Time for that annual warning about the folly of over-developing Australia's coastline due to increased flooding, erosion and sea inundation. A warning that all three tiers of government have blithely ignored for too many years

 

Science and climate modelling has been informing people living in Australia's coastal zones that global warming-induced sea level rises, along with changes in east & west coast current speeds, more erosive wave patterns & increased flooding, will make living along the coastal fringe highly problematic the deeper the earth moves into this era-long climate change.

Coastal residents have been warned every year since at least 2006 and 2022 is no different.

This is the message in 2021-22.

What the NSW Government’s ADAPT NSW has to say about climate change-induced sea-level rise along the state’s coastline:

Projected sea level rise along the NSW coast

There is a direct relationship between climate change and sea level rise. As our climate warms, sea level rises mainly because of thermal expansion (when water warms up, it expands) and melting of snow, glaciers and ice caps (which increases the volume of ocean water). However, sea level rise is also effected by local oceanographic processes (e.g. changes to ocean currents) and changes to land levels.

Sea level rise is projected to accelerate over the 21st century. The most recent sea level rise projections are from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th Assessment Report. The IPCC predict a likely sea level increase on the central NSW coast of

between 0.21m and 1.06m by 2100, and

between 0.28m and 1.95m by 2150.

This is dependent on the level of future greenhouse gas emissions.

IPCC modelling suggests slightly higher sea level rise to the north of the state and slightly lower to the south. These projections do not include processes associated with the melting of ice sheets which for NSW could result in sea level rise of up to 2.3m by 2100 and 5.5m by 2150.

In the longer term, the IPCC show sea level is committed to rise for centuries to millennia due to continuing deep ocean warming and ice sheet melt, and will remain elevated for thousands of years.

If warming is limited to 1.5°C, global mean sea level will rise by about 2 to 3m.

for 2°C, 2 to 6m is expected, and

for 5° 19 to 22m is expected.  

This is the current seawater inundation scenario message in Predicted Coastal Flooding Resulting from Climate Change, based the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report Update 2021.

Examples from Coastal Risk Australia 2100 interactive mapping tool using IPCC scenarios for the period 2021 to 2100.

Sometime in the next 79 years this is what two small coastal towns will probably look like from the air.......

Ballina, New South Wales - blue area seawater inundation at 0.8m

Yamba, New South Wales - blue area seawater inundation at 0.8m

The Daily Telegraph on 18 January 2022:

The Coastal Risk Map shows what Australia will look like if sea levels rise due to climate change, showing how much extra water will filter into our cities and suburbs and the impact it will have on our way of life.

The map was originally created by spatial mapping company NGIS with non-profit partner Frontier SI in 2015, but has recently been updated with new data from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report.

The sea level projections show that if greenhouse gas emissions are moderated, the ocean may rise by 0.84m by 2100.

But a global rise approaching 2m by 2100 and 5m by 2150 would be possible under a very high greenhouse gas emissions scenario- much higher than first thought.

NGIS Executive Director Nathan Eaton said the aim of the map was to illustrate the data and give Australians a better understanding of how sea level rises could impact their lives.

“Previously the map showed a rise of 0.74m at it’s lowest, that’s since changed to 0.84m,” Mr Eaton said.

“Now less than a metre doesn’t seem like a massive difference to someone, but in low lying areas, even 10 centimetres can make a huge difference.”

Geobiology, archaeology and sea level expert Dr Ben Shaw said the map could be a “wake up call” for authorities on the urgency of curbing climate change.

“It’s phenomenal to see how impacted parts of Australia will be … a real concern for people living in Sydney, across NSW and around Australia, our coastline will look very different and there could be a serious environmental disaster,” Dr Shaw said.

“We will see the impacts of climate change regardless, but if we put the policies and strategies in place now to curb it … it can make a huge difference over generations and decades to avoid something like this.”

“Otherwise things like our water sources, our infrastructure, our suburbs and way of life may have to change drastically.”

The Daily Telegraph has analysed the Coastal Risk Map to see just how much a five metre rise in sea levels would impact NSW - here’s what we found and how it will affect you.

