Richmond Valley Council declares moratorium on new coal seam gas projects. When will Clarence Valley Council do likewise?

Today's Northern Star reports:

Richmond Valley Council has joined the growing list of Northern Rivers councils to declare a moratorium on new coal seam gas projects.

Councillors voted to approve the moratorium (Stuart George, who works for Metgasco, and Charlie Cox excluded themselves from the vote) despite previously having opposed a moratorium.

NSW Greens MLC Jeremy Buckingham, who is the party's spokesman on mining, said it was clear the coal seam gas industry "has not got a social licence to operate in NSW".

"Local government is acting to fill the void left by the state government's failure to implement a moratorium on coal seam gas," he said.

"Santos Chief Executive David Knox's assertion that opposition to coal seam gas has 'peaked' is just wishful thinking. We saw a massive rally in Sydney recently, and 7,000 people marched through Lismore just last weekend. Community understanding and concern continues to grow.

"Last week Marrickville Council voted against allowing coal seam gas at St Peters, and Dart Energy canned their plans to drill. Narrabri Council is considering a motion to stop coal seam gas; Lismore Council has a moratorium; Moree Council, Leichhardt Council, Kyogle Council, Tweed, Byron, Wollongong Council, Camden, Campbelltown and Wollondilly have all expressed concern.

"There is nothing like a looming election to focus the mind of elected officials, and Councillors across NSW are recognising that the community wants to protect their land and water from the threat of coal seam gas.

"Congratulations to Richmond Valley Council for standing up for their community and a healthy environment."

Calls for Metgasco's Stuart George to stand down from local government roles fall on deaf ears

Metgasco land administration officer Stuart George, son of Lismore MP Thomas George and failed Nationals' preselection candidate in Clarence, has ignored calls for him to stand down from Richmond Valley Council and Rous Water.

Today's Northern Star reports:

Stuart George will not be standing down from his roles on the Richmond Valley Council (RVC) or Rous Water, despite calls for him to do so.

Mr George, son of Lismore MP Thomas George, commenced work at Metgasco this month as a land administration officer, a role which sees him liaise with landowners for the purpose of gaining access to their land for CSG mining.

Groups opposed to CSG mining have called for Cr George to stand down from his civic responsibilities because of a perceived conflict of interest.

Founder of the Casino Group Against Gas, Dean Draper said Cr George should go because his role at Metgasco put him in conflict with his constituents who were increasingly concerned about the industry.

Other Northern Rivers groups against CSG mining have backed Mr Draper's call.

However, in a statement released to The Northern Star yesterday Cr George said he would not be standing down.

"I will not be resigning from my positions as Richmond Valley councillor as I was elected by the Richmond Valley Council community and I will be carrying out my duties for the full term," the statement read.

Mr George said if there was a matter which came before the council in relation to Metgasco he would declare a conflict of interest and deal with the matter as he was required to do so.

He said he would respond in the same way on Rous Water.

Rous Water is the regional water supply authority. Its chairman Phillip Silver said just because Mr George worked for an organisation some people were opposed to it did not disqualify him from holding a position on the council.

Mr Silver said there were processes in place to deal with situations where councillors held a conflict of interest.

The current Model Code of Conduct for NSW Local Councils prescribes standards of conduct in relation to conflicts of interest.

Under the Local Government Act there are two types of private interests: pecuniary and non-pecuniary.

The Act defines a pecuniary interest as one in which there is a reasonable likelihood or expectation of appreciable financial gain or loss to the person.

Non-pecuniary interests are personal interests where there is no financial gain.

RVC mayor Col Sullivan backed Cr George's stand saying there would be no problem with his new role providing he declared an interest when required to do so.

Cr Sullivan also said issues relating to Metgasco rarely came before the council as they operated under the State's jurisdiction.

Councillors themselves are responsible for identifying a conflict of interest.

If members of the public are concerned a councillor may have breached the code of conduct they can write to the general manager requesting the matter be investigated.

Source: The Northern Star, 22/11/11

Clarence By-election: Nationals also on the nose in the northern end of the electorate

While much of the reporting about the National Party and its candidate Chris Gulaptis has concentrated on the Clarence valley where it has to be said they're on the nose for taking the electorate for granted a couple of contributors to The Northern Star have reminded readers that it's not all plain sailing for the Nationals in the north.

Nationals 'thumb nose' at democracy

My teenage daughter saw a National Party TV ad last night that shows Mr Cansdell supporting his replacement and asked if this was the same guy who was under a police investigation.

I said yep that is him.

She said that they have some real arrogance for even a politician to have him spruiking.

Seems they are just thumbing their noses at our democracy.

