The busiest shopping weekend of the year is upon us, where shopping malls become a desperate frenzy of overindulgence and waste. But spare a thought for those who can’t afford even the trimmest of trimmings this Christmas.

Getting coal for Christmas is supposed to be a bad thing. But for Australia’s coal mines, all their Christmases seem to have come at once!

Salmon companies are ripping off Tasmania and trying to pass it off as yet another ‘jobs vs environment’ fight. This is the kind of fight that Tasmanian politicians love to have, and like performing seals, the Tasmanian government and opposition have lined up to bark and do their tricks. But the fight over salmon farming

It’s like an episode of Utopia or Yes Minister – just a week out from the government’s Global Nature Positive Summit, Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek approved three whopping coal mine extensions in NSW.

Barely a week goes by without another shrill headline about a supposed gas shortage and alarmist claims that the lights will go out unless multinational companies are allowed to extract more gas.

Whenever you see these headlines or hear scary claims from the gas lobby, there are two things you need to know.

Mining companies love to talk about how much they contribute to Australia’s economy. But really their biggest “contribution” is their profits – and they want to keep more of those.

The mining industry is now surely the biggest whinger in the Australian economy. This week it launched an all-out assault on the federal government at Minerals Week in Canberra, with chief executive of the mining industry’s chief lobby group the Minerals Council, Tania Constable, warning the government: “Undermine it at your peril.” Relative to its

This week, a private member’s bill to end native forest logging was up for debate. It sought to repeal legislation that exempts logging in much of Australia’s public forest estate from our national environment laws.

In the wake of the Reserve Bank’s latest forecasts, Treasurer Jim Chalmers is facing calls that government should cut back on infrastructure investment to relieve inflation pressures and free up workers and resources to build much-needed housing.

A tobacco-style ban on fossil fuel advertising would be a decisive win for Australia – and the climate.

Canberra doesn’t really have a fossil fuel industry, which perhaps explains why we lead the country in decarbonising our economy.

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has just approved a new coal seam gas pipeline in Queensland.

Nobody likes to be hoodwinked, but that’s what big companies are essentially doing when they engage in greenwashing – giving consumers the false impression they have business practices that help the environment instead of harming it.

With the Future Gas Strategy, government policy has entered a backward land where logic is reversed, writes Stephen Long.

The NSW Labor Government took office promising to create a vast koala sanctuary on the state’s mid-north coast – the Great Koala National Park. Despite the threat of koala extinction in the state, more than a year later the Great Koala National Park is yet to be established. 

Jigsaw Farms, long held up as a shining star of carbon neutral farming, is no longer carbon neutral, although only just. 

Nuclear energy really is remarkable.

When AUKUS was announced, the ANU was quick off the mark to cash in.

For decades, the Grinch has had a terrible reputation as a Christmas-hating monster who railed against the festivities of the season and stole the townspeople’s presents, food and decorations in an attempt to stamp out the whole technicolour carnival.

The hydrogen dream has become widespread in the Australian climate conversation: apparently, with it, we’re going to decarbonise Japan, Korea, and the world! Is this ambitious vision a genuine step towards a greener future or merely a diversion from ongoing fossil fuel expansion?

‘Thylacine of the sea’ at risk of extinction this summer if salmon farming doesn’t cease in Macquarie Harbour

Clive Palmer’s controversial legal strategies challenge Australia’s trade agreements and environmental laws, and have profound implications for global climate action, writes Stephen Long.

In parliament last week, responding to the temporary blocking of a legislative favour to Santos, Foreign Minister Penny Wong berated the opposition. The bill – which did eventually pass – is designed to facilitate massive expansion of the gas industry.

“You know what you’ve been doing,” said Foreign Minister and Leader of the Government in the Senate, Senator Penny Wong, wagging her finger at the Opposition senators across the Chamber.

While Australia’s Foreign Minister attends the UN Secretary General’s Climate Ambition Summit in New York, the nation’s Environment Minister will be in court fighting for new coal mines.

The Australian government’s muted response to Japan’s release of Fukushima wastewater into the Pacific raises serious questions about its commitment to the region and Australia’s history of standing against nuclear testing.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese can stop the logging of Australia’s native forests, just as PM Malcolm Fraser stopped whaling in 1978. 

Queensland’s revised coal royalty system has delivered billions to the state, and NSW could be following suit. But as always, the mining industry is keen to let hysteria get in the way of a good policy.