Posted by Jim McDonald on February 3, 2012
The Greens candidate for the Sunshine Coast, Dr Jim McDonald, has challenged the Sunshine Coast Regional Council to oppose any coal and gas exploration on the Sunshine Coast.
He said that a statement of principle by the Council opposing coal mining or coal seam gas [CSG] extraction in the region would demonstrate its true concern for the environment.
“Not many people know that the Maryborough Basin, which is presently being prepared for coal mining and CSG in the Mary Valley, extends down to Point Arkwright. I’d be very concerned that open land in Verrierdale, for example, might be exploited for coal or gas.
“People south of Coolum might not know that there is another coal basin, the Nambour Basin, that covers the rest of the Sunshine Coast. These basins with coal reserves extend from the Blackall Range out to sea.
“It is essential for the future integrity of the Sunshine Coast environment and its attraction as a desirable region for people to live in and raise their families that the open land never be degraded by these industries.
“It is generally thought that the coal mining and CSG issues facing farmers and communities in the Darling Downs and NSW have nothing to do with the Sunshine Coast. But exploration has already extended as far south as Wolvi.
“It is no accident that mining magnate, Mr Clive Palmer, is eyeing off the Sunshine Coast.”
Dr McDonald said that he has repeatedly asked LNP MPs to oppose coal mining and CSG in the Mary Valley. He said their silence spoke loudly of their support for the mining industry in our neighbourhood.
He accused the LNP of hypocrisy. “The LNP yelled loud and long against the Traveston Dam and they joined with Mary River activists and The Greens in opposing the dam. Yet when coal companies are exploring the length of the Mary River for coal and CSG, their concern for the environment disappears.
“Every major tributary of the Mary River is being explored, and their concern over Traveston for the health of the Mary River and its unique species has disappeared.
“The Sunshine Coast Regional Council must stand firm against these activities extending into the Sunshine Coast and I urge Mayor Bob Abbott to send a clear message to Labor and the LNP that the Council will lead the community in opposition to mining the Coast.
“The Noosa Greens have actively opposed coal mining along the Mary River and its tributaries. We are concerned for the health of the river, the Mary River Cod, the lungfish and the Mary River Turtle. Coal mining and CSG will threaten the world heritage sea grasslands at the mouth of the river if coal mining is approved.”
Jim McDonald
Greens Candidate, Noosa
http://www.ga.gov.au/oceans/ea_ons_Nmbr.jsp
http://www.ga.gov.au/energy/province-sedimentary-basin-geology/petroleum/offshore-eastern-australia/nambour.html#map
http://www.ga.gov.au/provexplorer/provinceDetails.do?eno=22361
“http://www.ga.gov.au/energy/province-sedimentary-basin-geology/petroleum/offshore-eastern-australia/maryborough.html
http://www.nrm.se/en/menu/researchandcollections/departments/palaeobotany/collections/databases/jaustralia/jaustralialandsb.13786.htm
http://widebaygreens.org/2011/05/the-greens-call-for-a-moratorium-on-coal-seam-gas/
http://widebaygreens.org/2012/01/standing-up-for-the-noosa-biosphere-means-standing-up-for-the-sandy-straits-biosphere/
http://widebaygreens.org/2010/05/queensland-beautiful-one-day-open-cut-coalmines-the-next/
http://actiononcoalandgas.org/
Posted by Jim McDonald on January 24, 2012
Jim McDonald, the Greens Candidate for Noosa, writes to the Noosa News about de-amalgamation:
I’d like to thank Bob Ansett for pointing out what the LNP’s website says about Noosa’s de-amalgamation because what the LNP spokesperson for Local Government, Gympie MP, David Gibson, says and doesn’t say on that website is quite different from the LNP’s actual policy.
As The Greens candidate for Noosa, I have called for a referendum to establish the ratepayers’ wishes as the primary step in giving the Noosa community the local government it really wants. This is a community-focussed process of decision-making and the role of the Government will be then to facilitate – through community consultation – any changes resulting from the community’s response.
The LNP proposal is for “an advisory poll of voters in any proposed new Local Government boundary” after a Queensland Boundaries Commissioner has prepared their “preferred options” for any changes after he or she has considered submissions from the community.
These are important differences that need to be understood by all the groups involved. The LNP offers the Noosa community an “advisory” role in a poll. The policy does not indicate what kind of poll that might be. The Greens have called for a local referendum – let the community decide on deamalgamation not some appointed Commissioner fiddling with boundaries, “advised” by the community.
This “advisory poll” is something quite different from Mr Newman’s and Mr Gibson’s undertaking that “residents living within the proposed new council area will, by a simple majority, vote whether or not they wish to establish a new Noosa Shire Council”.
In designating a role for a Commissioner to make the decision on whether Noosa is to get the Council it wants, the LNP has developed a process that pushes the community to the side. LNP policy also will load the cost of a new Noosa Council on the residents: “ratepayers of any proposed new local authority would bear the full costs of any de-amalgamation.”
