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It is distant, beautiful, prosperous, and subject to much vague, uninformed romanticisation. It has a reputation for being a source of exceptionally pure and high-quality agricultural produce, while also standing accused of being a source of global pollution. It is a key producer of a resource the world is still heavily reliant on, but is seeking to replace. While some fret about the effect of its exports, most realise demand is not going to flag any time soon. It is an increasingly popular destination for migration, which is putting pressure on its infrastructure. It could be Australia, seen from a global perspective, but itâs just a small fragment: the Upper Hunter electorate of NSW.
Climate change: Australia wrestles with its coal mining dilemma
For more than 200 years, workers at the Port of Newcastle have loaded ships with coal dug out of nearby mines for transport to Asia and beyond. But with global action to tackle climate change set to decimate the trade, the management at the world’s biggest coal port is preparing for a future without the fossil fuel that generates 60 per cent of its revenues.
“The future of coal is obviously questionable and we have to prepare for that,” says Roy Green, chair of the port, which is a gateway to the Hunter Valley, a coal mining region 280km north of Sydney. “We are likely to see a continuing flattening of coal volumes through the port and ultimately a decline, as the world switches away from coal-fired power.”
Coal will stay important part of economy: Aussie PM straitstimes.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from straitstimes.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Former PM Claims News Corp Is Australia’s Most Powerful Political Actor
Turnbull alleged that the media giant was the most powerful political actor in the country.
“The most powerful political actor in Australia is not the Liberal Party or the National Party or the Labor Party; it is News Corporation,” Turnbull said. “And it is utterly unaccountable. It is controlled by an American family, and their interests are no longer, if they ever were, coextensive with our own.”
News Corp owns many Australian newspapers, including The Australian, The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, The Courier Mail, The Advertiser, Sky News Australia, and online outlet news.com.au.
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Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has unloaded on Rupert Murdochâs News Corporation, accusing the media company of being âutterly liberated from the truthâ and campaigning against his government in an âcrazy agendaâ to restore Tony Abbott to the Liberal leadership.
Appearing before the Senate inquiry into media diversity, Mr Turnbull said the media empire acted like a âmafia gangâ as it pursued its own corporate interests and held vendettas against politicians and other opponents.
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull appears via videoconference during the media diversity hearing on Monday.Â
Alex Ellinghausen
âNews Corp now is like a political party, but with just one member, or one family of members and that is an absolute threat to our democracy,â he said.