Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




WATER WORLD
Pacific president criticises Australian minister's 'lapping waves' quip
by Staff Writers
Sydney (AFP) Sept 12, 2015


Australian minister's 'lapping' waves quip falls flat after climate talks
Sydney (AFP) Sept 11, 2015 - An Australian minister's quip about "water lapping at your door" after talks with Pacific island leaders concerned about rising sea levels was criticised Friday as a "bad joke" which could horrify regional neighbours.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton made the comment to Prime Minister Tony Abbott -- who had just returned from the Pacific Islands Forum in Papua New Guinea's capital Port Moresby -- as a meeting on refugees ran late.

Dutton said the event was running to "Cape York time", a reference to the remote Aboriginal area in Australia's far northeast where Abbott recently visited, to which the prime minister replied: "We had a bit of that up in Port Moresby".

"Time doesn't mean anything when you're about to be, you know, have water lapping at your door," Dutton added.

Footage from media which had been invited to cover the start of the meeting shows Abbott laughing somewhat awkwardly at that comment before Social Services Minister Scott Morrison points out the sound boom microphone above their heads.

The Pacific Islands Forum, a 16-nation group of mainly small island nations, some of which are susceptible to rising sea levels, wrapped up this week with leaders agreeing to disagree.

The smaller nations wanted to use the meeting to send a clear message to climate talks in Paris in December that the average global warming should be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels.

But regional powers Australia and New Zealand refused to commit to that target, which is tougher than the UN mandate for no more than a 2.0-degree rise.

Greens Senator Larissa Waters said Pacific leaders, particularly those who believe their islands are in danger of inundation from climate change, would be unimpressed.

"I think our regional neighbours are going to be utterly horrified at the disdain that our prime minister has shown them," she told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Labor opposition leader Bill Shorten echoed comments made by United States President Barack Obama earlier this year that "any leader who treats climate change as a joke isn't fit to lead".

"It was a bad joke by a minister who is a bad joke," Shorten told reporters.

Dutton has refused to explain what he meant by the comment, saying only it was a "private conversation with the prime minister".

"I don't intend to comment publicly on that," he said.

President Anote Tong, whose low-lying Pacific nation of Kiribati is threatened by rising seas, Saturday criticised an Australian minister's quip about "water lapping at your door", saying it showed "moral irresponsibility".

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton made the remark on Friday while chatting with Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who had just returned from the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) in Papua New Guinea's capital Port Moresby.

As the event they were at appeared to be running late, Dutton made mention of "Cape York time", a reference to a remote indigenous area in Australia's far northeast.

When Abbott replied that there were similar issues in Port Moresby, Dutton said in comments captured by a media microphone: "Time doesn't mean anything when you're about to be, you know, have water lapping at your door."

Combatting climate change was a key issue at the PIF, with leaders ultimately agreeing to disagree after Australia and New Zealand blocked a bid by small island states to limit average global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels rather than 2 degrees.

Kiribati's Tong, who has long campaigned about the impact of climate change in the Pacific, said he had reacted with "sadness" rather than anger to Dutton's remark.

"I find that extremely sad, extremely disappointing. that we are making jokes about a very serious issue," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

"It shows a sense of moral irresponsibility quite unbecoming of leadership in any capacity."

After the days of tension about climate change in Port Moresby, Marshall Islands Foreign Minister Tony de Brum also expressed his dismay about the comments.

"Seems insensitivity knows no bounds in the big polluting island down s(ou)th," he tweeted.

"Next time waves are battering my home & grandkids are scared, I'll ask Peter Dutton to come over, and we'll see if he is still laughing."

Abbott defended Dutton, pointing out that his minister had spent the week drawing up plans to resettle 12,000 refugees from the Middle East.

"If there's one thing that should be remembered about Peter Dutton's week, it's that this is the week that he masterminded the plan to bring 12,000 needy people to this country," Abbott said in Canberra.

But criticism also came from other quarters, with indigenous leader Gerhardt Pearson from Cape York saying Dutton's comments were an echo of past times.

"We are constantly burdened with the view espoused by the likes of Dutton: it's one of soft bigotry and low expectations, and it continues to dominate policy responses," he said in a statement.

Pacific leaders agree to disagree on climate change
Port Moresby (AFP) Sept 11, 2015 - Pacific island leaders have agreed to disagree on how to tackle climate change, after Australia and New Zealand blocked a bid from low-lying island nations for a tougher global target.

