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  • Fertiliser prices three times what they should be: AgForce

    From Queensland Country Life

    Plunging commodity prices are not being mirrored by falls in one of farming’s most important input costs, namely fertiliser.

    The issue is once again in the spotlight as producers weigh up shrinking harvest profits ahead of a summer crop season when planting equipment should be programmed to apply nitrogen and phosphorous, according to requirement.

    Lobby groups are lining up to pillory fertiliser manufacturers for their lacklustre attempts to pare back the price of their core product amidst claims the price of urea is three times higher than it should be.

    But a spokesman for Incitec Pivot Ltd refutes these claims, adding the company is preparing a detailed response to present to the Senate Select Committee, which currently is examining fertiliser and supply arrangements in both Australian and overseas markets.

    This week, however, AgForce Grains policy director Lindsay Krieg revealed that new figures on fertiliser costing had been sent to the National Farmers’ Federation for presentation to the Senate Select Committee.

    They note how the price of urea on the world market, based on the price of the product in the Middle East, rose to $US880 per tonne in August 2008, falling sharply since to settle at around $US250 per tonne over the past few weeks.

    While the price drop for phosphorous has not been as great over as long a time period, Mr Krieg says it too is now trending down.

  • Emissions free car from WA Uni

    The Rev project website says REV hopes to “revolutionise personal transport”, by building vehicles that produce no pollution, powered by electricity from any plug point and viable to both the performance and commercial markets.

    Additionally it provides a unique opportunity for undergraduates to learn and develop multi-disciplinary teamwork plus innovative, design, leadership, management, marketing, finance and practical skills.

    We are currently building our first car: a four-wheel, five-seater commuter vehicle, designed for sustained performance over typical commute distances. Alongside we have begun the design and development of our performance model which we will demonstrate by the end of this year.

    The UWA Renewable Energy Vehicle (REV) Project is tackling the problems created by rising fuel prices and vehicle pollution head-on. We’re building two cars from the ground up that produces no pollution and is powered by electricity from the power point. Our team is a group of students from the University of Western Australia, acting on our own initiative and fuelled by a passion for a sustainable future.

    About REV

    The vehicles that clutter our freeways today are completely dependent on fossil fuels, which create major pollution issues and are fast running out. In recent years, the price of those fuels has also risen sharply. Hence the development of renewable energy technologies — that is, ways of powering a car without relying on petrol or diesel — has become crucial.

    The vehicle that we’re developing is specifically designed to be low in weight and highly aerodynamic. This will make it highly efficient in its use of energy, without sacrificing convenience, performance or style. It will even be road registered, meaning it can be driven using a standard driver’s licence!

    Unlike other ‘concept’ electric cars that never amount to more than prototypes, our car will be ready to drive and will look much like any other car you might find on the road. To prove this we are using an existing production car and converting it to use electricity as its sole source of propulsion.

  • Supermarkets control fuel prices

    “We were not prepared to see independents rubbed out,” he said.

    He said the association had lobbied the Federal Government to allow some flexibility for independent stations to lower, but not raise, their prices in the middle of the day, but the submissions were rejected.

    Since the supermarket chains had entered the petrol market, the rate of independent closures had doubled, he said.

    “We are reaching the stage where the supermarkets set the (petrol) prices. The future of discounted petrol is in the hands of two companies – and that’s frightening.”

    Consumer groups had mixed reactions to today’s decision, saying that while FuelWatch had encountered many “political icebergs”, motorists still deserved transparency on petrol prices.

    Choice spokesman Christopher Zinn said the organisation was “generally in support of measures that give price transparency, but (we are) also in support of things that increase competition”.

    Mr Zinn said there were plenty of arguments in support and against FuelWatch, but that the Western Australia scheme was proof a national scheme could lead to “consumer enhancements”.

    But Mr Bowden argued there had been no conclusive evidence that the WA FuelWatch-style scheme worked, as the west coast worked on a fornightly, not weekly, petrol price cycle.

    With petrol prices coming down – some tip they will reach $1 per litre by Christmas – Mr Zinn said the need for a FuelWatch-style scheme was not as pressing, but that it would likely reappear in another incarnation in the future.

    “The original plan was to introduce the scheme by Christmas – that’s obviously not going to happen now,” he said.

    “[But] petrol prices are down, so that gives us some wiggle room to get it right.”

    Meanwhile, the RACQ has called on the Federal Government to rein in oil companies’ stranglehold on wholesale petrol, a move supported by the SSA.

