AUSTRALIA

What is makarrata and has Albanese broken an election promise?

Lorena Allam Indigenous affairs editor

THE GUARDIAN AUS
Sun, 4 August 2024 


Anthony Albanese at the Garma festival. He has told ABC TV’s Insiders that consulting Indigenous organisations to address disadvantage fit the definition of makarrata, and that a truth and justice commission is ‘not what we have proposed’.

Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

There was a lot of talk on the weekend about the concept of makarrata and what it means to the future relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Australia.

It came into sharp focus at the annual Garma festival in north-east Arnhem Land, the first to be held since the failed referendum 10 months ago on enshrining an Indigenous voice to parliament in the constitution, where questions were asked about what the government plans to do to address that unfinished business.
What is makarrata?

Yolngu people in north-east Arnhem Land have used the concept of makarrata to maintain social and political harmony for centuries. It can take many forms but is essentially a process to settle disputes.


Related: Albanese endorses ‘principle’ of makarrata but stops short of backing truth and justice commission

The late, revered Gumatj leader Yunupingu eloquently described it this way in The Australian newspaper in 2017:

“First, the disputing parties must be brought together. Then, each party, led by their elders, must speak carefully and calmly about the dispute. They must put the facts on the table and air their grievances. If a person speaks wildly, or out of turn, he or she is sent away and shall not be included any further in the process. Those who come for vengeance, or for other purposes, will also be sent away, for they can only disrupt the process.

“The leaders must always seek a full understanding of the dispute: what lies behind it; who is responsible; what each party wants, and all things that are normal to peacemaking efforts.

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“When that understanding is arrived at, then a settlement can be agreed upon. This settlement is also a symbolic reckoning – an action that says to the world that from now on and forever the dispute is settled; that the dispute no longer exists, it is finished.

“And from the honesty of the process and the submission of both parties to finding the truth, then the dispute is ended,” Yunupingu wrote.
How is makarrata described in the Uluru statement from the heart?

The Uluru statement called for a voice to parliament enshrined in the constitution followed by a makarrata commission to oversee “a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history”.

Presented to the Australian people, the Uluru statement was born from a series of national dialogues involving thousands of Aboriginal people, culminating in a constitutional convention at Uluru in 2017.

Related: ‘We have to make a new path,’ Albanese vows, returning to Garma festival after voice defeat

From election night in 2022, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, repeatedly said his government was committed to the Uluru statement “in full”.

The makarrata commission was dependent on the outcome of the referendum to enshrine the voice in the constitution, which failed in October last year.

Since then, the future of the rest of the Uluru statement has been unclear.
What did the prime minister say about makarrata at Garma on the weekend?

Speaking on ABC TV’s Insiders program in a pre-recorded interview, Albanese suggested that consulting Indigenous organisations to address disadvantage and boost economic development fits the definition of makarrata.

“Obviously, there has been a struggle for First Nations people. That’s why we talk about closing the gap, or what is really a chasm in some areas,” Albanese said. “And coming together is a principle of walking together – that engagement. It’s not a moment in time. It’s a process of coming together after struggle.”

Albanese said engagement was happening with existing bodies, like the Coalition of Peaks and land councils.

“It means engaging with First Nations people right around the country. There are different needs depending upon whether people are in urban communities, like my electorate. The needs of people in Marrickville, that has a sizeable First Nations population, is very different from here of the Gumatj clan of the Yolngu people,” he said.

When asked if his government intends to embark on a truth and justice commission, Albanese said: “That’s not what we have proposed. What we’ve proposed is makarrata just being the idea of coming together.”

“That might take forms as it evolves” but he wouldn’t “pre-empt” it, he said.

“What it means is listening to and respecting First Nations people and then responding.”
What’s been the reaction to Albanese’s comments?

The prime minister’s interpretation of makarrata appears to differ from the one Indigenous leaders have promoted.

Dean Parkin, “yes” campaign director for the referendum, said Albanese’s “election night commitment was to the full implementation of the Uluru statement from the heart and [it] is very, very clear on that point. The first element of the commitment has been carried through, the prime minister has been true to his word on that, and we would say that the remainder of the Uluru statement from the heart is outstanding, and it does involve a commission.”

Related: ‘Completely outrageous’: Indigenous leaders condemn worsening Closing the Gap data

The co-chair of the Uluru dialogues, Pat Anderson, said the prime minister appeared to be abandoning that version of makarrata in favour of “a vague vibe or a series of casual conversations”.

“The prime minister’s comments are confusing,” Anderson said in a statement on Sunday night. “Is he rolling back on the Labor election commitment to the makarrata commission? We understand that a constitutional voice didn’t get up but the Australian people didn’t vote on truth or treaty.”

She suggested Albanese was reducing the idea of makarrata to something less than what was intended.

“The makarrata called for in the Uluru statement was a bricks-and-mortar body and a clear election promise,” she said.
What happens now?

By Monday, the new Indigenous Australians minister, Malarndirri McCarthy, was attempting to settle the “confusion” and hose down speculation that the government was breaking an election commitment.

“I would caution everyone to just calm down, that this has been a significant weekend at Garma. We are not moving away from our commitment to the Uluru statement from the heart in terms of our love and our support for all of those who gathered there in 2017. What I would say to all Australians is that First Nations people need time,” McCarthy told the ABC.

“This was clearly a soul-shattering event, as was said to us in Garma on the weekend. People are still recovering from that. I know in my new role as the minister for Indigenous Australians, I now have to make sure I canvas right across the country where other First Nations people are at.

“The interpretation of what the prime minister said has been taken completely further than what it was meant to,” she told the ABC.

Later, she reiterated: “I’m not sure how many times I can say that the principles of the Uluru statement from the heart are very much supported by our government.”

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, said that if he won office, there would be no makarrata, or truth-telling.

Dutton said spending $450m on the voice referendum was “an outrage”.

The prime minister’s speech at Garma was mostly about how Indigenous communities could benefit economically from involvement in renewable energy, critical minerals and rare earths.

“New clean energy projects, new defence and security projects, new processing and refining facilities can all unlock new jobs and prosperity for Indigenous communities,” Albanese said.

Perhaps the most revealing comment on the government’s Indigenous affairs agenda came from the former Labor treasurer for Western Australia Ben Wyatt, who later told The Australian “with innovation in social policy likely to be contentious in light of the referendum result, economic participation should be a non-contentious area of policy space and will, therefore, become a much more significant leg of the Aboriginal empowerment platform”.

