World War Two, special rights were granted to international investors to compensate them for losses of income or future income because of decisions made by governments in the countries of their investments. It is known as the 'investor-state dispute settlement' or ISDS.
While many countries have removed this clause from their trade agreements the former Coalition government upheld it and the Albanese government is now in the process of removing it from trade deals by Australia.
And Clive Palmer, billionaire Australian fossil-fuel baron has found a means to employ the ISDS to his great advantage and Australia's great disadvantage!
* He has registered his Australian company Zeph Investments in Singapore. This means his company is a now a Singapore-based investor in Australia!! He is now using ISDS, within the ASEAN-Australia-NZ Trade Agreement to claim over A$340 BILLION compensation from Australian governments for loss-of- and potential-loss-of income because of government decisions! - A$300 billion from the WA government for terminating an iron-ore mining lease - after the High Court of Australia threw out his appeal against the government decision AND A$41.3 billion after the Australian government refused his application for coal exploration permits for the Waratah coalmine in Queensland - FOR ENVIRONMENTAL REASONS including INCREASED CARBON EMISSIONS!
* There is also the potential for a third claim by Palmer because of the recent decisions by Queensland and Australian governments refusing permits for a second coal mine - on ENVIRONMENTAL grounds - particularly potential damage to the Great Barrier Reef.
* Bottom line - if the Australian government does not quickly review any current trade arrangements with overseas owned fossil-fuel and mining companies and remove the ISDS clause those companies may also seek compensation from Australian governments - ie. we, the Australian people!
[by David Smith, based on 'Tricks of the trade' by Patricia Ronald, 'The Saturday Paper', p8, no. 469]
2. TREES AND FORESTS!
* Most people are aware of the vital functions that trees play in the lives of humans!
* Goodell (2023) calls them our external 'air conditioners [J.Goodell, "HEAT: Life and death on a scorched planet', Black Inc.] because:
* they convert carbon dioxide to oxygen;
* they store carbon in their bodies, roots and soil;
* they are essential habitats for many birds and animals;
* they provide shade and coolness near our homes and in our streets and cities;
* flowering trees and shrubs also are essential to the pollinating life of bees essential to our food supply;
* they provide an aesthetic essential to our landscapes and many of us connect with them emotionally.
* More important - the older and the bigger the tree, the more oxygen they produce and the more carbon they store! - UNTIL THEY ARE CUT DOWN!
*ONE ADDITIONAL IMPORTANT FACT - Australia has enough plantation trees that can meet both our domestic and international demands for woodchips and pulp for paper production - much of which is now produced through paper recycling.
** Why then do we in Australia still allow the logging of massive old-growth forest trees for woodchips and paper pulp??! [see the photo of Bob Brown standing on the 3 metre diameter stump of an old-growth native tree in Tasmania - 'The Saturday Paper, No. 469, p3.
* The reason can't be jobs! There are less loggers now than previously because the forest industry has been highly successful in developing technology for getting rid of forest trees that is much more devastatingly efficient than axes!! Dr Suess got it absolutely right in his fable of 'The Lorax' and the very last Truffula tree!
But let's be careful in our protests about logging! We might end up like Bob Brown having to face charges under 'anti-protest' laws - especially those related to climate action and the environment. However, as he suggests, the preservation of Australia's native trees and forests may well become a very significant issue in upcoming state and federal elections allied with issues of climate change action and the prevention of the extinction of native birds and animals!
[David Smith]