I wrote to you last week about the crisis in Yemen. I am writing again because the situation is so desperate. Already, 10 million people – almost half of the population – do not have enough food to eat, and an estimated 267,000 children face life-threatening malnutrition.
I’ve seen what the people of Yemen are going through. Conflict and spiralling food prices have created a living nightmare. Salama is just one of many people we have met struggling to get by. Two of her young sons died this year – one of them, seven-month old Abdullah, had been diagnosed as malnourished.
“I blame this crisis and the situation we are facing for the deaths of my children,” she says. “We had no medicine and no food. It’s because of poverty.”
Salama has already lost two young sons this year. Photo: Caroline Gluck/Oxfam
We have a target – to reach 1 million men, women and children with life-saving aid. So far, we have managed to reach 123,000 people, but we urgently need your help to reach the rest.
Oxfam is a registered charity in England and Wales (no 202918) and Scotland (SC039042) and a company limited by guaranteee registered in England No 612172 at Oxfam House, John Smith Drive, Cowley, Oxford OX4 2JY. Oxfam GB is a member of Oxfam International.
The Premier Barry O’Farrell has defended his Government’s renewal of Coal Seam Gas exploration licenses.
A moratorium on fracking and a freeze on licensing was lifted yesterday with the announcement of a new Strategic Land Use Policy
The policy increases the amount of strategic agricultural land mapped for protection in the Hunter and New England, and drops a provision that would have allowed Cabinet to override new independent approval processes for CSG projects.
Today the Government has renewed 22 licences for exploration and approved one for production.
Barry O’Farrell says it was not a revenue raising exercise with tough new regulations guiding approvals.
“There are now codes of practice around exploration licences including deposits including an extra 40 regulatory staff to ensure that what’s been approved is what’s going to happen.”
“So for the first time we have a new set of rules around exploration licenses, the way in which land use is going to be assessed and that is not only the toughest regime in the nation but some are saying it’s the toughest in the world.”
Lobbyists are shocked at how quickly the renewals flowed in.
Jess Moore from Stop CSG Illawarra says of particular concern was the inclusion of an exploration licence that cuts across two drinking water catchments in north Illawarra.
“To have the Government actually offer the company a renewal in that area is just such a slap in the face to this community.”
The Australian Petroleum Producers and Exploration Association’s Lyall Howard says the new policy is a win for farmers but the regulations are heavy handed.
But he says they will live with it.
“Investment has been totally immobilised for 18 months and what this does now is give the industry some confidence that there is a set of rules that if they follow them that investment will flow,” he said.
Resources Company Santos says the new rules should ease concerns about its impact.
Santos Spokesman, Sam Crafter says the Company may use hydraulic fracturing in the future.
“It’s something that we’re not planning on doing at this point in time but look we’re not saying that it won’t be done, it’s something that’s done very safely in other parts of Australia and the increased processes and code of conduct also increase the regulation around which can give people comfort that this actually, if it does occur in New South Wales will be done safely.”
Anti Coal Seam Gas activists say the State Government’s new Strategic Land Use policy ignores the impact that mining and coal seam gas projects have on local communities.
FARMERS have lost their fight for greater protection from coal seam gas (CSG) miners, with the state government refusing to fence off any land from exploration.
The miners were was given the OK yesterday to start drilling on farm land, albeit under the “strongest restrictions in the world”.
The government released its strategic regional land use policy, outlining the extra hurdles companies will have to jump to start work.
Mining companies will have to prove any extraction will not destroy water quality, or prime farming and grazing land.
And in a bid to appease farmers, the government has removed the clause that gave it power to override the restrictions in exceptional circumstances. All CSG companies will have to meet the strict guidelines.
Farmers Association president Fiona Simson said farmers were not protected by the policy.
“We got an incomplete package with watered down water protections and a virtual green light for exploration and mining right across most of the state,” Ms Simson said.
Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham accused the Premier of “declaring war” on farmers.
But Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee said the increased regulation would make NSW less attractive for mining companies.
“The area of land classified strategic has increased threefold since the draft mapping was first released in March, so much more land will be covered by the new gateway assessment process,” he said.
“This new layer of project assessment comes at a time when commodity prices are falling and production and other input costs in Australia are rising.”
From: Hamilton, Tim (K. Thomson, MP)<Tim.Hamilton@aph.gov.au> Date: Wed, Sep 12, 2012 at 11:24 AM Subject: Kelvin Thomson Speech on the Super Trawler To: “Hamilton, Tim (K. Thomson, MP)” <Tim.Hamilton@aph.gov.au>
FARMERS, environmental groups and miners have joined forces to condemn the state government’s new regime for how coal seam gas drilling and coal mining may be carried out in NSW.
The new rules, contained in the final version of the Strategic Land Use Policy, released yesterday, do not quarantine any part of NSW from exploration or mining applications, despite the demands of farmers and conservationists. The policy significantly expands the amount of land classified as ”strategic agricultural land” and therefore subject to a ”gateway process” overseen by an independent scientific panel, upsetting mining groups.
