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https://reneweconomy.com.au/coal-royalties-fell-by-nearly-half-a-billion-dollars-as-climate-disaster-costs-leap-1000/>
"This week’s New South Wales budget laid bare a critical moral and economic
challenge facing the state’s economy.
Over the last few years, the cost of climate-fueled disasters has skyrocketed.
Since 2019-20, the NSW and Australian Governments have spent an average of $1.6
billion per year on disaster relief alone, up by over 1,000% from the six years
prior. In response, the state government has allocated $4.2 billion for
disaster recovery over the next four years.
On one hand, this is a positive sign that flooded out families to the North,
and drought-stricken farmers to the South, will get the relief they deserve
soon. But it’s also a clear sign that the increasing cost of climate in-action
has well and truly transitioned to become a hip-pocket issue not just for our
farmers, but those in the “big smoke” as well.
But just when you’d want the rest of the economy to be buzzing, the “sharp fall
in thermal coal prices” has left the state with $453 million less in expected
royalties over the past year, amidst a decline that appears to be a structural
shift rather than a temporary blip.
For a state that leaned heavily on coal royalties to prop up its budget during
the commodity boom and COVID, it would be natural to hope that these declines
are nothing more than just accounting quirks. But most signals point to a
structural shift that demands urgent attention."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
