NSW Perrottet Government in full election mode 9 months out from the state election and its hypocrisy is showing beneath a cloak of environmental concern

ARR News, 20 June 2022:

Australian Rural & Regional News has asked a few questions for the Ministers, set out below the release.

Matt Kean, NSW Treasurer, Minister for Energy (NSW), James Griffin, Minister for Environment and Heritage (NSW), Dugald Saunders, Minister for Agriculture, Minister for Western New South Wales (NSW), Joint Media Release, 19 June 2022

Farmers around the State will be supported to adopt additional sustainable practices through a groundbreaking $206 million program delivered in the NSW Budget.

Treasurer Matt Kean said this landmark investment will reward farmers who voluntarily reduce their carbon emissions and protect biodiversity.

“This is great news for farmers and the environment. This funding will help improve biodiversity and lower emissions across NSW, and our farmers will receive tangible benefits for sustainable land management practices,” Mr Kean said.

Mr Kean said NSW has an early mover advantage to secure a leading position in the emerging global marketplace for low carbon food and fibre from producers who are also improving our biodiversity.

“This new era of natural capital could unlock up to $10 billion of ‘Environment, Social and Governance’ financing in Australia,” Mr Kean said.

“Natural capital will reduce farmers’ risks from climate change and biodiversity loss while improving long-term farm productivity.”

Minister for Environment James Griffin said the Sustainable Farming Program will help to shore up the long-term health of the environment and the agricultural sector.

“This $206 million new program is completely voluntary. We’re proposing to develop an accreditation scheme for farmers who manage their land for biodiversity and carbon, while enhancing their productivity,” Mr Griffin said.

“Just as we know what the Forestry Stewardship Council certification system represents, this is about developing an easily recognisable accreditation for sustainable farms.

“We know that investors and consumers are increasingly looking for sustainably produced products, and this program will support our producers to meet that demand.”

Many farmers are already undertaking sustainable practices as part of their day to day operations and this program represents an opportunity for diversified income, with the program offering farmers payments to secure and maintain accreditation.

In turn, the accreditation has potential to increase their market access globally, helping farmers sell their products at a premium and access emerging environmental markets. The accreditation will not impact existing accreditation schemes such as those used to access the European beef markets.

Accreditation could be achieved by actions such as restoring habitat, fencing for dam and riparian areas, rotating crops, and using best-practice feed and fertiliser practices.

Minister for Agriculture and Western NSW Dugald Saunders said the program will be developed in close consultation with farmers and landowners.

“The NSW Government will work with farmers and landholders on options to tap into the emerging natural capital market,” Mr Saunders said.

“Farmers in NSW are already natural capital specialists and should be rewarded for the productive and environmental outcomes they generate.

“This announcement will give farmers and other landholders more options to diversify their income while maintaining ultimate decision making power on how to sustainably and productively manage their property.”

Farmers will receive a payment for reaching milestones on agreed sustainable practices under an accreditation framework.

The accreditation program will be developed in consultation with stakeholders, and complements existing private land conservation programs offered by the NSW Government.

Learn more: www.environment.nsw.gov.au/sustainable-farming

Questions

Australian Rural & Regional News asked a few questions of the Ministers. Their response will be included here once received.

1. When do you expect the programme to actually start?

2. Who will be the 'stakeholders' to be consulted in regard to the accreditation process?

3. Have there been any community meetings in rural & regional communities to discuss this programme? If not, are they planned as part of the consultation process?

A question not yet being asked is 'How does this media release fit with a Perrottet Government farm forestry policy which encourages farmers to log native timber stands on their land for additional income and to support the dying timber industry, thereby further threatening extinction of the NSW Koala population by 2050?'

With less than 50 per cent of native forests on private land in Northern NSW and a deliberately weakened private native forestry code, that’s a clear threat to what biodiversity and undisturbed habitat remains on local farmland.

And for what? For a very few years worth of construction timber, power poles, flooring, furniture and firewood.

2022-23 council rate waiver for eligible flood-affected Northern Rivers residential, farming & business property owners

Clarence Valley Independent, 15 June 2022:

Flood survivors in the Clarence Valley will get their 2022/23 council rates paid by the NSW Government through a $40 million rate relief package to ease the cost of living during their recovery….

Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole said the funding would cover Ballina, Byron, Clarence Valley, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Tweed local government areas.

“Northern Rivers residents have been to hell and back, and receiving a rates notice for a home or business they still can barely access is the absolute last thing they need,” he said.

“This rates relief is one less thing they need to worry about as they continue to rebuild their lives – and we’ll continue to stand by their side on that journey in the months and years ahead.”

Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience and Minister for Flood Recovery Steph Cooke said the NSW and Commonwealth governments have committed more than $3.5 billion for the clean-up and recovery effort, including a $120 million Local Council Support Package.

