Moment man sets himself on fire in botched arson attack
The unknown man poured liquid from a jerry can around the premises before accidentally setting his clothes on fire.
Police have released the CCTV in an appeal to the public to help find the man.
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Arson attacks on Belfast 5G phone masts ‘extremely reckless', say police
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The Guardian
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Plan to extend Queensland coalmine would bulldoze ‘critical' koala habitat
Habitat for threatened koalas that are part of a population described by one expert as nationally significant would be bulldozed under plans to extend a Queensland coalmine. The campaign group Lock the Gate used drones with thermal imaging cameras to find 13 koalas in one night in trees earmarked for clearing by mining company Glencore. Glencore wants to clear 680 hectares of land – including 600 hectares of koala habitat – to expand its Hail Creek mine west of Mackay. Lock the Gate surveyed about a quarter of the area to be cleared in June using the drones. 'This is by far the most koalas we've ever seen in the path of a planned coalmine,' said the group's Queensland coordinator, Maggie Mckeown. Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton's Clear Air column as a free newsletter 'The habitat next to Hail Creek coalmine is clearly a critical home for koalas.' In 2022 the federal government raised the threat status for koalas in Queensland, New South Wales and the ACT to endangered after estimates suggested their numbers in those states had halved between 2001 and 2021. Land clearing is one of the key threats facing the koala, alongside disease, traffic, logging and dog attacks. Dr Bill Ellis, who leads the Koala Ecology Group at the University of Queensland, said the koalas at Hail Creek were part of the Clarke Connors Range population that was nationally significant because of its size and health, and was a genetically distinct group that existed across a range of habitats. The high number of koalas detected by the drones confirmed the health of the population, he said. He was sceptical that offsets – an option being considered by Glencore that puts alternative habitat aside – would be enough to protect the koalas. He said approving further coalmining would probably increase traffic on the Peak Downs Highway that connects Bowen Basin mines to Mackay and is a known death hotspot for koalas. In an environmental assessment submitted to the Queensland government, consultants for Glencore said the impacts from the clearing would be 'unavoidable and would adversely affect habitat critical to the survival of this species'. About 600 hectares of habitat for the vulnerable squatter pigeon will also be cleared if the plans are approved, the assessment said. Sign up to Clear Air Australia Adam Morton brings you incisive analysis about the politics and impact of the climate crisis after newsletter promotion UN-backed research revealed earlier this year that emissions of the potent greenhouse gas methane from the mine were likely between three and eight times higher than officially reported. The extension plans are still before the state government and have not yet been sent to the federal government for environmental assessment. But Lock the Gate, the Queensland Conservation Council (QCC) and the Mackay Conservation Group have written to the federal environment minister, Murray Watt, to ask for a moratorium on project applications in the area 'until the population size, health and habitat [of koalas] can be thoroughly investigated'. Charlie Cox, coal and gas campaigner at QCC, said koalas deserved the highest levels of protection but 'in central Queensland they're losing habitat to coalmining companies who bulldoze their homes and fuel the climate crisis'. A Queensland government spokesperson said a decision on Glencore's application to amend its state environmental authority was expected by late 2025. A Glencore spokesperson said: 'We are very aware of the importance of existing koala habitat. We are working closely with state and federal governments to deliver an effective environmental management plan to minimise impact on flora and fauna in the Hail Creek project area.' The Guardian approached Watt for comment, but was referred to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. A department spokesperson said it was aware of Glencore's project, adding: 'Any action that is likely to have a significant impact on a matter protected under national environment law must be referred to the department for consideration under the national environment law.'
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Renting has robbed me of precious cat years. So I've turned to pet sitting to fill the void
We talk about housing a lot in Australia. Whether you are a homeowner, an aspiring home owner, a lowly lifelong renter like me or a person who the government is happy to let fall through the cracks, you will hear about it. There's interest rates, negative gearing and the struggle between development and nimbys who not only want to buy the ladder and pull it up behind them, but also make sure no other ladders are made available in the surrounding areas. For my entire life, I have lived in rental properties. As a fully grown adult, I now live in Sydney, where the conditions of rentals, and the prices for those conditions, should be enough to put a boomer off their non-avocado breakfast. You try to live normally, but you know at any moment it could all be yanked out from under you. You could get a random call that your entire share house needs to move out because your landlord's son failed as a DJ in London and needs to come home to sulk. Or you could get excited when the owner has decided to fix all the things you've been asking for for three years, only to discover they are doing it in order to sell. Housing and access to it is a serious problem, but I want to talk about one of the tiny issues that often gets overlooked in the big discussion. I can't have a cat. I am a cis white lesbian, here to say that some stereotypes are true. I love cats. I adore them. It is in my DNA to greet, love, pat and want to have any cat I meet in my home. Occasionally, people on the internet have tried insulting me by calling me a cat lady, and I can't even correct them even though I don't have a cat. They are right. It is who I am intrinsically. My natural setting is being the annoying person at a party already showing you cat photos before you can finish saying ,'Do you have a cat?' I am also the person likely to ask this. I still show people photos of my old cat Tippi, who was with me during my most stable renting years and gave me the best cat years of my life. The last eight years or so have been pet empty, my situation never suitable for a cat, and the idea of adding a special layer of difficulty to the already very difficult process of finding a new rental does not appeal. Luckily, I have a technique to tide me over, so I don't become a crazy catless lady. I have dubbed this concept Intermittent Pets. Those are other people's pets: dogs I see daily at the park who become my friends, the weird cat that haunts the back lane or, better yet, cats, fish, once a tortoise, that I can look after while friends are away, giving me some much-needed pet time. Even a short period of Intermittent Pets is enough to send my PET FULFILLOMETER to the top. In the last handful of years, my girlfriend and I have become a go-to for people who need a couple of queer women to pet-sit while they go on holiday. This is partially because we always live in share houses, and it's nice to have our own space for a bit, but largely it's because I want an Intermittent Pet. We have had a wealth of opportunities to cat-sit in particular, because we know a lot of lesbians who travel for work. I know there are dog people and cat people, a binary I don't believe in because I also love dogs – but cats rule and I'll say it every day. It makes me sad when I hear people say they don't like cats. Usually it's because they had one or two bad experiences with a cat when they were younger. Not to victim-blame, but it was probably your fault. I love cat sitting because I love how different each of their personalities are – their little quirks. You can't just go in hard and rough with a pat and a treat and expect to win it over like a dog. Sure, it's great to have that experience sometimes, but I just love that they have their own boundaries, their own way of doing things and their own way of having you do things for them. You have to attune to each cat, demonstrate that you are safe person in a way their particular sensibilities will respond to. People who don't like cats talk about how they aren't affectionate or loving, and that can't be further from the truth. Some cats are immediately loving, getting into a strange lesbian's lap at the first opportunity. But some need time, and that's OK. There is nothing more satisfying than seeing a cat move gradually from wariness to affection and end up purring in your lap. Someone asked us recently if my girlfriend and I compete over who the cat likes first or the most, but we don't. We are a team (it's usually me though), a couple of carers ready to do whatever it takes to look after the cat and win it over before its owners return. It's not the same as having a permanent cat, but it fills, for a time, the gaping void. Rebecca Shaw is a writer based in Sydney
