March against Monsanto - May 25 in Bellingen NSW

Media Release

Carol Vernon

Greens candidate for Cowper

May 21, 2013

Carol Vernon will be supporting the rally against Monsanto in Maam Gaduying Park , outside the Bellingen Council Chambers on Saturday, May 25, starting at 9.00 am.

Mrs Vernon said, "As a member of Bellingen Seedsavers I am totally committed to preserving heritage seeds. Many people in our local area demonstrate a huge commitment to sustainable food production.

" Genetically manipulated organisms (GMOs), their products, and the chemicals used to manage them pose significant risks to natural and agricultural ecosystems and human health.

" The precautionary principle must be applied to the use of GMOs and the techniques for producing them.

" Scientific evidence must be the basis for assessing and licensing GMOs. GMO assessments must be broad, independent and scientifically robust.

" Living organisms such as plants, animals and micro-organisms are not inventions. Patents on life are unethical and against the public interest.

"Farmers and consumers have a right to grow and consume non-GMO foods.

" Everyone has a right to know if foods contain any ingredients made using GM techniques, through the comprehensive labelling of those products." 

Facebook: Carol Vernon Greens for Cowper

Carol Vernon (Greens4Cowper) on Twitter

Blog: http://mncgreens.blogspot.com.au

Has the Daily Examiner discovered Tony Abbott's beauty secret?

The new improved Mr. Rabbit who denies using Botox

“Don’t fancy Botox? Try Physicians Formula Aging Expression Line Freeze, $29.99, a serum designed to immediately tighten, lift and smooth.” {The Daily Examiner 22^nd May 2013}

For $25.99 you too can buy: “Topical alternative to Wrinkle Freezing Injections. Improves the look of deep wrinkles & expression lines. Advanced formula delivers a tightening, lifting and smoothing effect and helps promote skin's elasticity.”

Lismore then; Lismore now

In 2010 Lismore City Council installed water bubblers in the Lismore CBD to provide free filtered water. It was (and still is) a terrific example of how local government can play its part in reducing the demand for purchased water and help get rid of plastic bottles.

Then: 2010

 
Pic source:  The Northern Star

 Now: 2013

It's more than time other local councils did likewise. However, let's hope other councils don't use the same signwriter. (Hint: check out the bottom line)

A politician to whom bald-faced political lying is as natural as breathing in and breathing out

This was Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott on 21 May 2013 during a doorstop interview:

Last week in the Parliament, I announced what I think is a breakthrough initiative for the families and the workers of our country. We will get rid of the carbon tax but we will keep the tax cuts and the pension and benefit increases associated with it. So instead of being just compensation, they will be real tax cuts and real pension rises. That means that when you’re doing your weekly, your fortnightly or your monthly budgets on the kitchen tables, the family kitchen tables right around Australia, you will be significantly better off under the Coalition, because no-one will lose any money, but everyone will lose the carbon tax. You won’t lose any money, but you will lose a carbon tax and that’s good for families. It’s good for households and it’s good for workers….

So there it is again. Under an Abbott government we, the ordinary voters, won’t lose any money. This is a bald-faced political lie.

Because Abbott has previously stated to the Australian Parliament and elsewhere that he will remove the following:

Super contribution tax payment of up to $500 annually for low income earners. The payment amount is 15% of concessional contributions (including employer contributions) made by or for individuals with an adjusted taxable income that does not exceed $37,000.

[http://www.ato.gov.au/content/00245688.htm]

Income Support Bonus worth $210 a year to eligible single people and $350 to couples and paid to those receiving Abstudy Living Allowance, Austudy, Exceptional Circumstances Payment, Newstart Allowance, Parenting Payment, Sickness Allowance, Special Benefit, Transitional Farm Family Payment and Youth Allowance. [http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/centrelink/income-support-bonus]

Increase family payments (Family Tax Benefit Schedule A) for eligible families when they have a new baby. Worth $2,000 for the first child and $1,000 for any subsequent child. [http://www.humanservices.gov.au/corporate/publications-and-resources/budget/1314/measures/families/48-15254]

Schoolkids Bonus. An annual payment of $410 for each dependent primary school child and $820 for each dependent high school child of a parent or carer who gets Family Tax Benefit Part A. [http://www.humanservices.gov.au/customer/services/schoolkids-bonus]

The increase in compulsory employer contributions to workers superannuation until after 2016-17. [http://www.futuretax.gov.au/content/Content.aspx?doc=FactSheets/super_guarantee_rate_to_12_percent.htm]

It would appear that the majority of Australian households and workers will lose money if a Coalition Government is elected and, Mr Abbott said more spending cuts would be announced before the September 14 election.

Ross Leigh of Brisbane cynically suggests that the new Coalition campaign slogan should be; Over the next five years, we promise to take $15,000 off every Australian! Sorry, we promise to save $75 billion. He may be right.

Hit and run driver tweets to brag about her actions

This young woman has since deleted her Twitter account and appears to have taken her Facebook page offline.

However, as ever, if it was up on the Internet it is almost inevitably retrievable and, this tale is still there for all to see on Topsy.

The Telegraph UK 20 May 2013:

A spokesperson for the police force posted on Twitter: "we have identified parties believed involved and are progressing".

The rider involved, Toby Hockley, 29, was taking part in the organised Boudicca Sportive ride in Norfolk on Sunday and claims that he was knocked down by a car coming in the opposite direction, five miles from the finish of the 100-mile event.

