Build Sea Walls for $22 Million

As six inhabited islands in Queensland’s Torres Strait are threatened by rising sea levels, the Government says it is now considering funding mitigation work in addition to Pacific Islands aid promised, while the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said this week that the rollout of the National Broadband Network would reduce Australia’s carbon emissions by 5%.

By Jeff Waters, on ABC News (9 December 2009):

The Australian Government will consider a request to provide about $22 million in climate change mitigation aid to the Torres Strait Islands.

Residents of the islands had said their appeals for funds were being ignored by authorities – even while the Federal Government was promising $150 million in climate change aid to Pacific Island nations.

Now, following an ABC report broadcast on the Australia Network, Environment Minister Peter Garrett says the Government will consider the Torres Strait Regional Authority’s aid request.

“We’ll continue to look at the best ways to enable communities both to adapt and to deal with the impacts of climate change,” he said.

Six inhabited islands in Queensland’s Torres Strait are threatened by rising sea levels, an assertion that has been backed up by a Department of Climate Change report.

But those who live there call themselves the forgotten victims.

Residents have been shocked by recent king tides which damaged homes and threatened fresh water supplies. More king tides are expected in January.

Infrastructure needed

Dr Kevin Parnell, a coastal erosion expert at Queensland’s James Cook University, has studied the islands and says the two mud islands, Boigu and Saibai, may soon have to be abandoned unless they are given significant help.

“The options for some of the islands are much reduced or less than some of the other islands,” he said.

Dr Parnell says the complexity of currents, winds, and other conditions means no two islands are affected in the same way.

He says four coral islands also need funds to build infrastructure.

“With appropriate adaptation strategies put in place, with support for those adaptation strategies, there’s no reason that these communities won’t be able to survive for a significant period into the future,” he said.

The Torres Strait Regional Authority says it needs roughly $22 million to build sea walls and other infrastructure.

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has visited some of the low-lying islands in the Torres Strait, and says the Government should spend money at home before helping Pacific Island nations.

“Obviously Australia’s first responsibility is to its own citizens before it is to those of other countries,” he said.

“Plainly it is very understandable that Australian citizens would be angry if the Government is giving $150 million to cope with the impact of climate change in the Pacific Islands and elsewhere but [is] apparently not interested in giving assistance to the Islands of the Torres Strait which are affected by inundation by the sea.”

Source: www.abc.net.au

Mitchell Bingemann in The Australian (11 December 2009):

KEVIN Rudd tied together two of his most contentious election promises yesterday — the $43 billion national broadband network and the emissions trading scheme — by claiming both were vital to the effort to tackle climate change.

Speaking at a government-backed forum on the future of broadband in Sydney, the Prime Minister said the rollout of the NBN would reduce Australia’s carbon emissions by 5 per cent.

The NBN aims to connect 90 per cent of the population to a fibre-to-the-home network capable of delivering internet access speeds of 100 megabits per second, almost 100 times faster than today’s average.

“Together, the NBN and Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme are critical to Australia’s efforts to address climate change,” Mr Rudd said.

In his first major speech on the NBN since announcing the project in April, he described it as a “historic act of nation-building” and essential for Australia to compete on the global market. Mr Rudd told the forum, attended by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, the government would inject $26.5 million into projects that would “stop the rot” in broadband infrastructure for rural and regional areas.

“The reality is that Australia’s current broadband infrastructure is not up to scratch,” he said.

The funding forms part of the government’s $60m digital regions initiative, announced in the May budget. The money will go to seven projects to deliver better health, education and emergency services to regional, rural and remote communities.

More than $3m has been allocated to regional bushfire prevention and detection schemes using advanced technologies, while the biggest allocation of $7m will help 17 remote towns in the Northern Territory get e-health services, benefiting about 30,000 mainly indigenous patients.

Source: www.theaustralian.com.au