So who wants to mine our backyard?

http://www.minerals.nsw.gov.au/mv2web/mv2?cmd=MainMap&topic=ttl

On 9 March 2012 the NSW Aboriginal Land Council announced it had applied for three Petroleum Special Prospecting Authority licences - about 49km ESE  White Cliffs (approx.. 368,340 sq km area), six kilometres SSE  Murwillumbah (approx.1,330 sq km area) and about 45km SSW Grafton (approx.47,040 sq km area). Murwillumbah and Grafton are on the NSW Far North Coast.

The  Murwillumbah  application PSPAPP 55 runs from the Dorroughby, Rosebank, Federal region right up through the ranges to the NSW-QLD border. The much larger Grafton application PSPAPP 56 roughly covers an inland area which goes from the Stanthorpe-Tenterfield region in the north to past Armidale in the south – extending across to the coastal zone from Mount Tucabia and Yamba in the north, Coffs Harbour midway, down to just above Crowdy Head.

So it was of more than passing interest to find that on the same day The Sydney Morning Herald reported a spokesperson stating that NSWALC already had a joint venture partner who apparently did not wish to be identified:

''Our initial geology studies are showing their potential is enormous. This is a paradigm shift.''

The council had a joint venture partner that would provide most of the cash and expertise required to follow any petroleum exploration and extraction through, he said. He would not identify the partner. Profits would be split equally. None of the titles fell on land owned by Aboriginal people, he said.

By 13 March 2012 The Daily Examiner was revealing a lack of consultation with local land councils:

NORTH Coast Aboriginal community leaders have sought to distance themselves from a plan by the NSW Aboriginal Land Council to apply for licenses to explore for petroleum and coal seam gas in the region……

But Ngaraakwal/Ngarangwal elder Harry Boyd has called for a public inquiry into the decision, describing it as a "back room deal" which was made without consultation.

"The matter of the NSW Land Council signing-off on petrol exploration licenses means for us, all of us, the entire community, a rubber stamp on coal seam gas," Mr Boyd said.

"But my people and I speak for most of the 'blackfellas' in the Northern Rivers here, (and) we were not present at the signing of any agreements.

"We were not consulted by the Land Council ... and we have not been represented by the Land Councils for many years."

He said those who signed the "back room documents" needed to explain themselves to the people of the North Coast.

"This matter needs to be opened up for public inspection as it affects us all," he said.

"We want those people ... to explain to us what ground they are standing on.

"All of this leads to confusion for everyone and it upsets my people who still consider the ground sacred.

"The land councils are meant to protect the culture, not just do deals."

Mr Boyd said he made it clear to Federal Government representatives in April that Aboriginal people of the North Coast did not want coal seam gas.

"Our unborn spirits are in the underground water, and we consider this industry as a great offence," he said.

Mr Boyd's comments were supported by Arakwal community representative Gilbert King.

Mr King said the proposal potentially affected the traditional land of his people, but that they were not consulted in the decision.

Bundjalung elder and Gugin Guddaba Local Aboriginal Land Council deputy chairwoman Patsy Nagas also said her group were strongly opposed to the development of coal seam gas in the region.

Also on 13 March 2012 ABC North Coast NSW confirmed another LALC which had not been consulted:

The Tweed-Byron Local Aboriginal Land Council says it's surprised by its state counterpart's application for petroleum exploration licences on the north coast

The chairman of a local Aboriginal land council on the state's far north coast says he wasn't consulted about plans to mine in the area.

ABC Indigenous  indicated that the unease was felt further afield:

A far west Aboriginal elder says local indigenous communities still haven't been consulted about the NSW Aboriginal Lands Council's plan to invest in the mining industry….

Doctor Beryl Carmichael, an elder of Ngiyaempaa country, said local Aboriginal people weren't told about the plan.

"There's been no consultation, with the grass root people, nor the custodians of this country," she said.

"And I think they should have had the decency to let us know, indicate something to us, that this was going on."