Country diary: The night air is thick with bats

Nic Wilson
Sun, 4 August 2024 

THE GUARDIAN


A Daubenton’s bat flies over water while hunting insects.

Photograph: Paul Colley/Getty/iStockphoto


In the pitch-black night, Norway maples blaze orange on the far side of a blood-red lake. White bolts skim the ruddy surface of the water and flicker like St Elmo’s fire round our heads. It’s past 11pm, and we’re observing the scene on Hertfordshire and Middlesex Bat Group’s thermal-imaging cameras. My handheld monitor transforms the darkness into a multicoloured heatscape where common pipistrelles dart after midges and mosquitos, and Daubenton’s bats fly low over the lake – level-headed hovercrafts to the pips’ Hawk T1 jets.

Our bat detectors fill the silent night with a hard rock soundtrack that could have been composed by a morse code enthusiast. Daubenton’s bats rap out a rhythmic bassline with short bursts of staccato clicking. Above them, every pipistrelle has its own ultrasonic riff. With eight or more feeding simultaneously, they’ve adjusted the frequency of their echolocation calls (one proposed theory suggests this is to avoid confusion between individuals), and our detectors emit a syncopated chorus of slaps, crackles and pops.

We’ve heard five species tonight (my favourite is the quietest of all, the brown long-eared or “whispering” bat), but altogether nine of the UK’s 17 breeding bat species have been recorded here in Fairlands Valley Park, including rare species for the county such as barbastelle, Nathusius’ pipistrelle and serotine. One of the main reasons for such batty abundance is that once night falls, the 120-acre park becomes a dark sanctuary in this otherwise-illuminated town. Our aim this evening has been to set up transect surveys to provide data on how bats use the site, after the local council received a petition requesting “eco-friendly, wildlife-conscious lighting” along the park’s main pathways for safety reasons.


Studies show that artificial lighting can cause problems for bats, particularly light-averse species such as Daubenton’s, brown long-eared and barbastelle. Illuminating areas near a roost site can postpone, or even prevent, bats from emerging and, with nocturnal insect activity peaking at and just after dusk, a delay in feeding times can seriously affect bat health. This unlit park might confound our senses, but it enables lucifugous wildlife to feed, socialise and breed. Without the benefit of thermal sight and ultrasonic hearing, it’s easy to underestimate the importance of dark skies in a bat’s world.

• Country diary is on Twitter at @gdncountrydiary

Is the dream of nuclear fusion dead? Why the international experimental reactor is in ‘big trouble’

 SCI-FI-TEK STILL DED AFTER 70 YEARS

Robin McKie, Science Editor

THE GUARDIAN
Sat, 3 August 2024 


The Iter tokamak was supposed to be producing energy by 2020.

Photograph: US Iter


It was a project that promised the sun. Researchers would use the world’s most advanced technology to design a machine that could generate atomic fusion, the process that drives the stars – and so create a source of cheap, non-polluting power.

That was initially the aim of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (Iter) which 35 countries – including European states, China, Russia and the US – agreed to build at Saint-Paul-lez-Durance in southern France at a starting cost of $6bn. Work began in 2010, with a commitment that there would be energy-producing reactions by 2020.

Then reality set in. Cost overruns, Covid, corrosion of key parts, last-minute redesigns and confrontations with nuclear safety officials triggered delays that mean Iter is not going to be ready for another decade, it has just been announced. Worse, energy-producing fusion reactions will not be generated until 2039, while Iter’s budget – which has already soared to $20bn – will increase by a further $5bn.

Other estimates suggest the final price tag could rise well above this figure and make Iter “the most delayed and most cost-inflated ­science project in history”, the journal Scientific American has warned. For its part, the journal Science has stated simply that Iter is now in “big trouble”, while Nature has noted that the project has been “plagued by a string of hold-ups, cost overruns and management issues”.

Dozens of private companies now threaten to create fusion reactors on a shorter timescale, warn scientists. These include Tokamak Energy in Oxford and Commonwealth Fusion Systems in the US.

“The trouble is that Iter has been going on for such a long time, and suffered so many delays, that the rest of the world has moved on,” said fusion expert Robbie Scott of the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council. “A host of new technologies have emerged since Iter was planned. That has left the project with real problems.”

A question mark now hangs over one of the world’s most ambitious technological projects in its global bid to harness the process that drives the stars. It involves the nuclei of two light atoms being forced to combine to form a single heavier nucleus, while releasing massive amounts of energy. This is nuclear fusion, and it only occurs at colossally high temperatures.

To create such heat, a doughnut-shaped reactor, called a tokamak, will use magnetic fields to contain a plasma of hydrogen nuclei that will then be bombarded by particle beams and microwaves. When temperatures reach millions of degrees Celsius, the mix of two hydrogen isotopes – deuterium and tritium – will fuse to form helium, neutrons and a great deal of excess energy.

Containing plasma at such high temperatures is exceptionally difficult. “It was originally planned to line the tokamak reactor with protective beryllium but that turned out to be very tricky. It is toxic and eventually it was decided to replace it with tungsten,” said David Armstrong, professor of materials science and engineering at Oxford University. “That was a major design change taken very late in the day.”

Then huge sections of tokamak made in Korea were found not to fit together properly, while threats that there could be leaks of radioactive materials led the French nuclear regulators to call a halt on the plant’s construction. More delays in construction were announced as problems piled up.

Then came Covid. “The pandemic shut down factories supplying components, reduced the associated workforce, and triggered impacts – such as backlogs in shipping and challenges in conducting quality-control inspections,” admitted Iter’s director-general, Pietro Barabaschi.

So Iter has again put back its completion – until the next decade. At the same time, researchers using other approaches to fusion have made breakthroughs. In 2022, the US National Ignition Facility in California said it had used lasers to superheat deuterium and tritium and fused them to create helium and excess energy – a goal of Iter.

Other fusion projects claim they too could soon make breakthroughs. “In the last 10 years, there has been a huge growth in private fusion companies promising to do things differently – faster and cheaper – than Iter. Although, to be fair, some are very likely over-promising,” said Brian Appelbe, a physics research fellow at Imperial College London.

It remains to be seen if Iter will survive these crises and its backers will continue to fund it – although most scientists contacted by the Observer argued that it still has promising work to do.

