NSW Baird Coalition Government has blood on its hands

With rigid, far right ideology dominating the shrivelled souls within the Liberal and National political parties at federal and state levels in Australia today, it is a hard time to be a woman or girl-child.

Hannah* is one of the 17 women who died by violence in the first nine weeks of this year…….

The Guardian 9 March 2015:

Alex had always been dangerously jealous. If another man so much as greeted his wife, Hannah, Alex was prone to physically attacking them – and her. Once, on a holiday to the Gold Coast, Alex punched Hannah in the head, because of the way a friend’s husband had looked at her.

In the final months of their marriage, Alex developed a sinister fetish. The routine was the same every time: Alex would pin Hannah to the ground and choke her until she was almost unconscious, then cover her face with a blanket and jump on her body.

Convinced that Alex was preparing for her murder, Hannah summoned the courage to leave him. She knew she’d need protection from him, so she tried to get into a women’s refuge. But like many women fleeing domestic violence, Hannah was told there were no beds available, so she was given vouchers for a hotel in Kings Cross.

But Hannah was too afraid to be on her own. After a few nights in the hotel, she went to her friend’s place and tried calling the refuges again. Hannah called refuges across Sydney and nearby regional cities more than 10 times. But there was nowhere that could help her.

In the final months of last year, as Hannah was trying to find somewhere to stay, the women’s refuge system in New South Wales was in disarray. The state government had just completed a radical reform of its homelessness sector, putting all its services out to tender for the first time in 25 years. Women’s refuges were told they couldn’t just reapply for their own service – if they wanted to retain their refuges, they would have to show they could provide multiple services to all homeless people in their area. Services would no longer be exclusively for victims of domestic violence – they’d now have to cater to all types of homelessness….

Back in the city, Hannah’s efforts to find protection in a refuge were all in vain. She took an apprehended violence order out against Alex, in the hope that would keep him away from her. Earlier this year, Hannah was found dead. Alex is now awaiting trial….

*Hannah and Alex’s names have been changed

Baird Government selling off the NSW Home Care Service if it wins 28 March 2015 state election

Over 18,000 people in New South Wales received federally funded high or low care community age care packages enabling them to continue living at home in 2011-12, their median age was 84.2 years.  

Most were women living in their own homes and many lived alone.

The most common reasons for people ceasing to use their age care packages was death or admission to residential age care.

The majority of agencies providing this care are not-for-profit organisations. [Australian Government Institute of Health and Welfare, Aged care packages in the community 2010–11: A statistical overview]

Before accessing this range of packages, a number of these older people would have received short-term or crisis assistance through federal government funded Home and Community Care programs administered by the state via its own Home Care Service of NSW.

This includes services such as personal care, respite care, veterans’ home care, light housework, shopping and in remote areas meals and transport [www.adhc.nsw.gov.au, 2015]. Again, many of these services are run at local levels by not-for-profit organisations.

These are the vulnerable people (along with individuals under 65 years with a disability) within the est. 50,000 Home Care Service client base that the NSW Baird Government appears to be targeting in its announcement that it intends to fully privatise this service in or before July 2016 by sale to one successful bidder.

Seventy-eight per cent of Home Care Service clients are 65 years of age or older and from culturally diverse backgrounds, most receive less than ten hours assistance per week but 2 per cent receive sixty hours or more per week [NSW Family & Community Services, 2014].

Two foreign multinational corporations have expressed an interest in this privatisation.

The first is BUPA which is predominately a private medical insurer with some hospital and age care facilities and the second is SERCO which operates public and private transport and traffic control, aviation, military weapons, detention centres, prisons, non-clinical hospital management & support services and schools on behalf of its current customers.

As the result of two separate investigations SERCO had to repay over £70 million to the U.K. Government in 2013 due to overcharging for justice/prison services and is alleged to have millions more in overcharging for national health services on the books in 2014.

It has also been the subject of a number of human rights abuse allegations and was once described as having a culture of “institutional meanness” by the U.K. Chief Inspector of Prisons [Centre for Policy Development, March 2012].

BUPA has been implicated in “inadequate treatment”/”sub-optimal nursing care” during respite care at one of its facilities on the NSW North Coast [State Coroner’s Court, Inquest 140588, 26-28 March 2014].  

In 2011 its Bexley Aged Care Facility was the scene of “unsatisfactory professional conduct…professional misconduct” including a staff member on more than one occasion making an elderly man beg for a cigarette on his hands and knees [Nursing and Midwifery Tribunal of New South Wales, Matter No: 028/2013].

