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  • Engagement tempers criticism

    The good news for everyone involved in this project is that both sides have limited the battleground, thus far, to community consultation. The residents are complaining about a lack of it and the soup kitchen is happy to engage in it. That augers well for a sensible outcome.

    The challenge for any project that people that supports the less desirable members of our community is that none of us really want it to be in our back yard. “I’m in favour of music festivals but they should be in Tenterfield … The Rally is okay but it belongs in outback Australia … yadah yadah.”

    The real crux of the problem is that we are all too busy taking care of ourselves to step up to the line and take care of others. This was driven home to me after spending a New Years Eve hanging around with a few hundred teenagers waiting for the year to change with a small bunch of parents anxious to avoid a repeat of the troubles of previous years. Yes maam, it can be really boring sharing the evening with a different generation that is just as bored with you. Regardless, the facts of the matter are that unless we mix it up and deal honestly with each other, we will never solve our mutual problems.

    The best way for the people of North Lismore to come to terms with having a soup kitchen in their back yard is to get along and volunteer. Hopefully after the community consultation that is coming up, they will come to the same conclusion themselves.

     

     

  • Greens & Greenpeace urge new diplomatic effort to stop whaling

    Greens & Greenpeace urge new diplomatic effort to stop whaling
    Tuesday 8th September 2009

    The Australian Greens today called on the Federal Government to
    vigorously pursue negotiations with the incoming Japanese Government
    over continued whaling operations in the Southern Ocean.

    “Although diplomatic efforts undertaken by Minister Peter Garrett have
    thus far been rather unproductive, we now have a fresh opportunity with
    a new Japanese Government in place,” said Australian Greens Senator
    Rachel Siewert.
    “While the Democratic Party of Japan’s policy on whaling is not
    dissimilar to the previous government, they have made some policy
    commitments to stamp out corruption and taxpayer money waste in the
    whaling industry. This is an opportunity to effect real change.”
    “We also know that public opinion against whaling within Japan has been
    on the rise. With the right kind of pressure from countries like
    Australia, we could see actual movement towards stopping the annual
    slaughter of thousands of whales,” she said.

    “Here in Canberra with me today is Mr Toru Suzuki, an anti-whaling
    campaigner from Greenpeace Japan. His efforts resulted in the uncovering
    of whale meat black market sales, showing what we have known all along –
    ‘scientific’ whaling is a commercial industry with a very weak
    disguise.”

    “I encourage my fellow Senators and Members to attend a talk tonight by
    Mr Suzuki, in which he will outline the politics behind the whaling
    industry in Japan as well as discuss the dramatic change in Japan’s
    political landscape, and how this can be used to diplomatically end
    whaling in the Southern Ocean,” concluded Senator Siewert.

    Event details:
    “What will end whaling – An insider’s view’: APH Theatre, 6-8pm TONIGHT

    For more information or media enquiries please call Tim Norton on 0418
    401 180

    ________________________________________
    GREENPEACE MEDIA RELEASE

    Japanese activist says time is right for diplomatic end to whaling

    Canberra, Tuesday, 8 September 2009: Toru Suzuki, a Greenpeace
    anti-whaling activist facing up to 10 years in prison for exposing
    corruption in the Japanese whaling industry, is in Australia to discuss
    the opportunities the first real change of government in Japan for 50
    years offers to end whaling in the Southern Ocean.

    Suzuki will spend time briefing Government and Opposition MPs and
    Senators on the Greenpeace campaign in Japan, the opportunities to
    pressure the whaling industry with a new Government in Japan and the
    upcoming court case of the Tokyo Two1.

    He will also provide insight into the politics behind the whaling
    industry in Japan as well as discuss the dramatic change in Japan’s
    political landscape, and how this can be used to diplomatically end
    whaling in the Southern Ocean.

    “With the first real change of government in Japan in 50 years, we have
    a window of opportunity to push the incoming government to live up to
    its election promises and stamp out corruption and the waste of taxpayer
    money in the whaling industry,” said Mr Suzuki. “The industry is already
    struggling to stay afloat, and if it lost government support it would
    disappear virtually overnight.”