“The NSW Government will contact eligible ratepayers in the affected LGAs to inform them it will be paying their rates for next year on their behalf,” Ms Cooke said.

“The funding will be provided through Service NSW and the payments will be made directly to councils to ensure eligible ratepayers receive the relief automatically, without having to worry about red tape.”

According to Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW Paul Toole those people eligible for a 2022-23 rate waiver are; ratepayers in any of the seven Northern Rivers Local Government Areas (LGAs) who made a successful claim through Service NSW, or whose property has been assessed as damaged, and will cover will cover their residential, commercial and farm rates.

The promised Lismore Flood Mitigation Study which slipped the collective minds of the former Morrison Coalition Government is now approved by new federal Labor Minister for Emergency Management

Excerpt from News Corp article tweeted by Minister for Emergency Management & Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Murray Watt, 19 June 2022

Under reporting of COVID-19 cases in New South Wales is now a sick joke being played on the population

As of 4pm on Friday, 17 June 2022, Australia-wide there were est. 208,173 active cases of COVID-19 recorded by the Australian Government Dept. Of Health.

Of these, 30,302 confirmed cases had been reported in the prior 24 hours.

A total of 2,817 cases were currently hospitalised on 17 June, with 93 in intensive care units and of these 30 people requiring ventilation.

In the 24 hours to 4pm on 17 June 51 people had died as a result of contracting COVID19. As government agencies do not update on weekends it is noted that covidlive.com.au reported a further 64 deaths on Saturday 18 June.

In New South Wales up 4pm on Friday 14 June 2022 there were 85,386 active cases of COVID-19 and in the 24 hours up to 4pm 17 June there were 8,119 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases.

A total of 1,344 cases were currently hospitalised on 17 June, with 45 in intensive care units and of these 18 requiring ventilation.

In the 24 hours to 4pm on Friday, 17 June 25 people had died as a result of contracting COVID-19.

Since the SARS-CoV-2/Covid-19 pandemic first entered Australia and NSW in late January 2020, NSW Health has recorded a total 2,704,725 confirmed cases of COVID-19 – a conservative figure given the ongoing under reporting of infection numbers – and 3,387 deaths.

The seven local government areas in the NSW Northern Rivers region recorded the following newly confirmed COVID-19 case numbers as at 4pm on Friday, 17 June 2022:

Tweed Shire – details not available

Ballina Shire – details not available

Byron Shire – details not available

Lismore City – details not available

Richmond Valley – details not available

Clarence Valley – details not available

Kyogle Shire – details not available

TOTAL 242 cases – 77 confirmed as positive by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests & 165 confirmed positive by Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs).

In the four weeks to 17 June 2022 the seven local government areas in the NSW Northern Rivers region recorded the following number of confirmed COVID-19 cases:

Tweed Shire – 443 cases confirmed by PCR tests. All cases confirmed by RATs excluded from the count;

Ballina Shire – 250 cases confirmed by PCR tests. All cases confirmed by RATs excluded from the count;

Byron Shire – 104 cases confirmed by PCR tests. All cases confirmed by RATs excluded from the count;

Lismore City – 167 cases confirmed by PCR tests. All cases confirmed by RATs excluded from the count;

Richmond Valley – 126 cases confirmed by PCR tests. All cases confirmed by RATs excluded from the count;

Clarence Valley – 123 cases confirmed by PCR tests. All cases confirmed by RATs excluded from the count;

Kyogle Shire – 16 cases confirmed by PCR tests. All cases confirmed by RATs excluded from the count.

TOTAL 1,229 cases – this figure includes only cases confirmed as positive by PCR tests and deliberately excludes all positive RAT testing.

Note: Under reporting of COVID-19 infection in the Northern Rivers region over the four week period ending 17 June 2022 is possibly in the vicinity of more than 1,229 persons – bringing the estimated total number to anywhere between 2,458 to 3,687 infected people spread out over the 7 local government areas.

Tweet of the Week

 

I think it’s great that covid is over and no one has to worry anymore 🤦🏻‍♀️ pic.twitter.com/P7FZo5bEAn

— Prof Gemma Carey PhD MMedSci (@gemcarey) June 13, 2022

 

Quote of the Week

 

“Imagine if there was a company which received millions of dollars in government grants each year, paid no tax as it held charitable status, owned recruitment agencies and also owned a law firm which fought against penalty rates for young workers and workplace leave for victims of domestic violence. There is such a company. It is called the NSW Business Chamber Limited. Its financial statements show the NSW Business Chamber recorded revenue of $190 million dollars last year of which $5.8 million came in government grants.” [Michael West writing in Michael West Media: Independent Journalists, 6 June 2022]

 

So Australia is in the middle of what is effectively an artificial gas-led energy crisis......

In the middle of what is effectively an artificial gas-led energy crisis, the Prime Minister and Energy Minister may be carefully avoiding stating a natural suspicion. However, as an ordinary citizen I am not.