"They are, will be operating in Ngiyaempaa country, and I think they should start sitting down and coming out and sitting down with the grass root people, and talking about their plans."

Doctor Carmichael said mining the land goes against traditional Aboriginal beliefs.

"The land's our mother, and if these people want to go and exploit the land, well where are they coming from, you know?" she said.

"Where's their connectedness to the land and the environment? They don't even know their culture, what culture really means."

"No, I'll certainly argue with this one, I think, I've got to for the sake of my ancestors."

UPDATE:

MinView mapping indicates that all three NSWALC prospecting applications may also include areas under current native title claims. Click on images to enlarge.

The three applications marked in purple

Native title claim areas in red

Cansdell continues to haunt the NSW parliament

According to Hansard former and disgraced Member for Clarence, Steve Cansdell, was in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday 13 March 2012 a bit after 3.30pm and voted with the government on its Education Reform motion That this House supports the Government in delivering on its election commitment to give decision-making power back to local schools and school communities.

How very convenient  it must be for the newly elected Member for Clarence, Christopher Gulaptis, to be able to sneak out of the house when a division is called and know his good old best mate Steve is ever ready to stand in for him.

A rare frog the NSW Minister for Resources and Energy & Anchor Resources intends to ignore?

Giant Barred Frog found on the Wild Cattle Creek property

Scientific name: Mixophyes iteratus
Conservation status in NSW: Endangered
National conservation status: Endangered

Image found at

Protect & Preserve the Dorrigo Plateau

It is no secret that NSW Minister for Resources and Energy, Chris Hartcher, is enthusiastic at the prospect of mining on the Mid and Far North Coast – particularly when it comes to gold and antimony mining on the Dorrigo Plateau.

A plateau which takes in the Clarence River catchment high country which supplies fresh water to an estimated 125,419 residents (based on 2010 ERP figures) in Coffs Harbour City and Clarence Valley Shire local government areas.

Local government areas falling within a region which has a population expected to grow more than 28% to around 424,400 by 2031.

Given the ongoing exploration within Anchor Resources Limited’s Wild Cattle Creek EL 6388 lease and the corporation’s recent history of environmental degradation, one has to wonder why Minister Hartcher and his department head have not yet thought fit to insist on a formal environmental assessment of the lease area.

NSW Department of Environment and Conservation:

Description

Giant Barred Frogs are large frogs, up to 115 mm in length. They are olive to dark brown above with paler or darker blotches, and cream to pale yellow below. The skin is finely granular. The pupil of the eye is vertical and the iris is pale golden in the upper half and brown in the lower half. The call is a deep ‘ork’ breaking into a series of ‘orks’ and grunts. The Giant Barred Frog can be most easily distinguished from other barred frog species by the black thighs with smaller yellow spots, distinct barring on the limbs, dark blotches on the sides, absence of a creamy stripe on the upper lip and the distinctive eye colour.

Location and habitat

Distribution

Coast and ranges from south-eastern Queensland to the Hawkesbury River in NSW. North-eastern NSW, particularly the Coffs Harbour-Dorrigo area, is now a stronghold. Considered to have disappeared south of the Hawkesbury and there are no recent records from the Blue Mountains. [my bolding]

Habitat and ecology

• Giant Barred Frogs forage and live amongst deep, damp leaf litter in rainforests, moist eucalypt forest and nearby dry eucalypt forest, at elevations below 1000 m.
• They breed around shallow, flowing rocky streams from late spring to summer.
• Females lay eggs onto moist creek banks or rocks above water level, from where tadpoles drop into the water when hatched.
• Tadpoles grow to a length of 80 mm and take up to 14 months before changing into frogs. When not breeding the frogs disperse hundreds of metres away from streams. They feed primarily on large insects and spiders.