An ”exceptional circumstances” provision, which would have given cabinet the power to override the process for projects of state significance, has been dumped.
However, concerns remain from some stakeholders that the protections for aquifers from coal seam gas drilling and mining are not strong enough.
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Announcing the policy, the Planning Minister, Brad Hazzard, said the government was introducing ”the most broad-reaching protection of strategic agricultural lands in the state’s history”.
Mr Hazzard said the policy ”strikes a balance” between the protection of land used for farming, winemaking and thoroughbred breeding and access to minerals that produces revenue for hospitals, roads and schools.
Since the release of the draft plan in March, the areas mapped as strategic agricultural land have been expanded by 670,000 hectares, primarily in the upper Hunter Valley and New England north-west regions. As well, the test for whether a mining or exploration is likely to damage the aquifer has been extended beyond proposals within the mapped areas, to apply statewide.
A Greens MP, Jeremy Buckingham, said by not quarantining areas of the state from any mining activity, the government had ”completely ignored” the concerns of farmers.
”The community expected the O’Farrell government to rule out mining on productive agricultural lands and sensitive environmental areas,” he said.
The president of the NSW Farmers Association, Fiona Simson, said ”thousands” of city and country people wanted land and water protected.
Carmel Flint, of the anti-coal seam gas group Lock The Gate, said the policy meant ”thousands of gas wells, massive open-cut coalmines and the serious degradation of our way of life in NSW”. But the chief executive of the NSW Minerals Council, Stephen Galilee, said the rules added a layer of assessment which could delay projects and cost jobs and investment.
The Nationals’ leader and Deputy Premier, Andrew Stoner, said contravention of the aquifer interference policy would not mean an automatic veto on mining activity. ”I’m confident if there is any chance that aquifers are going to be damaged in exploration or production activity, the process will not be approved by government,” he said.
Mr Hazzard said a land and water commissioner would advise on legal rights relating to land use negotiations but would not make decisions on access.
The Energy and Resources Minister, Chris Hartcher, confirmed the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for coal seam gas extraction would be lifted immediately as the policy ”sets in place a very strict regulatory framework”.
FARMERS, environmental groups and miners have joined forces to condemn the state government’s new regime for how coal seam gas drilling and coal mining may be carried out in NSW.
The new rules, contained in the final version of the Strategic Land Use Policy, released yesterday, do not quarantine any part of NSW from exploration or mining applications, despite the demands of farmers and conservationists. The policy significantly expands the amount of land classified as ”strategic agricultural land” and therefore subject to a ”gateway process” overseen by an independent scientific panel, upsetting mining groups.
An ”exceptional circumstances” provision, which would have given cabinet the power to override the process for projects of state significance, has been dumped.
However, concerns remain from some stakeholders that the protections for aquifers from coal seam gas drilling and mining are not strong enough.
Advertisement
Announcing the policy, the Planning Minister, Brad Hazzard, said the government was introducing ”the most broad-reaching protection of strategic agricultural lands in the state’s history”.
Mr Hazzard said the policy ”strikes a balance” between the protection of land used for farming, winemaking and thoroughbred breeding and access to minerals that produces revenue for hospitals, roads and schools.
Since the release of the draft plan in March, the areas mapped as strategic agricultural land have been expanded by 670,000 hectares, primarily in the upper Hunter Valley and New England north-west regions. As well, the test for whether a mining or exploration is likely to damage the aquifer has been extended beyond proposals within the mapped areas, to apply statewide.
A Greens MP, Jeremy Buckingham, said by not quarantining areas of the state from any mining activity, the government had ”completely ignored” the concerns of farmers.
”The community expected the O’Farrell government to rule out mining on productive agricultural lands and sensitive environmental areas,” he said.
The president of the NSW Farmers Association, Fiona Simson, said ”thousands” of city and country people wanted land and water protected.
Carmel Flint, of the anti-coal seam gas group Lock The Gate, said the policy meant ”thousands of gas wells, massive open-cut coalmines and the serious degradation of our way of life in NSW”. But the chief executive of the NSW Minerals Council, Stephen Galilee, said the rules added a layer of assessment which could delay projects and cost jobs and investment.
The Nationals’ leader and Deputy Premier, Andrew Stoner, said contravention of the aquifer interference policy would not mean an automatic veto on mining activity. ”I’m confident if there is any chance that aquifers are going to be damaged in exploration or production activity, the process will not be approved by government,” he said.
Mr Hazzard said a land and water commissioner would advise on legal rights relating to land use negotiations but would not make decisions on access.
The Energy and Resources Minister, Chris Hartcher, confirmed the moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for coal seam gas extraction would be lifted immediately as the policy ”sets in place a very strict regulatory framework”.