HOW NSW WILL CHANGE IF SEA LEVELS RISE

Under the current worst case projections, if sea levels rise by 5 metres by 2150:

FAR NORTH COAST (Tweed Heads and beyond down to Coffs Harbour)

Most of Coffs Harbour will feel the impact of rising sea levels. Residents living in the vicinity of Boambee Beach out to North Boambee Valley and in and around Park Beach will be impacted, with water set to flow into the CBD.

Moonee Beach and significant sections of Woolgoolga and Emerald Beach will disappear or become a small set of islands as water flows above the shoreline. Other beachside areas like Red Rock, Wooli and Sandon will be overrun and become lakes or bays.

A major new lake system will be established flowing more than 60km inland from Yamba to Grafton if sea levels rise.

Areas like Grafton itself, Cowper, Townsend Harwood Island, Talumbi and Yamba and Wood Head will cease to exist, forming a large lake with a the village of South Arm in the centre.

A similar large harbour will be carved out between Evans Head and Lennox Head, swallowing up Ballina, Wardell, Broadwater, Coraki, Woodburn and as far down as Bungawalbin, with waterways also swelling to impact Lismore.

Directly along the coastline, the enclave of Byron Bay will be completely awash, as will every other settlement stretching up to Kingscliff and past the Queensland border.

Water will overtake Brunswick Heads, New Brighton, Pottsville, Hastings Point, Casuarina all the way up to Tweed Heads, flowing inland to inundate areas like Murwillumbah, and creating another large lake.

Down near Byron, Mullumbimby will also be severely impacted.

Australian Coal exports will continue at high levels, but the latest World Energy Outlook forecasts a big transition to renewables in the next two decades.

 

ABC News, 19 October 2020:

Demand for Australian thermal coal has peaked, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), and renewables will deliver 80 per cent of the world's energy needs in the next few years.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia has been saved by its mineral exports, especially iron ore and coal.

Exports are worth $70 billion and they have doubled in the past decade.

But the IEA's report said the global economic slump caused by the pandemic would cause a fall in demand for energy, with oil and coal the hardest hit.

Co-author of the report Tim Gould said while demand for energy was expected to rebound when the pandemic was brought under control, demand for coal was not expected to recover with it.

"Energy demand is set to fall by 5 per cent this year, the largest shock in 70 years," he said…..

In New South Wales mining corporations do not appear to accept the inevitability of King Coal's decline.

This is a snapshot of coal mining leases (red), coal assessment leases (yellow), coal exploration licenses (dark blue) and coal exploration applications (light blue), stretching from the Illawarra region in the south to the New England region in the north of the state as of 20 October 2020.

Image: MinView

Dispatches from the Australian Koala War - Part Two

The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 September 2020:

One of the NSW Nationals' most vocal opponents of the koala planning policy relayed concerns about the divisive issue to Planning Minister Rob Stokes on behalf of political donors connected to a major property venture.

Nationals MP for Myall Lakes Stephen Bromhead wrote to Mr Stokes in February, passing on an email from Raymond Stack, the chairman of Stacks Finance, concerning the state’s new koala planning policy.

The letter to Mr Bromhead from Mr Stack on February 24, released to NSW Parliament on Wednesday, included correspondence from two other engineering and land development companies raising concerns with the state’s koala planning policy.

"Is there anything that can be done to delay it 'till there is proper consultation," Mr Stack wrote to Mr Bromhead……

It follows confirmation from Mr Stokes' office that the only stakeholder correspondence he received from Nationals leader and Deputy Premier John Barilaro about the policy was from developer and former Newcastle mayor Jeff McCloy.

The Stack family are donors to the Liberal and Nationals parties at a state and federal level.

Mr Stack is also one of several directors of Hocana Pty Ltd, which owns land set to become part of the multimillion-dollar Taree development Figtrees on the Manning.

He made a $100,000 donation to the federal Liberal Party ahead of the 2016 election, according to electoral commission disclosure records.

