Abbott's Army in action [news video]

Yeah, get back under your rock; taunts the Abbott supporter who later followed a young woman out of a 'community' forum and down the street and, did not appear to desist untl after police arrived.

According to a Channel Nine News report on 14 July 2011 this man is former member of Liberal Party MP Bruce Billson's campaign team, Declan Stephenson.

Abbott’s Army in action – Parts One and Two

http://www.skynews.com.au/video/?vId=2555788&cId=Programs&play=true

http://www.skynews.com.au/video/?vId=2555939&cId=Programs&play=true

Saffin reminds business that false and misleading claims concerning 'carbon tax' price rises carry a penalty

NSW North Coast Federal Labor Member for Page, Janelle Saffin, on the subject of a potential for price gouging under the guise of impacts of the carbon price mechanism projected to come into effect in 2013:

The Gillard Government will provide new funding for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to crack down on any business that seeks to gouge its customers by making misleading claims about the impact of putting a price on carbon pollution.
Page MP Janelle Saffin said the ACCC will use its powers under the newly introduced Australian Consumer Law to investigate and prosecute any such business with the power to impose penalties of up to $1.1 million.
Ms Saffin said the Government will direct the ACCC to give the highest priority to:
• Investigating and taking action against any business that makes false or misleading representations about the impact of the carbon price on the price they charge consumers;
• Educating businesses on their obligation to accurately explain the reasons for any price rises that do occur for reasons unrelated to the introduction of a carbon price;
• Raising awareness amongst consumers by informing them that businesses are prohibited from making false statements about the impact of putting a price on pollution.
“The Government will give ACCC new funding of $12.8 million over 4 years to carry out this role.
“I’ve always been someone that stands up for fairness and making sure we don’t get ripped off, so it’s great the ACCC will be able to crack down on unfair price gouging” Ms Saffin said.
By providing new financial resources for the ACCC, the Government will ensure that businesses cannot take advantage of their customers with false and misleading claims about carbon pricing......[Media Release 13 July 2011]

Photograph found at ABC News online

Coal seam gas, Metgasco & Arrow get a song all of their own

On the Northern NSW blog
The Creek


Coal Seam Gas mp3






I’m the man from Metagasco or Arrow or…you know
Have I got a deal for you
Just sign on the line and I’ll give you a mine
And some pocket money too

But wait there’s more while I’ve a foot in the door
I can renovate much of your land
Build roads just for me and clear all those trees
Did you plant them? Oh that’s too bad.....

Rest of the lyrics here.

Faaark orf, Google! You need me more than I need you

“From 31 July, people who have created private profiles in, say, the ad broker's free email service Gmail will be deleted by Google unless individuals switch it to public view.

"The purpose of Google Profiles is to enable you to manage your online identity. Today, nearly all Google Profiles are public. We believe that using Google Profiles to help people find and connect with you online is how the product is best used. Private profiles don't allow this, so we have decided to require all profiles to be public," said the company.

Google said that it would only require a user's full name and gender to be displayed on the public profile. Any other information an individual doesn't want to reveal to the world can be edited or deleted.

"If you currently have a private profile but you do not wish to make your profile public, you can delete your profile. Or, you can simply do nothing. All private profiles will be deleted after July 31, 2011," said Google.

The move is part of Mountain View's wider ambition to bake social products into its search and email products.

As a result, anyone planning to use Google+ will need a public profile with, at minimum, their full name and gender displayed.” {The Register 7^th July 2011}

International Whaling Commission in July 2011: Australia replies to Japan

From Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society members blogging from IWC 63:

Japan notes the importance of the agenda item ‘Safety at Sea’ to them and that this issue will be looked at on Wednesday. He calls on his Commissioner to make a short statement. The Japanese Commissioner is grateful for the many messages of sympathy and offers of help that Japan has received subsequent to the Japanese earthquake. He noted the devastation wrought on coastal communities and that this makes it even more important to promote sustainable use.

The Hon.Tony Burke MP, Australian Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities replies to the Japanese position:

Intervention on safety at sea, International Whaling Commission, Jersey
E&OE Transcript 12 July 2011

