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The Guardian
27-05-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Woodside boss says young people ‘ideological' on fossil fuels while ‘happily ordering from Temu'
The boss of Australian gas giant Woodside, Meg O'Neill, has attacked young people who take an ideological stand against fossil fuels, suggesting they are hypocrites for ordering cheap online consumer goods 'without any sort of recognition of the energy and carbon impact of their actions'. O'Neill was speaking during the gas industry's annual conference in Brisbane, where the resources minister, Madeleine King, said the government was working to enhance exploration for gas while improving the approvals process for companies. Woodside is waiting for a decision from the new environment minister, Murray Watt, on a project to extend gas production in north west Australia until 2070, which critics say will worsen the climate crisis and risk ancient indigenous rock art in the area. Get Guardian Australia environment editor Adam Morton's Clear Air column as an email During a panel, O'Neill was asked by moderator and Sky News contributor Chris Uhlmann, a critic of renewable energy and policies to reach net zero emissions, if people were aware of where their electricity came from. 'Most people hit a switch and expect the lights to come on,' she said. 'It's been a fascinating journey to watch the discussion, particularly amongst young people who have this very ideological, almost zealous view of, you know, fossil fuels bad, renewables good, that are happily plugging in their devices, ordering things from [online fast-fashion stores] Shein and Temu – having, you know, one little thing shipped to their house without any sort of recognition of the energy and carbon impact of their actions. 'So that human impact and the consumer's role in driving energy demand and emissions absolutely is a missing space in the conversation.' According to company documents, the sale and burning of Woodside's gas – mostly shipped overseas – emitted 74m tonnes of CO2 last year. Last month the company announced it was spending $18bn on a Louisiana LNG project that would produce the fuel until the 2070s. The three-day annual conference of industry group Australian Energy Producers (AEP), which started Tuesday, heard from King that the government was working to speed up approvals for projects and increase exploration efforts. But King said the industry needed to 'pay attention' to Australian public concerns on rising gas prices and concerns about domestic supply shortages on the east coast. Sign up to Clear Air Australia Adam Morton brings you incisive analysis about the politics and impact of the climate crisis after newsletter promotion Earlier, AEP's chief executive, Samantha McCulloch, said Australia needed to take advantage of a competitive edge on gas, which she said would play a critical role as the world tries to decarbonise. But McCulloch said 'this opportunity is not assured', as Qatar and the United States try to ramp up gas production. Former Australian treasurer and ambassador to the United States Joe Hockey, who now runs a Washington DC-based consulting firm, was earlier applauded when he told an audience via video link that Australian energy producers needed to advocate to 'get the government out of the way'. Speaking on Tuesday morning, he said: 'The more regulation, the more red tape, the more green tape – the cry of energy producers in Australia should be 'Give us certainty and stability and we can do the job,' and give Australian cheaper energy and the people of the world a greater opportunity to consume our product and make Australia richer.'
The Guardian
12-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘The river keeps us alive, we keep the river alive': new documentary captures the Kimberley and its custodians
The Kimberley's winding ochre gorges, coral sunsets and celadon crocodile-filled rivers feature in a new ABC documentary series about one of Earth's last great tropical wetlands. Filmed on cinema-grade cameras in the remote and vast north-west Australian region, The Kimberley captures an intimate portrait of its ancient landscape and offers ecological and cultural insight across three episodes. The series follows the six seasons in the Nyikina calendar. The Nyikina people are the traditional custodians of the Martuwarra, also known as the Fitzroy River, the Kimberley's largest river system. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Actor and Nyikina man Mark Coles Smith, the series' narrator and host, describes himself as deeply connected to the land, his mother's country. He introduces the Martuwarra as a 'literal ancestral entity' that has sustained the cultural, spiritual and physical life of First Nations people in the area for tens of thousands of years. The crocodile is a 'revered spirit of the riverways' in the Kimberley. Photograph: ABC TV At the end of the hot, dry season of Lalin – colloquially called 'married turtle season' because it's when the reptiles mate – a crocodile ambushes a thirsty wallaby, snapping it into its jaws before its tail disappears through the croc's teeth. Director Nick Robinson describes it as one of the most astonishing sequences he has ever filmed. The rare footage was taken during the six months he and the series' director of photography, Jack Riley, spent camping, rafting and trekking throughout the Western Australian region. Director Nick Robinson and camera operator Paul Bell shoot a scene with Mark Coles Smith and Gooniyandi elder Mervyn Street. Photograph: ABC TV 'We were just talking to a random fisherman,' Robinson says. 'He mentioned having seen a croc take a wallaby. I'd never seen that in the wild, and I've spent years filming crocs. 'That tip turned into one of the most amazing sequences I've ever shot.' Coles Smith, who won an Australian best actor award for his role in Mystery Road: Origin and is a Gold Logie nominee, explains the crocodile is a 'revered spirit of the riverways', playing an important role in the ecosystem and symbolising the 'raw power of nature'. The tiny crew worked alongside Indigenous rangers, traditional owners and scientists, including the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, to capture animal behaviour and landscapes never before filmed – from frill-necked lizards sparring in their quest for love to humpback whales arriving in the cool, dry season of Barrgana. Some stories came unexpectedly. A planned shoot of northern quolls, small carnivorous marsupials, was derailed when cane toads arrived, likely devastating local populations. Coles Smith takes viewers to the riverbanks of the Martuwarra: kids splash and fish in green-mirrored waters as an elder sketches shapes in the earth for young children and kangaroo tails cook on a fire. A still from the documentary of a northern quoll. Photograph: ABC TV As she untangles a line in her lap, one woman says: 'That spiritual connection we have – with the river, the land, all these things – it heals you. You hear the birds, the river, and the calmness of it … your body is meditating.' skip past newsletter promotion Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. after newsletter promotion A man, tending smouldering flames with a shovel, explains: 'You come up here and sit down, have a feed, go fishing, maybe catch a barramundi if you're lucky; those things, are really, really good for the heart, good for the mind, good for the spirit.' The Martuwarra is one of the most pristine river systems on Earth. Photograph: ABC TV When peaking humidity brings in the rainy season, Wilakarra, it revives the Martuwarra for a stunning rafting expedition – a journey that Robinson says requires helicopters, small planes, and local knowledge to access rarely seen gorges and rapids. Despite damage caused by European farming in the last 150 years, the Martuwarra is still one of the most pristine river systems on Earth. 'I can't fathom the generations behind me, through my mother's family, that begin and return to the river – that's what I think of when I'm out here,' Coles Smith says. But the series also documents the looming danger the Kimberley faces. Aerial shots show mining, water extraction and fracking equipment cutting into the wilderness. 'It's an existential threat,' Coles Smith says. 'You hear the birds, the river, and the calmness of it … your body is meditating.' Photograph: ABC TV In response, local leaders have formed the Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council – a 'coalition of hope' – advocating for the river's rights. 'There are many nations that make up the length of the Martuwarra,' Coles Smith says. 'All of us have a cultural obligation to protect these waters for future generations. 'The river keeps us alive; we keep the river alive. That's the deal.' The Kimberley airs from Tuesday 13 May at 8pm on the ABC and ABC iview.