An example is the research into ways to generate tritium, the rare hydrogen isotope that is essential to fusion reactors. This can be made at a fusion reactor site by using the neutrons it generates to bombard lithium samples, a process that makes helium – and tritium. “That is a worthwhile experiment in its own right,” said Appelbe.

For its part, Iter denies that it is “in big trouble” and rejects the idea that it is a record-breaking science project for cost overruns and delays. Just look at the International Space Station or for that matter the UK’s HS2 rail link, said a spokesman.

Others point out that fusion power’s limited carbon emissions would boost the battle against climate change. “However, fusion will arrive too late to help us cut carbon emissions in the short term,” said Aneeqa Khan, a research fellow in nuclear fusion at the University of Manchester. “Only if fusion power plants produce significant amounts of electricity later in the century will they help keep our carbon emissions down – and that will become crucial in the fight against climate change.”

All-night streetlights make leaves inedible to insects, study finds

Helena Horton Environment reporter

THE GUARDIAN
Sun, 4 August 2024 

Research into tree leaves in urban environments found they were much tougher than rural equivalents.Photograph: David J. Green/Alamy


Streetlights left on all night cause leaves to become so tough that insects cannot eat them, threatening the food chain, a study has found.

Scientists noticed that trees in urban ecosystems showed far less damage than those in more rural areas. Their research, published in Frontiers in Plant Science, has shed light on a potential reason.

“We noticed that, compared with natural ecosystems, tree leaves in most urban ecosystems generally show little sign of insect damage. We were curious as to why,” said the study’s author, Dr Shuang Zhang of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. “In two of the most common tree species in Beijing, artificial light at night led to increased leaf toughness and decreased levels of leaf herbivory.”

Related: Where have all Britain’s garden butterflies gone?

Artificial light from streetlights had a surprising effect on the leaves of trees surveyed. The scientists tested two common species of street tree in Beijing: Japanese pagoda and green ash trees. The pagoda trees have smaller, softer leaves that insects prefer to munch on. Researchers thought plants in areas with high levels of artificial light may focus on defence rather than growth, which would mean their leaves would be tougher, with more chemical defence compounds.

To test the trees they found 30 sampling sites on main roads that are usually lit by streetlights all night. They measured the amount of light – illuminance – at each site and then tested the leaves of the trees for toughness. They tested almost 5,500 leaves for properties including size, toughness, water content, and levels of nutrients and chemical defences.

If the leaves were larger, this would indicate that plants directed their energy to growth of leaves, but if they were tough and contained tannins or other chemical defences this would indicate that they had allocated their energy to defend themselves.

They found that the more illuminance there was, the tougher the leaves. In the areas lit the brightest at night, the leaves were extremely tough and showed no sign of insects munching on them.

Researchers said that while they did not completely understand why this happened, they suggested trees exposed to artificial light could extend their photosynthesis duration.

Though a tree with pristine leaves may be more enjoyable for some people to look at, it could be a bad sign for the ecosystem.

“Leaves that are free of insect damage may bring comfort to people, but not insects,” said Zhang. “Herbivory is a natural ecological process that maintains the biodiversity of insects.”

Zhang added: “Decreased herbivory can lead to trophic cascading effects in ecology. Lower levels of herbivory imply lower abundances of herbivorous insects, which could in turn result in lower abundances of predatory insects, insect-eating birds, and so on. The decline of insects is a global pattern observed over recent decades. We should pay more attention to this trend.”

A wolf’s killing shocked Canada. Then his image appeared on a hunting site

Leyland Cecco in Toronto

THE GUARDIAN
Sun, 4 August 2024


Takaya, the Canadian sea wolf, left behind a legacy reflecting the complex relationship between humans and wildlife.Photograph: Cheryl Alexander/Wild Awake Images


Ever since he was killed by a hunter in 2020, the Canadian sea wolf Takaya has appeared all over the world.

Paintings, poems, sculptures and statues – including a 150lb (68kg) mixture of driftwood, sea shells and dried kelp – have memorialized a wolf whose legacy reflects the complex relationship between humans and wildlife.

But photographer Cheryl Alexander, a relentless advocate against government-sanctioned wolf culls, was shocked to see her most famous image used to advertise a big game hunting company.

Related: Canada mourns Takaya – the lone sea wolf whose spirit captured the world

“I shocked and a bit horrified. And it really pissed me off that company was using Takaya as an advertisement to come up to Canada and kill a wolf,” she told the Guardian. “It hurt too because Takaya has become, in many ways, an international image for positive coexistence with humans.”

The unlikely story of the wolf’s years of self-imposed isolation captivated residents of Vancouver Island, some of whom would paddle by the rocky outcrops and windswept trees hoping to glimpse the animal. But one day in late March, a hunter’s rifle brought an untimely end to the wolf.

Alexander recently found British Columbia-based Terminus Mountain Outfitters was using her photo to advertise its wolf hunting package. She soon posted to her Instagram page, appealing to her 33,000 followers to share news of the company’s decision to use the photo.

The owner of Terminus said in a statement he didn’t mean to “offend” anyone with the image.

“[A web design company] chose some live wildlife photos to use on the [website]. July 27th I was contacted by a disgruntled person upset about a wolf picture that they recognized as a wolf named Takaya. I had no idea of the story behind this wolf or even which of the three pictures on my website was of Takaya. I asked my web developer … to simply remove all three of the photos. July 29th they were removed. Neither I nor my web developer meant to offend anyone,” he said. “Unfortunately, because of the media attention we are now getting emails that are threatening and quite angry when we had nothing to do with the live pictures chosen. We are a legal family-run business.”

Both the image, and the page on wolf hunting, have since been taken down.

In British Columbia, hundreds of wolves – which are seen as vermin that must be eradicated – are killed for sport each year. Hunters usually only take the pelts, discarding the remains. Channelling growing outrage – and changing perceptions – Alexander and local conservation groups have started a petition calling for a moratorium on wolf hunting in British Columbia that has so far received more than 65,000 signatures. Alexander has also founded the non-profit Takaya’s Legacy which works to support wolf protection initiatives.

While Takaya’s legacy has aligned with the aims of conservation groups, his curiosity – or lack of fear – also raised difficult questions about the relationship locals had fostered with the wolf that led to his demise.

“I was angry about the photo, but there’s a silver lining, because it actually allows word to get out there about what’s happening in Canada regarding trophy hunting – the whole range of wild animals that are hunted in Canada is quite disgusting,” said Alexander. “We’re grappling with loss of biodiversity. That trophy hunters are continuing to hunt them just for fun and for recreation is not acceptable.”