I agreed and thought, yes, they seem to not care that one of their number may have broken the law.

That was OK, not a big deal, just vote us in again.

I am greatly concerned about the message this is sending to our young people. What's next?

Alex Smith, Ballina

Two, by George

How can Stuart George, councillor with Richmond Valley Council, represent the people of the Richmond Valley properly and without bias when dealing with CSG issues when he is now an employee of Metgasco?

Moreover, how can Thomas George, State Member for Lismore, do likewise with family interests associated with Metgasco?

It appears that LNG now have 10% of shares in Metgasco and LNG is a majority owned subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation.

Guess where the CSG drilled in our area will be going to?

Yep, export to China.

And this will be to the detriment of our World Heritage listed areas of the Border Ranges National Park and the Great Barrier Reef.

Please write to Janelle Saffin and Thomas George pointing out your opposition to the expansion of CSG.

John Heaton, Uralba

Source: Letters, The Northern Star, 17/11/11

It's official, Thomas George's son to seek Nationals' endorsement in Clarence

The northern division of the electorate of Clarence has an official runner in the Nationals' pre-selection contest.

 

Stuart George, son of Thomas George, the MP for Lismore and Deputy Speaker in the Legislative Assembly, has signed on the dotted line and is now in the running for endorsement as the party's candidate in the by-election that's expected to be held in November.
Earlier this week George spoke on ABC Local Radio about scandal-ridden Steve Cansdell's sudden exit from the political scene. George paid tribute to Cansdell's performance as the local member but, in true poker-style form, kept his cards close to his chest and, although admitting to having an interest in a political career somewhere down the track, didn't give too much away.
George's intentions were confirmed on NBN TV's news tonight and will feature in tomorrow's edition of The Daily Examiner.
Political pundits reckon George, or at least his father, has been well schooled by the Nats' party machine and been doing the numbers game and shoring up support for his candidacy while the johnny-come-latelies (aka babes in the woods)  is the south have been too busy playing useless "pick me" personality  exercises.
As my cousin, Richie Rivers says, "Come D-Day, the result will be a Mason-Dixon line decision."
Not knowing what Richie was on about, I asked to be put me in the picture.
Richie, who is a very punny fella, said, "Stuart's aunty married a Mason and while the family's roots are around the Casino area, he spent a good deal of time with his aunty's family pouring beers at a well known pub they owned in Grafton.
This student of history has to admit that the Dixon part of the equation still remains a mystery.  Perhaps there's an amateur detective who knows more details about that!

Why did Stuart George opt out as Casino's deputy mayor?

Will there be a north-south battle on the cards when Clarence electorate voters head to the polls later this year? Developments at local council mayoral elections today suggest one bloke (Richie Williamson) wants to add his mayoral position to his CV while elsewhere another possible contender (Stuart George) decided to put all his efforts into running for the local seat, rather than having to devote himself to the role of deputy mayor.

While Williamson won the ballot for mayor of Clarence Valley Council by 5 votes to 4 (the runner-up was Ian Tiley), George did not seek re-election as deputy mayor when Richmond Valley Council's leadership positions were contested today.
Read details of the ballots in The Daily Examiner and The Casino Times.

Nationals testing the waters in Clarence

ReachTel conducted a telephone poll this afternoon/evening in the electorate of Clarence.
 
Do you remember the name ReachTel? They're the mob The Port Paper (Port Macquarie) commissioned to conduct a poll in the Federal electorate of Lyne in August and then go to town on the local member, Rob Oakeshott.  
The Port Paper had a distinct smell about it and after completing a join-the-dots exercise it was not unreasonable to arrive at a conclusion that it looked very much like a front for the Nationals. The Port Paper has since folded, although its website euphemistically says it is "currently undergoing redevelopment".

Today's ReachTel polling in the electorate of Clarence was testing the waters in relation to a number of names.

Respondents were asked to provide their assessment of  a number of individuals.
1. Favourable
2. Neutral
3. Unfavourable
4. Unknown

Given that it was all about the by-election to be conducted in Clarence later this year, the list of names included a couple of red herrings.

The names provided (in order) were:

Steve Cansdell

Richie Williamson

Stuart George

Janelle Saffin

Kevin Hogan

Karen Toms

Next question: If a state election was held today, who would you vote for?

Nationals

Labor

Greens

Independent

Christian Democrats

Then, the $64 question: If you were forced to make a choice between the following candidates, who would you vote for?

1. Richie Williamson, Independent

or

2. A candidate from the Nationals

Read more about Stuart George, the son of Thomas George (Nationals MP for Lismore) here.

Stuart George