It is no secret that some of the east coast energy producers and wholesale suppliers - who transmit electricity down the wires and gas down pipelines - view the Liberal and National political parties more favourably than they do the Labor Party.

It is also no secret that a bitter LNP is casting about for ways to do the new Labor Government harm.

When listing reasons for the “perfect storm” that is now engulfing half the country, it would be prudent to recall the four main reasons being commonly cited by the media and, add the distinct possibility that the Leader of the Opposition and his shadow cabinet actively encouraged the boards of east coast power generators to initially refuse to cooperate with the Australian Energy Market Operator. This refusal reportedly represented the loss of est. 20 per cent of the east coast’s needed power supply.

All in the hope of further destabilising energy supply. Thus heating up the political situation ahead of the first sitting of the 47^th Australian Parliament. The LNP’s end game apparently being to create uncertainty in the minds of international investors and drive money out of the country, to the detriment of the national economy and the federal government’s ability to raise required funding.

This would not be the first time the Coalition parties have used this ploy - the events of 1972 to 1975 bear that out.

ABC News, 16 June 2022:

The Federal Energy Minister insists the unprecedented market intervention to avoid blackouts across the east coast will continue for as long as necessary, throwing his full support behind the nation's energy regulators.

Yesterday the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) took the extraordinary step of effectively seizing control of the energy market, suspending the spot price for wholesale electricity across the country.

It was the first time such a decision had been made, with the AEMO arguing it was impossible to ensure reliable power supplies without the intervention.

The AEMO had already been forced to put a cap on wholesale power prices, and had been ordering generators to continue producing power to ensure forecast shortages in supply in states such as New South Wales and Queensland were avoided.

Households and businesses have been urged to try to conserve power, switching off unnecessary appliances and lights in a bid to ease some of the pressure on the system.

Mr Bowen was asked whether it might be necessary to keep the market suspension in place for the duration of Australia's cold winter.

"I don't envisage that long, but it will be reviewed on a day-to-day basis," he said.

"I've been very clear with the chief executive of the operator. He has my full support for any action he deems necessary. The government will back the operator and the regulators 100 per cent.

"This intervention will not be lifted one day earlier than it needs to be, in his judgement."

What is the spot market for electricity?

After days of power uncertainty, the Australian Energy Market Operator yesterday declared it was suspending the spot market for electricity. So what does that mean for ordinary Australians?

Mr Bowen warned that NSW would be under "significant pressure" between 6pm and 8pm tonight, but that the market was working to avoid load shedding.

His NSW counterpart, Matt Kean, was confident there was enough reserve capacity despite a number of the state's generators being offline.

Mr Kean said that AGL's Bayside power station, which failed yesterday afternoon, would be online in time for the evening peak.

"We're cautiously optimistic that everything will be fine for the foreseeable future, but we're monitoring things closely because of the changed weather conditions and the unreliability of our existing kit," Mr Kean said.

Some generators have been accused of effectively gaming the system by refusing to produce electricity for the market, arguing the price cap means they are operating at a loss, and only switching back on when ordered to do so by authorities.

Those demand notices trigger the possibility of taxpayer-funded compensation for the energy companies.

Mr Bowen said there would be close scrutiny on energy producers.

"I'm not here to second-guess," he said. The energy regulator has our full support in monitoring all behaviour.

"I'm not here to make accusations. I'm here to say the regulator and operator has our full support in any action that they deem necessary — as they have done and as they'll continue to do."

Market rules could be rewritten after crisis

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the east coast electricity crisis could prompt a reworking of the National Energy Market (NEM) rules, including the incentives for generators to pump electricity into the system.

"There are weaknesses, clearly, that have been exposed, and all of the lessons of what is happening will be examined," he said.

"If there need to be any policy adjustments, then they'll be made."

The federal government has said the nation's energy woes are the result of a "perfect storm" — soaring international demand for Australian gas and coal prompted by countries weaning themselves off Russian energy supplies, the cold snap hitting a large swathe of the country, and unscheduled outages in Australia's ageing fleet of coal-fired power plants…..

Read the full article here.

ABC News, 16 June 2022:

….Tim Buckley, director at the IEEFA, said it was time these big companies were "called out".

"It's not about the energy not being there, it's about too much of it being suctioned out of our domestic east-coast market off to export," he said.

"I would be arguing we do need a carbon-export super-tax right now as a big stick to smash these multinational companies.

"They pay next to no royalties for our resources."…..

 

BACKGROUND

Electricity production and emissions intensity of electricity generators

In 2022 most of Australia’s energy still relies on traditional sources, non-renewable fossil fuels. According to the Dept. of Industry, science, Energy and Resources coal and gas account for about 79% of all electricity generation.

According to a new study by The Australia Institute, Australians have just 4.3 per cent ownership in the companies extracting and processing natural gas across the country.