31 h. ago Aukus laws will mean anywhere in Australia could be potential nuclear waste dump, critics say

Greens senator David Shoebridge says communities will have ‘no way to protect the land’ from waste that will be radioactive for millenniaGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastCritics of Australia’s Aukus submarine deal say the government has given itself the power to nominate any place in Australia as a potential nuclear waste dump, without proper consultation with communities and indigenous landowners.Australia has agreed to take sole responsibility for the management, security and storage of all nuclear waste from its fleet of proposed nuclear-powered submarines, including the spent fuel from the submarines’ reactors – high-level nuclear waste that will be radioactive for millennia once the submarines are decommissioned from the early 2050s. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago Tjanpi Desert Weavers at 30: how 400 Indigenous women in remote Australia took the art world by storm

The First Nations-run social enterprise initially made traditional baskets before expanding into contemporary and sculptural works now exhibited around the worldIt was about seven years ago, in the remote Northern Territory community of Imanpa, that Pitjantjatjara artist Julie Anderson first tried her hand at the art of tjanpi (wild harvested grass) weaving.“My aunty taught me how to do it at her place,” she says. “I didn’t like it at first but she said, ‘Give it a go!’ Once I started and learned the steps, I liked it, and now I do it all the time.” Continue reading...

Events

4 w. ago Australia’s Indigenous elders lose landmark environment case of Torres Strait Islands

Indigenous elders lose climate case as judge says protecting islands is a political, not legal, responsibility

Politics

4 w. ago Australia’s Indigenous elders lose landmark environment case over Torres Strait Islands

Indigenous elders lose climate case as judge says protecting islands is a political, not legal, responsibility

Politics

4 w. ago Torres Strait community leaders in ‘deepest pain imaginable’ as federal court dismisses landmark climate case

Class action led by two community leaders argued government had legal duty of care to prevent or deal with damage linked to global heatingSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesTwo Torres Strait community leaders are shocked and devastated after the federal court dismissed a landmark case that argued the Australian government breached its duty of care to protect the Torres Strait Islands from climate change.The lead plaintiffs, Uncle Pabai Pabai and Uncle Paul Kabai from the islands of Boigu and Saibai, sought orders requiring the government to take steps to prevent climate harm to their communities, including by cutting greenhouse gas emissions at the pace climate scientists say is necessary.Get Guardian Australia environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as an email Continue reading...

Politics

4 w. ago Federal court dismisses landmark Torres Strait climate case but warns of ‘bleak future’ without urgent action

Class action led by two community leaders argued government had legal duty of care to prevent or deal with damage linked to global heatingSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesThe federal court has dismissed a landmark case brought by two Torres Strait community leaders that argued the Australian federal government breached its duty of care to protect the Torres Strait Islands from climate change.In delivering the decision, however, Justice Michael Wigney noted: “There could be little if any doubt that the Torres Strait Islands and their inhabitants face a bleak future if urgent action is not taken to address climate change and its impacts.”Get Guardian Australia environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as an email Continue reading...

Events