In 2011-12 the U.K. Care Quality Commission found a Southampton care home run by BUPA & others in oversight partnership was “at risk” of failure two years after opening [Hon John Denham MP, February 2012] and a 2007 U.K. inquest reportedly found BUPA’s level of care provided to the 91-year-old “seriously disturbing” [Watford Observer, “Coroner condemns Bupa nursing home for death”, 23 April 2009].

Media reports state that NSW Disability Services Minister John Ajaka refused to rule out a sale of the Home Care Service to either BUPA or SERCO.

I fear this privatisation move by the Baird Government will not end well for people living in the Clarence electorate and elsewhere in the Northern Rivers region.

Liberals and Nationals not travelling as well as NSW election polling reports imply?

ABC Antony Green’s Election Blog 2 March 2015:

As the NSW election approaches, the Baird government's vulnerability to defeat is being hidden by the reporting of opinion polls.

Opinion polls showing Coalition 2-party preferred result of 53% or 54% are being reported as the Baird government on track for re-election when in all likelihood they indicate a much closer contest with the government at risk of losing its majority.

There are three reasons for this.

The first is a likely change in preference behaviour by minor party and independent voters. Like Queensland, NSW uses optional preferential voting, and the recent Queensland election saw a 20% decline in exhausted preferences and a similar size increase in preference flows to Labor. This factor alone was enough to add another 3% to Labor's state wide 2-party preferred vote compared to polls. If the Queensland experience is repeated in NSW, then the published polls are over-stating the Coalition's 2-party preferred vote.

Second, under optional preferential voting, two-party preferred percentages are exaggerated in favour of the party with the higher first preference vote. In over than half of the state's electorates at the 2011 election, the Coalition outpolled Labor on first preferences by more than two-to-one. Because of the way 2-party preferred percentages are calculated under optional preferential voting, the Coalition margins in these seats are exaggerated. Any reversion to a more normal level of Labor first preference vote in these seats will see larger than expected two-party preferred swings.

The north coast National Party seats of Ballina, Lismore and Tweed all sit on margins of more than 21%. All would be Labor held based on the results of the 2013 federal election and will be seats to watch despite being well beyond the uniform swing. The National Party will also face challenges from Independents and anti-CSG campaigners in a string of seats.

In Sydney, traditional marginal seats like Drummoyne and Ryde have wildly inflated Liberal margins compared to past voting patterns. The same comment applies to Penrith where former Liberal MP Jackie Kelly running as an Independent may also complicate the contest.

The third factor is political geography. The tendency in NSW since the introduction of one-vote one-value electoral boundaries is for the Coalition to win fewer seats than Labor for any given level of two-party preferred vote.

In 1984 Labor polled 52.6% of the 2-party preferred vote and won 58 of the 99 seats. In 2007 Labor polled 52.3% and won 52 of 93 seats. In contrast, the Coalition polled 52.7% of the vote in 1991 and won only 49 of 99 seats.

Read the rest of the article here.

"We want a gasfield ban, not a gas plan!"

Letter to the Editor in The Daily Examiner, 27 February 2015:

Election and gasfield

The State Election is fast approaching. On March 28 we go to the polls again to cast our vote to decide who will run the State of NSW for the next four years.

In the Northern Rivers, the biggest political issue over the past four years has been the threat of industrialisation and destructive and polluting activities which inevitably accompany invasive gasfields.

We have fought to save our region - at Glenugie and Doubtful Creek and then at Bentley. The famous Bentley Blockade resulted in the suspension of Metgasco's exploration licence which was to allow drilling to a depth of 2.1km through the soils, rocks and aquifers of this beautiful and productive valley, so typical of the Northern Rivers.

It was the pressure exerted by the community on the NSW Liberal National Government which caused them to suspend activity. It was not an act of benevolence on the part of the NSW Government- without people-power the drilling rig would have moved in.

Over 95% of people in the Northern Rivers do not want to live in a gasfield. Tourism and primary industries in our region will suffer irreparable damage and our properties will become devalued and unsalable - who would buy a house in or near a gasfield?

Now is our chance once again to have our voices heard loud and clear - in NSW we have a system of Optional Preferential voting.

Under this system, numbering one box is permitted. However, there is a very good reason why this is not a good choice. If you do number only one box and your choice of candidate does not receive 50% + one of the total votes in the first count, your vote is "exhausted'" and you have, in effect, wasted your vote.

To ensure that your vote counts, you must number every box.

You do not have to follow the how to vote card of any political party or independent candidate.