    With little more than two months before the normal scheduled departure
    of the Japanese Government-sponsored whaling fleet, the key message for
    Kevin Rudd is that strong pressure must be applied now, before the
    slaughter begins.

    “Prime Minister Kevin Rudd should take advantage of this opportunity and
    visit the new Japanese Prime Minister immediately, asking him to retire
    this environmentally and economically bankrupt programme once and for
    all,” said Mr Suzuki.

    Note to editors
    Toru Suzuki will present a free public talk: ‘What will end whaling – An
    insider’s view’ tonight at Parliament House Theatre, Parliament House
    from 6-8pm hosted by Greens Senator Rachel Siewert. MPs from both major
    parties will be attending. 

    Media enquiries:
    Zoe Porter, Greenpeace media officer  0409 048 260
    Reece Turner, Greenpeace whales campaigner 0408 754 910
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  • Labour falure on climate change a ‘political crime’, says Green leader

     

    Lucas, one of the party’s two MEPs, said Greens were the only politicians who were being “honest” with the public about the scale of the threat posed by global warming.

    “As the vital Copenhagen climate summit draws closer, it’s clear that the current level of ambition will not deliver anything like the speed and scale of the emission cuts that we so urgently need,” she said, referring to the international conference taking place in December.

    “In a few years, people will look back bewildered and angry that – knowing what they knew now – none of the other main political parties in Britain confronted the most critical issue of our time.

    “They have pretended that they have the problem under control, that a few low-energy lightbulbs here, a bit of lagging on your loft there, and the problem is solved. And that to do anything more is either unnecessary or involves too much ‘sacrifice’.

    “We’ve got news for them: a transition to a post-carbon world doesn’t have to be about sacrifice.

    “It’s about jobs, it’s about a more equal society, and it’s about a way of life with the potential to be far more fulfilling than the turbo-charged consumerism which is peddled by politicians today.

    “And that’s why we say that our government’s inaction is nothing less than a political crime.”

    The conference is taking place adjacent to the Brighton Pavilion constituency in which Lucas is standing at the general election. She hopes to become Britain’s first Green MP and in 2005 she came second, polling 22% of the vote.

    She told members the Greens got more city votes in the European elections than any other party, that the party increased its share of the vote by 44% and that, at a time when “the image of politics and parties could hardly be lower”, the Greens had gained 1,000 new members in the last six weeks.

    In a speech that strayed well beyond environmental issues, Lucas said that, “for years”, her party had been warning against “the lethal cocktail of liberalisation and deregulation which has fuelled this recession”.

    And she also called for far-reaching reforms to the Westminster political system, including fairer funding for political parties, a ban on “mega-donations”, tougher freedom of information legislation, and electoral reform.

    “The expenses scandal isn’t a freak accident of an otherwise healthy body politic,” she said.

    “It’s a symptom of a system that is wholly dysfunctional. We’re being governed by a political elite that has stopped listening.

    “Too many MPs seem more interested in changing their homes than in changing the world. We need to make Westminster alive again with political ideas.”

     

     

  • Yukio Hatoyama sets tougher greenhouse targets

    “Our nation will strongly call on major countries around the world to set aggressive goals,” added Hatoyama, 62, who last week suggested that Japan would seek a greater voice in international diplomacy.

    Japan would present its target at international talks in Copenhagen in December aimed at agreeing a follow-up treaty to the Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012.

    Japan is the world’s number two economy and the fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases, which are blamed for raising global temperatures, melting the earth’s ice caps and glaciers, and changing weather patterns.

    “What we need in international negotiations is that politicians in the world assume responsibility in order to firmly prevent climate change and protect peace and stability at global levels,” Mr Hatoyama said.

    The head of the Democratic Party of Japan made clear that Japan would ask other major emitters also to set tough targets, saying that “climate change cannot be stopped if only our country sets a reduction target”.