"So far as I know that donation was a perfectly legitimate donation and I reported it as required," Paul Stack said.

Other members of the Stack family have made donations to the Nationals, including a $2000 donation in 2015 to the party, labelled "Stephen Bromhead election campaign".

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by the Stack family…..

The other businesses featured in the email chain Mr Bromhead forwarded to the Planning Minister were Hopkins Consulting and Land Dynamics Australia.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 September 2020:

The koala planning policy, which sparked the bitter civil war in the Coalition, will be debated at the next cabinet meeting on October 6, with the Nationals demanding a raft of changes.

Port Stephens Examiner, 10 September 2020:

A grassroots campaign to save the threatened Port Stephens koala population in Brandy Hill has resulted in Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley delaying her decision on the proposed expansion of a rock quarry operated by Hanson. Ms Ley was expected to hand down a decision on Tuesday, September 8 but a concerted community push led by Brandy Hill and Seaham Action Group (BHSAG) has resulted in a stay of execution and the deadline for a decision being extended to October 13. The quarry expansion, which includes 52 hectares of core koala habitat, was granted by the Independent Planning Commission in July, but required federal approval because the project had been deemed likely to have a significant impact on a matter of national environmental significance.

The Koala Hospital, Port Macquarie NSW: 

Evans Head CW 
On examination CW was found to have a ruptured left eye and minor limb injuries – consistent with being hit by a car. His left eye was removed, and he was placed into care and was treated for his injuries. CW will be part of the hospital’s breeding program. 

Ballina Franklin 
This young male koala was admitted into care, responding well to treatment with his care progressing as expected. Ballina Franklin is not only now part of our permanent team of koalas, but he is now an integral part of our wild koala breeding program – something we are sure he will handle quite well!

Tyler koala this morning was about 80 metres from the proposed Toondah Harbour environmental destruction area, near the proposed new location for the ferry terminal. #toondahharbour #koalas #qldpol #Queensland pic.twitter.com/L8mZ6qInjj

— Chris Walker (@WildRedlands) September 24, 2020

New South Wales 2020: the problem of water greed & outright theft

The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 September 2020:

The rapid growth of blueberry and other intensive farming in northern NSW has prompted a crackdown on illegal water use and sparked concerns about pollution in rivers and in the state's first marine conservation area.

The Natural Resources Access Regulator found 28 of 31 farms it inspected around the Coffs Harbour region in the first two stages of the clampdown were allegedly non-compliant with water laws.

The regulator said in the five years prior to the start of the campaign, agencies received more than 130 reports of alleged breaches in the region. "This potentially indicated a high level of non-compliance," a spokeswoman for the regulator said.

For the first two phases, the regulator ordered 13 farms to reduce the capacity of dams among 25 directions. Other actions include 20 penalty notices, with more likely after a third stage of investigations last month.

The problems stem in part from the conversion of banana farms to blueberries, raspberries and cucumbers, among other products, in the past two decades. Farms with set water licences have been subdivided, with new owners apparently adding bores, pumps and even dams on the smaller plots.

Water quality, too, has been compromised as the more intensive crops increase the use of fertilisers, pesticides and other chemicals. That's prompted the Coffs Harbour City Council to commission multiple studies by researchers from the Southern Cross University, among others.

One report found levels of nitrogen soared after rains as fertiliser from farms washed into rivers, reaching 695 times that of drier conditions.

"These [nitrogen oxide] loads were amongst the highest reported for catchments on the east coast of Australia, and similar to loads in rivers throughout China, Europe and India with strong agricultural or urban influences," the 2018 study found.

Shane White, one of the Southern Cross University researchers, said the Coffs region is prone to short, heavy rain bursts. Soils in the hilly area are typically shallow and sit on a clay base that limits the absorption of water, leading to significant run-off….

Breaches of NSW water laws have also been found in the Northern Rivers area in 2020 to date - 1 direction notice and 2 penalty notices have been issued to Clarence Valley LGA landowners, 2 direction notices to Ballina LGA landowners, 3 penalty notices to Byron Bay LGA landowners, 3 penalty notices to Lismore LGA landowners and 1 direction notice and 3 penalty notices for Tweed LGA landowners.

