Another costly piece of identity politics and belief that some Australians should be treated differently by dint of their race and their ‘special’ threat from ‘climate change’ has been knocked in the head by the Federal Court.

Two Torres Strait Islanders (supposedly on behalf of their community) took the government to court claiming that it had a duty of care to “protect them from climate change”, whatever that means. It seems to be as logical as their idea that the climate was also a threat to their ‘culture’.

The court declined to “recognise either duty or to legally recognise cultural harm”. The ‘climate justice advocates’ were disappointed that this ridiculous claim didn't provide the Mabo-like victory they expected.

The nonsense seems to have arisen from the belief that the government had not set ‘targets’ based on ‘science’ that would keep global warming at no more than 1.5 degrees.

The Torres Strait Islanders, or their urgers, believed the government's promotion of fanciful science and the idea that the climate could be controlled by man - as did so many other people a lot more sophisticated; although the Islanders were alone in expecting the government to fund the construction of sea walls around them.

Despite the obvious scams and scaremongering surrounding climate change, the Court just had to go along with “the existential threat” nonsense; but it wasn't up to the Court to review government emissions targets.

It sounds as if the Court would have liked to interfere.

If the government wants to do something for Torres Strait Islanders in the unlikely event that they look like being washed away, it can offer the same refuge on the mainland as they have offered non-Australians on low-lying Pacific islands.

Until the government accepts that much, if not most, of the climate waffle has been proven wrong - and says so - they will keep getting these vexatious challenges.

https://theconversation.com/federal-court-rules-australian-government-doesnt-have-a-duty-of-care-to-protect-torres-strait-islanders-from-climate-change-25999

Two Torres Strait Islanders (supposedly on behalf of their community) took the government to court claiming that it had a duty of care to “protect them from climate change”
ttbn,
Per Capita the use of generators & indeed anything relying on modern technology on these islands far outweighs that of mainland communities. To claim concern of inundation is literally absurd & nothing but an excuse by mainland & outside academic ignoramuses to extort funding for no need whatsoever. The lifestyle of the people there does not in the slightest reflect any concern about consequences for the environment. The whole show is one big act choreographed by Academia & Bureaucracy from the outside & naturally some local but non-environment orientated interest groups are boarding the bandwagon. They are simply following the money trail. The tactic deployed is to say what people want to hear, no facts required.

Indyvidual,

Yes. Hopefully the decision will put a stop to the extortion attempts of minorities who think there's something special about them. Even scientists who accept the 'rising sea levels' claim, put it at no more than 33mm over 100 years. Although the clear evidence that the land mass of islands in the Pacific has actually increased suggests that the whole thing is BS.

The “culture harm” claim is the silliest.

‘Culture’ has been done to death. Majorities don't carry on about culture. It's a thing of minorities whose individuals can't find inner satisfaction. They need some mass movement, a mob, instead of accepting - or being allowed to accept by do-gooders - that humans are autonomous individuals, irrespective of race, religion or colour. We are not boring blob, or a group of worshipers of some divisive culture that has no place in the 21st. Century, particularly with people leaving backward countries to live in the West.

In the case of Torres State Islanders and other ‘indigenous’ people, they have benefited from modernity long enough to get over old ways and humbug and live like other Australians, and stop moaning and looking for extra handouts not available to anyone else.

I once had a very enlightening discussion about culture with a TIer when working in the straits a number of years ago.

He basically said that many non-indigenous Australians see Islander culture as being fixed at the time when there was initial contact and that their culture is now seen as static and fixed in time.

He talked about culture always changing and always adapting. If this means using dinghies with outboard motors and access to better health care and education then so be it.

It if involves incorporation of a new legal system that allows for a Mabo type claim to land then so be it.

Saibai Islanders moved to the mainland to establish Bamaga because of concerns of high tide flooding on the Island.

The seawall on Saibai was first constructed in the mid-1990s with the latest upgrade being in 2017. Both State and Federal governments have had an interest in protecting this island for decades.

The Saibai Islanders took their case to court as part of their present day culture and that was unsuccessful and they'll have to accept that.

So why all the angst? They lost the case.

Is this just about the Islanders using the legal frameworks available to them? Is it about the Islanders being "uppity" and daring to incorporate the legal system into their modern day culture.

If not, is it unreasonable for the Islanders to expect both governments to continue protection of an Island that they have shown a willing to protect in the past?

Even if the court erroneously found that the Australian government had a duty of care to protect these people from rising sea levels, there isn't a damn (or dam!!) thing the government could do to stop the purported sea level rise.