Threats

• Reduction in water quality, from sedimentation or pollution.
• Changes in water flow patterns, either increased or decreased flows.
• Reduction of leaf-litter and fallen log cover through burning.
• Timber harvesting and other forestry practices.
• Vegetation clearance.
• Predation on eggs and tadpoles by introduced fish.
• Weed spraying close to streams.
• Chytrid fungal disease.

An empty vessel satirized

http://youtu.be/JyxTX8ozLGI

Of course it's harder to laugh at the bloke when you read some of the dangerous nonsence that pours out of the clutter of empty brain boxes on his hand-picked team.
"Asking mining companies to fund dam projects was one of the options being considered.
''For instance, some of the dam work we are looking at, we think we can get - instead of taxing the mining industry - suggest to them they can invest in a dam and then have access to water to wash their coal. And they'll pay serious amounts of money, in fact they will pay for the construction of the dam,''

The price we pay for Tony Abbott's never-ending censure motions and other nonsense

After the general election ballot box, Question Time in both houses of Australia’s federal parliament is perhaps the principle way that the government of the day is held accountable - now that much of the national mainstream media spends most of its time uncritically regurgitating political media releases as a substitute for investigative journalism.

According to the Australian Parliament website statistics link, in 1963 (an election year) the House of Representatives sat for 53 days and the Government was asked 968 Questions Without Notice during Question Time.

In the following year 1964, the House sat for 65 days and there were 1,557 Questions Without Notice recorded.

In 2010 (an election year) and 2011 the House sat for 55 and 64 days respectively, taking  948 Questions Without Notice in the first instance and 882 Questions Without Notice in the second instance.

Now I may be wrong, but I think that the period 2010 to 2011 was only the second time that House of Representatives’ Questions Without Notice have fallen in number (when an ordinary year followed an election year) in the last forty-eight years.

It seems that Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s grandstanding is actually ensuring that other Members of Parliament are being given fewer opportunities to apply that very Australian maxim - keep the b@stards honest.

If it’s Thursday it must be censure time is not quite so funny a phrase when one remembers that, every time he rose to his feet and uttered the words I move that so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Leader of the Opposition from moving forthwith the following motion, voters were denied an opportunity to hear their own elected representatives raise important national and local issues.

Drawing of Coat of Arms from Google Images

Things go better with Coke! Or do they?

This turned up in the mainstream meeja last week: 

“COCA-Cola and Pepsi say they have lowered levels of a chemical in caramel colouring which has been found to cause cancer in lab tests.

The move allows the companies to avoid having to label products with a cancer warning due to a California law setting safe levels of 4-methylimidazole.

Both drinkmakers said their popular and highly secretive recipes will not be altered but that caramel suppliers have been asked to reduce 4-MEI levels in California, a change that will eventually spread across the United States and - at least in Coke's case - around the world.

"We are NOT changing our recipe; or our formula," Coca-Cola Company spokesman Ben Sheidler said in an email.

"What we did do is direct our caramel suppliers to make a manufacturing process modification in order to reduce the level of 4-MEI in our caramel so as to meet the requirement set by the state of California's Proposition 65."

For its part, PepsiCo said its beverages "are and always will be safe for consumption."

"Consumers will notice no difference in our products and have no reason at all for any health concerns. There is no scientific evidence that 4-MEI in foods and beverages is a threat to human health," it added.” {new.com.au 10^th March 2012}

This is what Coca Cola South Pacific is still saying about caramel colouring at livepositively.com.au:

