Category: General news

Queensland Government lauds its success at “Delivering results and driving exploration success”.

According to a Media Release just received from the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines, key reforms to State Government mining permit approval processes and new service delivery targets are helping to achieve results and drive exploration success for Queensland.

The Director-General of the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines, Dr Brett Heyward, today released a new report highlighting his department’s ongoing work to ensure Queensland remains globally competitive and an attractive destination for exploration investment.

“My department is transforming the way our services are delivered to ensure the state’s resources sector remains globally competitive and our regulatory framework encourages exploration activity and opportunities for sustainable growth in regional Queensland,” he said.

“We are introducing better systems to improve the way mining permits and approvals are decided and setting new customer service delivery targets to make our decision making faster, more open, accessible and transparent.

“We also continue to deliver reforms to improve frontline service delivery, reduce red tape and streamline the regulatory frameworks that support the exploration sector.

“These practical reforms will deliver greater certainty to resource companies and communities alike and make Queensland a more attractive place to do business.”

Dr Heyward said exploration investment by industry in Queensland is at near record levels this year at $1.3 billion; including $1.1 billion in coal and petroleum exploration for the past twelve months.

“Queensland has also increased its market share in private capital investment against the rest of Australia.

“My department’s reform process is already removing obstacles to exploration and mining, but there is much more to do in close partnership with industry, landholders and local communities.”

Dr Heyward said the department’s report outlines some of the key exploration activity indicators and reforms underway.

Key reforms to support increased exploration activity include:

•           A new streamlined assessment pathway for coal and minerals exploration permits, meaning permits not subject to native title can be determined within six months or sooner;

•           New land being released for exploration through competitive tendering and making geoscientific discoveries and new data more accessible;

•           The $30 million Future Resources Program to fund seven new initiatives to help industry maximise the success of exploration ventures and improve Queensland’s geological knowledge;

•           A range of legislative reforms to modernise and simplify the regulatory framework for mining and exploration to cut red and green tape by 20 per cent;

•           Online lodgement for exploration permits modernising the old “over the counter” application system;

•            Expanded self-service and permit maintenance functions for industry through MyMinesOnline.

“I believe this report demonstrates that we are listening to our customers’ feedback for faster, more efficient approval timeframes, and we are actively responding to that call.

“The resources sector is a key pillar in Queensland’s economy and we will continue to collaborate with industry to build a modernised and more efficient regulatory framework that provides greater certainty for exploration activity and investment in Queensland,” Dr Heyward said.

A copy of the DNRM performance highlights and key indicators report is available at: www.dnrm.qld.gov.au

 

Brisbane born actress Julia Billington has just landed a major role in the new independent Aussie feature The Trouble with E. The film is in pre-production and starts shooting on November 18th.

In 2006 Julia left Brisbane to study at NIDA the prestigious drama school based in Sydney. Since then she has lived in almost 10 different places but remembers her childhood in the suburb of Indooroopilly. “My childhood was largely spent running around in bare feet, playing street cricket, riding bikes down to the local park, and climbing trees.”

Julia has always had a natural disposition for performing. At the age of 6 she would sit her bemused Maths Teacher parents down to watch poetry enactments, with Roald Dahl’s “Dirty Beasts” being a personal favourite. As she got older her passion grew. She took every opportunity to be involved in acting.

At age 14 she distinctly remembers a conversation with Stephen Matthias, her high school drama teacher, who she believes played a large role in shaping her adult life. “He drew me aside after the closing night production of “Dags” in which I played the lead girl and in response to my disappointment that yet another production was over, he gently said, “Well, why don’t you do this as a career?””

The promising young actress already has some impressive credits to her name. She received rave reviews for her portrayal of Rachel Corrie in the show “My Name is Rachel Corrie”. Billington is the sole performer in the 90-minute one-woman show documenting the tragically short life of the young the peace activist. The project resonated strongly with Julia and “was made even more magical by it being performed at La Boite, back in my home town, Brisvegas.”

In Sydney earlier this year she played the lead in the revival of, “Top Girls”, Carol Churchill’s classic play about Thatcher’s Britain. She has just finished a successful stint at the Brisbane Festival with the phenomenally successful “CUT SNAKE”, which is now in its fifth season and has a sixth already booked. She devised the theatre project with director Paige Rattray.

Julia will now be playing the role of country girl, Trish, in independent Australian feature film The Trouble with E.  Trish is the love interest of the leading character, E, and Julia says of the character, “she is strong, full of conviction, humour, and also vulnerable. It’s a beautiful cocktail to play.”

This role could be Julia’s big break. One thing is for sure. Her drama teacher, Mr Matthias, will be cheering her the whole way.

Music lovers are invited to a live gig at State Library of Queensland, designed especially for people who are deaf and hard of hearing.

On Friday 15 November, popular Brisbane bands The Gin Club, The Stress of Leisure and Jakarta Criers will take to the stage for 4Senses, a multi-sensory performance that uses sight and touch to make music accessible to everyone, including people with a hearing impairment.