Rare sighting of Britain's loudest bird at County Durham nature reserve

Tom Burgess
Sun, 4 August 2024 


Bittern sighting at Rainton Meadows (Image: Brian Howes)


An amateur photographer has captured the moment a rare Bittern appeared at a County Durham nature reserve.

Brian Howes, 75, heard that there had been glimpses of the elusive booming bird at Rainton Meadows.

After a fruitless morning on Monday and a second attempt in the afternoon that day he went home to Great Lumley disappointed.


Mr Howes caught a glimpse of the bittern on Wednesday, but it was not until Friday morning that he got a full look at the majestic booming bird in flight.

(Image: Brian Howes)

He said: "It was first spotted in Rainton Meadows on Monday, it's been in the reeds all week.

"I went down this morning and it poked its head up before taking flight and going back into the reeds.

"It was beautiful. Someone was saying it has been 10 or 15 years since we had one hanging around for a few days.

"It is especially rare to see one in Rainton Meadows.

(Image: Brian Howes)

"We have seen them flying past overhead but not sticking around.

"It was just nice to see it and with the sun shining too. That made the pictures even nicer."

Bitterns are Britain's loudest birds and they were nearly driven to extinction in the 1870s because of over hunting.

Their numbers are still low but conservation efforts are working and the occasional sighting of them is made in the North East.

In 2012, a male bittern was heard booming for the very first time at RSPB Saltholme, in Stockton, in an attempt to attract a female but was sadly unsuccessful.

Then in 2022 a male Bittern was once again heard booming and this time sightings of regular feeding flights to a nest indicated a successful breeding pai



One of Australia’s most elusive birds, a 2,200km journey and a mid-winter mystery solved

Andrew Stafford

THE GUARDIAN
Sat, 3 August 2024 


A 2020 survey estimated there may be as few as 340 Australian painted-snipe remaining in the wild.Photograph: Peter Stevens


It had been three months without a peep, and the ecologist Matt Herring thought Gloria had perished. He had captured the elusive bird on 22 October 2023, on a property north of Balranald in New South Wales – the first Australian painted-snipe to be fitted with a satellite tracker.

But contact had been lost, and there was a sticky complication: Gloria’s tracker had been financed by a successful crowdfunding campaign. Herring started preparing an obituary for the avian pioneer for her species.

And then she reappeared – more than 1,000km north of where she was first captured, near Birdsville in outback Queensland. Herring guesses the tiny solar panel on the two-gram tracker may have been obscured by one of the bird’s feathers, causing the outage.

The second painted-snipe he’d caught, Marcelina, had made an even more epic journey from the same Balranald property. Captured on 3 January this year, she is now in Daly Waters in the Top End – a journey of more than 2,200km, as the painted-snipe flies.

The Australian painted-snipe is an enigmatic waterbird, most active from dusk to dawn. They hide in vegetation during the day, camouflaged by intricately patterned plumage. Almost all sightings are in summer, suggesting the species is at least partially migratory or nomadic.

Herring’s project, Australian Painted-snipe Tracking, aims to uncover where the birds go during winter. It’s becoming clear why, until now, no one knew. “When you look at where these two birds have gone, they’re some of the most remote parts of the country,” he said.

By tracing its movements, Herring hopes to help save one of our least-known and rarest species. The 2020 Action Plan for Australian Birds – which summarises the conservation status of all Australian avifauna – estimated there may be as few as 340 remaining in the wild.

However, Herring said that figure is likely to be underestimated. Consecutive La Nina years since the report was published have gone some way to replenishing water flows in the Murray-Darling basin, where the bird breeds.

But Herring cautioned that while overall numbers had probably been boosted, there had not been the dramatic jump in sightings recorded in 2011–2012, after the breaking of the millennium drought.

About 400 Australian painted-snipe were logged during that period. In the two years before the black summer bushfires, however, the species was recorded from just half a dozen locations, raising grave fears for their survival.

By comparison, between July and December last year, 61 birds were recorded from 25 sites, suggesting only a partial recovery. This was during a period Herring said “more people were out looking than ever”, after a post-Covid boom in birdwatching.

It’s great to figure out their movement patterns, but the key is actually having sites to organise conservation

Matt Herring

Herring said satellite-tracking the birds was the most efficient way of monitoring the specie’s movements. This in turn was helping to identify the painted-snipe’s habitat requirements, and where conservation efforts needed to be targeted.

The first six months of data provided by the movements of Gloria and Marcelina had pinpointed the locations of over a dozen individual wetlands used by the species across three states, plus the Northern Territory.

“That gives us the opportunity to work with those wetland managers, be they farmers or traditional owners or national park rangers,” Herring said. “It’s great to figure out their movement patterns, but the key is actually having sites to organise conservation for them.”

Remarkably, surveys conducted over summer showed Australian painted-snipe making extensive use of human-modified habitat, with a gathering of about 25 birds feeding in flooded wheat stubble on the property where Marcelina and Gloria were tagged.

The landowners, Peter and Sue Morton, are making dedicated changes of their own to benefit the birds, using designated environmental flows to help create a mixture of shallow water, mudflats and low cover the painted-snipe naturally favour.

“I do a lot of bird photography, so I had cameras everywhere set up,” Morton said. “I pumped a bit of water [into the channel] out of the firefighting unit and you wouldn’t believe it, the footage came back and there were 10 painted-snipe there, including Gloria.”

He said he was now working on fencing off the woodland. “I’m on a Cat loader now and I’ve got four blokes putting up an exclusion fence,” he said. “We’re putting the exclusion fence up to keep the stock out.”

Related: Leonardo DiCaprio calls on Australia to save critically endangered swift parrot

The New South Wales Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water recently announced it had partnered with the Commonwealth environmental water holder to manage the area specifically for Australian painted-snipe.

Herring said it was the first government-sponsored, targeted conservation initiative for the Australian painted-snipe. He said that it would also benefit other threatened species, including fish such as the southern pygmy perch, and frogs like the southern bell frog.

He said that crowdfunding for conservation work was a good way to engage people directly in species’ recovery – though he agreed it was a poor precedent, since the protection of nationally threatened species is a federal government responsibility.

But, he said, the plight of the Australian painted-snipe was too urgent to wait. “A lot of large-scale conservation and academic research funds can take six months or a year,” he said. “What are we going to do, just sit around and wait for new funding streams to be announced?”

