When climate change deniers govern

Letter to the Editor in The Northern Star 3 May 2013:

Ignoring science

I FIND it astounding that Liberal MLC Catherine Cusack (NS 20/4) appears to believe that simply by abolishing the climate change department and abandoning the benchmark for sea-level rise by the end of this century, her State Government has stopped the seas from rising.
I can't wait for the election of Tony Abbott as I presume the seas will then begin to recede.
The State Government may say that Ballina, or any other council that uses accepted science to identify coastal areas likely to be eroded over the next century, is now liable for the impacts on people's property prices.
The reality is that if a council ignores the available science and encourages development of such areas, then in the future those councils are likely to be liable for compensation as such developments are lost to the sea.
I agree with Ms Cusack that Ballina council's assumptions that climate change will only result in a sea-level rise of 91cm (above 1990 levels) by 2100, and that this will only result in a recession of sandy coastlines by 45m, are outdated.
The more recent scientific evidence is that seas are likely to rise by significantly more than this and that the use of the lowest bounds of the Bruun rule grossly underestimates the likely coastal recession that will result.
I find it extremely worrying that this State Government is not just a climate change denier but seems intent on trying to frustrate attempts to identify the future consequences and adapt our planning to minimise social and economic impacts. Our grandchildren will pay a very high price for this political zealotry.

Dailan Pugh

Byron Bay

Chris 'I thought politics was all about the paycheck' Gulaptis wants everyone to stop picking on him.....

NSW Nats MP for Clarence Chris Gulaptis is trying to distort collective memory and paint himself as the victim of a nameless plot, after being caught out fudging North Coast police numbers.

Coal Seam Gas and You: Public Meeting in Yamba, Wednesday 15th May

Yamba and other Clarence Valley towns to be connect to the National Broadband Network by 2016

Federal Labor's NBN plan promises broadband speeds of 100 megabits per second by 2021 and Yamba at the mouth of the Clarence River on the NSW North Coast should be connected by 2016.

According to Federal Labor MP Janelle Saffin, 20,700 homes and businesses across the Page electorate will have an NBN connection or one underway by 30 June 2016, including those in Angourie, Iluka, Wooloweyah, Yamba, Clarenza, Grafton, Junction Hill, South Grafton, Waterview Heights, Coraki, Evans Head, Gulmarrad, Harwood, Maclean, Townsend and Woodburn.

Shorter Tony Abbott: I lost the RU486 vote on the floor of the House - so I'll privately threaten to get my own way

Australian Broadcasting Corporation

TV PROGRAM TRANSCRIPT

LOCATION: http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2006/s1652360.htm

Broadcast: 31/05/2006

Claim Abbott warned pharmaceutical industry against marketing RU486

Reporter: Margot O'Neill

EXCERPT

MARGOT O'NEILL: It was one of the most intensely personal debates Parliament has seen, involving a unique push from a group of women across four parties to allow the abortion drug RU486 into Australia. In a rare conscience vote, the Health Minister, Tony Abbott, lost his veto over the drug. 

SENATOR LYN ALLISON, DEMOCRATS LEADER (16 FEBRUARY): We've demonstrated that it's possible for parliamentarians who are not ministers - not even members of the Coalition - to take an issue forward and to fix a problem. 

MARGOT O'NEILL: But while he lost his veto on the floor of parliament, a senior figure in the pharmaceutical industry has told Lateline that Tony Abbott and his staff sought to exercise a surreptitious veto by privately warning the industry not to market the drug. At his request, the man's appearance and voice have been disguised. Lateline has confirmed his senior role in the pharmaceutical industry. 

PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY LEADER, ACTOR'S VOICE USED: The Minister approached me before the vote was taken in the Parliament. It was at a social function. His approach was quite a casual one, but his message was clear. He made it clear to me that he was not interested, or it was against our interests if we were to market RU486 in Australia. 

MARGOT O'NEILL: He says, at the time, he didn't take it as a threat, but then something happened that made him think again: he got a call from one of Mr Abbott's key staffers. 

PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY LEADER: A couple of weeks later I did receive contact from his office. In fact, I had two connections, or communications, with his office and on both occasions the message was much clearer and the message really was that it was not in any company's interest to market RU486. 

MARGOT O'NEILL: So, what exactly was said on those two occasions? 

PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY LEADER: I can't recall specifically what was said but the message was clear. It was one suggested or pointed out that there were a number of issues that were facing the broader industry and would impact and affect individual companies, and that if any company did consider marketing RU486 and making it available in Australia, that it wouldn't be in the company's or the industry's interest. 

MARGOT O'NEILL: Did you take it as a threat? 

PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY LEADER: It wasn't a casual conversation; it was a clear message. So, I suppose, I have to accept that it was a threat. 

MARGOT O'NEILL: At the time, he says, there were a number of issues which could impact on the sustainability of the pharmaceutical industry and that were taxing the minds of all companies, so he passed on the warning. And what did you kind of mention to people in other companies? 

PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY LEADER: Basically, that if they were considering it, they should think very seriously about it because it might not be in their interests. It could upset the Minister and it could impact on them and the broader drug industry. 

MARGOT O'NEILL: No company has applied to market RU486 as an abortion drug in Australia and Democrats Senator Lyn Allison, who co-sponsored the bill that led to the conscience vote, believes the minister is, at least, partly to blame. 

Aboriginal Legal Service 24 hour custody notification phone line may cease operating in June 2013

From Save the CNS:

To keep the CNS operating, the ALS needs:

►Funding of $500,000 per annum to commence 1 July 2013

►A funding commitment of three - five years

The phone line costs the same to operate per annum as holding two juveniles in detention for one year.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

WE NEED YOUR HELP TO KEEP IT RUNNING! We NEED to get the government on board. Show how MASSIVE the support is for the government to fund this service by:

'LIKING' the ALS Facebook page and future posts regarding the Custody Notification Service
 

'JOINING' our SAVE THE CNS Facebook Event and click 'GOING'
 

'INVITING' all your friends to this event
 

'POSTING' your comments on this page
 

FOLLOW us on Twitter to learn more about the Custody Notification Service
 

EMAIL US  to add your name to our growing list of Supporters
 

There have been no Aboriginal deaths in police custody since this service began. YOU HAVE THE POWER TO SAVE LIVES. SO PLEASE DO!

Koori Mail current edition:

.. a funding stand-off between the federal and state governments means the ALS will be forced to cut the CNS at the end of the financial year, which chief legal officer John McKenzie said would impact vulnerable people.

When you live like this why would you hold back from assisting Metgasco Limited to turn sections of the Northern Rivers into 1,000 well-strong coal seam gas fields?

Trevor Charles St Baker and various members of his family - through ERM Power Limited where they and entities associated with them comprise an estimated twelve of the top twenty shareholders - have a considerable interest in Metgasco Limited a coal seam gas exploration and mining company with tenements on the NSW North Coast.

Therefore it might be suggested that the St. Baker family appear to endorse the potential for coal seam gas mining in the Northern Rivers.

This is the gated estate on which Trevor and some family members live:

…one of Brisbane’s most exclusive acreage enclaves…….From the postcard perfect gated entry, a sealed road meanders through magnificent community grounds studded with jacaranda and myrtle, past the tranquil lake area……The views are simply amazing, capturing Brisbane & beyond to Moreton Bay on a clear day.

The estate is understood to have two golf greens and a 12 ha communal park area.

Google Earth aerial view of part of Lot 2 on the estate

 

A far cry from the decidedly more modest homes in Casino, Doubtful Creek and Glenugie on the NSW North Coast, where Metgasco has been sinking some of its exploratory and pre-production wells.

A lifetime away from the tens of thousands of ordinary workers and returned servicemen and women who were born in, raised their families across, or retired to, this environmentally diverse and culturally enriched region.

Which might explain why ERM Power has been buying up Metgasco shares at a time when it is increasingly obvious that a great many local communities have rejected coal seam gas mining and production in the Northern Rivers and will never grant a social licence. It does not see these communities as having value.