COVID-19 restrictions to be tightened in NSW from Friday 24 July 2020

NSW Government, media release, 17 March 2020:

The NSW Government will tighten COVID-19 restrictions around “higher risk” activities as the pandemic enters a new phase of community transmission.
 

From 12:01am Friday, 24 July 2020 the following rules will be in force as NSW enters a state of ‘COVID normal’. 

• Compliance measures introduced to pubs will be extended to restaurants, bars cafés and clubs. This includes:
  1. limiting group bookings to a maximum of 10 people
  2. mandatory COVID-Safe plans and registration as a COVID-Safe business
  3. a digital record must be created within 24 hours.
• Weddings and corporate events will be limited to 150 people subject to the four square metre rule and registration as a COVID-Safe business. Strict COVID-Safe plans must be in place and high-risk activities including choirs and dancing must not occur.
• Funerals and places of worship will be limited to 100 people, subject to the one person per four square metre rule and a COVID-Safe business registration.

The rules on gatherings remain the same: 20 guests inside the home and 20 for gatherings in a public place. However, as the home is a high transmission area, the NSW Chief Health Officer strongly recommends a COVID-Safe precautionary approach of limiting visitors to the home to 10 people as a general principle. 

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said this tightening was to reduce the risk of uncontrollable break-outs and ensure NSW stays open for business. 

“Unfortunately we must live with COVID-19 and the way it has changed our lives,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“These rules will give businesses and the community a degree of certainty into the foreseeable future, and help NSW avoid uncontrolled virus spread.”

Deputy Premier John Barilaro said the NSW Government continues to work with business and industry to ensure they operate in a COVID-Safe way.

“These measures apply across the state and will also work to protect residents in rural and regional NSW,” Mr Barilaro said.

Health Minister Brad Hazzard said the changes are based on advice received from the Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant.

“We do not want to see community transmission getting to a stage where it is out of control. These restrictions target large gatherings which are high risk settings for transmission of the virus,” Mr Hazzard said.

“We need people to do the right thing: follow the rules; stay home if unwell and get tested, even with the most minimal of symptoms; always maintain physical distancing when out and about; and ensure good hand hygiene.”

Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello said the new rules will be strictly enforced to protect the wider community.

“Venues should be on notice – NSW Police, Liquor & Gaming inspectors and NSW Health officials are carrying out inspections across the state to ensure COVID-Safe plans are being followed,” Mr Dominello said.

Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said with a heightened risk of COVID-19 outbreaks, the people of NSW need to be on high alert.

“This is the time to be vigilant – we need people to come forward and be tested even if they have the mildest of symptoms, we need businesses to follow and enforce their COVID-Safe plans and we need people to follow the rules,” Dr Chant said.

Murdoch & Costello may be doing their best to kill off print newspapers in Australia but some country towns are fighting back

ABC News, 26 June 2020:

As News Corp prints its final print editions of 125 titles, entrepreneurial publishers are considering how to fill the void. Newspaper editor Jeff Gibbs has employed 12 staff in the past week, picking up journalists made redundant by News Corp in northern New South Wales. 

Mr Gibbs said the opportunity presented by News Corp was too good to pass up. "We decided that the community needed a community newspaper and so we banded together and thought, 'right, let's do this,'" Mr Gibbs said. 

Jeff Gibbs thinks many readers and advertisers are not ready to go digital.(Supplied: Northern Rivers Times

From offices in Casino, Mr Gibbs and his staff are preparing the first edition of The Northern Rivers Times. 
Mr Gibbs said he had done the sums, and could make the numbers add up producing a weekly free publication with an initial print run of 15,000 covering the NSW Northern Rivers region, from Tweed Heads to Grafton.

"There's a number of ways of doing it and it's purely through advertising," Mr Gibbs said. "We're doing it all in house, we're not farming anything out. 

"I don't know what News Corp's business model was, but I can't see why they couldn't make it work." 