This article was amended on 4 August 2024. An earlier version stated Australian painted-snipes were fitted with radio transmitters; the birds were fitted with satellite trackers.

Trump calls union leader who endorsed Kamala Harris ‘a stupid person’

Maya Yang
Sun, 4 August 2024 

The United Auto Workers’ decision to endorse Kamala Harris’s presidential run has apparently gotten under the skin of Donald Trump, who has responded by insulting the union’s leader as “a stupid person”.

In a new interview with Fox News on Sunday, as reported by the Hill, the former president said of union chief Shawn Fain: “Look, the United Auto Workers I know very well – they vote for me. They have a stupid person leading them, but they vote for me. They’re going to love Donald Trump more than ever before.”

Trump’s remarks allude to the harsh 100% tariff he has proposed on imported cars. Economists have warned that such a tariff would raise product costs for Americans, but Trump has insisted on it, saying it reflects how he would prioritize the auto industry if returned to White House in November’s election.

“We’re going to take in a fortune but we’re going to tariff those jobs,” Trump said.

“We’re bringing back the automobile industry and we’re going to do that with tariffs,” Trump said.

Fain and the UAW – one of the US’s largest and most diverse labor unions – nonetheless gave their coveted endorsement to the vice-president, saying in a statement that Harris had a “proven track record of delivering for the working class”.

Trump’s comments about Fain and the UAW come just days after Fain announced that the union – one of the country’s largest and most diverse – is endorsing Harris for president.

Related: United Auto Workers union endorses Kamala Harris for president

“We can put a billionaire back in office who stands against everything our union stands for, or we can elect Kamala Harris who will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us in our war on corporate greed,” said the statement announcing the UAW’s endorsement for November’s White House election.

Trump and the UAW have frequently traded barbs, with Trump calling for Fain to be “fired immediately” during his speech at the Republican national convention in July.

In response, the UAW called Trump a “scab” – a derogatory term for someone who abandons or refuses to join a labor union – as well as a corporate businessman whose main interest is protecting the wealthy.

When the UAW endorsed Joe Biden before the president quit his re-election campaign in July, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to attack Fain, calling him a “dope” and urging autoworkers to defy the union’s endorsement by voting for him instead.

On Sunday, Fain appeared on CBS News’s Face the Nation and elaborated on his union’s decision to endorse Harris.

“When you put Kamala Harris and Donald Trump side-by-side, there’s a very telling difference in who stands with working-class people and who left working-class people behind,” Fain said.

He continued: “Trump’s been all talk for working-class people.

“One of the biggest issues facing this country is inflation. It’s not policy-driven. It’s driven by corporate greed and consumer price gouging and that’s what Donald Trump stands for. The rich get richer and the working class gets left behind.”

Horror at deaths of 12 children unites Druze across borders. But Mideast's wars tear at their bonds

KAREEM CHEHAYEB and MELANIE LIDMAN
Sat, August 3, 2024 













Alma's father, Ayman Fakhr al-Din, shows one her favourite soccer jerseys, as he stands in his daughter's room at the town of Majdal Shams, in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

FARDIS, Lebanon (AP) — Alma Ayman Fakhr al-Din, a lively 11-year-old who loved basketball and learning languages, was playing on a soccer field a week ago in Majdal Shams, a Druze town in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, when the rocket hit.

Running to the site, her father Ayman pleaded with emergency workers for information about his daughter. “Suddenly I went to the corner, I saw such a tiny girl in a bag,” he said. He recognized her shoes, her hand. “I understood that that’s it, nothing is left, she’s gone.” She was among 12 children and teens killed.

The shocking bloodshed unified the Druze across the region in grief – and laid bare the complex identity of the small, insular religious minority, whose members are spread across Israel, the Golan Heights, Lebanon and Syria.


Who are the Druze?

The Druze religious sect began as a 10th-century offshoot of Ismailism, a branch of Shiite Islam. Outsiders are not allowed to convert, and most religious practices are shrouded in secrecy. There are just one million Druze – more than half of them in Syria, around 250,000 in Lebanon, 115,000 in Israel and 25,000 in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981.

Separated by borders, each part of the Druze community has taken different paths, always with an eye on preserving their existence among larger powers. Druze in Lebanon and Syria adopted Arab nationalism, including support for the Palestinian cause. In Israel, Druze are highly regarded for their loyalty to the state and their military service, with many entering elite combat units, including fighting in Gaza. In the Golan, the Druze navigate their historically Syrian identity while living under Israeli occupation.

The communities have always kept up connections and tried to maintain civility over their differences. That, however, has been strained by 10 months of war in Gaza. Now after the Majdal Shams strike, many Druze fear even worse divisions if the region tips into all-out regional war.

“Our children”

After the attack, a string of Israeli politicians rushed to Majdal Shams to show solidarity with the grieving families and emphasize the strong connection between Israel and the Druze.

“These children are our children, they are the children of all of us,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, visiting the soccer field.

Netanyahu’s presence also sparked angry protests by some residents who accused officials of exploiting the tragedy for political purposes.

Many Druze in the Israeli-held part of the Golan have kept their allegiance to Syria. About 20% have taken Israeli citizenship, said Yusri Hazran of Jerusalem's Hebrew University, who is Druze and researches minorities in the Middle East.

In the past 15 years, that trend has increased, said Hazran, as Israel has more strongly integrated the Golan, whose 1981 annexation is not widely recognized.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Druze community, centered in the north of the country, tends to tout with pride their Israeli identity. Around 80% of the male Druze population enlists in the military, higher than the around 70% of Israeli Jews, according to official statistics. Ten Druze soldiers have been killed in the war in the Gaza Strip, a large proportion given their community’s size.

Sheikh Moafaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of the Druze in Israel, said he wasn’t surprised by the wave of national compassion. “During the time of mourning, everyone is talking about support,” he said.

He hoped support would continue after the tragedy has faded from headlines.

“There’s so much that’s needed to fix here.” He pointed to the significant discrimination Druze faced in Israel. A third of Druze homes are not connected to electricity, he said. The community was furious over a 2018 Israeli law that defined the country as a Jewish state and made no mention of its minorities.

In the Golan, some still see their bond lying with neighboring Arab countries.

Hail Abu Jabal, an 84-year-old Druze activist in Majdal Shams, was detained by Israel in the past over his opposition to its rule.

Before European powers divided up the Mideast in the early 20th century, “this region was one region. The Druze were spread out in one country,” he said. “There is a kinship relationship, there is a marriage relationship, and there is a relationship of belonging."

