Rees acts on iconic River Red Gums - but is it now too late?

Unfortunately this scheduled post was overtaken by events and yesterday Nathan Rees was ousted as Premier by the right-wing faction of the NSW Labor Government. Planning Minister Kristina Keneally is now the state's 42nd premier and during her time in Parliament is yet to prove that she has a real
understanding of environmental issues or sustainability.
I hope that she might confound her critics by honouring the commitment set out below.

Image from River Red Gum Rescue

Some welcome news in the NSW Premier's media release of 3 December 2009:

Premier Nathan Rees today announced he would save River Red Gums in the state's south-west by declaring 42,077 hectares of the Millewa Group Red Gum Forests as National Park.
Mr Rees also announced the government would move immediately to implement a structural adjustment package for industry.
"Successive Labor governments have an unparalleled record of protecting natural resources in NSW and providing support to protect jobs and communities," said Mr Rees.
"Over eight percent of NSW is now protected in perpetuity in the form of national parks and reserves.
"These are areas that deserve preservation and protection for future generations. Part of that legacy is my commitment that mining and hunting will not be permitted in national parks.
"I add to that legacy today by acting to save the habitat of our precious River Red Gums in the Riverina.
"We will create a new National Park in the area currently covered by the Gulpa Island, Millewa and Moira State Forests. The new National Park will adjoin the Barmah National Park in Victoria, creating a huge protected area for River Red Gum habitat.
"Already under attack from the drought and climate change, this habitat is fast approaching a tipping point where we risk losing it for ever.".........

Political hypocrisy wears a skirt in New South Wales...

Kristina Keneally is NSW Premier as of late yesterday I see. HHMMM.......what a difference a few weeks make.

iPrime Woollongong 16/11/2009 11:58 AM
NSW Planning Minister Kristina Keneally has rejected suggestions that Premier Nathan Rees will suffer retribution over the dumping of Joe Tripodi from the ministry.
Ms Keneally praised her friend Mr Tripodi on Monday as a "hard working, loyal minister" who had demonstrated his loyalty by resigning when he asked by Mr Rees on Sunday.
She said Mr Tripodi's axing as finance and ports minister was unexpected, but she denied there would be any payback over the axing of the Right faction powerbroker.
"That's a ridiculous claim," Ms Keneally said when asked about possible retribution.
"There is no plan for that at all."
PM Thursday, August 27, 2009 18:38:00
"We have one Premier of New South Wales, his name is Nathan Rees and I want him to be the Premier that takes us to the March 2011 election."

Pavlov's Cat observes the Liberal Party debacle and other comment

Pavlov's Cat observes the death of common sense in the Liberal Party of Australia when faced with the political as well as environmental reality of catastrophic climate change:
There's a moment at which ego investment in a position becomes so entrenched that the stand being taken becomes indistinguishable from the sense of self, and not even the person in question -- especially not the person in question -- can see or understand where and how that shift happened. But everyone else can see the results. Especially on a 47 degree day in early November.

LarvatusProdeo tweets the words of a green-eyed monster with the text Tony Abbott: "I'm all in favour of PM's looking good internationally, just not this one, he wants to be king of the world."

The Rudd Government puts the boot straight in via a video piece Taking Australia Backwards from Australian Labor on Vimeo

"They are lying through their teeth": James Hansen speaks out on UN Climate Change Conference Copenhagen 2009

Extract from Dr. James E. Hansen's opinion piece Never-Give-Up Fighting Spirit: Lessons From a Grandchild

Any Hope of Cutting Global Carbon Emissions?

Absolutely. It is possible – if we give politicians a cold hard slap in the face. The fraudulence of the Copenhagen approach – "goals" for emission reductions, "offsets" that render even iron-clad goals almost meaningless, an ineffectual "cap-and-trade" mechanism – must be exposed. We must rebel against such politics-as-usual.

Science reveals that climate is close to tipping points. It is a dead certainty that continued high emissions will create a chaotic dynamic situation for young people, with deteriorating climate conditions out of their control, as described in my book Storms of My Grandchildren.

Science also reveals what is needed to stabilize atmospheric composition and climate. Geophysical data on the carbon amounts in oil, gas and coal show that the problem is solvable, if we phase out global coal emissions within 20 years and prohibit emissions from unconventional fossil fuels such as tar sands and oil shale.

Such constraints on fossil fuels would cause carbon dioxide emissions to decline 60 percent by mid-century, or even more if policies make it uneconomic to go after every last drop of oil. Improved forestry and agricultural practices could then bring atmospheric carbon dioxide back to 350 ppm (parts per million) or less, as required for a stable climate.

Governments going to Copenhagen claim to have such goals for 2050, which they will achieve with the "cap-and-trade" mechanism. They are lying through their teeth. Unless they order Russia to leave its gas in the ground and Saudi Arabia to leave its oil in the ground (which nobody has proposed), they must phase out coal and prohibit unconventional fossil fuels.

