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ABC News
10 hours ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Seeking a reset on the environment debate, Murray Watt gathers business and conservation groups in search of a deal
Environment laws in desperate need of change will require business groups and environmentalists to compromise, the environment minister warns, ahead of a major meeting he hopes can be used to reset the debate and find common ground on the outdated act. Representatives for miners, environmentalists, farmers, urban developers and more are due to meet with Environment Minister Murray Watt today to hash out disagreements on long overdue reforms to the laws governing Australia's environment. The heart of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act has changed little since it was written in 1999, and two successive terms of government have failed to update it, following a major review under the former Morrison government that concluded it was broken. The Graeme Samuel review in 2020 found that Australia's natural environment was in decline, and outdated EPBC laws were allowing piecemeal decisions that cumulatively led to the environment and Indigenous heritage being harmed. "The environment has suffered from two decades of failing to continuously improve the law and its implementation. Business has also suffered," Mr Samuel wrote at the time. This morning, Senator Watt will convene a meeting of the minds that will include business and mining groups, environment and renewable energy stakeholders, agriculture, urban development, and others in the hopes that some agreement can be struck that would see a rewritten EPBC Act passed this term. "I think everyone knows we didn't get as far in the last term as we hoped, and I think all participants in this debate are disappointed we weren't able to make more progress last term," Senator Watt said. "I think it's very easy in these sorts of big debates for people to get in their corners and take their own position and not listen enough to the 'other' side. This is a good opportunity to hear from everyone." The minister said since taking over the portfolio from Tanya Plibersek last month, he had met one-on-one with many of the stakeholders in the debate, and was optimistic a deal could be reached. "There's a lot of goodwill there … people have said to me they are prepared to give and take, and they know there will need to be some compromise," he said. "Everyone agrees that our current laws are broken. They are not working for the environment, they are not working for business." Last term, the government proposed reforms to speed up decisions on approvals, rewrite regulations to focus on environmental outcomes that would avoid habitat degradation over time by numerous small projects, and establish an environmental watchdog to enforce the laws. The 2020 Samuel Review, handed down by then-environment minister Sussan Ley, recommended an overhaul underpinned by what would be called 'National Environmental Standards' that could take a big picture approach to protecting habitats, with an independent Environmental Protection Authority ensuring the standards were kept. But the government was unable to find a pathway through parliament to pass its laws, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese ultimately stepped in to shelve them, after protest from West Australian Premier Roger Cook that it could harm the state's gas and mining projects. Taking on the role, Senator Watt confirmed he would rewrite the laws and try again. Senator Watt said after the government's romping election win, it had a mandate to pass its reforms, and there was a "unique" opportunity to do something bigger that could "solve a whole bunch of problems in one go". That included discussion of whether to stitch back together reforms to environmental approvals with the creation of a new federal environment watchdog, after those proposals were split into two bills by Ms Plibersek in an attempt to see some of it passed last term. Senator Watt's decision last month to approve the operating life of Woodside's North West Shelf project, the largest gas installation in the country, out to 2070, prompted an explosion of criticism from environmental groups, and reignited debate over whether energy projects seeking environmental approval should have to answer climate concerns in those applications. Ms Plibersek's original 'Nature Positive Plan' was intended to include "mandatory consideration" of climate change in environmental planning, but that was walked back as resistance to the EPBC reforms mounted. The minister said he was open to hearing suggestions that climate change considerations be written into the laws, but in an early warning likely to put the Greens offside, said he did not consider that to be a good idea. "I'm not ruling things in or out at this early stage, but I don't think it's a good idea to duplicate laws to achieve the same purpose. We have strong laws in place which the Greens party voted for to require heavy industry to reduce its emissions year-on-year," Senator Watt said. "I would make the point that the North West Shelf project, like all heavy-emitting projects, is already subject to the government's 'Safeguard Mechanism', which requires it to reduce its emissions by about 5 per cent every year and to get to net zero by 2050 "We do already have strong rules in place … they may be sitting in a different law to the EPBC laws, but we do have those laws, and companies are now following them." The safeguard mechanism requires the nation's biggest polluters in the mining, oil and gas, transport, manufacturing, and waste sectors to reduce their emissions each year. However, those rules only apply to the direct emissions of those facilities, such as the recently extended North West Shelf's emissions from drilling for and processing gas, not the much larger "scope three" indirect emissions from households and industry consuming the fuel they sell. And that mechanism does not apply to projects unless their direct emissions are likely to be above 100,000 tonnes a year (as a comparison, North West Shelf's direct emissions are roughly six million tonnes a year). Environmentalists have argued for a "climate trigger" in the EPBC laws that could be used to block projects based on their climate impact. Mr Albanese, when he was shadow environment minister in 2005, was among those who proposed including a climate trigger in the laws, though as prime minister, he has argued that the safeguard mechanism covers climate concerns. Labor backbencher Jerome Laxale told the ABC last week he would personally agitate for climate considerations to be included in the new EPBC Act. The government will need either the support of the Coalition or the Greens for reforms to be passed through parliament. "The EPBC reform train is leaving the station and I want to have as many people on that train as possible, rather than standing behind at the platform shouting and criticising," Senator Watt said. Senator Watt said he was determined to make sure this term would be the one where the laws were finally brought up to date.
BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
Taiwan's epic train ride through 50 tunnels and 77 bridges
The historic Alishan Forest Railway, once crippled by typhoons and earthquakes, is running again – and helping revive mountain villages, celebrate Indigenous heritage and redefine slow travel in Taiwan. A fun fact: it's not just cities that have twin destinations; heritage railways do, too. I learn this while riding south-western Taiwan's recently restored Alishan Forest Railway, which reopened in 2024 as a tourist train, 118 years after steam locomotives first hauled timber along its tracks. One of the most passionate advocates for its restoration is Michael Reilly, the former British Representative to Taiwan. He's also company secretary for Wales' Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway and the reason why, in 2022, the Alishan Forest's Railway became its twin. The union was cemented by the presentation of a diesel engine, once used in Alishan, now ferrying holidaymakers through the rolling hills of Powys, Wales. With international visitor numbers to Taiwan booming and new routes – including flights from Emirates, timed specifically to suit Taiwan-bound travellers from the UK – It's not hard to see why the Taiwan Railway Administration was so supportive of the endeavour. It's an opportunity to show off the island's less-explored regions, showing visitors that there's more to Taiwan than Taipei's sky-scraping Taipei 101 tower and famous night markets. But this railway is more than just a tourist train – it provides an insight into Taiwan's history, starting with its colonisation by Japan. It was 1900, five years into Japan's colonial rule of Taiwan, when Japanese railway technician Iida Toyoji surveyed a mountain route to carry Alishan's prized timber from forested peaks to the country's ports. The first sections were completed by 1907, and the first engines were Shay locomotives – American powerhouses capable of dragging tonnes of timber along the endless switchbacks and spirals. One of them earned a Guinness World Record for travelling the "world's longest railway spiral". The start and end of the Dulishan Spiral are only 570m apart, but an elevation difference of 233m means trains traveling on this stretch must negotiate 5km of twisting track to cover what would be a 570m straight-line distance. Other feats of engineering include numerous bridges that span Alishan's forested valleys and meandering tunnels dug though mountains shaped by landslides. At times, I find myself staring down at sections of track I passed moments before, losing the ability to keep count of the dizzying number of switchbacks, and every so often I glimpse the remnants of a small landside or a fallen cypress – a reminder of the challenges faced by railway engineers toiling away in a region where earthquakes are an almost monthly occurrence. In 1908, the Japanese company funding the railway suspended construction, citing financial problems, and the Government-General of Taiwan stepped in. By 1912 Shay steam locomotives were puffing along the twisting tracks once more. Passenger services started in 1920, but timber was still the main cargo and the trains ground to a halt in the 1960s as demand for wood declined. A huge fire in 1976 and the Jiji earthquake in 1999 disrupted the few passenger services still running, but the final nail in the coffin was the devastation wreaked by Typhoon Morakot in 2009, which suspended all services. Yet calls to restore the full 71km route from Chiayi, where those first steam trains puffed out of the station in 1907, to Alishan Station, 2,216m above sea level, never ceased. The railway had become a lifeline for Indigenous communities along the route, connecting them with schools, doctors and markets. Tourists, too, kept coming to ride the few still-operational sections. In 2013, with support from the Taiwan Railway Administration and the Forestry Bureau, limited operations resumed. In 2019, Taiwan's Ministry of Culture, keen to expand its tourist offerings, announced the creation of the Alishan Forestry and Railway Cultural Landscape. Restoration work continued, and in early 2024 the route reopened in its entirety. On 29 April, the first passenger train returned to the tracks. As I rumble through Alishan's cedar-scented forests, it's easy to see why the original engineers struggled. This alpine obstacle course features 50 bridges and 77 tunnels. Occasionally, on some of the steeper sections, I hear a shrill alarm from the train's cab – a warning that the wheels have slipped slightly. Large machines can't access much of the remote track, so railway sleepers were laid by hand. At one point, we swerve into a recently constructed tunnel; to its left is the dark, cavernous entrance of the old one, now perilously close to the