Monday, November 30, 2009

Greens name candidates for 2011 State Election

Here is how the Herald reported the results from The Greens pre-selection process.

Greens name election hopes
ANDREW CLENNELL


November 30, 2009 (Sydney Morning Herald)

THE executive director of the Nature Conservation Council, Cate Faehrmann, and the Mayor of Byron Bay, Jan Barham, are set to become state MPs for the Greens after winning preselection at the weekend.

Ms Faehrmann will be in Parliament sooner than the next state election in 2011 because she has been preselected to fill the casual vacancy state MP Lee Rhiannon will create when she leaves the Legislative Council to run for the Senate at next year's federal poll.

A quirk of the preselection is that Ms Faehrmann was an unsuccessful rival for the Senate preselection against Ms Rhiannon this year even though Ms Faehrmann had the backing of the Greens leader, Senator Bob Brown.

A Sydney lawyer and councillor, David Shoebridge, Ms Barham and the Orange City councillor Jeremy Buckingham will be the top three on the Greens ticket for the upper house in the next election.

Missing out on one of the top three spots was the Rhiannon-backed Rockdale councillor Lesa de Leau, who came second to Ms Faehrmann for the casual vacancy. With the Greens polling 12 per cent in the latest Herald/Nielsen poll, the third seat could be winnable, boosting Greens numbers in the upper house to five.

As well as Ms Faehrmann, the other MP up for election in 2015 is John Kaye.

Greens sources last night were hailing the result as the ''Greening of the Greens'' against the Rhiannon-Kaye harder left forces. Ms Barham, Mr Buckingham and Ms Faehrmann are seen as ''large G'' Greens.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Carbon Pollution On the Rise!

Carbon dioxide emissions from human activities rose 2 per cent in 2008 despite the economic effects of the global financial crisis, according to a paper published in Nature Geoscience.


Total missions in 2008 reached an all-time high of 1.3 tonnes of carbon per capita per year, the paper found.

The paper – by scientists from the internationally respected climate research group, the Global Carbon Project (GCP) – said rising emissions from fossil fuels last year were caused mainly by increased use of coal.

However, it found there were minor decreases in emissions from oil and deforestation.

“The current growth in carbon dioxide emissions is closely linked to growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” said one of the paper’s lead authors, CSIRO’s Dr Mike Raupach.

“CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion are estimated to have increased 41 per cent above 1990 levels with emissions continuing to track close to the worst-case scenario of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

"There will be a small downturn in emissions because of the GFC, but anthropogenic emissions growth will resume when the economy recovers unless the global effort to reduce emissions from human activity is accelerated."

The GCP estimates that the growth in emissions from developing countries increased in part due to the production of manufactured goods consumed in developed countries.

In China alone, 50 per cent of the growth in emissions from 2002 to 2005 was attributed to the country’s export industries.

According to the GCP’s findings, atmospheric CO2 growth was about four billion metric tonnes of carbon in 2008 and global atmospheric CO2 concentrations reached 385 parts per million – 38 per cent above pre-industrial levels.

More than 30 experts from major international climate research institutions contributed to the GCP’s annual Global Carbon Budget report – now considered a primary reference on the human effects on atmospheric CO2 for governments and policy-makers around the world.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Banning Election Donations- Is Rees going far enough!

Rees nade the announcement that banning developer donations was now at the top of his agenda. Years of pressure from The Greens must have brought about Ree's change of heart as he prepares himself for the 2011 election with a new cabinet and so clled new donations direction. but as always the devil is in the detail, and just like the current donations situation could see candidates exploit any loopholes. Further commentry......

Rees falls short on donation reform

By Angela Dorizas

The New South Wales Government ban on political donations from developers does not go far enough to reform election funding, according to Greens MPs, State Opposition and local government.

NSW Greens MP Lee Rhiannon said the ban introduced by Premier Nathan Rees this week included no commitment on banning corporate donations, limiting individual donations or capping election expenditure.

“If Premier Rees really wants to demonstrate he’s putting a new broom through this government he needs to do a lot more than just ban developer donations,” Ms Rhiannon told GovernmentNews.

“The model we have put forward, which is based on what’s happening in Canada and has often been supported by various Labor and Coalition MPs in recent years, is a total ban on donations from corporations and other organisations, a strict limit on donations from individuals, tight caps on how much money can be spent at election time and also bringing in limits on how much third parties can donate and also use in election time.”

Ms Rhiannon said the NSW Government was playing catch-up on banning political donations.

“Mr Rees is a late convert to this because we’ve actually, over many years, we’ve introduced a bill into the NSW Parliament about banning developer donations as the first step to achieving this,” Ms Rhiannon said.

“It's good that he’s now come on board, so we welcome that, but it certainly needs to be seen as just the first move in a far more reaching reform process.”

Ms Rhiannon called for the immediate disclosure all corporate donations to the Government and Opposition in the lead up to the 2011 state election.

Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell said the Rees Government had failed to cap spending, ban corporate donations and ban lobbyist success fees.

He said the Labor Government urgently needed to address the ‘donations for decisions’ culture that had developed within the planning system.

Local Government Association president Cr Genia McCaffery welcomed the Premier’s announcement on developer donations, but warned of potential loopholes.

“We absolutely support it, but developers could easily step around it,” Cr McCaffery told GovernmentNews.

“I personally do agree with Barry O’Farrell, where you ban all donations except from individuals, and have a cap of $1000. That to me is the sensible thing to do.”

In announcing the ban on donations, Mr Rees said he wanted to change the “perception of campaign funding” within the state.

He introduced an immediate ban on donations from developers to the NSW ALP, introduced legislation to extend the ban on developer donations to all parties and referred campaign spending caps, donation caps and public funding of elections to the NSW Parliament’s Standing Committee on Electoral Matters.

The committee is due to report back to Government by March 2010.

Ulladulla Primary School and governance.

Year 5's curriculum has a focus on governance and how all the different spheres of government work.
I was invitied to speak to my nephews year 5 class at Ulladulla Public School. The class had prepared a long list of questions covering a vareity of topics. For me the most challengeing part of this excercise was trying to convert what can be quite complex things into something that was relevant to the kids.

One of the questions asked was what is it like being on council, my kid friendly explanation went like this.

Sometimes its like the playground at lunchtime, when you meet up with other people, and some want to play football, some handball and others skip. If I want to play handball I have to convince the others not to play football or skip, sometimes you have to compromise and play handball for a while and football a for a while and finally sometimes you have to stick to what you want and play by yourself.

What do Councils do?

I gave them a list of things that could understand easily and then gave the following analogy for planning.

Say you wanted to go on a long bike ride- well you just wouldn't hop on your bike and go but you have to plan and get ready by knowing where you want to go, the best way to get there is it by road or on a bike path, do you have to wear a helmet, do you need to take water and lunch. So you would do a lot of work before you go on the journey and this is similar to Council planning for the future.

One young fellow asked me what it meant that land was owned by the crown!

I also had to explain who could vote in an election.

I hope they had an interesting session, I really enjoyed their questions and it was evident that they were paying attention when they asked questions that related to some of the issues discussed
(What are the hot issues in Council right now!)

I gave them all some homework- to fill in the survey that has been prepared as part off Councils consultation strategy for the Community Strategic Plan. So hopefully that will be some more different ideas feeding into the plans of the future!

Thanks Ulladulla Public for a great day.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

A new Pool for Shoalhaven Heads!

A new pool is one of the recreational facilities that have been proposed for the Shoalhaven Heads Tourist Park. Nothing wrong with that one would think- except that less than 30 metres from the gate is the village pool. A pool that Council struggles to keep open and supervised for a full day.


When Council supported this additional piece of infrastructure I was almost lost for words!

Those in favour of the park getting the pool argued that a premium tourist product needed a pool to give it a resort feel and that tourist didn't want to compete with locals for water space! Oh and that people didn't feel safe in the village pool and that the opening hours didn't suit the holiday schedule.

My counter argument was that we should be maximising the assets we have and diverting the funds from creating something new to improving and extending the village pool to better meet the needs of the tourist  park (and locals) during peak season.

I don't know the costings for the new pool but even a guesstimate of $50,000 would provide ample funds for extended lifeguard hours, some water play equipment, and the subsidised costs for the visitors. Ongoing maintenance should make such a plan sustainable.

I thought my proposition was logical- I think those in the gallery agreed and they would have liked this additional funding spent on some long overdue maintenance on their pool at  Nowra, which they are fighting to save. 

Locking the public out of Tabourie Reserve

Holiday Haven Tourist Parks are located on Crown Reserves throughout the Shoalhaven.These camping facilities provide a huge amount of dollars into Councils revenue, so at Tuesday nights meeting when it was suggested that we lock the public out of the reserve by installing a boom gate to protect the paying customers and keeping the car park private, there was only one response that needed to be given- NO.

Instead of going down that simple path, I had to convince at least 6 others that this was a bad plan.

The facts emerged as the debate went on.

No Community Consultation had taken place,
No existing boom gate at the facility that blocked the road (even though Councillors were told there was).
No other parking was available to the public that is family friendly access to both the lake and Wairo Beach.

Councils across NSW have been given license to operate caravan parks on crown reserves, one of the conditions of the license is that they provide camping areas and not have the majority of the parks swallowed up by private vans and council cabins. This historic decision supported equity for all people no matter how big your wallet. The very idea of Crown Reserves in my opinion is the essence of public access.

The argument against the boom was strong, and we at least now have a commitment to consultation before any further action is taken.