4Senses co-creator Tony Browne, said the event will use film track projections, visual light shows, and subwoofer seats to bring the joy of live music to people who might not normally have a chance to experience it.

“I’ve always believed music is more than one dimensional,” said Mr Browne. “Great live music is about the energy in the room and the way performers and the crowd build that energy together, and our aim is to extend this experience out for everyone.

“We’re thrilled to have such prominent acts as The Gin Club, The Stress of Leisure and Jakarta Cries involved in the project, and can’t wait to hear, see and feel their music as it takes over the library,” said Mr Browne

State Librarian Janette Wright said State Library was delighted to partner with 4Senses and Deaf Australia to present this inspiring event.

“Music has a magical ability to bring people together, and can be central to expressing our identity as individuals, as communities and as a culture,” said Ms Wright.

“For the past six months, State Library has been celebrating and exploring this quality, through the exhibition program Live! Queensland band culture.

“4Senses will be the last event in the Live! exhibition series of events at State Library, which closes on 17 November, and will definitely send the exhibition off with a bang!” she said.

4Senses is an 18+ only event. A cash bar available on site. Tickets are $30, with all profits donated to Deaf Australia. Bookings slq.eventbrite.com

When: Fri 15 Nov, 7pm
Where: SLQ Gallery, level 2, State Library of Queensland
Tickets: $30, bookings slq.eventbrite.com

Origin Energy, the largest energy retailer in Australia, is actively blocking renewable energy, a new report finds. The report, “Strangling Renewables: Origin Energy’s campaign against renewable energy” produced by 100% Renewable, a community campaign for clean energy, and Greenpeace Australia Pacific, inspects Origin’s energy dominance and the company’s quest to strangle renewables as part of its strategy to prolong the dominance of gas and fossil fuels.

“Two and a half million Australians have installed rooftop solar and are taking power generation into their own hands. These families are producing clean energy and, at the same time, reducing their bills. The renewable and solar revolution is here but Origin is clearly threatened by this,” Lindsay Soutar, National Director of 100% Renewable , says.

“To shore up its strategy of expanding investment in gas and fossil fuels, Origin is responding the only way it knows –by leading an industry campaign to undermine renewables in our community.”

“As this report shows, Origin is strangling renewable energy in a number of ways, including running a smear campaign against the renewable energy target, which sets Australia’s goal for the amount of our energy produced by renewables, and using misleading public statements to manipulate the general public and politicians alike,” Ms Soutar says.

“Origin’s Managing Director, Grant King, has repeatedly said the renewable energy target is a primary driver of increased energy costs. But, that is inaccurate, with the main cause of price rises – at over 70% – due to over investment in poles and wires.”

“Origin has also underinvested in its own renewable energy portfolio and is blocking other clean energy developers projects from going forward, using its market power to keep renewables on the sidelines,” Ben Pearson, Head of Program at Greenpeace Australia, says.

The report shows that Origin has invested heavily in gas projects, including developing new LNG projects and gas generating plants, and also generates 75% of its profit through its retail arm – but increasingly these are threatened by the emergence of cheaper, cleaner wind and solar.

“In truth, renewables are working. As this report shows, renewables are reducing energy bills and producing clean energy in an efficient way. Not only that, but wind power is lowering wholesale power prices. And other countries are surpassing us with more ambitious renewable energy goals,” Ms Soutar says.

“What Origin is failing to recognise is that Australians overwhelmingly support renewable energy. Survey after survey finds that 70-80% of families want more renewables, not less. At this time we need to be increasing our ambition, not falling behind.”

“Origin’s short-sighted strategy of investing in dying technology and attempting to strangle new ones may be their plan now, but Origin needs to be careful as they risk consumers walking away as they learn about what they are up to.”

With a review of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target scheduled to occur early next year, 100% Renewable and Greenpeace will be continuing to expose Origin’s efforts to undermine the target and ensure the federal government aims higher in its renewable energy goals.

 

Michael Shuman is an advocate of local business and a community economist.

He was in Brisbane this week to give a talk called Delicious Development that covered the reasons why local business is good for community and society as a whole.

He opposes some basic tenets of traditional economic development beginning his talk by saying the worst thing you can do for your local economy is spend money to attract and retain outside companies to invest locally. His talk sets out to prove that money is much better spent investing in local business.

Two of the stand out messages from the talk:

1/ The localization movement in the USA has shifted from a straightforward consumer movement to influence investment and other infrastructure issues.

2/ Despite the huge subsidies, tax breaks and other corporate welfare provided by governments to the big end of town, small business has maintained its share of revenue, employment and profit steadily over the last century and a half.

Most Westenders appreciate the value of a diverse ecosystem of small independent businesses. We know that every dollar spent in a locally owned business stays in the community two to four times longer than a dollar spent in a national or international company. We also know that locally owned businesses support the local community in a robust and direct way.

These facts are familiar to us from our personal experience and it is reassuring to see that hundreds of studies across North America reaffirm this. What has also emerged from those studies is that the resilience of communities with diverse small businesses is much stronger: they are better equipped to deal with major change, such as external shifts in the economy. They are also more coherent: people are less alienated, better connected and less likely to fall through the cracks.