The Greens position is that if the community decides on separation the cost should be borne by the Government since it was the Queensland Government that forced amalgamation on us in the first place.
The Commissioner’s process of decision-making looks very like a “Yes Minister” scenario. I say that because the LNP policy includes the critical statement of principle: “The LNP has made it clear that its preference is for Queensland’s Councils to remain as currently constituted to avoid any further disruption and cost for local communities.” With that statement goes any confidence that accommodating the electorate’s interests is anything more than a sop to the community’s wishes.
As a Noosa resident who favours de-amalgamation, I’m rather disappointed that Friends of Noosa and the Alliance find the LNP position so attractive since any close examination of the LNP policy shows that Campbell Newman and David Gibson have made an offer that is designed to fail the wishes of the Noosa community, and the LNP cannot be trusted to carry out their wishes.
Jim McDonald
Greens Candidate
Noosa
13 January 2012
Posted by Steve on July 10, 2011
The Australian Greens, the Labor government and the Independent MPs today announced an historic agreement on a climate action package that will put a $23 per tonne price on carbon pollution, as was first proposed by the Greens, support householders and invest billions of dollars in clean, renewable energy.
This package, which the Greens have helped shape, is the first vital step towards tackling the climate crisis and building a cleaner, healthier, more secure Australia for all of us.
Major steps forward on emissions reduction targets, support for renewable energy, energy efficiency and landscape carbon, closing coal-fired power plants, limiting the use of international offsets and a floor price mean that pollution cuts that were pushed into the distant future under the government’s original plans will now be pulled forward into the next few years.
While a climate action package designed by the Greens would have been more ambitious straight away, what we have achieved is a firm foundation for the future. Where the Rudd government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme acted as a ceiling on action, constraining our efforts for decades to come, this carbon price package acts as a platform on which stronger action can be built in the years ahead.
The carbon price agreement:
• Lifts Australia’s 2050 emissions target to 80%, lays the foundations for science-based climate action in the coming years and supports the effort to reach an ambitious global climate agreement;
• invests $10 billion in renewable energy, establishes ARENA, supports energy efficiency and starts planning for a 100% renewable energy future;
• helps the most vulnerable Australians;
• will begin to close coal-fired power stations and prevents the building of new commercial coal-fired power stations;
• ensures that emission intensive industry compensation will be based on rigorous independent analysis as soon as possible;
• limits the use of international offsets;
• begins to shift transport onto a cleaner base;
• makes voluntary action to cut emissions count; and
• invests $1.7 billion in protecting biodiversity and supporting farmers.
The Greens put climate action back on the political agenda after a federal election campaign during which it was a low priority for both Labor and the Coalition. By establishing a Multi-Party Climate Change Committee to deliver a carbon price as a condition for Julia Gillard to continue as Prime Minister, and by negotiating strongly and in good faith, the Greens have delivered a truly transformative package for the Australian community, economy and climate.
With this first step agreed, the Greens will continue to campaign for the much stronger action we need to effectively and efficiently tackle the climate crisis.
Posted by Jim McDonald on July 9, 2011
Letter to the editor, Sydney Morning Herald:
Your coverage on global emissions (SMH 9/7/11) highlights Australia’s percentage of the total world emissions (1.5%). What it fails to do is to compare our emissions with countries that emit a similar percentage. Australia’s population is 35% of France’s, 37% of the UK and Italy, 44% of South Africa and South Korea, 48% of Spain’s and 9.5% of Indonesia’s, yet shares the same percentage of the world’s emissions as each of these countries. These figures put Australia’s poor record on emissions into a context that requires a serious programme of emission reduction. I hope the carbon tax accelerates the moral obligation on all polluters to improve on this national disgrace.
Jim McDonald, Noosa Greens Candidate, 9 July 2011
Published Sydney Morning Herald, 11 July 2011
Posted by Steve on July 1, 2011
The Australian Greens are calling on the federal government to alter the powers of the Foreign Investment Review Board to include water licenses.
It comes amid an overwhelming response from everyday Australians toward the acquisition of prime farming land by foreign companies and shows the Federal government must act to ensure water allocation licences in the Murray Darling Basin and other part of the country are protected.
“Australians don’t want foreign companies buying up prime agricultural land so they can be turned into mining sites and they do not want water allocation rights acquired by parties not interested in protecting future flows,” the Greens’ water and Murray Darling Basin spokesperson, Sen. Sarah Hanson-Young, said today.
“The Greens want the federal government to publish a list of foreign owners of water licences, not just land ownership.
“We also want the Foreign Investment Review Board’s powers to be strengthened to include assessing water licenses, because currently the board does not examine this vital part of Australia’s future.”
Posted by Steve on June 19, 2011
Sadly, we have to report that Wide Bay and Noosa Greens stalwart, Bob Borsellino, passed away last week. Bob had suffered a heart attack during his last rehabilitation session at Sunshine Coast University on Tuesday. His health had improved amazingly after a stent procedure some months ago. He was bright and cheery at our last Branch meeting on Saturday, 11 June.