Mr Gibbs said it was his firm belief that a lot of readers and advertisers were not ready to go digital, particularly in areas with poor internet coverage.

Other print mastheads which have launched since those previously servicing rural/regional communities announced closures:

Southern Highland Express established June 2020 & published weekly. Price $2

Yass Valley Times established June 2020 & published weekly.

Hunter River Times established June 2020 & published fortnightly. Free

Naracoorte Community News established May 2020 & published weekly. Price $2

Ararat Advocate established May 2020 & published weekly.

Braidwood Changing Times established April 2020 & published fortnightly. Free

If you live in these areas please consider placing your business advertising, community notices, or personal notices in these new papers.

Print is much easier on the eye than News Corp and Nine digital newspaper editions, which in the end carry very little local news.

Insurance Australia Group (IAG) has confirmed its major rural and regional insurer, WFI, will join its other subsidiary, CGU, in no longer providing public liability cover if there is "unconventional gas" operations on properties

ABC News, 10 June 2020:

Image: ABC Southern Queensland: Nathan Morris

Australia's largest insurance company says it will no longer cover farmers for public liability if they have coal seam gas (CSG) infrastructure on their property. 

The development has made farmers fearful they will have to cease farming altogether if they cannot get cover. 

Insurance Australia Group (IAG) has confirmed its major rural and regional insurer, WFI, will join its other subsidiary, CGU, in no longer providing the coverage if there is "unconventional gas" operations on properties. 

IAG said for customers who "have operational CSG or shale gas activities or infrastructure on their property, such as a coal seam gas well, we will be unable to provide liability cover as part of their insurance policy". 

IAG said the company does not specialise in mining and resources operations and the change will affect existing customers when their policies come up for renewal. AgForce Queensland said that is as soon as the end of this month. Michael Guerin talks to a man in front of a book shelf. 

AgForce Queensland CEO Michael Guerin says farmers are worried the change could expose them to liability risks..... 

Queensland farmers said they were fearful the change could expose them to liability risks and could extend to other risks associated with CSG, such as the potential for groundwater contamination. 

It is understood the Queensland Government has been holding talks with insurers, mining industry representatives and AgForce, in an attempt to resolve the problem..... 

ABC News has obtained legal advice provided to the New South Wales Government in 2014, warning that insurance for CSG in Australia was "inadequate" and measures were needed to address the potential cost of contamination risks. [my yellow highlighting]

AgForce's Queensland chief executive Michael Guerin said farmers were deeply concerned. 

"Producers, like any business, can't operate without insurance," Mr Guerin said.

Spokesperson for the Lock the Gate Alliance, Rick Humphries is calling on the gas industry to compensate farmers.....

He said while some other insurers were providing cover for now, there was a risk they would pull out of the sector or jack up prices. "All of those dangers are there," he said. 

"There's a danger that insurance premiums will go up [and] there's a danger insurance will be harder to get." 

AgForce Queensland said insurance being withdrawn threatened the coexistence of unconventional gas and agriculture. 

He said there had been a lot of hard work in devising complicated agreements to allow the two industries to work together over the years. 

"If part of the insurance industry starts withdrawing cover, it puts that at risk, and that's the core of the concern at the moment," Mr Guerin said. 

Anti-mining, pro-agriculture group Lock the Gate said the gas industry should be made to compensate farmers. Spokesperson for Lock the Gate and former mining consultant, Rick Humphries, said farmers should not be the ones facing the risk. 

"The onus is on the gas industry to get insurance products that cover their assets and protect the farmer," Mr Humphries said. 

"The farmer shouldn't have to run around and look for insurance products. 

"But the way that the system has worked is that the Government has knowingly allowed gas industry to enter into contracts with farmers that expose farmers to a whole range of business and natural resource risks around water and land contamination." 

He said laws needed to be changed to force the companies to act. "The whole mining and gas model is all about transferring as much risk away from the shareholder," he said. 

"The companies won't willingly step up and do this because it's an additional expense, and they have to take on the risk. 

