Archived material from historical editions of The Generator
Bigger subsidies for rainwater tanks will be made available to anyone who purchases one from today in New South Wales. The State Government will now refund $1,500, up from the $800 previously offered. The subsidy was originally only available to Sydney residents but now will apply statewide. Water Minister Phil Koperberg says people should not Continue Reading →
FRUIT and vegetables may triple in price because of scarcity caused by the extreme weather, farmers have warned.
Michael Badcock, the chairman of Ausveg, which represents vegetable and potato growers, said the country was on the brink of a "serious food security situation", with very little of the recent rain falling in catchments of the Murray-Darling basin, which produces 40 per cent of the nation’s food.
The NSW Minister for Water, Phil Koperberg, has said the critical water needs of industry in the Murray Valley will be met for July.
However, George Warne, the general manager of Murray Irrigation which provides irrigation water to almost a million hectares of farmland north of the Murray River, said it was "now almost inevitable" farmers would start the season this Sunday with a zero water allocation.
Greens MLC Mark Parnell has hit back at claims made by Premier Rann this morning on national radio that his Government’s climate change targets were the same as California’s, challenging him to a public debate on the issue.
"Rann is no Governator – while California has a legislated target that will require a massive reduction in their greenhouse emissions over the next 13 years, Premier Rann’s target will increase the state’s greenhouse pollution over the same time period.
"The comparison is not at all flattering for the Premier – I am amazed he is using it.
"I challenge Premier Rann to a public debate with me on this," Mark Parnell said.
One day after the Yes Men made a joke announcement that ExxonMobil plans to turn billions of climate-change victims into a brand-new fuel called Vivoleum, the Yes Men’s upstream internet service provider shut down Vivoleum.com, the Yes Men’s spoof website, and cut off the Yes Men’s email service, in reaction to a complaint whose source they will not identify. The provider, Broadview Networks, also made the Yes Men remove all mention of Exxon from TheYesMen.org before they’d restore the Yes Men’s email service.
As reported on The Generator two weeks ago , the Yes Men were thrown out of the Gas and Oil Exposition in Calgary, one of North America’s largest gatherings of oil executives, after giving a keynote presentation on the possibilities that vivoleum opened up for the oil industry.
As water for irrigators in the Murray-Darling all but disappears and prices of essential fruit and vegetable are like to soar, the Greens are calling on NSW Fair Trading Minister Linda Burney to issue a consumer food price alert.
Commenting on an article on page 4 of today’s Sydney Morning Herald, Greens NSW MP and consumer affairs spokesperson Dr John Kaye said: “The cruel irony of our climate is that while many coastal areas of the South East of Australia are in flood, the Murray-Darling system is almost out of water for irrigated food production.
“It is widely expected that zero water allocations will be announced on Sunday.
“I have written to NSW Fair Trading Minister Linda Burney requesting that she start work on preparing a consumer food price alert.
WIN TV/Channel Nine is conducting a poll on the war games Talisman Sabre 07. They are asking people to vote on the issue. To vote NO phone 1902 555 166.