Hogan, are you with the Knitting Nannas or Nash's Nats? asks Saffin

Hogan, are you with the Knitting Nannas or Nash’s Nats? asks sitting Federal Labor MP for Page Janelle Saffin.

Nationals candidate Kevin Hogan really needs to answer that question soon - for his ability to represent those Northern Rivers communities taking a stand against coal seam gas exploration and mining is in question as reports continue to reveal his political bosses are not in the mood to not listen to party small fry like himself:

* The Coalition has stated that it wants to remove the additional layer of federal oversight for CSG projects should it gain power in September, and create a “one-stop shop” for approvals at state level.

* Worse still was Opposition resources spokesman Ian MacFarlane, whose own electorate of Groom takes in CSG proposals, calling on industry to work to ensure the controversy surrounding the gas sector rollout does not become an election issue.

He needs to further explain how he would rein in both his Coaltion colleagues and the industry given that in May 2013 even the Productivity Commission has observed:

the practices of some resource explorers (and some subcontract drilling operators and others) have tainted the reputation of the industry.

While just yesterday ABC News North Coast reported that an email trail revealed that NSW Liberal MP and Minister for Resources & Energy Chris Hartcher was so eager to accommodate Metgasco that he was determined to grant that company a CSG production lease ahead of approval conditions being established - apparently in an attempt to help Metgasco bolster its faltering share price.

A ploy which apparently worked - because in September 2012 Metgasco's share price did rally before once again beginning its inexorable fall.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-06-03/foi-csg-ministerjpg/4730022

Update

The Daily Examiner 4 June 2013:

In another revelation, it seems Metgasco did not want to have any announcement about their production licence being granted before council elections on September 8, possibly because of the CSG referendum being held by Lismore City Council.

On 3 September 2012 Citicorp Nominees Pty Limited had 9,996,123 shares in ERM Power Limited which is Metgasco Limited's largest shareholder. This represented 5.93% of all issues shares and made the Commonwealth Bank of Australia its third largest shareholder.

Since then the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and its subsidiaries appear to have divested themselves of the bulk of these shares and the bank ceased to be a substantial shareholder in ERM on 7 May 2013. Has the bank also sold off its Metgasco shares?

Newcastle Trades Hall Council joins Lock The Gate in opposing CSG exploration/drilling in Hunter Valley

Newcastle Trades Hall Council (NTHC) and Lock The Gate 14 May 2013 statement:

The Lock The Gate Alliance looks forward to working with the Newcastle Trades Hall Council, after the peak union body declared it is totally opposed to further coal seam gas (CSG) exploration and drilling in the Hunter Valley.

The motion passed by the Council cites risks to the environment and the community, and concerns for agricultural lands and townships, and supports the NTHC working closely with groups opposing CSG until the unconventional gas mining practice is proven safe.

NTHC Secretary Gary Kennedy said that CSG drilling technology was not proven to be safe. “The dangers to aquifers, the environment and the community are real, with little public benefit,” he said.

“While it is true that there is a shortage of natural gas, this is because we are selling our gas to overseas markets to maximise corporate profits.”

“The NSW Government have not gone far enough to fully protect the environment, landowners, and the community,” said Kennedy.

Lock The Gate's regional coordinator for the Hunter, Steve Phillips, welcomed the involvement of the NTHC in the campaign to protect the Hunter Valley from CSG. “The movement to protect the Hunter Valley from CSG includes residents groups, farmers, vignerons [wine producers], and environmentalists. It now includes the peak trade union body in the region — the Trades Hall Council,” he said.

“People and organisations are uniting to fight coal seam gas, because CSG is a major threat to farmland, ecosystems, waterways, and public health. Propaganda from both gas companies and the NSW Government — through it's laughable CSG “information” website — cannot hide the facts.”

“In Queensland, where the CSG industry has been allowed to take hold, the worst fears of the community are coming true. Gas is leaking up uncontrollably from the ground, and from rivers. Kids are getting sick. Communities are being destroyed.”

“More than 80% of surveyed residents in Tara report health problems since the development of the British Gas-owned CSG field there. Symptoms include coughs, chest tightness, rashes, difficulty sleeping, joint pains, muscle pains and spasms, nausea, vomiting, spontaneous nose bleeds, skin irritation, and eye irritation.”

“Lock The Gate welcomes the inclusion of the Trades Hall Council in this critical campaign to protect public health, agriculture, ecosystems, and waterways from coal seam gas drilling,” concluded Phillips.

The spinning top that is Tony Abbott

Almost every utterance of Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has to be taken with a grain of salt.

This was Tony Abbott during the House of Representatives’ Question Time on 30 May 2013:

My question is to the Prime Minister. I remind her that the latest IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook shows that Australia's competitiveness has slumped to its lowest ranking in 17 years….

Oh dear, poor Mr. Abbott. The 2013 IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook actually showed that Australia’s ranking has risen since 2012. Which means he has been a little slow in noticing the ‘slump’.

Mr. Abbott also doesn’t mention that this year’s IMD report records Australia at rank 16 as being more competitive than the United Kingdom, Mainland China, Japan and New Zealand among others.

I wonder if he has noticed that none of the data used by the Swiss business school which produces this year book is actually sourced directly from Australia?

Just when you think the Institute for Cetacean Research cannot sink any lower, the media reports this..................

ABC News 2 June 2013:

Japan's peak whaling body has launched a new campaign to promote whale meat as a nutritious food that enhances physical strength and reduces fatigue.

With about 5,000 tonnes of whale meat sitting unwanted in freezers around Japan, the country's Institute for Cetacean Research has decided to launch a new campaign to promote the by-product of its so-called scientific whaling program.

Once popular in school lunches, younger generations of Japanese rarely, if ever, eat whale.

But the institute hopes to revive flagging interest by advertising whale meat as a great source of balenine - a substance believed to enhance energy and physical health….

Sushi made from Minke whale meat and blubber