You are the one who is allocating preferences. Your preferences are the ones that matter.

Who you vote for on election day is, of course, your personal choice. However, to vote for a gasfield-free Northern Rivers, you will need to give your LAST preference to the party who is least supportive of the community's clearly expressed wishes to remain gasfield free.

We want a gasfield ban, not a gas plan!

Rosemary Joseph

Nationals MP for Clarence Chris Gulaptis has just been knotted by a group of nannas

North Coast Voices was sent this copy of a letter which forms part of a lengthy engagement in the political process by one hardy and dedicated group of Knitting Nannas Against Gas.

Nationals MP for Clarence Chris Gulaptis can be in no doubt that his lack of political spine has been noted.

Call goes out to put Gulaptis last on the March 2015 state election ballot paper

The candidates may be acting coy five weeks out from the NSW state election but voters may be beginning to force the pace, if this open letter published in the Clarence Valley Review is any indication:

This open letter to Member for Clarence, Chris Gulaptis, was sent on behalf of all community Groups Against Gas within the Clarence electorate.

Mr Gulaptis,

Do you honestly think a few slick Gas Plan ads will woo us outraged voters back? Nationals’ entire track record indicates your real plan is to ignore our concerns and roll gas mining out across the North Coast.

Even your most loyal voters were shocked when Dart’s massive North Coast licence was renewed just before Christmas. Our shock turned to outrage when we realised that the 25% of Dart’s original leasehold that it had to forfeit, included Ballina. What a sly attempt, at the expense of our long-term future, to lure back voters left hanging by Don Page’s retirement!

That shameful action came hot on the heels of the retirement of your Minister for Resources and Energy, after allegations of corruption by ICAC. Then, just one year after Nationals passed a bill making ‘Public Interest’ legal grounds to refuse or limit gas licences, your party back-flipped and cancelled it!

And now, just weeks before the elections, you refuse to answer four simple questions about your own commitment to protect us voters from the dangers of gas mining.

Every other Clarence candidate answered with honesty and integrity, but you arrogantly responded with your own four questions! Well Mr Gulaptis, let’s see if the answers speak for themselves:

You ask:

1. Which State Government issued the petroleum exploration licences in NSW?
Try as you may to shift the blame back to when CSG was thought safe, but it was Nationals who renewed licences in NSW, even after you knew the real risks. Other parties will implement Gas Bans, not just plans.

2. Which State Government suspended Metgasco’s license in the Northern Rivers?
Not yours! Even after widespread protests from rural communities, plus Police warning the Premier that breaking Bentley blockade could result in local deaths, he only suspended drilling at that site, not the Licence covering the much greater lease! And now, because ‘Public Interest’ no longer counts, the Supreme Court may award Metgasco millions from our taxes!

3. Which Federal Government approved the CSG mine at Gloucester?
Your party has disbanded its own exclusion zoning to trash Gloucester AND your Gas Plan is to push through Narrabri and Camden as well!
4.Which State Government has reduced the CSG footprint across the Northern Rivers and NSW? Not yours! In fact, last month you actually renewed the largest licence in the Northern Rivers!

Many once-loyal Nationals voters have had enough lies! They know gas mining will destroy their precious bores, their family’s health and their kids’ future unless they act now. Gas will be the decider when they lodge their vote. Gas will come way ahead of loyalty to people they no longer trust. Almost 90% percent have said they want gas bans. They don’t want toxic plans…and they will be heard!

When they see four candidates on the lower house voting form, they will know to vote Gasfield Free they simply need to number every box and put ‘Gulaptis’ last!

Lynette Eggins (Clarence Alliance Against Gas), Leonie Blain (Knitting Nannas Against Gas Grafton Loop), David Irving (Yamba Group Against Gas), Deb Whitley (Pillar Valley Group Against Gas), Tony Belton, Annie Dorian (Iluka Group Against Gas), Jeniffer Lewis (Mid-Clarence Group Against Gas), Dr Eric van Beurden (Richmond Valley Group Against Gas)

And this is the NSW gas industry the Baird Coalition Government wants us to trust........

@LockTheGate 6 February 2015

The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 February 2015:

AGL's contractor did not test for toxic chemicals in flowback water before it was treated and discharged to Newcastle's main sewerage network, the state agency Hunter Water says.

Transpacific Industries discharged the so-called flowback water from AGL's four test wells in its Waukivory pilot project late last year into Hunter Water's sewers despite AGL and Transpacific being warned not to dispose of the waste water through the agency's network.