He suffered a "bruised shin and a sore elbow" and says that he considers it to have been a "miraculous escape".

One more reason that Clarence Valley Council should replace that missing section of the Yamba Road Cycleway sooner rather than later

 

Letter to the Editor, The Daily Examiner 17 May 2013:

 

Money spinner

Earlier this month, a group of cycling friends travelled from Queensland's Sunshine Coast to the Clarence. This was our third visit in less than five years and again Maclean was the base.
The Lower Clarence is a delightful area to cycle and among our wonderful experiences, starting on day one, was the ferry ride from Yamba to lunch at Iluka before returning to Maclean via Ashby and Harwood (pub).
Day two we were on a back road near Tucabia when a car pulled up. Out jumped a local lass amazed to see such a group and proceeded to take our photos. Lunch was at the Ulmarra pub.
Day three we were invited to ride in the Woodford Island fun ride organised by Maclean Rotary. Day four was an early morning sprint out to Brooms Head before our departure.
Everyone was again taken by the beauty of the region and appreciated the consideration given by motorists on roads that were not always cyclist friendly.
Our group of about 30 would have put about $15,000 into the local economy for our stay.
Cycling is a massive growth area driven by baby boomer retirees. With money well spent on improving cycling facilities in the Clarence (eg paths/lanes Maclean to Yamba; sealing road between Ashby, Tullymorgan and Lawrence; and road markings to make motorists aware of cyclists) there would be a huge financial boost to the area.

RON GOOCH

Peregian Beach

 

Brad Mullard's coal seam gas 'con job'

Arrow Energy gas well blowout 
in Tara region gas fields in Queensland identified in Google Earth snapshot

The well which exploded up to 100 metres in the air continued to shoot to 40 metres is on a farmer’s property on the Kogan-Condamine Road

A CSG well is created by drilling through layers of earth and rock up to 1000 metres below the surface. Multiple layers of steel casing and cement are pressure injected so the well adheres to the surrounding rock.

A strong seal prevents gas or fluid leakage into permeable layers, including aquifers.

The process of drilling and installing the well can take over a month. Before activation, the well is subjected to a high pressure test. A geophysical logging tool is lowered into the well hole to inspect the casing and ensure it meets Government standards.

These measures limit the potential for CSG drilling activities to interfere with water resources and the environment. [NSW Government website]

Letters to the Editor in The Daily Examiner on 10 and 20 May 2013:

CSG info at hand
I refer to your article (Elliot at MardiGrass for CSG petition, DEX May 6).
NSW Trade & Investment's Division of Resources and Energy has launched a comprehensive resource to provide residents and landholders with factual information on coal seam gas.
CSG is already part of the state's energy mix but many people do not understand what the resource is, how it is explored and extracted, and the regulations that govern the industry.
Companies that drill for gas in this state operate in a tightly regulated environment that ensures our valuable land and water resources are not damaged.
Residential areas are also protected by a 2km exclusion zone that prevents CSG exploration and production near homes.
A new website provides residents and landholders with specific information on CSG, including maps, videos and fact sheets. The public can also join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter by following links on the site.
Learn more about coal seam gas and the protections in place by visiting www.csg.nsw.gov.au

Brad Mullard

Mineral Resources

NSW Trade & Investment

CSG letter a con job
Brad Mullard's letter (DE May 10) assuring us that coal seam gas miners in this state "operate in a tightly regulated environment" is nothing but a con job.
The industry is clearly more highly regulated in NSW than Queensland; that's partly the reason why Metgasco and others have moved out temporally.
However, the tight regulations do not alter the required infrastructure of a gas field.
On the day Mr Mullard's letter was published, I read another letter from a lady who had just returned from a trip to the south Queensland CSG fields to see for herself what is happening there. She was clearly distressed and very angry with our politicians at what she saw.
She spoke of broken communities, of meeting a farmer who has considered suicide because a nearby compressor station stops him from sleeping and his farm is no longer a farm due to gas wells.
She describes the dangers of driving on roads that are clogged with mining trucks; and visiting the township of Chinchilla and the difficulty she had spotting a child, a farmers wife, or any person that did not wear a yellow vest.
There are distressing reports of being stalked, harassed and filmed by male security guards, "in packs of three", when they stopped to photograph a compressor station 750 metres away.
The writer describes the endless land clearing for infrastructure, the seemingly hundreds of kilometre- long toxic waste-water holding ponds, and scores of compressor stations that look and sound like international airports.
She concludes that she saw no co-existence with farming, and in fact the mining was "forcing people away from the district, and that's the way the miners like it".
A few weeks ago I watched a Queensland farmer say that he never thought he'd see the day when Australian police would force their way past Australian farmers to allow foreign-owned mining companies to trash their land.
Dart Energy and Metgasco have gone from the Northern Rivers for the time being, but the potential danger of the region suffering the same impacts as Queensland has not.
Our State Government representatives still appear to believe their own rhetoric, trotting out media releases about how water and human health will be protected, and clearly still support CSG mining despite overwhelming opposition from the majority of people they claim to represent.
I wonder why?

John Edwards

South Grafton

Aerial shot of nascent NSW CSG gasfield

Pilot CSG gas wells NSW

* All images from Google Images & Goggle Earth