Divided by borders

In the southern Lebanese village of Fardis, near the Israeli border, rocket fire echoed, part of the nearly daily exchanges between Israel and Hezbollah going on for months. From the home of Wissam Sliqa, charred trees were visible on the otherwise verdant mountains, signs of recent Israeli strikes.

Israel is “once again trying to plant the seeds of discord,” said Sliqa, the religious affairs adviser for Lebanon’s top Druze religious leader.

He urged Israeli Druze not to join the war in Gaza or the increasingly volatile confrontation across the Lebanese-Israeli border.

Druze of Syria and Lebanon tend to avoid criticizing their brethren in Israel. Though more are publicly encouraging Druze to refuse to serve in the Israeli military, they withhold judgment on those who do.

“They are behaving how they see is suitable to them,” Sliqa acknowledged. “We don’t dictate to them, and they don’t dictate to us.”

While most of Lebanon’s Druze live in the country's central mountains, Druze-majority villages are also scattered around the south next to Muslim and Christian neighbors.

Lebanese and Syrian Druze have historically been drawn to Arab nationalist movements. Many point to their role in Arab resistance to European colonial rule a century ago and their strong support for Palestinians today.

“The Druze never considered themselves an ethnic minority at all, but a part of the Arab and Islamic majority in the region,” said Lebanese Druze legislator Wael Abou Faour.

Walid Jumblatt, arguably the region's most powerful Druze figure, once led forces fighting alongside Palestinian factions against Israeli troops and their allies in Lebanon. He now leads the Druze in Lebanon’s volatile sectarian power-sharing politics, where his community’s power goes well beyond its size.

Last month, he and Tarif, Israel's Druze leader, engaged in a startlingly scathing exchange of open letters, airing differences over the Israel-Hamas war.

Jumblatt criticized Druze soldiers fighting in Gaza. Tarif in turn said his community was happy having the rights and duties of “citizens of a democratic state.” Jumblatt shot back denouncing Tarif for meeting with Netanyahu, calling the Israeli military offensive in Gaza “an aggression against humanity.”

“He lives in Lebanon, and he’s saying his opinion,” Tarif told The Associated Press. “We are Israelis, and we are proud.”

Despite differences, the various Druze communities maintain close ties and support each other on humanitarian issues, he said.

In the southern Lebanese town of Hasbaya, Sheikh Amin Khair, a Druze farmer, pointed to a cluster of trees and shrubs by his pear and pomegranate groves. In 1982, Druze fighters fired rockets at Israel from there, he said proudly. That year was the start of Israel's 18-year occupation of south Lebanon.

But rather than criticizing Druze in the Israeli army, Khair said he would rather speak positively of voices among Israeli Druze that have backed the Palestinian cause.

He recited a verse by writer Samih al-Qassam, an Israeli Druze and an Arab nationalist: “And until my last heartbeat … I will resist.”

Small white coffins

After the Majdal Shams strike, the Druze community’s tensions risk being pulled even more tightly if a full-fledged war erupts.

Israel accused Hezbollah of being behind the strike, saying the rocket type and trajectory point clearly to the Iranian-backed group. The Lebanese militant group offered a rare denial.

Lebanon’s Jumblatt is often politically at odds with Hezbollah, but this week he echoed its denial and accused Israel of fueling divisions by accusing the group.

On Tuesday, an Israeli airstrike killed a top Hezbollah commander in Beirut in retaliation. The next day, a blast in the Iranian capital killed Hamas' political chief Ismail Haniyeh. Iran has accused Israel of being behind the attack and vowed retaliation.

As the region awaits Hezbollah and Iran’s response, many Druze are pleading to stop the bloodshed.

“We reject shedding even a single drop of blood under the pretext of avenging our children,” the Golan Heights Druze religious committee said in a statement on Monday.

Hundreds of Syrian Druze who gathered in the nearby Syrian town of Quneitra to hold a memorial service for the children blamed Israel for the deaths.

Across Majdal Shams, there was raw pain as the community buried 12 small white coffins in the span of 24 hours.

“No one wins in war, there’s only losing,” said Majdal Shams resident Bhaa Brik.

___

Lidman reported from Tel Aviv, Israel. Associated Press reporters Alon Bernstein and Leo Correa contributed to this report from Majdal Shams, Golan Heights.

Chinese scientists claim Star Wars-like laser submarines can blast US satellites

Michael Peck
Sat, August 3, 2024 


Chinese researchers believe submarine-fired lasers could destroy satellites.


A laser could target more of the growing satellite networks essential to military operations.


But US experts are skeptical a scheme like this would work.

Chinese scientists claim that it's possible to destroy satellites — including SpaceX's Starlink system — using lasers mounted on submarines.

American experts question the feasibility of mounting a power-hungry energy weapon on a sub. But China and other potential American adversaries are looking for ways to destroy or degrade the satellite-based communications and targeting that has given the US military an edge, and researchers at the Chinese navy's Submarine Academy are confident that the submarines are the answer.

"A submarine with a megawatt-class, solid-state, laser weapon installed in its midsection could stay submerged while it raised a retractable, 'optoelectronic mast' to fire at satellites, before diving back down to depth," according to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, citing the study, which was published in the Chinese defense magazine "Command Control & Simulation."


The Chinese researchers contrasted this approach with current anti-satellite weapons, which use ground-fired rockets to launch what is essentially a killer satellite that destroys its prey with an explosive warhead or projectile. The US government recently warned that Russia is also developing an anti-satellite with a nuclear warhead. A laser, by contrast, offers the potential to fire at many space targets but also comes with the many complexities of submarine operations.

These technologies, which began in the 1950s, were conceived for an era when satellites were big, expensive and few in number. They remain a threat to sophisticated spy and communications satellites, but the advent of cheap, expendable swarms of communications satellites, such as the Starlink commercial network, has vastly complicated anti-satellite efforts.

"Taking the satellites launched by the Starlink program as an example, they are numerous, densely packed and small in size, making the satellite network extremely resilient," the study noted. "Even if a significant number of satellites are destroyed, there are redundancies to replace them. Therefore, using missiles to attack such satellites is highly inefficient."

Satellite swarms are becoming a crucial part of warfare. They have enabled Ukraine, for example, to provide connectivity for its forces when existing Internet and satellite communications facilities were destroyed. Thus, there's a need for destroying or disabling many small satellites in low-Earth orbit.