These advantages lead to indirect benefits to the economy, primarily through lower welfare costs but also  through lower crime rates.

Mr Shuman’s focus was largely on food. The globalization of food is one of the major challenges of our time, leading to reduced quality, poor nutrition, lower prices for growers and an increasing dependency on international infrastructure to maintain food supplies.

The indirect benefits of a healthy, resilient, local food supply extend to better health and nutrition and deepen the relationships in a community significantly.

On the flip-side, the collapse of food sovereignty is of major concern to growers, regional leaders and advocates of economic sustainability worried about the increasing cost of energy and transport and its impact on our lifestyle.

“Given the relatively high weight to price ratio of food, it is one of the most price sensitive goods as transport costs increase,” Shuman pointed out.

Of similar significance to his graph showing the resilience of small business in the face of government favouritism of corporations is his breakdown of food costs.

Over the last century the farmer’s share of the food dollar has fallen from around 40% to around 10%. The cost of packaging, transport, refrigeration and storage has risen from 30% to almost 70%. It is that cost that is being consumed by corporations and which is also most vulnerable to rising energy costs. It is that variable and vulnerable cost which leaves us all exposed to the collapse of our food supply networks.

While many small business owners are not overtly worried by the globalization of the economy, or particularly focused on food. The raft of statistics showing the benefit of local business in creating robust stable economies reinforces their instinctive preference for entrepreneurship. It should also make us all extremely wary of the attempts by government chambers of commerce and industry associations representing corporate interests to take over our small business lobby groups and local chambers of commerce.

Delicious Development was organised by local businesses, Food Connect and Energising Communities (the founders all live in West End) Michael Shuman is a fellow of the Post Carbon Institute and a founder of BALLE (Be a localist) http://bealocalist.org/

One of the most frightening aspects of the Luring RapeBait email that hit the news on October 9^th is the entrenched positions it has exposed.

The instructions for getting sex by alcohol and aggressive dancing offended all sensitive, caring people and anyone with a college age daughter. It also caused an equal and opposite reaction from some men totally bewildered as to what all the fuss was about.

“Besides the fratty language this is just ordinary instructions for being a good host: find a lonely girl, get her a drink and show her a good time” wrote one, possibly disingenuous, defender of the dick.

It is fairly easy to get a reading on this furore with whatever slant you want. Liberal humanist press like ivillage expresses straightforward outrage http://www.ivillage.com/fraternity-boy-sends-creepy-luring-rapebait-email-bros/4-a-549083, a more thoughtful treatment is available at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/08/georgia-tech-frat-email-rapebait_n_4063101.html

And you can get a bit closer to the action at http://totalfratmove.com/%CE%A6kt-member-from-georgia-tech-sends-rapiest-email-ever/

Keep looking and you can find sites where the vast majority of the comments back the boys and their “dismay” at “feminazi dominance”.

Watching my local boy bush turkey hound his target female into sexual submission over days of high-speed chasing up and down trees, rubbish piles and tangled undergrowth I cannot help but observe that there is some truth to the frat brat claims that it is quite “natural” for young animals to push the boundaries of “decency” or “civilised behaviour” in the search for sexual satisfaction.

The point that they miss is that we came out of the trees well over ten million years ago and began building cities about ten thousand years ago. While we still have a ‘lizard brain’ and animal instincts, we have also evolved a range of civilized behaviours and emotional responses, such as romance, that are an important part of our social fabric.

That being said, there is nothing wrong with mutual exploration of the darker side of our sexuality, or engaging in a little ‘rough trade’ if that’s what we feel we need. Even dolphins and elephants with their complex neural cortex and social structures are not always the most romantic of lovers.

The point missed by the misguided lads defending their date-rape mentality is that while this behaviour is not ‘evil’ it is not ‘normal’. For the advancement of humanity, the freedom of women and the well-being of society, young people need to develop the social skills around romance, consensual sex and the ability to separate the thrill of seduction from the blood lust of conquest.

Even from a completely hedonistic, self-centred point of view, those occasions where sex is the most bestial and the least refined rarely make it into the best-bonks-I-ever-had list. More importantly, unless you deny the equality of women, sexual conquest is not a victimless crime.

The logic of the lop-sided view of sexual behaviour as represented by the frat brats defending the rapebait email this month is studied in detail in the 2009 article “Rapists who don’t think they’re rapists”. http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/sexist/2009/11/12/rapists-who-dont-think-theyre-rapists/

Given the central role of the television show Game of Thrones in our culture’s view of power and sexuality it is worth requoting the character Daario, “The gods gave men two gifts to entertain ourselves before we die—the thrill of fucking a woman who wants to be fucked; the thrill of killing a man who wants to kill you.”

It still puts women in the passive role but at least it gets the mutual nature of the desire the right way round.

The accidental rapists in our midst have completely missed out on this fundamental piece of evolution and need re-education quickly.

I have a suggestion for harnessing the power of the Internet to facilitate this re-education and reverse its role in promoting rape-culture but that will have to wait for another day.