Instead, the United States signed an agreement with Canada for a pipeline to carry oil squeezed from tar sands. Australia is building port facilities for large increases in coal export. Coal-to-oil factories are being built. Coal-fired power plants are being constructed worldwide.

Governments are stating emission goals that they know are lies – or, if we want to be generous, they do not understand the geophysics and are kidding themselves.

Is it feasible to phase out coal and avoid use of unconventional fossil fuels? Yes, but only if governments face up to the truth: as long as fossil fuels are the cheapest energy, their use will continue and even increase on a global basis. Fossil fuels are cheapest because they are not made to pay for their effects on human health, the environment, and future climate.

Governments must place a uniform rising price on carbon, collected at the fossil fuel source – the mine or port of entry. The fee should be given to the public in toto, as a uniform dividend, payroll tax deduction, or both. Such a tax is progressive – the dividend exceeds added energy costs for 60 percent of the public. Fee-and-dividend stimulates the economy, providing the public the means to adjust lifestyles and energy infrastructure.

Fee-and-dividend can begin with the countries now considering cap-and-trade. Other countries will either agree to a carbon fee or have duties placed on their products that are made with fossil fuels. As the carbon price rises, most coal, tar sands and oil shale will be left in the ground. The market place will determine the roles of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and nuclear power in our clean energy future.

Cap-and-trade with offsets, in contrast, is astoundingly ineffective. Global emissions rose rapidly in response to the Kyoto Protocol, as expected, because fossil fuels remained the cheapest energy. Cap-and-trade is an inefficient compromise, paying off numerous special interests. It must be replaced with an honest approach, raising the price of carbon emissions, and leaving the dirtiest fossil fuels in the ground.

Are we going to stand up and give global politicians a hard slap in the face, to make them face the truth? It will take a lot of us – probably in the streets. Or are we going to let them continue to kid themselves and us, and cheat our children and grandchildren?

Intergenerational inequity is a moral issue. Just as when Abraham Lincoln faced slavery and when Winston Churchill faced Nazism, the time for compromises and half-measures is over. Can we find a leader who understands the core issue, and will lead?

Full text here.

Malcolm with a sting in his tail

I think that those Neanderthal, knuckle-dragging, climate change denying, inbred Libs may have made a tactical error in allowing Malcolm Turnbull to retire to the backbench after losing party leadership by just one vote.

Here is the first evidence from Turnbull's own blog:

2 December 2009

Today the Senate rejected, for the second time, the Government's emissions trading scheme legislation.

This is a very disappointing result, contrary to the national interest and the interest of the Liberal Party.

Australia needs to get on with the business of cutting its greenhouse gas emissions. We recognised that in Government and started legislating for an ETS. As Mr Howard has observed, the Rudd Government's ETS is very similar to the one we, as Liberals, took to the last election.

We had a number of objections to the legislation and back in October the Party Room approved us proposing amendments to the Government which were, in large measure, accepted by the Government. The Party Room last week accepted the Shadow Cabinet's recommendation that an agreement be reached between the Opposition and Government to pass the amended bill.

These amendments would have protected thousands of jobs and ensured Australia's ETS was more environmentally effective. For more on that agreement click here.

Since then of course there has been both a change of Leader of the Opposition and a decision to renege on the agreement with the Government. Hence the rejection of the legislation.

I set out my arguments for supporting the amended legislation last Thursday night and the transcript of that press conference is here.

Next destructive storm of the season up in Australia's far north, first 2009-10 east coast low to hit the NSW Northern Rivers, next catastrophic bushfire in rural Victoria, first heatwave deaths of the Christmas season in South Australia, first little town to run out of water at the height of this summer, first unseasonable flash flooding in metropolitan areas in the next six months - and every eye will turn accusingly (if somewhat irrationally) towards all those Lib pollies who did in the ETS. Only Turnbull be will Teflon-coated and won't he enjoy turning the knife on his former underlings!
Meanwhile I just hope that Abbott doesn't own a cat!

Turnbull pic from The Age

It's raining toads, hallelujah?

I should've known better. For months I've been bragging to anyone that would listen that after a three-year war of attrition I had finally rid my yard of cane toads.
Then during that last big thunderstorm when the house guttering was full to overflowing - a bevy of adult cane toads launched themselves from the roof's edge onto my lawn.
A nine foot aerial dash to the ground and away into the flower beds.
Dammit! Where's that lewis gun?

Major Tom
Yamba

A short verbal history of Hon. Tony 'rent a quote' Abbott

According to Open Australia, during the course of the former Howard Government Tony Abbott was; Minister for Health and Ageing (7 Oct 2003 to 3 Dec 2007), Leader of the House (19 Mar 2002 to 3 Dec 2007), Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations (26 Nov 2001 to 7 Oct 2003), Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business (30 Jan 2001 to 26 Nov 2001), Minister for Employment Services (21 Oct 1998 to 30 Jan 2001), Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (11 Mar 1996 to 21 Oct 1998).
He then went on to become Shadow Minister for Families, Community Services, Indigenous Affairs and the Voluntary Sector (6 Dec 2007 to 22 Sep 2008) when the Liberal Party-Nationals Coalition lost government in the 2007 Australian federal election.

