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Like you, I really struggle with Australia (I was born in NZ. Lived 30 years in Australia, now a digital nomad). Australia seems to be doing everything in it's

by vertis 5y ago

Like you, I really struggle with Australia (I was born in NZ. Lived 30 years in Australia, now a digital nomad). Australia seems to be doing everything in it's power to not be climate friendly. Dismantling carbon tax, trying to maintain coal power[0], exporting coal, putting taxes on electric cars[1] (WHY?!). Plus, other things I've likely forgotten. This is without all the other items unrelated to this story. Treating refugees badly[2][3], and finding new ways abuse indigenous Australians[4]. I can't see myself living in Australia again. Not that the rest of the world is perfect by any means, but if I had to pick at this point it would probably be somewhere like the Nordic countries that seem to take their international responsibilities seriously (I'm sure it's not all roses there either). [0] https://www.powerengineeringint.com/coal-fired/fossil-fuel-power-is-here-to-stay-says-australian-pm/ https://www.powerengineeringint.com/coal-fired/fossil-fuel-p... [1] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/30/electric-vehicle-vacuum-leads-to-confusion-between-states-and-territorie https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/may/30/electric... [2] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/02/australias-offshore-asylum-centres-have-been-a-cruel-disaster-they-must-not-be-replicated-by-the-uk https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/02/austra... [3] https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/08/australia-abuse-neglect-of-refugees-on-nauru/ https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/08/australia-abu... [4] https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/08/australia-official-documents-reveal-serious-incidents-of-abuse-in-queensland-juvenile-detention-centres/ https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2016/08/australia-off...

ab737 5y ago
Don't let NZ's clean green marketing efforts delude you. Auckland is the most car dependent city in the world outside of the US. Christchurch is the most car dependent small city in the world. To put that in perspective, there are as many cars on the road in Auckland per day as Berlin, which has 3.5x the population. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_share https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_share
- vertis 5y ago
  I said nothing about NZ (except that I was born there).
  - ab737 5y ago
    It's considered bad taste to criticise other countries for that which your home country is.
    - vertis 5y ago
      I'm both an Australian and NZ citizen. One of my parents is Australian and the other NZ. Not that my ancestral line matters at all the legitimacy of my views. I spent 30 years living in Australia and I'll point out all the flaws I want. Otherwise, nobody in Australia should ever criticize China (or insert any other country). But that's not the way the world works, nor the way I want the world to work. Everyone should be held to account. We don't exist in a vacuum.
- contingencies 5y ago
  NZ has also, even more so than Australia, trashed all its rivers.
grecy 5y ago
I'm an Aussie that left 15 years ago, and just flew back 2 weeks ago. It's been really sad to watch the political leadership in Australia be so obviously bought by the massive mining interests, and continue to prioritize their wants and needs over those of regular folks and the environment. Australia will continue to go downhill until that changes, and I fear it could be a few decades until that happens. Australia should be leading the world with green energy, instead we keep pandering to the massive mining conglomerates.
DavidPiper 5y ago
> putting taxes on electric cars (WHY?!) This was such a weird move across the board. Climate change rejection aside though, I think there could be a sympathetic (to the government) explanation somewhere in there: Eventually, EVs will need to be taxed in some way, if only to make up for the loss of fuel excise tax. It's far less controversial (and politically suicidal) to introduce a tax when only a tiny percentage of (presumably non-politically-donating) Australians will actually have to pay it. Then once EV usage hits a significant percentage, there's already a tax in place that everyone takes for granted. And in the very unlikely event that such a tax would be repealed, what a great card to play at election time. I can't remember who said it, but it reminds me of the "we should have taxed the Internet when we had the chance" comment. A realisation which came far too late (thankfully) for the government to do anything about it.
- vertis 5y ago
  If the AU government didn't have such a denial / fossil-fuels attitude, I could even accept that. Unfortunately, with every other position that they hold it's hard to take that kind of explanation seriously.
- simonblack 5y ago
  putting taxes on electric cars (WHY?!) As a two-edged sword to reduce EV sales. First edge: to keep the petroleum boys happy. Second edge: because they can't afford to make the electricity generation plants big enough and the electricity grids robust enough to stand the charging of millions of electric vehicles on a daily basis.

by vertis 5y ago

ab737 5y ago

Don't let NZ's clean green marketing efforts delude you. Auckland is the most car dependent city in the world outside of the US. Christchurch is the most car dependent small city in the world. To put that in perspective, there are as many cars on the road in Auckland per day as Berlin, which has 3.5x the population. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_share https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_share

vertis 5y ago
I said nothing about NZ (except that I was born there).
- ab737 5y ago
  It's considered bad taste to criticise other countries for that which your home country is.
  - vertis 5y ago
    I'm both an Australian and NZ citizen. One of my parents is Australian and the other NZ. Not that my ancestral line matters at all the legitimacy of my views. I spent 30 years living in Australia and I'll point out all the flaws I want. Otherwise, nobody in Australia should ever criticize China (or insert any other country). But that's not the way the world works, nor the way I want the world to work. Everyone should be held to account. We don't exist in a vacuum.
contingencies 5y ago
NZ has also, even more so than Australia, trashed all its rivers.

grecy 5y ago

I'm an Aussie that left 15 years ago, and just flew back 2 weeks ago. It's been really sad to watch the political leadership in Australia be so obviously bought by the massive mining interests, and continue to prioritize their wants and needs over those of regular folks and the environment. Australia will continue to go downhill until that changes, and I fear it could be a few decades until that happens. Australia should be leading the world with green energy, instead we keep pandering to the massive mining conglomerates.

DavidPiper 5y ago

> putting taxes on electric cars (WHY?!) This was such a weird move across the board. Climate change rejection aside though, I think there could be a sympathetic (to the government) explanation somewhere in there: Eventually, EVs will need to be taxed in some way, if only to make up for the loss of fuel excise tax. It's far less controversial (and politically suicidal) to introduce a tax when only a tiny percentage of (presumably non-politically-donating) Australians will actually have to pay it. Then once EV usage hits a significant percentage, there's already a tax in place that everyone takes for granted. And in the very unlikely event that such a tax would be repealed, what a great card to play at election time. I can't remember who said it, but it reminds me of the "we should have taxed the Internet when we had the chance" comment. A realisation which came far too late (thankfully) for the government to do anything about it.

vertis 5y ago
If the AU government didn't have such a denial / fossil-fuels attitude, I could even accept that. Unfortunately, with every other position that they hold it's hard to take that kind of explanation seriously.
simonblack 5y ago
putting taxes on electric cars (WHY?!) As a two-edged sword to reduce EV sales. First edge: to keep the petroleum boys happy. Second edge: because they can't afford to make the electricity generation plants big enough and the electricity grids robust enough to stand the charging of millions of electric vehicles on a daily basis.