    Gary Fites, RACQ’s general manager of external relations, said the motoring body had long argued for independent retailers to enjoy greater access to alternative sources of wholesale petrol.

    “(This) is the key to a better deal (for) motorists,” Mr Fites said.

    “The four oil majors’ control of all but a handful of terminal facilities currently puts independent retailers at a real price disadvantage against the oil companies’ own sites and the major supermarket chains.”

    Mr Fites said the viability of independet fuel retailers was key to a “fair deal on fuel” for motorists.

    “The Government should now be actively investigating how it can encourage more competition at the wholesale level by removing impediments to other potential importers of refined fuels having access to terminal facilities.”

    Mr Fites said the FuelWatch model would not have worked in South-East Queensland, where prices “actually fell six days each week”.

    Source: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au

  • Canberra leads Rudd on Free Speech

    Large companies use SLAPP suits to silence their critics by tying up their time, money and emotional energy. The result is often crippling emotional and financial stress and years spent dealing with the court system, time that could have been devoted to advocacy and campaigning. On a societal level, SLAPP suits suppress public participation and protest.

    Given that Australians have no constitutional right to free speech, SLAPP suits are a significant problem. As Brian Walters SC says in his book Slapping on the Writs: ‘The community is not some vague ether in the air — it is the communication between its members. When we stifle public discourse, we stifle community’.

    In August, the ACT Legislative Assembly passed the Protection of Public Participation Act 2008. Like most pieces of new legislation, it didn’t receive much press. This does not, however, mean it wasn’t significant. It is the first anti-SLAPP law in Australia, imposing civil penalties on companies engaged in lawsuits undertaken specifically to silence critics and stop public debate.

    The Act is a truly non-partisan piece of legislation; it was written by the Greens, amended by Labor and supported by all three parties. In combination with the ACT Human Rights Act 2004, it is a bold move towards promoting free speech and an engaged citizenry. What we need now is for mirror legislation to be introduced in all other Australian jurisdictions. If Rudd wants an era of increased federalism, this would be a good place to start.

     

  • Asian pollution reduces warming

    The amount of sunlight reaching earth through the murk has fallen by up to a quarter in the worst-affected areas and if the brown cloud disperses, global temperatures could rise by up to 2 degrees Celsius.

    But the overall effect of slowing climate change is not the silver lining to a dark cloud that it appears to be.

    The choking soup of pollutants may hold temperatures down overall, but the mix of particles means it is also speeding up warming in some of the most vulnerable areas and exacerbating the most devastating impacts of higher temperatures.

    The complex impact of the cloud, which tends to cool areas near the surface of the earth and warm the air higher up, is believed to be causing a shortening of the monsoon season in India while increasing flooding there and in southern China.

    Soot from the cloud is also deposited on glaciers, which are at the centre of environmentalists’ and politicians’ concerns because they feed Asia’s key rivers and provide drinking water for billions who live along them.

    There the particles capture more solar heat than white, reflective snow and ice – speeding up melting of a key resource. At a monitoring station near Mount Everest, soot has been found at levels which scientists say would be expected in urban areas.

    There is also a high human cost. The report estimates round 340,000 people are dying prematurely because of damage to their lungs, hearts and risk of cancer.

  • Rain too late for winter crops

    Rawlinson and Brown agronomist, Drew Braithwaite, Griffith, said the rain was too late for the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) where “most guys are a third of a way through harvest”.

    Mr Braithwaite said the rain would help fill up the moisture profile in fallow paddocks for next year’s crop.

    Griffith’s 22mm on the weekend was enough to bring harvest to a standstill for a little while.

    “Some people stopped harvesting but they (farmers) were heading into green crop anyway,” he said.

    Frustrated Lockhart farmer, Jim Morgan, “Cooinda”, described the 29mm recorded at his place as a “complete waste of time”, although, on the positive side he said it would benefit lucerne and help to generate feed for livestock.

    “We are harvesting here at the moment so it didn’t do anything for our crops,” he said.

    Mr Morgan said his canola averaged a tonne to the hectare and he was stripping barley this week.

    NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) district agronomist at Albury, Janet Walker, said the falls of up to 40mm in her district were “good widespread-soaking rain”.

    She said the potential benefits for wheat crops were mixed depending on what stage they were at in the growing season and what areas they were in.

    “Around Gerogery and Henty there is still some benefit from the rain in terms of grain fill,” she said.