The Baird government and the Environment Protection Authority ordered AGL last week to suspend its CSG operations near Gloucester and began separate investigations, after the energy company disclosed it had detected BTEX chemicals in some of its flowback water.

The BTEX group – benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes – are banned in NSW in hydraulic fracturing operations. The chemicals occur naturally in coal and gas deposits and AGL said it did not use them in its fracking.

"Specific BTEX testing was not carried out at the time of discharge to sewer," Jeremy Bath, a Hunter Water spokesman, said on Thursday. "Independent testing of the stored raw water is now being carried out by [Transpacific]."

Energy Minister Anthony Roberts said the discovery of BTEX, and the fact AGL had withheld information on the findings for 12 days, had been the trigger for the government suspension of AGL…..

Hunter Water said Transpacific tested only for chemical oxygen demand (COD), biological oxygen demand (BOD), total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), total suspended solids (TSS) and acidity beforedischarging the water into the sewer.

Hunter Water had sent letters to AGL last year advising that it would not take the flowback water from the CSG wells because it did not accept waste from outside its region. It also did not have confidence that the contractor could effectively treat the water, which can contain Tolcide, a biocide that is potentially damaging to sewage treatment works.....

So what type of jobs might Clarence Valley workers get from 155km of Pacific Highway upgrade?

In October 2014 the timeline Prime Minister Tony Abbott placed on completion of the Pacific Highway upgrade between Woolgoolga and the NSW-Qld border was by the "end of the decade", or to put in another way, by 2020.

All the larger contracts (with contract values ranging from $132.5 million down to less than $500,000) were either invitee only or advertised and, these have been awarded to firms from outside the Clarence Valley and sometimes out of the state for periods up to 2016 and 2017.

In all fairness most of these contracts were beyond the means of most Clarence Valley businesses because of the steep prequalification financial levels required to assure both the federal and state government co-funders of a contractor’s financial stability, solvency, and capacity to manage cash flow requirements.

So how are valley businesses going to benefit from the est. $220 million this approximately 155km upgrade (from 6km north of Woolgoolga to 6km south of Ballina) will cost?

Sadly, Clarence Valley Council let the cat out of the bag in its media release of 29 January 2014:

“While the exact contracts are unknown, we do know there will be opportunity for local businesses,”….

“Examples of opportunities this may present are; landscaping, cleaning, drainage, fencing, etc. [my red bolding]

There are currently only two open tenders available on the NSW eTendering website and these are for an Independent Hydrological Expert Service and Registration of Interest for the Design and Construction of the bridge over the Clarence River at Harwood, NSW. Even the emu fencing contract between Glenugie and Tyndale has passed valley businesses by.

There has also been talk of the jobs expected to be generated by the upgrade section between Glenugie to Grafton and Iluka-Maclean-Yamba, which includes a second bridge at Harwood.

With the valley-wide unemployment rate running at 8.1 per cent (Grafton 8.9 per cent and Maclean-Yamba-Iluka 7.8 per cent) and with negative employment growth in the September Quarter 2014, it would appear that Clarence Valley locals must pin their hopes on sub-contracting crumbs falling from the table once construction work commences or on finding grunt work with the major contractors, cross their fingers that some of those workers from elsewhere want local accommodation for the twelve to twenty-four months these companies might be working somewhere in the valley and, hope like hell that the Harwood Bridge construction - and the separately funded Grafton Bridge project* - begin by 2018.

* The NSW 2014-15 Budget Papers mention Grafton Bridge, with a foreshadowed $117 million in state funding without any specified timeline, but only $8 million actually available for bridge and feeder roads planning this financial year.

NSW Coalition Government reveals its political sensitivity concerning the Gas Plan

The NSW Baird Government reveals its political sensitivity concerning its Gas Plan via this exchange in the letters section of The Daily Examiner, a regional newspaper in the Clarence Valley.

The first brief letter by a Lower Clarence resident elicited a misleading official comeback within days.

Letter to the editor published on 15 January 2015:

Gas Plan an insult

IT WILL take more than a picture of a young girl testing the waters of what seems to be a pristine dam, to convince the NSW taxpayers that their money is well spent on these full page NSW Gas Plan advertisements.

Such propaganda will not work as people are far too intelligent to be fooled into thinking we don't need to worry about CSG mining now that the NSW Government has created a website.

It is an insult to the intelligence of the community who have overwhelmingly voiced their opposition to unconventional gas mining in the Northern Rivers.

The "NSW Gas Plan" does nothing to stop landholders and communities being forced into giving access to their land against their will and has no improved safeguards for human health in the plan.

