Huge SUCCESS: Community Rights Restored in Qld!
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Huge SUCCESS: Community Rights Restored in Qld! LOCK THE GATE ALLIANCE
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Good news and bad news THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE
3 of 46Good news and bad news
Inboxx The Australia Institute <mail@tai.org.au>
12:03 PM (1 hour ago)to me
Dear Neville —
Premier Palaszczuk delivered her government’s first state budget this week. Our Research Director Rod Campbell was in the lockup to get the low down.First the good news: the Palaszczuk Government has edged away from the last government’s promise to bankroll the construction of coal railways to the Galilee Basin (an estimated $455 million) and to fund major dredging of the Abbot Point coal port (estimated upwards of $1 billion) next to the Great Barrier Reef.
Better still, modest increases in health and education spending mean that Queensland’s dreadful record on per capita funding of vital services will improve. Queensland is amongst Australia’s lowest spending states on schools, hospitals and community services.
Now, the bad news: the Queensland state handouts to the fossil fuel industry continue, including:
- $100 million dollars to expand the coal terminal at Gladstone.
- Around $150 million benefit from cheap access to rail and port facilities
- $14 million “to continue port planning and development initiatives to meet industry requirements for coal export facilities.”
What does this mean? While the huge subsidies of the Newman era have been reduced, the Queensland Government is still spending more than a quarter of a billion dollars of taxpayers’ money subsidising the coal industry.
This Budget was an opportunity to draw a line in the sand. They missed it.
With the help of hundreds of supporters chipping in, we teamed up with The Explainers to create this short video, based on our research:
Thanks for backing research that matters,The Australia Institute Team
P.S. To put things in context, last year the State Government made about the same amount of revenue from vehicle rego as they did from coal royalties. Tell the Premier it makes more sense to spend Queensland’s money on Queensland’s people, not coal companies.
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Take action before next week AUSTRALIANS UNIONS TEAM
More1 of 43Take action before next week
Inboxx Australian Unions Team <info@actu.org.au>
10:24 AM (1 hour ago)to me
Inga — The Australian Labor Party is holding its National Conference next week, and we need to convince them to endorse a gas reservation policy. You can help by telling your local MP to Reserve Our Gas:
Tony Abbott and the Liberals are allowing foreign companies to ship our gas overseas, and then sell it back to us at higher global prices. Average gas bills are set to double, and 235,000 jobs are at risk. We need to raise the pressure on our elected politicians by telling them to Reserve Our Gas.
The Australian Workers’ Union campaign for a domestic gas reservation policy is incredibly important in changing the national dialogue about our domestic export policy to make sure Australia isn’t left behind. Want to understand why this is such a critical issue? This short video explains it all.Email your MP and tell them you won’t accept this betrayal.
This is our big chance to save Aussie jobs and keep the cost of living down. Supporters of the Reserve Our Gas campaign have been crucial to building up momentum around the country. So far it has gathered over:
* 15,000 petition signatures;
* 3000 emails to local politicians; and
* 150 resolutions passed in Labor Branches.Thanks for standing up for the national interest. Tell your local MP to Reserve Our Gas.
In unity,
Dave Oliver
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They want to mine where?! AVAAZ
2 of 44They want to mine where?!
Inboxx Alex Wilks – Avaaz Unsubscribe
4:52 AM (6 hours ago)to me
Massive companies are rushing to mine the fragile ocean floor. But the twenty-four people who make the rules are meeting this week, and we can stop this plunder if we back scientists’ warnings with a massive wake-up call:
Sign the petition Dear friends,For years they’ve poisoned rivers, devastated forests and displaced communities, and now massive companies are rushing to dig up the seabed for precious metals.
Twenty-four people can stop this plunder of our planet’s most fragile places, and they’re meeting this week!! The International Seabed Authority normally attracts as little attention as an underwater mine miles offshore, but our community can change that.
A few countries have agreed full or partial bans, and leading scientists just appealed for a freeze on deep sea mining contracts. Let’s amplify their message with a million-strong call, take out newspaper ads to hand deliver to each delegate, then publish their names and their responses. Add your voice and send widely:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/deep_sea_mining_en_dn2/?bhPqncb&v=62025
Mining companies claim they can mine the seabed safely, but authorities in Namibia, Australia and New Zealand recently blocked seabed mining projects. Scientists point out that many deep water species are being discovered all the time, and that the ocean floor can take decades to recover from disturbances such as the creation of sediment plumes from mining.
The International Seabed Authority has already issued licenses for exploratory mining across 1.2 million square kilometres of ocean floor. The body is almost unknown, and its 24-person Legal and Technical Committee does the detailed scrutiny of proposals and environmental safeguards with minimal transparency. We now have a unique opportunity to put its twenty-four members on notice with a demand that they freeze all mining until independent science proves it safe and the ISA opens up to concerned scientists and citizens.