"Governments have to intervene to force mining and gas companies to take out insurance products, or demonstrate they [have] adequate coverage that will compensate landholders."......

Read the full article here.

BACKGROUND

* Queensland Government Audit Office 2019-20 report on Queensland coal seam gas activities can be found at:
https://www.qao.qld.gov.au/reports-resources/reports-parliament/managing-coal-seam-gas-activities

* ABC News, 30 March 2020:

A leaked expert report shows the Queensland Government was advised to stop further gas fracking in the state's sensitive Channel Country, but a separate department had already extended gas exploration until 2030. 

A confidential report to the Queensland Environment Department prepared by environmental scientists recommended that infrastructure for gas fracking and mining was "unacceptable" in the Lake Eyre Basin floodplains, known as the Channel Country. 

The 47-page report, obtained by ABC News, lists scores of potential risks associated with so-called unconventional gas extraction, (also known as gas fracturing or fracking), including direct impacts on threatened species and water quality. 

As ABC News revealed earlier this year, the Queensland Mines Department in March 2019 had approved Santos to keep exploring commercial gas opportunities in the area until 2030, despite an election commitment to protect "pristine rivers" and work with stakeholders. 

A union of environmentalists, graziers, traditional owners and other stakeholders, known as the Western Rivers Alliance, said the promised consultation did not happen. 

The report, recommending that further fracking for natural gas be stopped, was received by the Environment Department in October last year.....

COVID-19 infections surface again in NSW Northern Rivesr region after almost five weeks virus free

Northern NSW Local Health District, media release, 14 May 2020:

An additional two cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed in the last 24 hours in residents of the Northern NSW Local Health District (NNSWLHD). 

This brings the total cases to 57 as at 8pm Wednesday 13 May. The new cases include one resident who acquired the illness overseas and one resident whose case is still being investigated with regards to the source. 

51 cases in Northern NSW Local Health District are recovered. There are no cases being treated in hospital. 

NNSWLHD cases by likely source of infection: 

Source Total Overseas or interstate acquired 53 
Contact of a confirmed case or in a known cluster 2 
Contact not identified 1 
Under investigation 1 
Total 57 

More information and statistics for Local Government Areas can be found at https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/diseases/Pages/covid-19-lga.aspx 

Relaxed gathering restrictions to be handled with care 

As we move to easing some restrictions on public gatherings, dining and outdoor activities from tomorrow, I want to remind our community to take their personal responsibilities seriously. 

It’s good news that we’ll be able to move about more freely and catch up with our friends and family, but we still have an obligation to practice social distancing measures to prevent transmission of this virus. 

As we’ve seen in recent days, the numbers of new cases can vary from day to day, we have certainly not overcome this pandemic. 

Please do your best to keep your 1.5 metre distance from others, keep up frequent hand washing and avoid touching your face or public surfaces where possible. I also encourage everyone to download the COVIDsafe app, to help with contact tracing as we become more mobile. 

It’s also imperative that anyone who is showing flu-like symptoms, however mild, comes forward for testing and stays home while they are unwell. 

Our testing clinics are open seven days a week, and we encourage people to be tested again if they are experiencing flu-like symptoms, even if they have had a negative test previously.

Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action Inc. commences a civil enforcement proceeding in NSW Land and Environment Court to compel the Environmental Protection Agency to regulate greenhouse gas emissions

Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action Incorprated is a group of bushfire survivors, firefighters, local councillors who have joined together to demand the Government take immediate action on climate change.

The group says of itself: "We have come together because we have lost our homes and our communities to bushfires and we want action. We are sick of waiting and we won’t put up with half-measures anymore. The Government can no longer ignore the way their climate change denial is hurting our communities and putting lives at risk. They must take Australia beyond coal projects like Adani and move to 100% renewable energy for all."

On 20 April 2020 Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action Inc. brought a civil enforcement proceeding in the Land and Environment Court to compel the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

The proceedings seek to force the EPA to establish a climate policy, based on its statutory role which includes a requirement to prepare policies to protect the environment. The group will be arguing that the EPA as lead environment regulator in NSW failed to establish such policies in relation to climate change.