Every council on the North Coast has now asked for petroleum exploration licences to be revoked. It is obvious the Government is NOT listening to the voters of NSW and spending huge amounts of taxpayers' money to advertise something they do not support is disappointing to say the least.

Annie Dorrian

Iluka

                         

Letter to the editor published on 19 January 2015:

Gas Plan defence

I AM writing in response to a letter published in your newspaper (15/1) headed: "Gas Plan an insult".

The author claims that an advertorial outlining the NSW Government's comprehensive Gas Plan is an insult to the intelligence of the community.

It is unfortunate that the reader has interpreted the advertorials in this manner. The aim is to raise awareness amongst the community that this State, for the first time, has a plan for the safe and sustainable development of our local gas reserves.

The advertorials will hopefully stimulate people to try to learn more about the plan, the debate and the evidence we have in relation to the risks, the science, the industry and the actions being taken across Government, as we try to balance the economic, environmental and social needs of our State.

This includes a range of actions, which contrary to what is claimed in the letter, cover water, environment, community and landholders' interests.

For example, the use of evaporation ponds and BTEX has been banned. New guidelines for community consultation practices have been set. New codes/standards for well engineering and fracture stimulation practices have been set and peer reviewed by the NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer, Professor Mary O'Kane.

Groundwater studies have been completed on the Gunnedah, Gloucester and Clarence- Moreton basins, and the list goes on.

In total, more than 30 measures were introduced before the Gas Plan, and the Gas Plan itself adds a significant number of additional measures, including the NSW Government's acceptance of all of Professor O'Kane's recommendations.

The plan also outlines new measures aimed at ensuring community and landholders can share more directly in the benefits of gas exploration and development in their areas.

Again, the plan builds on advances already made in this area, such as the review of the arbitration system for land access agreements and the public commitments made by Santos and AGL not to seek access to a landholders' property if the landholder does not want them on their land.

So much has been done in recent years to better balance the economic, social and environmental issues of this industry. The advertorials simply aim to raise awareness of this fact and encourage people to learn more.

Lastly, it is also important to note that it is not correct to imply all people in NSW oppose this industry.

As with all industrial activities, there are those who support it, those who oppose it ... and those who are not interested in the debate or have not yet made up their minds.

Hopefully, for those who are curious about learning more, the Gas Plan will be a helpful place to start.

For more information, please visit gasplan.nsw.gov.au

Kylie Hargreaves

Deputy Secretary, Resources & Energy, NSW Trade & Investment

UPDATE

Bite back at Gas Plan propaganda in The Daily Examiner letters section on 23 January 2015:

Gas plan hard sell

THE NSW Government is spending thousands upon thousands of taxpayer dollars in advertisements to try to sell their so-called NSW Gas Plan to the residents of the Northern Rivers.

This is an obvious attempt to shore up votes for the coming State election in those seats where National Party candidates are most likely to suffer voter backlash from many disillusioned members of the community.

It is not a genuine attempt to inform, educate and consult.

Many citizens would like the right of reply to these advertisements but we do not have the vast amount of dollars required to buy the necessary newspaper space and radio time to counteract the misleading statements in this patronising propaganda.

The main avenue for us, the voters, to have our say regarding our concerns, is by writing letters to the editors of our local newspapers. We are grateful for this opportunity; however, there is limited space in the newspapers to publish our letters - certainly not a full page plus one bonus advertorial half-page.

So it is unjust and inappropriate that Kylie Hargreaves, deputy secretary, resources and energy, NSW Trade and Investment, should write a 457-word letter (19/1) to The Daily Examiner to refute the written opinion of a member of the public (15/1).

The Government is already bombarding us with advertisements - we open a newspaper or other local publication, we turn on the radio or, worst of all, in the privacy of our own home we log into our Facebook page to connect to our friends, and up pops a NSW Government Gas Plan ad.

Please, Ms Hargreaves, leave us at least one forum where we can have our say without interference from the Government.

And while I have this opportunity, may I point out the NSW Gas Plan is not about "Keeping our water pure", "Securing farming future" or "Protecting future generations."

It is all about ensuring that the gas industry proceeds throughout NSW.

Rosemary Joseph,
Bentley

NSW North Coast police make mockery of traffic accident attendance criteria

On 15 October 2014 NSW Police changed its criteria for attending traffic accidents.

Traffic and Highway Patrol Command - NSW Police Force:

Police on the NSW North Coast have apparently refined this criteria further.

On the morning of 13 January 2015 a Yamba resident, reporting what was a head-on crash on a badly cambered bend in a town road was told by police that only accidents where a person was injured would be attended by officers.