Problems with negotiations behind closed doors at the Pacific Islands Forum in Port Moresby were evident with the official communique, due Thursday evening, not released until mid-morning Friday.

The 16-nation group consists mainly of small island nations, most of which are susceptible to rising sea levels.

They wanted to send a clear message to climate talks in Paris in December that the average global warming should be limited to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels.

However, the UN mandate is for no more than a 2.0-degree rise, and the stumbling block at the conference was the refusal of the two regional powers Australia and New Zealand to commit to the lower number.

The carefully worded communique noted the Pacific Island states were among "the most vulnerable and least able to adapt and to respond" to the consequences of climate change.

The Pacific Islands Forum leaders "declare that an increase of 1.5 degrees Celsius would severely exacerbate the particular challenges facing the most vulnerable smaller island states of the Pacific and urge all effort be made to stay within the global temperature goal".

At a press conference ahead of the communique release, Kiribati President Anote Tong said it was an agreement to disagree.

"It's not the best outcome that we would have liked," he said of Australia and New Zealand's refusal to back a figure lower than the UN mandate.

"I think we must respect that. Whether we accept that or not is a different question," Tong said.

Many of the island states are barely two metres above sea level, which leaders said added weight to their lower target.

They faced serious problems "on the frontline" of global warming and were in a very different position to Australia and New Zealand, Tong said.

The forum mostly comprises poor island states and Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama in May called for an end to Australia and New Zealand's "undue influence" on Oceania's largest regional grouping.

Ahead of the meeting the leaders of the group's six smallest members said the upcoming climate talks in Paris were the last chance for the world to reach an agreement that could save their vulnerable island nations.

Tuvalu Prime Minister Enele Sopoaga said he would continue to push for 1.5 degrees to be a legally binding target.

"That's the position of the Forum island countries. It is 1.5 degrees and not 2.0 degrees. We will take it to Paris and battle it out there."

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said Australia would go to Paris with "very ambitious targets" and he believed they could get emissions down.

New Zealand leader John Key said his country and Australia stood by the 2.0 degree target but accepted that low-lying states were particularly vulnerable and they would "seek an even more ambitious target in Paris".


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
Water News - Science, Technology and Politics






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle




Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News





WATER WORLD
Pacific leader warns Australia on climate stance
Port Moresby (AFP) Sept 8, 2015
Australia should consider leaving the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) if it cannot accept the regional body's firm stance on climate change, Kiribati President Anote Tong said Tuesday. Tong said global warming had left small island nations fighting for their future and there was no room for compromise on the issue at this week's PIF meeting in Papua New Guinea. The 16-nation grouping consist ... read more


WATER WORLD
Russia Eyes Moon for Hi-Tech Lunar Base

Russia Gets Ready for New Moon Landing

ASU chosen to lead lunar CubeSat mission

Russia's moon landing plan hindered by financial distress

WATER WORLD
ASU instruments help scientists probe ancient Mars atmosphere

What Happened to Early Mars' Atmosphere

Opportunity brushes a rock and conducts in-situ studies

Destination Red Planet: Will Billionaires Fund a Private Mars Colony

WATER WORLD
New Life for Old Buddy: Russia Tests Renewed Soyuz-MS Spacecraft

Opportunity found in lack of diversity in US tech sector

Boeing Revamps Production Facility for Starliner Flights

In Virginia, TechShop lets 'makers' tinker, innovate

WATER WORLD
Progress for Tiangong 2

China rocket parts hit villager's home: police, media

China's "sky eyes" help protect world heritage Angkor Wat

China's space exploration potential has US chasing its own tail

WATER WORLD
Russian ISS Crew's Next Spacewalk Planned for February 2016

Mogensen begins busy ISS tour

Soyuz rocket with three astronauts launches towards ISS

Soyuz Heads to Space Station with New Crew

WATER WORLD
US Navy to Launch Folding-Fin Ground Attack Rocket on Scientific Mission

US Launches Atlas V Rocket With Navy Communications Satellite After Delay

FCube facility enters operations with fueling of Soyuz Fregat upper stage

SpaceX delays next launch after blast

WATER WORLD
Earth observations show how nitrogen may be detected on exoplanets, aiding search for life

Distant planet's interior chemistry may differ from our own

Earth's mineralogy unique in the cosmos

A new model of gas giant planet formation

WATER WORLD
Billie Holiday to return to New York stage -- by hologram

Half diamond, half cubic boron, all cutting business

Customizing 3-D printing

DNA-guided 3-D printing of human tissue is unveiled




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.