    “A highly ambitious accord with participation by all major countries is a prerequisite to our country’s promise to the international community,” he said.

    Without mentioning China or India by name, Mr Hatoyama said: “We think developing countries are also required to make an effort to reduce greenhouse gases, as a global effort is needed on the issue of climate change.”

    “Developed countries should provide financial and technical support for developing countries that are trying to reduce greenhouse gases.”

    In June, Mr Aso announced a far lower greenhouse gas reduction target, equivalent to eight per cent from 1990 levels by 2020, earning his government criticism from environmental groups.

    Mr Hatoyama said: “I hope that a power shift in Japan will lead to a big change in climate change measures and mark the beginning of a big contribution to the future of our society in international negotiations.”

  • Byron United publicly denies reality

    Here, last month, I used the mathematical tool of first principles to clarify the issues around coastal retreat. It seems I threw fuel on the fire.

    Byron United’s James Lancaster on Radio National last Friday night tied himself in knots trying to explain why he is against man-made structures such as the rock wall at Main Beach but in favour of structures that mitigate damage to individual property. He told The National Interest’s Peter Mares, “Of course, we could all move five metres up the escarpment … but at some point, you have to draw the line.”

    This pretty much defines the problem in a nutshell. Whether it overallocated water, bushfire endangered housing or coastal erosion, no individual human wants to be the one on the wrong side of the line. We want to remain just where we are.

    The NSW town of Nyngan was evacuated in 1990 after major floods. The government offered to relocate the town but the people refused and demanded an extra metre on the levee. A long-term resident justified her instrangience thus: “We refused to move thirty years ago. Why should we give in now?”

    If an engineering report had suggested moving Lismore up the hill to Goonelabah rather than building the levee that saved the town last year and in 2005, how would you have responded?

    Where indeed, do you draw the line?

    I put the dilemma to Mayor Jan Barham on The Generator this Monday. How does a government manage the issue of guiding development away from certain disaster when commerce, tradition and emotion all encourage us to stay put.

    “You take a long term view and develop policies that give people time to adapt,” she said, gently reminding the property owners of Belongil that most of their properties have been renovated, bought or sold in the twenty years that the coastal retreat policy has been in place.

    Part of the challenge for local governments in low lying coastal areas in NSW is that the state government has removed their power to develop local criteria for planning laws.

    That makes it very hard for local councils to move their communities up the hill to safety. Those determined to maintain the status quo, however dangerous, can shelter in the labyrinth of detail until a real disaster hits. Then, as humans always do, they’ll complain that no-one warned them.

     

  • Tripodi’s clean coal smoke screen demolished by Four Corners

    Tripodi’s clean coal smoke screen demolished by Four Corners

    Media release: 7 September 2009

    The Rees government’s plans to entice the private sector to build two new coal-fired power stations that are ‘carbon capture and storage’ ready have been exposed by revelations that the technology is not likely to be commercially available until 2040, according to Greens NSW MP John Kaye.

    Commenting on ABC TV’s Four Corners report ‘The Coal Nightmare’ (Monday 7 September, 8.30pm), Dr Kaye said: “Finance Minister Joe Tripodi is trying to hide a massive 57 percent increase in the state’s electricity sector greenhouse gas emissions behind the hope that the plants will some day be fitted with equipment to capture and bury the CO2.

    “Clean coal technology does not exist.

    “The growing body of expert opinion is that it will not be commercially available for another 20 or 30 years.

    “Even then it could be prohibitively expensive and too late to save the planet from disastrous global warming.

    “In the meantime, if Joe Tripodi’s massive power station building program goes ahead, it will boost the state’s emissions by 30 million tonnes of CO2 each year.

    “That’s the equivalent of another 7 million motor vehicles on the road or twice the emissions from all existing private vehicle transport in this state.

    “The Rees government is hoping no one will notice that the only thing that stands between their electricity privatisation plans and a blow out of the state’s greenhouse gas emissions is the clean coal story and it has just been demolished,” Dr Kaye said.

    For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455

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