Chinese researchers envision the solution as flotillas of mass-produced laser subs that could be dispatched to oceans around the world. They would wait for tracking data from other non-submarine platforms to determine when a target satellite is overhead.

"When the satellite enters the attackable range, the laser weapon is raised. Due to the limitations of the submarine's detection equipment, other forces are required to provide satellite position guidance for the submarine to attack the satellite. After the attack is completed, the submarine can submerge and wait for the next mission or return to the home port."

In addition to destroying satellites, these subs could also blast aircraft or land targets such as radars and oil refineries. The Chinese researchers estimated that "a modest 150-kilowatt laser weapon on a submarine can damage the photoelectric detection equipment on an anti-submarine aircraft in one-fifth of a second, with an effective range of more than 20 kilometers [12 miles]," the Post said. "Continuous firing could also penetrate the aircraft's fuselage."

Laser subs could also shield China's ballistic missile submarines from detection. "The escorting submarine can first use the laser weapon to interfere with or destroy overhead satellites in the sea area, making it difficult for the enemy's space-based surveillance system to function, thereby achieving the concealment of missile launches."

In 2019, the US Navy put out a research solicitation for electrical connectors that would allow submarines to transmit power — through the sub's hull — to an externally mounted laser. American submarines needed a towed power source to accomplish this, the Navy said at the time.

Still, the idea of a sub-mounted anti-satellite laser leaves American experts cold. "The submarine would have to be designed from the ground up to generate the many, many megawatts of electricity to power a laser shooting at an object 200-300 miles up, and that delivers about 10 kilowatts on target," Chris Carlson, a former Defense Intelligence Agency naval analyst, told Business Insider. "That would require an incredibly huge amount of volume."

Submarines would also have trouble aiming lasers. "A submarine at periscope depth is anything but a stable firing platform," Carlson said. "Just a little wiggle in pitch, roll, or yaw will yank the beam off target." In addition, targeting data would have to be transmitted to the sub so that it can assume a firing position when the satellite is overhead.

"Communications with a submerged submarine are difficult," said Carlson. "And after alerting the sub, it would still have to raise a mast with a data link to the tracking sensor before a separate tracking laser on the sub itself could acquire the target and point the laser weapon in the right direction."

"There are lots of ways for this to go wrong," Carlson said.

Michael Peck is a defense writer whose work has appeared in Forbes, Defense News, Foreign Policy magazine, and other publications. He holds an MA in political science from Rutgers Univ. Follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

Use of Russian software on UK nuclear submarines sparks call for defence review

Camilla Turner
Sat, August 3, 2024 

The Vanguard-class nuclear submarine HMS Vengeance at Clyde, Faslane - Jane Barlow/PA Wire

Ministers have been urged to carry out an urgent review of defence supply chains in the wake of The Telegraph’s revelations about Britain’s nuclear submarine fleet.

The Telegraph disclosed that Britain’s nuclear submarine engineers are using software that was designed in Russia and Belarus.

The software should have been created by UK-based staff with security clearance, but the work was partially outsourced to developers in Siberia and Minsk, the capital of Belarus.


There are fears that further defence capabilities could have been compromised because it has emerged that a previous project was also outsourced to developers in Minsk.

Experts have warned that the UK’s national security risked being jeopardised if personal details of those with classified knowledge of Britain’s nuclear submarine fleet fell into the wrong hands, leaving them exposed to blackmail or targeted attacks.

The Telegraph understands that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) considered the security breach a serious threat to UK defence and launched an investigation.

The inquiry discovered that the firm that outsourced the work – on a staff intranet for nuclear submarine engineers – to Russia and Belarus initially kept it secret and discussed whether it could disguise where the workers were based by giving them fake names of dead British people.


Admiral Lord West, the former head of the Royal Navy said he was “shocked” to read about these “extraordinary” revelations, and urged the MoD to carry out a review into supply chains to ensure they are secure.

“This whole area is an area that has been worrying me more and more. If you go back years ago there wasn’t the same reliance on coding and software and these sorts of things,” he said.

Lord West, who served as the First Sea Lord from 2002 to 2006, added that it can be “highly dangerous” now that everything was so reliant on software.

“This is a world where software can make such a difference. We have to have mechanisms where we can absolutely be certain that no one has broken into the supply chain, even at the lowest level, and that there is no one who hasn’t got the clearance to do the work,” he said.

“I think certainly the Ministry of Defence needs to look very, very closely at this and to make sure that [their supply chains] are absolutely secure. They need to make absolutely sure that every single supplier is secure and has signed the Official Secrets Act.”

The Telegraph revealed how Rolls-Royce Submarines, which designs and runs the UK’s nuclear submarine fleet on behalf of the Royal Navy, wanted to upgrade its staff intranet and had subcontracted the work to WM Reply, a digital consultancy firm.

WM Reply then used developers based in Belarus – Russia’s closest ally – one of whom was actually working from home in Tomsk, Siberia, according to documents submitted to the MoD’s inquiry.

The intranet system included personal details of all Rolls-Royce Submarines employees, as well as the organisational structure of those at the company working on the UK’s submarine fleet.



Ben Wallace, former defence secretary, said there must be “punitive action” for subcontractors who breach the terms of their contracts.

“There doesn’t seem to be a clear enough policy of penalties or punitive action should you not comply,” he said. “If a company realised they would be stuck off working from government contracts or named and shamed, I suspect they wouldn’t do it.”

Tom Tugendhat, a former security minister who is a Tory leadership contender, said that securing supply chains was important for “boosting our resilience and protecting our national security” and said the Government “must safeguard the defence sector skills, jobs, and capabilities” in the UK.

A Rolls-Royce spokesman said: “We can categorically state that at no point was there any risk of data, classified or otherwise, being accessed or made available to non-security cleared individuals. It is not possible for non-security cleared individuals to access any sensitive data via our company intranet.

“All our suppliers comply with strict security requirements. Once we were made aware of these allegations that clearly breached these requirements, and following a rigorous internal investigation that concluded in 2021, Rolls-Royce Submarines ceased working with WM Reply. We have not awarded them any further contracts.”

A spokesman for WM Reply denied the claim that its actions could have endangered national security.

“WM Reply regularly reviews its delivery processes and procedures, respects the needs and processes of its customers and enjoys transparent and long-standing relationships with those customers,” they said.