Often, we don’t realise the value of our most precious ecosystems until they’re destroyed — but this time we have the chance to take action before this whole new threat lets rip across our oceans. Join the call for a freeze on deep-sea mining, so we can hit a million and deliver to all delegates before their meeting ends:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/deep_sea_mining_en_dn2/?bhPqncb&v=62025
Together we’ve stood up to protect our earth’s most precious, awe inspiring ecosystems — from the majestic trees of the Amazon to the stunning species in the Great Barrier Reef. Now, we are standing on the brink of a new gold rush that could devastate an ecosystem that has so far escaped the ravages of mankind.With hope and determination,
Alex, Laila, Alaphia, Alison and the rest of the Avaaz team
Deep sea mining: the new resource frontier? (Al-Arabiya)
http://english.alarabiya.net/en/views/news/world/2014/11/12/Deep-sea-mining-the-new-resource-frontie…Marine mining: Underwater gold rush sparks fears of ocean catastrophe (The Guardian)
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/mar/02/underwater-gold-rush-marine-mining-fears-ocean-th…New Interest in Seafloor Mining Revives Calls for Conservation (National Geographic)
http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2013/12/11/new-interest-in-seafloor-mining-revives-calls-for-co…Deep sea mining hopes hit by New Zealand decision (Financial Times)
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/6edaeea8-b894-11e4-a2fb-00144feab7de.html#axzz3VFC8Wm1yScientists call for temporary halt on new deep sea mining projects (Popular Science)
http://www.popsci.com/some-scientists-urge-caution-underwater-miningShedding some light on the International Seabed Authority (University of Southampton)
http://moocs.southampton.ac.uk/oceans/2014/03/09/shedding-some-light-on-the-international-seabed-aut…
Avaaz.org is a 41-million-person global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world’s people shape global decision-making. (“Avaaz” means “voice” or “song” in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 18 countries on 6 continents and operates in 17 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz’s biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter. -
We must help them sarah hanson young
Something’s not right.We’re having trouble connecting to Google. We’ll keep trying…Errors: 101We must help them
Inboxx Sarah Hanson-Young <sarah@sarahhansonyoung.com>
11:47 AM (46 minutes ago)to meDear Neville — This is Clare with her 4 month old baby boy Gardin. She is from Cameroon and was trafficked to Libya, put into slavery and is now trying to escape after being raped and assaulted.
I witnessed her being rescued alongside 414 other people from an overcrowded sinking wooden boat in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.
This humanitarian rescue mission was one of many that Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) and Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) undertake, saving thousands of lives.On the morning of the rescue we were awoken by the sight of a small wooden asylum boat just off the horizon about 20 miles from the Libyan coast.
After 4 hours, 414 people were rescued from a small rickety wooden boat that was slowly sinking and leaking fuel. They were all transferred onto the MOAS boat, the MY Phoenix, and given food and water. On board were 21 women and 23 children including a number of babies, one only four months old. Their lives were saved as a result of this incredible humanitarian rescue operation.
In Europe organisations like MOAS and MSF are working to rescue people on unsafe boats and save lives, while in Australia the Abbott Government has a policy of boat turn backs, and telling desperate people ‘nope, nope, nope… we will not help’.
It is an international embarrassment for Australia.
Help us send a message that boat turn backs are an affront to fundamental human rights.
The Abbott Government has already shown us just how cruel and inhumane they can be towards the world’s most vulnerable people, and now Labor are in lock step.
Sign our petition to tell the major parties that turnbacks are not the answer to the refugee crisis.
There are more refugees today than at any other time since records began. Now more than ever, Australia needs a humanitarian and compassionate response to the global refugee crisis that includes a coordinated regional solution where we work with countries in our region along with the United Nations.
People do not just disappear if they are pushed back to sea. They are simply left to die somewhere else.We need to help them.
Yours in hope,
Sarah Hanson-Young
http://www.sarahhansonyoung.com/ -
Tony Abbott’s best fortnight LABOR
More1 of 38Tony Abbott’s best fortnight
Inboxx George Wright Unsubscribe
10:15 AM (5 minutes ago)to me
Inga — Yesterday, in the paper, Tony Abbott was quoted as saying he and his Government have had “the best fortnight in the life of this Parliament.”
Let’s quickly examine the Abbott Government’s “achievements” over the last two weeks:
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Tony Abbott undermined the independence of the ABC and banned his ministers from going on Q&A.
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He prevented the Clean Energy Finance Corporation from investing in wind farms.
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He also asked the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to stop investing in rooftop solar.
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He caused division in his Cabinet by approving a coal mine in the Liverpool Plains.
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The OECD rated Australia as the 6th worst in the developed world for women in the ministry.
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His Government and Party started tearing itself apart about marriage equality.
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His $8.43 GP tax came into effect.
Sadly, this is the kind of fortnight Tony Abbott likes to have – one where he attacks clean energy and undermines our universal health care system.
We are well-behind the Coalition in fundraising for the next election, and they know it. Can you chip in just $5 to help us get ready to beat Tony Abbott?
Given Tony Abbott has reintroduced legislation that will give him a trigger for a double dissolution election, we’ve got to get ready NOW to take him head on. Our country can’t afford many more fortnights like this.
Let’s make sure we’re ready to fight Tony Abbott and the Liberals.
Thanks for your support,
George Wright,
Campaign Director -