Apparently this is how local police are interpreting the NSW Government’s so-called drive to reduce red tape.

Now this would possibly be a worry-free policy adaptation if all accidents on the North Coast occurred through no fault on the part of drivers due to adverse road/weather conditions, but there is a glaring hole in how this three month old directive is being implemented on the ground.

In effect it means that it there will be drivers who were speeding and/or intoxicated who will escape being held legally accountable for their unlawful actions and the property damage they inflict, because North Coast police are refusing to come to crash sites unless they are specifically told a person has been injured.

If the person contacting police fails to mention a suspicion that a driver may have been drinking or speeding or the police fail to ask that question at the time, then dangerous drivers will begin to feel invulnerable – which may eventually have fatal consequences.

NSW Premier Baird, Energy & Resources Minister Roberts and local MPs Gulaptis, George and Page are spinning the Northern Rivers a dishonest unconventional gas tale

This is the advertisement which appeared in local newspapers this month spinning the pro-coal seam gas line that the NSW Baird Government and National Party MPs in North Coast electorates would like us to believe.

The NSW Gas Plan is the government’s new strategic framework to protect our water and environment while delivering vital gas supplies for the state.

Our water resources are protected through the most comprehensive regulatory controls for the gas industry in the nation.

The NSW government has introduced important protections, including an Aquifer Interference Policy, code of practice for well integrity and fracture stimulation and banned the use of harmful volatile organic compounds, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX chemicals), and evaporation ponds.

The NSW Gas Plan is the next step. It outlines the path to achieving a world class system to protect our water, environment, critical agricultural land and communities.

The NSW government has adopted all the recommendations by the independent NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer, Professor Mary O’Kane, to ensure the new regulatory framework for the gas industry is based on science and is world’s best practice.

This new science-based regulatory framework adopts a strong compliance and enforcement regime, enhanced environmental monitoring, improved protections and benefits for landholders and communities.

The NSW Gas Plan introduces a new strategic release framework, which is a system that puts the government back in control of the release of title areas for exploration. 

This will allow the government to identify the most appropriate areas for exploration through a careful examination of economic, environmental and social factors with community consultation conducted up-front. 

Exploration for gas will be done on our terms.

The Environment Protection Authority, Office of Coal Seam Gas and the NSW Office of Water all monitor and supervise gas operations to ensure companies comply with the high engineering and environmental standards which now apply in NSW.

The independent Environment Protection Authority (EPA) will be proactive and fearless in its new role as the lead regulator for compliance and enforcement of conditions of approval for gas activities.

A project to provide baseline information about the state’s groundwater has been started by the government. The Groundwater Baseline Project is mapping and gathering data on the water used by agriculture, industry and mining.

This will ensure we have the critical data to ensure the use of our water is sustainable and available for future generations, while ensuring any changes to our water supplies are detected early.

The first areas to be analysed are the Gunnedah, Gloucester and Clarence Moreton basins. More information on these and other water projects are available from water.nsw.gov.au 

The NSW Gas Plan signals a new era for the gas industry and NSW. 

The government’s new science based regulatory framework protects our precious water and environment, ensures communities have a voice and we have a world-class regime to secure vital gas supplies for the state’s manufacturers, businesses and households that rely on gas every day.

For more information, please visit gasplan.nsw.gov.au

This is the reality for the Northern Rivers – under the NSW Gas Plan coal seam gas exploration tenements cover most of its land mass and span all its major river systems.

NSW Government Trade & Investment: Energy & Resources mapping as of 8 January 2015
Click on map to enlarge

The state government’s pro-coal seam gas advertisement states that; This new science-based regulatory framework adopts a strong compliance and enforcement regime, enhanced environmental monitoring, improved protections and benefits for landholders and communities. Actually there is no new science-based regulatory framework in place. This is something the Baird Government says it will start to put in place at an as yet unspecified time, which may possibly be in the second half of 2015.

It asserts Exploration for gas will be done on our terms as though this is a new and innovative stance. Mineral and petroleum mining within the state has always been done on the government of the day’s terms. The government’s right to decide is found in the NSW Constitution and state legislation, particularly the Mining Act 1992.

It goes on to say that the NSW government has adopted all the recommendations by the independent NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer. In fact the current NSW Gas Plan clearly shows it has not. 

In particular it has not fully explained the rationale/need for CSG extraction beyond a cursory attempt to talk about non-existent gas shortages and, the advertisement avoids that issue entirely.