TONY BURKE: Thank you very much Mr Chair.
While Australia has intervened previously, this is my first opportunity as Australia's Minister for the Environment to intervene and I wish to congratulate you on the role that you've taken on and the work that you've been doing with the Commission.
Mr Chair, Australia's position on safety at sea is actually shared by the Japanese Government. Nothing less than full compliance with domestic and international laws is acceptable. Safety at sea is important enough to make sure that laws are enforced and also important enough to make sure that appropriate international fora are used.
The International Maritime Organization is the appropriate forum for safety at sea. It had a resolution on the 17th of May of last year, specifically dealing with assuring safety during demonstrations, protests or confrontations on the high seas. It is extremely important to ensure safety at sea. The Australian Federal Police continues to deal with the investigations which have been put to us and deal with them through the appropriate law enforcement agency which we have.
But what is also being asked in the presentation by Japan are two further things.
First, every description of the whaling vessels involved was a reference to research vessels, to Antarctic research activities, to legitimate research activities. Those particular views are views that Australia cannot hold.
Secondly, the presentation from Japan also raised the issue of asking Australia to do more than what are our legal obligations under the International Law of the Sea. We cannot be in a situation where we are providing a higher level of support for a whaling vessel than we would provide to any other vessel within the waters, or within our responsibilities under the International Law of the Sea. That is effectively what is being asked.
So as long as the issue is focused on genuinely ensuring safety at sea, Australia is there and we are there to help provide our international obligations and indeed, Mr Chair, to also make sure that we provide an equal level of protection for all vessels. But to the extent that we are being asked to provide specific protection above and beyond, simply because a vessel is involved in whaling is something which goes beyond the reasonable expectations of safety at sea. And indeed the appropriate forum is not here but is the International Maritime Organization.

Who are the 500 biggest polluters?

Who are Australia's biggest polluters?
B#ggered if I know, but they’d have to be those companies producing around 80% of industry pollution.
So what particular industries are they hiding out in?
Well, surely it’ll be in coal mining, steel and aluminium smelting, cement and zinc production, pulp mills, coal-driven power stations and the like.
Still I’d love to have a peek at Gillard’s list, so I’d know which direction the gouging of my hip pocket will come from first.
And let's face it - it's London to a brick that gouging will happen at almost every opportunity. The captains of industry and their troops down the line will be unable to resist even if they face heavy fines when caught.
For all that – onya Joolya! Well done. The country is finally moving forward.

Pic: Mt. Isa

Update:
According to the Australian Government's Clean Energy Future website the profile of this group is -
135 operate solely in New South Wales and the ACT
110 operate solely in Queensland
85 solely in Victoria
75 solely in Western Australia
25 solely in South Australia
20 solely in Tasmania; and
fewer than 10 solely in the Northern Territory.
a further 45 liable entities operate across multiple states.
around 60 are primarily involved in electricity generation
around 100 are primarily involved in coal or other mining
around 40 are natural gas retailers
around 60 are primarily involved in industrial processes (cement, chemicals and metal processing)
around 50 operate in a range of other fossil fuel intensive sectors; and
the remaining 190 operate in the waste disposal sector.

Are those eager water raiders beginning to shape shift?

On 8 July 2011 The Daily Examiner again addressed the subject of mining exploration in the Clarence River catchment in journalist Terry Deefholt's article Gold mine plan causes concern:

PLANS to build open-cut gold mines in the steep terrain and high rainfall areas of the Orara Valley and near the Little Nymboida River have raised the concerns of well-known Clarence Valley campaigner Judith Melville.

Some of the old gold mine areas targeted are near world heritage-listed rainforest, some is farmland and some is state forest.....

“The mining boom has led to an increase in exploration pressures in the Clarence catchment and I have serious concerns over the potential impacts on catchment water and the level of water required to successfully run these mines,” she said......

Ms Melville described the State Government's regulations on tailings dams as woefully inadequate, referring to a Dam Safety Committee document which outlines how mine owners had to self-assess the risk to public safety from their tailings dams.

She said even a minor spill of mercury or arsenic into the water system could have a major impact.

“It's about perception ... can you imagine how quick Sydney restaurants would stop buying Clarence seafood if there was a perception of contamination?”

She also expressed concern about water usage.

“A thumbnail guide is that processing a tonne of ore requires a tonne of water,” Ms Melville said.

“What happens in a low-flow regime? Are we going to have less water coming in to support a healthy estuary because these companies want to operate all year round.”

Centius Gold's managing director John Slade said the company would conduct aerial magnetic surveys of the Bobo area (south-west of Grafton) in the next couple of weeks with plans to commence drilling shortly after, if the surveys stood up.

Mr Slade said it could take five years of planning, environmental impact statements and decision making before drilling led to a mine.

He said the company would not need to negotiate with any landholders in the next five years because there was enough prospect of gold in state forest areas.

As to concerns about mine tailings, including arsenic, reaching river systems, Mr Slade said the company's gold mining operations “don't touch the water table” unlike coal seam gas.

He said water used to extract gold was pumped into tailings dams unconnected to river systems and the water evaporated over time.

He said the high rainfall of the area would need to be taken into account when planning the size of tailings dams.

An independent geologist's report contained in an Anchor Resources prospectus rates the processing risk of a Bielsdown mine (about 15km north of Dorrigo) as “moderate to high”.

“The mineralisation at Bielsdown contains some mercury, which may be difficult to eliminate from antimony concentrates. If the mercury level in concentrates is too high it could render them unsaleable,” the report said.

A prospectus from Altius mining states the Karangi exploration licence covers at least 150 old gold mines, most of which closed early last century.

“The high grades mined would indicate that there is a strong possibility of developing a number of open-cut mining projects,” the prospectus says.