The outcome of this case is of particular interest to communities in the NSW Northern Rivers region given the mega wildfires of the 2019-2020 bushfire season and the environmental devastation/property loss/social dsiruption in their wake.

On 27 April 2020 The Daily Examiner reported:

Any notion that climate change is an issue that can be dealt with effectively in some distant future has been shown to be untenable given events of the past few years. 

Extreme weather events, severe droughts and longer and more catastrophic bushfire seasons have shown more people there is a connection between these events and the growing carbon emissions in the Earth’s atmosphere. 

Australians concerned about climate change are becoming increasingly frustrated with the ostrich-like attitudes of many politicians and government agencies. 

One group that is taking legal action in an attempt to force a NSW government agency to do more on climate change is Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action, which is taking the Environmental ­Protection Agency to court ­because of its failure to better protect communities. 

Group president Jo Dodds said all members had experienced a bushfire first-hand. They believed climate change was a major contributing factor to the cause and growing intensity of bushfires in Australia. 

She said the issue wasn’t being taken seriously enough and “there’s a sense that the bushfires are over and we can get back to normal life after COVID-19 – but the fires are going to come harder and more frequently”. 

The Environmental Defenders Office is representing the group. EDO chief executive David Morris said the EPA had “a statutory mandate to protect the environment … but the EPA don’t have a current policy to regulate greenhouse gas emissions”. 

“Those two things can’t coexist,” he said. “We’re simply asking the court to tell the EPA go and create environmental quality objectives with respect to greenhouse gas emissions, regulate the pollution and use their existing powers to do so.” 

According to the EDO, the EPA is in a unique position. As an agency “with teeth”, it has the power to issue licences to control pollution, as well as put caps and prices on substances that are harmful to the environment. 

The case is listed in the NSW Land and Environment Court in Sydney on May 8. 

Leonie Blain, Clarence Valley Conservation Coalition

NSW Northern Rivers COVID-19 cases still slowly growing

COVID-19 cumulative confirmed cases in NSW Northern Rivers Region

• 2 confirmed COVID-19 cases 16 March 2020
• 3 confirmed COVID-19 cases 18 March 2020
• 5 confirmed COVID-19 cases 22 March 2020
• 7 confirmed COVID-19 cases 23 March 2020
• 17 confirmed COVID-19 cases 24 March 2020
• 22 confirmed COVID-19 cases 26 March 2020
• 25 confirmed COVID-19 cases 27 March 2020
• 27 confirmed COVID-19 cases 30 March 2020
• 38 confirmed COVID-19 cases 31 March 2020
• 42 confirmed COVID-19 cases 1 April 2020 - Kyogle 0 cases, Richmond Valley 0 cases, Ballina 4 cases, Lismore 5 cases, Clarence Valley 8 cases, Tweed 12 cases, Byron Bay 13 cases.
• 44 confirmed COVID-19 cases 2 April 2020 
• 45 confirmed COVID-19 cases 3 April 2020
• 46 confirmed COVID-19 caes 5 April 2020 - Kyogle 0 cases, Richmond Valley 4 cases, Ballina 4 cases, Lismore 5  cases, Clarence Valley 8 cases, Tweed 13 cases, Byron Bay 13 cases.
• 47 confirmed COVID-19 cases 6 April 2020
• 48 confirmed COVID-19 cases 7 April 2020
• 51 confirmed COVID-19 cases 9 April 2020 - Kyogle 0 cases, Richmond Valley 4 cases, Ballina 4 cases, Lismore 5 cases, Clarence Valley 8 cases, Tweed 14 cases, Byron Bay 16 cases.
• 53 confirmed COVID-19 cases 11 April 2020 

According to The Daily Examiner the virus was first reported in the Byron Bay local government area on March 14, then in the Clarence Valley on March 19, followed between March 22 to 24 by reports of COVID-19 cases in Lismore and Tweed local government areas. The virus then surfaced in Ballina and Richmond local government areas.