The Baird Government’s gas plan certainly doesn’t fully encompass this recommendation in the NSW Chief Scientist’s September 2014 Final Report of the Independent Review of Coal Seam Gas Activities in NSW:

Recommendation 3

That Government investigate as a priority a range of practical measures for implementation (or extension of current measures) to allow affected communities to have strengthened protections and benefits including fair and appropriate:

• land access arrangements, including land valuation and compensation for landholders

• compensation for other local residents impacted (above threshold levels) by extraction activities

• funding (derived from the fees and levies paid by CSG companies) for local councils to enable them to fund, in a transparent manner, infrastructure and repairs required as a consequence of the CSG industry.

Nor is there any adequate mention of this:

Recommendation 4

That the full cost to Government of the regulation and support of the CSG industry be covered by the fees, levies, royalties and taxes paid by industry, and an annual statement be made by Government on this matter as part of the Budget process.

In fact where the gas plan briefly speaks of royalties, it does so in terms of ensuring that these are favourable to the advancement of the commercial interests of mining companies.

As for the recommended appropriate and proportionate penalties for non-compliance, apart from one 21-word 'motherhood' sentiment, the concept of penalties is missing in action.

The Liberal-Nationals broadly-worded Gas Plan also appears to deliberately avoid this statement contained in the Chief Scientist’s Independent Review:

There is a need to understand better the nature of risk of pollution or other potential short- or long-term environmental damage from CSG and related operations, and the capacity and cost of mitigation and/or remediation and whether there are adequate financial mechanisms in place to deal with these issues. This requires an investigation of insurance and environmental risk coverage, security deposits, and the possibility of establishing an environmental rehabilitation fund. Doing this is essential to ensure that

the costs and impacts from this industry are not a burden for the community.

A promise of community consultation conducted up-front is found in the advertisement, but the Gas Plan itself is silent about how and when this will occur in any instance.

The one thing I can say with certainty about the Baird Government’s intentions towards the Northern Rivers region is that its Gas Plan is nothing more than a document without force of law. It is a public statement of intent vaguely promising a fair go, which was obviously written with the March 2015 state election in mind.

* The Daily Examiner image courtesy of Yuraygir Coast and Range Alliance

Has The Daily Examiner editor drunk the National Party kool aid?

Opinion in The Daily Examiner on Page 7 of the 1 January 2015 issue:

Happy New Year, and welcome to 2015.

It promises to be an exciting time for the Clarence Valley, with the pending start to work on the Pacific Hwy upgrade, including a second crossing of the Clarence at Harwood, as well as the start to the second bridge at Grafton.

The announced injection of Federal and State funding for these projects is unprecedented and seems certain to have a highly positive impact on the Valley economy.

Local residents could do a lot worse than to make their new year's resolution coming up with a way to be part of the economic boost heading our way.

You don't need to know how to build a bridge or drive a dump truck to take advantage of the big projects.

Many businesses and service suppliers are poised to benefit from the boost to employment and the economy.

Schools could see an enrolment lift and landlords could be in for a golden period.

Just like a resolution to lose weight, however, those who benefit most from the construction boom will be those who work hardest and are best prepared.

The Daily Examiner reported on 11 December 2014 something which a look at NSW Roads & Maritime Service’s website confirms in January 2015, the second Grafton Bridge has not yet received approval:

CONSTRUCTION of a second bridge for Grafton is in limbo with no announcement yet on when works will begin.

A spokeswoman from Roads and Maritime Services said there would be "no comment" on the proposed bridge while the project was under review by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment.

Meanwhile a spokesman from the Grafton Chamber of Commerce and Industry has raised concerns that an election promise, made in 2011 by the (then) Deputy Opposition Leader and Leader of the Nationals Andrew Stoner as well as current Clarence MP Chris Gulaptis, will not be met.

Des Harvey, board member of the Grafton Chamber of Commerce, said the community deserved clear answers.

"Given it is already December 2014, and the construction industry typically winds down for Christmas and the January holiday period, the Grafton Chamber is very concerned the deadline of 28 March 2015 for commencement of construction will not be met as promised," Mr Harvey said.

"People stop and ask me in the street - what's happening? - at the end of the day we want to see actual construction; we want to see tractors digging holes."

Mr Harvey acknowledged the project had progressed significantly, but he also noted that $177 million had been allocated for construction in the current term.

"I know plenty of work has already been done but the election is getting closer and the problem hasn't gone away," he said….

The second crossing of the Clarence River at Harwood is still at submissions from the community stage at this time, with tenders for preliminary first stage of soft soil treatment still being assessed.

