‘Needs to be removed': Sustainability education linked to climate anxiety
Institute of Public Affairs Brianna McKee says sustainability must be removed from the Australian schooling curriculum to reduce climate anxiety.
'Children are at a particular stage of psychological development where they think about things in very concrete or literal terms,' Ms McKee told Sky News host Rowan Dean.
'So, when they hear phrases like 'climate action now' or 'sea levels are rising', they interpret that literally, and that causes anxiety.
'The first step towards addressing this is to take sustainability out of the curriculum.
'It needs to be removed.'

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West Australian
30 minutes ago
- West Australian
'Haven't given up': minister seeks tariff breakthrough
Australia's trade minister remains confident tariffs imposed by the US will be removed, ahead of a likely meeting between Anthony Albanese and Donald Trump. The two leaders could meet on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada next week, with the economic measures imposed by the US president around the world set to dominate discussions. As Australia looks to negotiate for an exemption on tariffs, Trade Minister Don Farrrell was optimistic a deal could be reached. "I certainly haven't given up on the prospect of getting these tariffs removed, and every opportunity I get, I'll continue to pursue that argument with the United States," he told Sky News on Sunday. "There is no justification for the United States to impose tariffs on Australia ... we want all of the tariffs removed, not just some of them." Mr Trump recently signed off on doubling tariffs on exports on steel and aluminium from 25 to 50 per cent. All other Australian exports to the US have been slapped with a 10 per cent tariff. Senator Farrell met with US trade representative Jamieson Greer last week and said he pushed the case for all of the economic measures to be removed. The minister was hopeful a similar approach that removed $20 billion worth of tariffs on Australian goods entering China could be used with America. "We didn't retaliate on that occasion, and bit by bit, we managed to get all of those tariffs that had been applied on Australia by China removed. I'd like to do the same with the United States," he said. "It's only by open discussion, honest discussion with out allies in the United States that I think we can do that." As the US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth urged Australia to increase its defence spending by billions of dollars to 3.5 per cent of GDP, Senator Farrell said the federal government had already proved its commitment through the AUKUS submarine deal. Australia is looking to up its total spent on defence to 2.3 per cent. "We are committed to the defence of this country, we are committed to a significant uplift in the amount of spending," Senator Farrell said. "(AUKUS) is going to be a project that's worth more than $360 billion, so I think we've talked the talk." Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signalled on Friday negotiations on opening up access to US beef into Australia could be on the table as part of tariff negotiations. However, he said biosecurity would not be compromised in order to reach an agreement.


Perth Now
32 minutes ago
- Perth Now
'Haven't given up': minister seeks tariff breakthrough
Australia's trade minister remains confident tariffs imposed by the US will be removed, ahead of a likely meeting between Anthony Albanese and Donald Trump. The two leaders could meet on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada next week, with the economic measures imposed by the US president around the world set to dominate discussions. As Australia looks to negotiate for an exemption on tariffs, Trade Minister Don Farrrell was optimistic a deal could be reached. "I certainly haven't given up on the prospect of getting these tariffs removed, and every opportunity I get, I'll continue to pursue that argument with the United States," he told Sky News on Sunday. "There is no justification for the United States to impose tariffs on Australia ... we want all of the tariffs removed, not just some of them." Mr Trump recently signed off on doubling tariffs on exports on steel and aluminium from 25 to 50 per cent. All other Australian exports to the US have been slapped with a 10 per cent tariff. Senator Farrell met with US trade representative Jamieson Greer last week and said he pushed the case for all of the economic measures to be removed. The minister was hopeful a similar approach that removed $20 billion worth of tariffs on Australian goods entering China could be used with America. "We didn't retaliate on that occasion, and bit by bit, we managed to get all of those tariffs that had been applied on Australia by China removed. I'd like to do the same with the United States," he said. "It's only by open discussion, honest discussion with out allies in the United States that I think we can do that." As the US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth urged Australia to increase its defence spending by billions of dollars to 3.5 per cent of GDP, Senator Farrell said the federal government had already proved its commitment through the AUKUS submarine deal. Australia is looking to up its total spent on defence to 2.3 per cent. "We are committed to the defence of this country, we are committed to a significant uplift in the amount of spending," Senator Farrell said. "(AUKUS) is going to be a project that's worth more than $360 billion, so I think we've talked the talk." Prime Minister Anthony Albanese signalled on Friday negotiations on opening up access to US beef into Australia could be on the table as part of tariff negotiations. However, he said biosecurity would not be compromised in order to reach an agreement.

Sky News AU
41 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
Labor committed to ‘significant uplift' in defence spending
Trade Minister Don Farrell says the Albanese government is committed to a "significant uplift" in defence spending amid calls from US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth urging Australia to increase spending to 3.5 per cent of GDP. "We [Labor] are committed to the defence of this country, we are committed to a significant uplift in the amount of [defence] spending," Mr Farrell told Sky News Political Editor Andrew Clennell. "We're focused on what Australia needs to do, and we'll make our decision on what is in our national interest."