Even if we all decided to save these people from their fairy-tale fears by stopping all CO2 emissions or by truly implementing a net zero policy, the change in temperatures or sea level rise would be so small as to be immeasurable. Based on IPCC modelling data, taking Australia's CO2 emissions out of the equation would mean that temperatures would rise by 0.0007 degrees less in 2100AD. Sea level rise would be fractions of a millimetre less by the end of the century.

So this isn't about seeking a solution to their claimed problems. Its a money grab. There's been a few of thee around the world recently, all trying to blame this or that cash cow for purported climate problems. All have failed. Logic sometimes still prevails.

WTF

Your interlocutor seems to have been more of an individual than a culture-tragic.

We can't assume that all of a certain group - in this case, Torres Strait Islanders - think alike. Eighty percent of them might not be in a lather about it (we never get to hear from them) and it could be that all the fuss is down to a few activists who enjoy the limelight.

No matter what, there is no evidence that they are in danger of losing their homes or their way of life. If there was, I'm sure they wouldn't be left to their own devices by any Australian government.

Climate change is real, there is ample evidence of that fact. Like they have resisted change in the past, the Usual Suspects won't accept reality. Rising sea levels are with us now, another fact. The tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvalu is experiencing inundation as the sea levels rise and the island is flooding and becoming uninhabitable. Australia has made a gesture by offering 280 special Australian visas to the Tuvaluans, 4,0000 islanders, about a third of the population, subscribed to the ballot for the visas. As the island disappears it will be necessary to relocate the entire population, a reality. AND a couple of comfortable off Old Farts claim climate change is not happening, get real fellas!

WTF?

ttbn states "there is no evidence that they are in danger of losing their homes or their way of life."

As I stated, the township of Bamaga on Cape York Peninsula was founded by Saibai Islanders leaving Saibai because of high tide inundation in the mid-1900s (there was a typo when I said mid-1990s).

At least two attempts have been made to "save" this island by constructing sea walls. The last being in 2017 at a cost of $24.5 million dollars.

These people are in real danger of losing both their homes and their their way of life and this has been the case for decades.

ttbn also states "Eighty percent of them might not be in a lather about it (we never get to hear from them)".

If ttbn has been listening to RN this week he would have been able to hear from many Islanders about this exact issue. So we do get to hear from them but only from those media outlets that bother to find out.

But yes we get it. It's the ABC doing the same "biased" reporting even though it is exactly what that ttbn is asking for.

"Climate change is real".

Yep, very true. Its been changing for the last 4 billion years.

And of coarse, sea levels have been rising on average since the advent of the Holocene some 11,000 years ago.

But none of that is the point. The point is there is precisely nothing the Australian government can do about those things. There is precisely nothing the Australian people can do about those things.

I know there are some who think we can change the weather by giving the government more power, but alas, it ain't so.

In the end this was just a money grab based on false data trying to create a false promise. But at least the lawyers for these people got their cut of the pie, so all's well.....

As to Tuvalu, we've been down this road before so I won't spend too much time educating Paul who hasn't the slightest interest in the truth anyway. But Tuvalu isn't sinking. In many places its growing.

"As National Geographic reported, “Some islands grew by as much as 14 acres (5.6 hectares) in a single decade, and Tuvalu’s main atoll, Funafuti—33 islands distributed around the rim of a large lagoon—has gained 75 acres (32 hectares) of land during the past 115 years.”"

It must be very irritating waiting to be victims for "decades" and nothing happening since the beginning of the last century. They should move to America, where dangerous weather is always happening, and there are some good floods available right now. They could be homeless to their hearts content.

If WTF has not been listening to “RN this week” he would not be full of the bullsh.t that he is now trying to broadcast on behalf of ‘his’ ABC.

Like all left wackjobs, when given the opportunity to discuss a topic, he has more to say about the messenger than the message.

WTF?

Same old ttbn - same old deflection when schooled on a topic.

There is nothing I have stated on this thread that is (as ttbn has said) is "bullsh.t".

First ttbn plucks the figure of 80% out of the air and then claims that "(we never get to hear from them)". When confronted with contrary evidence he resorts to calling it "bullsh.t".

Typically, he gets it wrong again - I'm not broadcasting anything. The ABC is broadcasting the concerns of the people that he wants to hear from. It is ttbn who is calling the reported concerns of the Saibai Islands "bullsh.t" simply because he does not like the media source that has done the legwork for him.

It's your message, ttbn, and I am commenting on your message and your message is incorrect. You need to deal with that.

You sound like Armchair Critic's boyfriend. Getting a little screeching there son.

WTF?

ttbn states: "You sound like Armchair Critic's boyfriend."

It seems that A.C. is living rent free in ttbn's head but worse still he has had to revert to insults.

When schooled ttbn, unable to move on from his ignorance, reverts back to insults.

We all know what is happening here and why.

Schooled, eh? You seem to have slipped through the cracks in that area.