Tenders are still being assessed for preliminary soft soil work on the Pacific Highway upgrade between Woolgoolga and Ballina generally.

This year is unlikely to see the hoped for golden period for the Clarence Valley - more likely there will be a slow trickle of employment opportunities in the second half of 2015.

Of course, if as is likely, the Baird Coalition Government is returned at the 28 March 2015 state election with a comfortable majority then any perception of political urgency in Macquarie Street will have subsided.

Then the federal funding earmarked for 2013-14 and the state's $395 million earmarked for 2014-15 may be the only funding not pushed forward past 2016-17 in this year's state budget papers, where such deferred spending would sit with further promised federal funding listed in forward estimates past the end of the Abbott Government's current (and perhaps only) term in office. 

Someone's not happy with the NSW Baird Government and their local National Party MP Chris Gulaptis - Part 2

Letter to the Editor in The Daily Examiner, 9 December 2014:

Gas or hot air?

Does Chris Gulaptis know what his government is doing when it comes to managing the state's unconventional gas resources?

Late last month, in his newsletter, Chris Gulaptis MP stated, 'The NSW Government is cancelling all CSG exploration licence applications... It is also buying back existing licences'.

Then, a week later, the Government approved Dart Energy's application to renew its licence for a further six year period. The licensed area for this exploration includes much of the Richmond Range, significant parts of the Richmond Valley around Coraki and Bungawalbin, and part of the Clarence lowlands around Tabbimoble.

As required under law, the government reduced the area of this renewed licence but chose to remove areas such as Byron Bay, Ballina and Lennox Head. This was presumably motivated by the fact that these lie in the Ballina electorate, which is considered vulnerable in next year's state election.

Voters in the Clarence electorate deserve more.

We should not be taken for fools who will tolerate gas exploration and the risk it poses to our water, land, air and climate.

Until all licences are cancelled, the future of our region's clean and green image remains at risk.

JANET CAVANAUGH

Whiporie.

1,500 Essential Energy jobs on the chopping block and reliable power supply at risk on NSW North Coast

The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) released a draft revenue determination for the NSW electricity distributor, Essential Energy, for the five year period through to June 2019.

The Draft Essential Energy distribution determination 2015–16 to 2018–19 affects many residential and business customers on the NSW North Coast

                                                                             

According to Essential Energy on 27 November 2014:

The AER draft determinations released today would mean, if implemented:

• Immediate job reductions of 4,600 employees (38%) across NSW (Ausgrid 2,400, Endeavour Energy

700 and Essential Energy 1,500).

• An inability to place 750 apprentices, currently in training, when they graduate to trade over the

next four years.

• A likely reduction of $460m in vegetation management programs over the next four years.

• Deterioration in the time taken for electricity networks to restore electricity supply to communities

after major storm events.

AER apparently also expects Essential Energy to increase efficiency savings by exposing customers to more frequent brownouts and blackouts during peak demand periods [AER Draft Determination Overview, p26].

The number of hot days are increasing on the NSW North Coast and, maximum daily temperatures in Grafton during the first six days of December 2014 were between 29°C and 33.5°C, Lismore’s maximum daily temperature for the same period ranged between 26.5°C and 30.8°C, Casino’s maximums reached 28.9°C and 35.3°C, while Kyogle’s  maximums fluctuating between 31.8°C to 35.3°C.

When one combines this heat in the first six days of an Australian summer with the aging population demographic of the region, it does not take a genius to see that any increase in power outages carries a risk to the health and wellbeing of older residents as well as infants and the ill.

Battling heat with no power for fan or air conditioner due to what should be an avoidable power outage may mean that nursing mothers and the frail aged will find little comfort in the fact that that AER expects residential electricity bills to decrease next financial year under its plan.

The NSW Nationals MP for Clarence response on 3 December in the Clarence Valley Review was weak to say the least:

Member for Clarence Chris Gulaptis said that “every consumer would welcome a drop in electricity prices to households and small businesses”, but opposed the idea of further job cuts at EE.
“What we [the Nationals] don’t agree with is the impact on regional communities, with any job losses,” he said.
“That’s why we opposed the sale of poles and wires in the first place – and that’s why the Nationals fought to secure EE remaining in government hands.

But then, this is a politician who has conveniently forgotten that earlier this year he voted for the second phase of privatisation of the state’s electricity infrastructure:

Nationals MP for Clarence Chris Gulaptis has voted with his party to back the State Government's proposed sell-off of electricity infrastructure.

[The Daily Examiner, 13 June 2014]