This is just a little reminder of the style of (often contradictory) political comment Mr. Abbott's mercurial nature will probably continue to give rise to now that he is Leader of the Opposition.

On July 24 Mr Abbott wrote an article explaining that Mr Turnbull seeking amendments and passing the ETS Bill was "his attempt to save the Coalition from a fight it can't win".

Nov 19, 2009 The Manly Daily

"He is actually managing it rather well," Mr Abbott said in response to Liberal criticism of Mr Turnbull's style.

Dec 1, 2009 The Australian

"No, I won't be challenging for the leadership," Mr Abbott told the Nine Network. "I think Malcolm Turnbull is a very substantial individual. We are very lucky to have him in public life."

Nov 24, 2009 Sydney Morning Herald

"If there is no movement from the [Turnbull] bunker I'll be calling a spill for Monday morning," Mr Abbott said.

Nov 27, 2009 Daily Telegraph

On the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme; "We will seek to refer the legislation to [a Senate] committee for further scrutiny. If we cannot get the support for that course of action we will oppose the legislation in the Senate this week," he said.
Dec 1, 2009 BBC News

On the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme; "Opposing the legislation in the Senate could ultimately make poor policy even worse because the government could negotiate a deal with the Greens."

July 24, 2009 The Sydney Morning Herald

When Santamaria died in 1998, Abbott wrote an obituary in which he claimed that "the DLP is alive and well and living inside the Howard Government".

Nov 27, 2009 Brisbane Times

Liberal frontbencher Tony Abbott doesn't see what all the fuss is about. He says the Dutch have been coping with the same problem for centuries and seem to manage. Alexandra Kirk interviewing Tony Abbott on the subject of rising sea levels.

Oct 27, 2009 ABC The World Today

On reading the Koran; "I'm afraid I got about 70 pages in and I couldn't go any further because, at the risk of sounding a little monocultural, it struck me as the old testament on steroids..."

Aug 27,2009 ABC TV Q&A

"When I first came into parliament I was advised that the only response to the question: "do you support the leader?" is "of course I support the elected leader of the party". All parties have leadership issues from time to time, nothing excites journalists more so the usual questions are asked, the standard answers are given and the public draw their own conclusions. I doubt that it will ever be different and I'm not sure that it could or should be different."

Aug 8, 2008 Tony Abbott on his own website at www.tonyabbott.com.au

On Howard Government WorkChoices industrial relations law; "As someone frequently considered "too Catholic" on abortion, the accusation of being "not Catholic enough" on workplace justice was somewhat galling, especially since the Government's aim was to drive unemployment down and wages up. Not that moral kudos was the Government's principal objective. Apart from any intrinsic virtue, success in this area usually helps governments to be re-elected."

July 6, 2007 Tony Abbott on his own website at www.tonyabbott.com.au

Tony Abbott on interjecting during a speech by Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard; "Mr Speaker, I said that she was a liar and I withdraw that."

Mar 26, 2007 Hansard

On Kevin Rudd; "What a pathetic cop-out from the Leader of the Opposition! It is slippery, it is fake, but it is so typical of this man, who is the least experienced person ever to present himself for national leadership in this country. He has never even run a local council, let alone a national economy."

Aug 14, 2007 Hansard

On the abortion drug debate; "I certainly share the concerns that many people have about the number of abortions that are taking place in Australia today. We have something like 100,000 abortions a year, 25 per cent of all pregnancies end in abortion and even the most determined pro-choice advocates these days seem to be rightly concerned at the way that the abortion epidemic has developed."

Nov 1, 2004 ABC Radio AM

During the AWB-Oil for Food scandal; "Mr Speaker, I raise a point of order. Points of order are being used clearly by members opposite to completely corrupt this question time and to prevent ministers from quite properly answering the questions that they are asked. I really do think that, if the order of the House is to be maintained, these points of order need to be curtailed."

Feb 15, 2006 Hansard

Thirty-eight times in the last three years Hansard recorded Tony Abbott as; "Mr Abbott interjecting."
Feb 15, 2006 to 22 Oct, 2009 in Open Australia

One hundred and fifty-nine times in the last three years Hansard recorded Tony Abbott rising to his feet "on a point of order".
Feb 7, 2006 to Nov 24, 2009 in Open Australia

Tony Abbott gets kicked out of the House of Representatives twice in six months by the Speaker; "The member for Warringah will leave the chamber for one hour..."

Nov 11, 2008 and May 12 2009 Hansard in Open Australia