Tributes are coming in acknowledging Bob’s great contributions over a number of areas. Greens members in the region will be aware of his great contribution to the Party. Queensland Greens Senator-elect, Larissa Waters, said of Bob, “he was such a grand figure in the Greens.”
Bob worked tirelessly and was my campaign director during the 2010 Federal election and Steve Haines’s director during the last State election. We learned much from him and we became good friends.
Our thoughts are with his wife, Jennie, and his daughters.
An obituary will be posted in due course.
Jim McDonald, Greens Candidate, Noosa State Electorate, 19 June 2011
Posted by Steve on June 10, 2011
The Queensland Greens say that Minister Mulherin’s release of the report on the Noosa Fish Health Investigation Taskforce (NFHIT) is not good news for residents living near farms.
The NFHIT Report states that the majority view of the taskforce was that agrichemicals were not implicated in the deaths and deformities of fish at a fish hatchery which adjoins a macadamia farm, while the government’s veterinary scientist and an independent veterinary scientist found that they were.
‘Biosecurity Queensland is basically saying that if you live near a farm that uses chemicals, it is up to you to take precautions to prevent your land and water from becoming contaminated,’ according to Queensland Greens spokesperson Libby Connors.
‘It praised the macadamia farmer’s practice with respect to his spraying but is broad to the point of being misleading about the actions that the Sunland Fish Hatchery must take.
‘Recommendation 6 states that the owner “must continue to implement biosecurity and management protocols as adopted during this investigation” (p.12).
‘These instructions were issued in 2008 but are not repeated in the report.
‘They instruct the owner to not drink any Gilson Road water; to not swim in any block tanks or dams on the property and to not do any hand or face washing from Gilson Road water.
‘They clearly recognise that spray drift of chemicals is a genuine problem even when used correctly, as all parties have acknowledged throughout the investigation.
‘Given that the residents of Gilson Road are dependent on tank water, as is the nearby village of Boreen Point, it is hardly reassuring for residents of the Noosa hinterland.
‘Biosecurity are leaving our rivers and streams and our residents in limbo.’
Posted by Steve on May 9, 2011
Australian Greens Leader Bob Brown has released polling results that show overwhelming support for redirecting the government’s $11 billion a year hand-out to fossil fuel companies to renewable energy research and development.
“Taxpayers’ money is being used to support polluters, including coal and oil companies. Building a cleaner, safer, healthier 21st century economy means we need to cut pollution and focus on developing renewable energy, rather than prop up the carbon-intensive past,” Senator Brown said.
“Also, incentives to drive business cars further to claim a tax break are absurd. Treasury costings of the Australian Greens’ overhaul of Fringe Benefits Tax concessions on company cars showed a $1 billion saving over the forward estimates – a victory for common sense.”
The Galaxy poll showed 84% of Australians would like to see fossil fuel subsidies redirected to renewable energy research and development. Only 9% believed it appropriate for fossil fuel companies to receive this hand out from the government.
Poll question: The government currently provides subsidies to fossil fuel companies worth more than $11 billion each year. In your opinion, is this appropriate or would this money be better spent on the development of clean renewable energy technologies?
Response: Subsidies are appropriate 9%; Better spent on developing clean technologies 84%; Neither/don’t know 8%.
The Galaxy poll of 1,036 people across Australia in March, in data previously released by the Greens, also showed 58% support for reducing emissions by taxing big polluters. Support for taxing polluters, instead of paying polluters, increased to 66% in favour if tax revenue is used to help householders and drive investment in clean energy.
Posted by Steve on April 27, 2011
Nuclear power has been out-performed and over-taken by the renewable energy sector and Australian governments must embrace the rise of clean power, say the Australian Greens.
Greens spokesperson for nuclear affairs, Senator Scott Ludlam, said the report published this week by major think-tank Worldwatch found that in 2010 world-wide cumulative installed capacity from wind turbines, biomass, waste-to-energy and solar power surpassed installed nuclear capacity for the first time in history.
“The Rubicon has been crossed for nuclear power – it is a dying industry and there is no turning back,” said Senator Ludlam. “Renewable capacity additions per annum have been outpacing nuclear start-ups for 15 years. In the United States of America – the world’s largest economy – the share of renewables in new capacity additions boomed from two percent in 2004 to 55 percent in 2009, with no new nuclear capacity added in that time.”
“With nuclear power in decline, ambitious projections about the future of uranium mining are either delusional or disingenuous. Uranium mining makes no environmental sense and it has become clear that it makes no economic sense, given that it already contributes just 0.3 percent of Australia’s export revenue and just 0.03 percent of Australian jobs.”
Senator Ludlam said total investment in renewable energy technologies around the world in 2010 was estimated at $243 billion.
“While investment in renewable power flourishes, the nuclear industry is on life-support. Without massive government support, funded by tax-payers, it would not survive in an open energy market. Nuclear power plants can’t even get insurance,” he said. “Looking at the human, environmental and economic bottom lines – nuclear power is a dead end.”
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