Media release
17 May 2010
Young Australians - from primary school
kids to university students - have been
invited to share their views on climate
change, in a new schools competition announced
today.
Inspired by the success
of the 2009 Think Climate, Think Change
competition, which attracted more than 10000
entries from schools across the country,
this year’s competition has been expanded.
The Minister for Climate
Change, Energy Efficiency and Water, Senator
Penny Wong, said the 2010 Shout Out for
Climate Change competition would move onto
university campuses – in addition to primary
and secondary schools.
Launching the campaign
at Marryatville High School in Adelaide,
Senator Wong called on students across the
country to share their views on climate
change on the national stage.
"Young Australians
understand the risks posed by climate change,
and they understand that it will be their
generation that will feel most strongly
the effects of climate change," Senator
Wong said.
"So many young
people are inspired to take action and this
competition allows them to share their views
on how best to tackle climate change.
"Australians want
to do their bit in helping to reduce our
emissions. This competition will encourage
youth to think about ways they can make
a difference."
Entries for the Shout
Out for Climate Change competition will
open on Monday 24 May and will close on
Friday 10 September. A website - www.climatechange.gov.au/shoutoutforclimatechange
- has been launched today with further information
on the competition.
To enter, primary students in grades 3-4
or 5-6 can submit an original piece of artwork,
song, poem or photograph, while secondary
and tertiary students are required to produce
an advertisement that is up to 60 seconds
in length.
Winners from each category
will be invited to attend an award ceremony
where they will have the opportunity to
showcase their work and receive their prize.
This year all of Australia will also have
the opportunity to vote for their favourite
60 second advertisement in the "People’s
Choice" awards.
+ More
Coalition refuses to
accept the planet is warming
Media release
19 May 2010
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has today
confirmed his long-held view that climate
change is “absolute crap” – releasing a
policy document saying the Coalition now
questions whether the planet is even warming.
Mr Abbott also questions
whether there are any “negative consequences”
from climate change.
A 47-page document released
today by the Opposition today titled 'Rebuilding
Sustainable Prosperity' states on page 45:
Climate change is a
special challenge. There is some debate
as to:
Whether the planet is
warming;
If it is warming, whether human activity
is contributing to that process;
If the first two points are true, whether
there are negative consequences.
We know this is not one of Mr Abbott?s heat
of the moment remarks but a carefully prepared
and scripted 'gospel truth' – the Coalition
does not believe climate change is real.
It comes on the same
day as the Coalition cuts hundreds of millions
of dollars of spending on climate change
– including funding for renewable energy
and energy efficiency programs.
The Government accepts
the science. We know that climate change
is real and that we must act.
We know from the world?s
best scientists – including our own Australian
scientists at the Bureau of Meteorology
and CSIRO – that the world is getting warmer.
2009 was the second
hottest year in Australia and ended our
hottest decade. Each decade since the 1940s
has been warmer than the last.
Yet the Opposition refuses
to accept the majority scientific consensus.
The Government knows
we must act and remains committed to the
CPRS as the most effective, least-cost way
of meeting our targets. And we are boosting
investment in renewable energy and energy
efficiency to prepare Australia for the
long-term changes that we know we need to
make to tackle climate change.
The Opposition, on the
other hand, is still refusing to accept
that there is even a problem.
This just shows that
Mr Abbott would be a risk – to our economy,
to the environment and to future generations.