Ukraine says it sank a $300 million Russian submarine in what could be another big blow to Putin's Black Sea Fleet


Cameron Manley
Updated Sun, August 4, 2024




• Ukraine says it sank a Russian Black Sea Fleet submarine n Crimea.

• The Kilo-class submarine Rostov-on-Don was hit in Sevastopol, Ukraine's military said.

• Ukraine has relentlessly targeted Russia's Black Sea Fleet since the war began.

Ukraine says it struck and sank a Russian Black Sea Fleet submarine and damaged a number of prized S-400 air defense systems in Crimea.

In a statement on Telegram, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said the Kilo-class submarine Rostov-on-Don was hit in the port of Sevastopol.

"The boat sank on the spot," the General Staff said.

"The destruction of the Rostov-on-Don proves once again that there is no safe place for the Russian fleet in the Ukrainian territorial waters of the Black Sea," it added.

Business Insider was unable to independently verify the claim. The Russian Defense Ministry has not yet commented.

The Russian-appointed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, posted on Telegram on Sunday morning but did not reference Ukraine's announcement.

"Everything is quiet in the city," he wrote, while also warning of an upcoming training exercise.

Ukraine's military said the B-237 Rostov-on-Don "is one of four Kilo-class submarines capable of using 'Kalibr' missiles."

It is not the first time that sub, which Ukraine says cost Russia $300 million, has been targeted in the conflict.

The UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in September that the submarine had "likely suffered catastrophic damage" following a missile strike on a shipyard in Sevastopol.

"Any effort to return the submarine to service is likely to take many years and cost hundreds of millions of dollars," the MoD said at the time.

Despite having no traditional navy of its own, Ukraine has had huge success battling the Black Sea Fleet.

Many of the fleet's ships have been forced to relocate eastward from the naval base in Sevastopol to Novorossiysk, and it has also lost a number of key warships, including its flagship, the Moskva.

In addition to striking the submarine, the General Staff said Ukrainian forces had also severely damaged four S-400 antiaircraft missile launchers.

Frederik Mertens, a former strategic analyst at the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, previously told BI that by targeting Crimea and defense systems such as the S-400, Ukraine was likely "preparing the ground" for the use of F-16 fighter jets, which arrived in Ukraine earlier this week.

AUSTRALIA

EPA deals ‘major blow’ to Woodside’s multibillion-dollar gas drilling plan at Browse basin

Adam Morton Climate and environment editor

THE GUARDIAN  AUS
Mon, 5 August 2024 

An aerial view of Scott Reef, which sits over the underwater Browse gas basin.Photograph: Greenpeace


A multibillion-dollar Woodside Energy gas export development off Western Australia’s north-west has been deemed “unacceptable” by the state’s Environment Protection Authority due to its impact on marine life at Scott Reef.

The EPA’s assessment of Woodside’s Browse liquefied natural gas (LNG) proposal was revealed in response to a freedom of information request by WAToday.

It follows scientists raising concerns that extraction at the Browse basin, about 300km off the Kimberley coast, could damage a coral reef ecosystem that is home to more than 1,500 species, many unique to the area. They identified risks to migrating whale species, the possible sinking of a beach used for nesting by endangered turtles and the potential of an oil spill in a pristine environment.


Related: Australia’s north-west reefs teem with life – but they are also at the centre of a massive fossil fuel expansion

The EPA refused WAToday’s request for information but said in its response it had told Woodside in February that its preliminary view was that “the proposal was unacceptable”.

Browse is Australia’s largest untapped conventional gas field. Woodside’s proposal involves drilling wells within about 3km of the reef and piping gas 900km for processing at the North West Shelf LNG processing plant at Karratha, on the Indigenous-heritage rich Burrup peninsula. It expects it to deliver 11.4m tonnes of LNG a year.

It is part of a proposed gas expansion that analysts say could be Australia’s greatest contribution to global heating if fully developed. Woodside’s “Burrup Hub vision” also includes the Scarborough gas field, the expansion of the Pluto LNG processing facility and extending the life of the North West Shelf plant by 50 years.

The plans have been broadly backed by senior members of the state and federal Labor governments, including the premier, Roger Cook, and the federal resources minister, Madeleine King, but some stages are yet to be approved under state and national environment law.

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The EPA position is not final; Woodside has an opportunity to provide more information. The authority will then make a recommendation to the state’s environment minister, Reece Whitby. The minister does not have to follow the EPA’s advice.

But the Conservation Council of Western Australia said even a preliminary view by the EPA that Browse should be rejected was a “significant and historic finding”. It said the authority had recommended against only two of 100 oil and gas proposals since the mid-1980s.

The council’s executive director, Jess Beckerling, said the revelation was “a major blow” to Woodside’s plan.

“The EPA has now said what we knew all along – the Browse project would be devastating for WA’s environment, and no government should let it proceed,” she said. “It is now incumbent on the WA and federal governments to respect this independent scientific advice and expert opinion, and refuse Woodside’s application to develop Browse.”

Greenpeace Australia Pacific’s chief, David Ritter, said the Burrup Hub was “an irredeemably bad project” and called on Plibersek to “put this project out of its misery, for once and for all”.

“This singular decision will come to define Labor’s legacy on environmental protection,” he said. “We urge Minister Plibersek to do the right thing and to choose a safe and sustainable future for our children over Woodside’s nature-wrecking pursuit of profit.”

Cook said the government wanted the Browse development to go ahead. He said it was a “difficult and complex” project and that conversations between Woodside and the EPA about addressing “issues of concern” were continuing.

“The EPA are there to assess these projects and make sure that we can mitigate against any negative impacts on the environment, and that’s why they are obviously in deep discussions with the government in relation to that project,” he said, according to the West Australian.

Cook said Browse would be “an important part of not only Western Australia’s gas supply, but making sure that we can assist our south-east Asian and north Asian partners to decarbonise their economies”.

A spokesperson for the federal environment department said it had paused assessment of the Browse project and the North West Shelf gas plant’s life extension until it received further information from the WA government and Woodside.

A Woodside spokesperson said Browse was “an important resource that could help address the shortfall of domestic gas in Western Australia forecast from the early 2030s and support energy security in Asia”.

“We continue to work with relevant regulators to progress environmental approvals for Browse,” they said.

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis challenged the suggestion by Australian and Japanese leaders that the Asian country needed Australian gas to maintain its energy supply. The thinktank’s analysis found demand for gas had fallen in Japan over the past decade and the country was selling more LNG overseas than it bought from Australia.