Common Sense saves the day!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Climate Change Adaptation Forum and Workshop


The forum and workshop, held in Sydney and Melbourne, will address climate change adaptation and managing the risks and building resilience.
Times and places
Melbourne Forum (Melbourne, 24 November 2009)
Melbourne Workshop (25 November 2009)
Sydney Forum (Darling Harbour, Sydney, 26 November 2009)
Sydney Workshop (27 November 2009)

This forum will:
Outline what adaptation is and how it relates to mitigation
Describe what are we adapting to - an overview of the science and key issues
Introduce ways to assess vulnerability, including compound risks with other emerging conditions such as economic contraction and peak oil
Outline approaches to building adaptive capacity and key capabilities around innovation and learning
Identify implications for strategy and business models
Provide participants with a new strategic frame to address climate impacts, as well as practical approaches they can apply.
Read more about Climate Adaptation Flagship.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Coastal Hazard Draft Policy Approved for Exhibition


At tonight's development committee meeting, Council adopted a draft policy to deal with rising sea levels and coastal development. The plan was given a last minute name change removing the word hazard in an attempt to soften the blow.


Over the last 18 months or so Council has been conducting studies into areas of high risk which includes the Millionaires row at Mollymook beach, testing for vulnerability when it comes to sea level rise and climatic change. Consultants UmWelt have come back with a report that includes some hazard mapping with indicators for the years 2025,2050 and 2100. These line's were revised to reflect the adopted draft position of the NSW State Government which has a 40cm rise by 2050 and 90cm rise by 2100.

So what does it all mean.

Basically, the plan extinguishes building rights on land that is seaward of the 2025 line. This land is classified as HIGH RISK and when you look at it you can see why. It is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of storm surges. Dunes with a good vegetation mix could help in mitigating the impacts, and is one of the recommended actions within the report.

Anything land-ward of the 2025 line has some building opportunities but these have been reduced and had new controls put in place.

Like many places around the state (not just coastal) some properties are devaluing due to climate change.

As a farmer who has been dealing with drought over the last 7 years we have been working with the Department of Primary Industries and CSIRO on adapting our business to suit climate change.

Like drought, knowledge of rising sea levels is not something that has occurred overnight, but has been solidly in the public eye for the last 10 years. Councils now have a duty of care to produce adaptation plans for their regions.

I decided to research the changes in ownership along millionaires row and was surprised to find property changing hands for premium prices as little as 8 months ago in these high risk areas. This area has been attracting the million + price tag since 2004, the buyer beware alarm bells should surely be ringing in such low lying coastal areas.

It was around 2004 that a good friend of mine decided to sell her low lying lake front property at a reduced price because of her concerns about climate change.

Low lying areas are suffering world wide from rising sea levels, farmers in NSW have been living with reduced income and land devaluation because of climate change induced drought. Island Nations are feeling the impacts keenly.

Decadent, Prepostorous Spring

I adore spring, its so decadent, sensory even sensuous, a feast for eyes, ears, nose and body. I'm surprised someone hasn’t try to ban it.
Working at our farm garden today I hilled soil full of life onto potatoes, and daydreamed of the fluffy white spuds or waxy kipflers I will be enjoying in a matter of weeks. I admired the strong shoots of the new corn bursting through and the bright green carrot tops now long enough to sway gently in the breeze.
The orchard is a work of art also, with small summer fruits taking shape, an utter abundance of foliage on the grapes and kiwi fruits, the delicious smell of the last of the citrus blossoms.
I watched tiny chicks follow their mother hen, and red headed wrens preen their newly coloured feathers in the light spray from a leaky hose. I gathered up my collection of food under the shade of the mandarin tree. Colours so bright they are almost preposterous or at least from an abstract artwork on the walls of famous gallery.
 The abundance is an illusion though, like a dessert mirage, for just below the surface lurks the grim fingers of drought ready to snatch away the fruit of our toil.
So from my heady sensory heights I fall and think once more about population pressure and the ever-diminishing farm land that has the smallest of chances to escape the fingers of drought and supply food for our always gaping jaws. Has our government condemned us to a life of imported food from China, through its newly aggressive immigration position? Leaving us vulnerable and unable to care for ourselves. Have they considered that blind consumption is the mantra that has been created by governments' hell bent on growth at any cost. Life giving water resources, barely enough to satiate the thirst of the nation now. Are we destined to rape the fresh rainfalls of Tasmania from the once suggested pipeline!
So interconnected is our web that each decision that impacts on our direct environment impacts directly on us- yet so many seem unable to accept that simple reality- we are just an animal, overpopulating and destroying the ability to sustain ourselves. I drift into the rose garden, drawn by the sweet late afternoon perfume drawing in not only me, but the end of day bees looking for that last feast to share with the colony and wonder will we do the same!

(Photo of one my favourite local nativeorchids known here as the "Flying Duck Orchid.)

Shelter to Close it doors as letter requesting more rentals goes out.

Salt Care - follow link to see their services  I received the sad news that our local homeless shelter needs to close it's doors on Sund...