"Colours are added to enhance the appearance of processed foods and beverages.
For example, 'Coca-Cola' contains caramel colouring, which is a widely used food and beverage colouring found in many kinds of processed food and beverages including: brown bread, buns, and chocolate. Although made from sugar, the amount present is not physiologically significant and contributes only a trace amount of kilojoules to a can of 'Coca-Cola'."
And here's Coca Cola's global press centre denying there's any problem.
While over at US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health this is what you find on mice fed with 4-Methylimidazole (4MI) :
"Clonic seizures, excitability, hyperactivity, and impaired gait were observed primarily in 2,500- and 5,000 ppm females. The incidence of mononuclear cell leukemia in the 5,000 ppm females was significantly greater than that in the controls. The incidences of hepatic histiocytosis, chronic inflammation, and focal fatty change were significantly increased in all exposed groups of male and female rats. The incidences of hepatocellular eosinophilic and mixed cell foci were significantly increased in 2,500 ppm males and 5,000 ppm females. Groups of 50 male and 50 female B6C3F1 mice were fed diets containing 0-, 312-, 625-, or 1,250 ppm 4MI for 106 weeks. Based on the food consumption the calculated average daily doses were approximately 40, 80, or 170 mg 4MI/kg body weight to males and females. Survival of all exposed groups of males and females was similar to that of the control groups. Mean body weights of males and females in the 1,250 ppm groups and that in the 312- and 625 ppm females were less than those of the control groups. Feed consumption by exposed groups of male and female mice was similar to that by the controls. The incidences of alveolar/bronchiolar adenoma in all exposed groups of females, alveolar/bronchiolar carcinoma in 1,250 ppm males, and alveolar/bronchiolar adenoma or carcinoma (combined) in 1,250 ppm males and 625- and 1,250 ppm females were significantly greater than those in the control groups. The incidence of alveolar epithelial hyperplasia was significantly increased in the 1,250 ppm females. 4MI is carcinogenic inducing alveolar/bronchiolar adenoma and carcinoma in male and female mice. 4MI may also induce mononuclear cell leukemia in female rats."

Pic from Google Images

MONEY TAKEN FROM CRIMINALS TO FUND LISMORE PCYC

THE HON. JASON CLARE MP

MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS

MINISTER FOR JUSTICE

MINISTER FOR DEFENCE MATERIEL

JANELLE SAFFIN
MEMBER FOR PAGE 

MONEY TAKEN FROM CRIMINALS TO FUND LISMORE PCYC

9 March 2012

Lismore PCYC will receive a $75,000 grant funded by money confiscated from criminals to fund their Bundjalung Midnight Sports program.

The program will be delivered in conjunction with the Aboriginal Community Justice Group and will operate in Ballina, Lismore, Casino and Coraki targeting young indigenous people aged between 14 and 18. 

The sessions will be held in prime time for youth crime – with participants being picked up from home at 5pm and taken to Lismore PCYC, where they will have dinner and undertake educational and sporting activities. They will then be taken home at 11pm. 

Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare made the announcement today with Page MP Janelle Saffin, PCYC President John Maxwell and Lismore Police Inspector Matt Kehoe.

Ms Saffin said the grant would make a huge difference for the local community.

“I congratulate Lismore PCYC and the Aboriginal Community Justice Group for this grant, and thank them for all the work they do in our community”, Ms Saffin said.

“The Lismore Crime Prevention Plan and the Lismore Youth Survey both identified the lack of activities for young people as a contributor to crime.

“This program addresses the problem head on.”

Mr Clare said money seized from criminals was now helping young people and communities across Australia.

“We’re taking money from criminals and investing it in PCYC’s across the country to help young people who are at risk of falling into a life of crime,” Minister Clare said.

“PCYC’s are terrific organisations. They’re a great example of community policing at work.

“That’s why the Federal Government is supporting the crime prevention work they do.”

The program will run over eight weeks, each session will match a recreational activity like basketball or kickboxing with an educational component such as road safety, drug and alcohol use and aboriginal culture.

The eight week program will run four times a year with 20 young people participating at once.

The funding is part of almost $2 million provided to 16 Police and Community Youth Clubs (PCYCs) around Australia to help young people at risk of falling into a life of crime.

The funding comes from the Proceeds of Crime Fund which enables money confiscated under Commonwealth laws to be returned to the community to prevent and reduce crime across Australia.

A list of the funded projects is attached. Information regarding crime prevention funding can be found at http://www.crimeprevention.gov.au/.