rapidly eroding cliff face. One of the first stops is Lumachan, once a tobacco production hub, now ringed by rice paddies. When the railway fell into disrepair, the station and the nearby tobacco warehouses did too. But with services restored, the area has revived. The shiny new station, with its ornate tiled roof, is now the disembarkation point for passengers visiting the nearby Tobacco Cultural Park, where they can peek inside former tobacco warehouses. Further along is Fenqihu, which sprang up around its namesake train station. As one of the railway's larger stops, it had its own army of workers. "Fenqihu Station was a lot busier in the past," says villager Li Mao-Song, whose grandfather worked as a coal carrier. But the railway's rebirth is helping bring life back to the village. In a locomotive shed at one end of the platform I find a restored steam engine and an artefact-filled exhibition about the railway's history. An hour-long pause here allows passengers time to stretch their legs, and it's also a popular stop for walkers who come to hike the trails that weave through Alishan's forests. I'm waylaid, however, by the scents wafting from nearby food stalls. I opt for a bento box of turkey rice topped with soy sauce and daikon. It's a local delicacy once beloved by the train drivers and lumberjacks who'd stop here to rest and refuel, and now by tourists, who flock to the tiny restaurants and street food stalls surrounding the station. Back onboard, golden sunlight seeps through swathes of bamboo (grown and harvested by Alishan's Indigenous Tsou tribe), complete with a soundtrack of timber-tapping woodpeckers. More than half Taiwan's firefly species can be found here, and giant flying squirrels are regularly spotted. I'm admittedly disappointed that I fail to see a deer, who live here in huge numbers (Lumachan station's name is derived from the word luman, meaning "full of deer"). At each station, the conductor leans out the door and passes a token on a loop of rope to a stationmaster, who passes a different one back. The exchange is a nod to the railway's earliest days, when movement along the tracks was strictly controlled and trains could only progress onto the next section once conductors were in possession of the correct token. It's a ritual clearly cherished by railway employees. These employees would have been almost entirely male when the first steam engines hauled their cargo through Alishan's forests. More than a century later, the rail staff is decidedly more mixed. "Many people think railway workers will be male," says Lo Yu-Ting, who helps manage operational routes and was previously stationmaster at the railway's Zhushan Station, Taiwan's highest station. "But when I joined, I was so happy to find so many skilled women in different roles." More like this:• The return of Mexico's famous Tequila Express train• Scotland's most remote railway adventure• A 58-tunnel slow train through India's Eastern Ghats Lo believes the emphasis on teamwork plays a major role. "As a station master, I faced many challenges – managing trains and staff and dealing with natural disasters, which can be tough. But there's great support for employees. This allows me to take care of my two daughters while working." I meet Lo in Chiayi, the line's starting point. On the adjacent platform, Taiwan's high-speed trains flash past in a blur. In contrast, Alishan Forest Railway's red diesel engine roars to life, ready to haul its restored cedar-clad carriages skywards. Chiayi is a city shaped by cedar and cypress. In the early 1900s, many railway workers lived at nearby Hinoki Village, where their former cypress-wood homes have been lovingly preserved. It's now a magnet for tourists who come to slurp bubble tea in old drivers' houses or to snap up vases made from bamboo. Outside one of the squat wooden cottages stands the railway's mascot: a fibreglass deer sporting a baseball cap bearing the line's logo. At first the deer seems an unusual choice – I didn't spot a single one on during my time in Alishan. But deer have long symbolised longevity in Taiwan, and their cedar-coloured fur mirrors the forests this line winds through. Perhaps this cheerful cap-wearing ruminant is the perfect emblem for a railway that refuses to fade away. -- For more Travel stories from the BBC, follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram.
CBC
09-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Historic cradleboards on display for Mother's Day weekend
A display of cradleboards is being opened up for public viewing over the Mother's Day weekend at 610 Simpson St. in Thunder Bay, Ont. The event is being held by the Cradleboard Collective, a group of Indigenous women focused on rematriation — a movement to return Indigenous people to the land and help them reclaim their heritage.
