Sunday 27 October 2019

Australian Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction & Liberal MP for Hume Angus Taylor is not having a good year


The Guardian, 26 October 2019:

Clover Moore rejects Angus Taylor's explanation of document he used to attack her............ Sydney’s lord mayor has categorically rejected Angus Taylor’s version of how he came to rely on 
inaccurate figures of the council’s travel spending to attack her, saying “there were no alternative versions of the document” on 
the council’s website at any time.

from Labor(RMIT ABC Fact Check), 24 October 2019

The Guardian at 4:05pm on 24 October 2019 reported that Labor will refer the matter of the alleged false documents used by Minister for Energy Angus Taylor to the police under Sect 253 of the Crimes Act 1900 if the federal government doesn't do so within 24 hours.

The Guardian, 23 October 2019:

Angus Taylor baselessly accused Sydney’s lord mayor of driving
up carbon emissions by spending $15m on travel, a claim that was 
later backed up with a doctored council document provided to the 
Daily Telegraph, which reported the figure.

On 30 September, the Telegraph reported on page three that the 
“City of Sydney Council’s outlay on flights outstrips that of 
Australia’s foreign ministers”.
The story quoted a letter sent by Taylor to the mayor, Clover 
Moore, saying the council’s annual report for 2017-18 “shows 
your council spent $1.7m on international travel and $14.2m 
on domestic travel”, contrasting the spending with Moore’s 
declaration of a climate emergency in June.
City of Sydney’s publicly available annual report shows 
councillors spent $1,727.77 on overseas travel and $4,206.32 
on domestic travel. 

In total, the council spent $229,000 on travel during 2017-18, 

under its $300,000 budget.After the story was published, Moore
vigorously disputed the figures on Twitter. In subsequent emails 
between the Telegraph and Moore’s office, the paper justified the 
figures using a document supplied by Taylor’s office, purporting 
to be the council’s annual report.
But the document provided to the Telegraph shows wildly different 
figures, which appeared in a strange format unlike the one used 
elsewhere in the annual report.

It is unclear who altered the document. There is no suggestion 
that Taylor himself was responsible.
The council is adamant that it did not alter the figures. It said it 
had checked the metadata to establish that the report had not 
been changed on its website since being posted in November 
2018.
The Guardian, 24 August 2019:

Angus Taylor did not declare at a meeting with environment 
officials about critically endangered grasslands that he had 
financial interest in a company that was under investigation 
for poisoning them.
And no notes were taken by the senior department official 
who attended the meeting in 2017, a Senate committee has
heard.
Officials from the environment and energy department gave 
the evidence at a special hearing of the Senate’s inquiry into 
the extinction crisis on Friday....
ABC News, 20 August 2019:
New figures show Australia's carbon emissions are continuing 
to climb despite Federal Government assurances it has the 
policy framework to address climate change.
In the year to March, emissions rose 0.6 per cent on the previous 
year, according to data released by Energy and Emissions 
Reduction Minister Angus Taylor......
The Guardian, 2 May 2019:
The energy minister, Angus Taylor, has denied he played a role 
in structuring the company which received an $80m government 
buyback of its water rights through the tax haven of the Cayman Islands.
Taylor, who was a director of Eastern Australia Agriculture between 
2008 and 2009 and who described himself as a co-founder of the 
company, told ABC Radio National on Thursday morning he was 
involved only in advising on the agricultural side of the investment.
He said he severed all involvement in the company prior to being 
elected to parliament.
EAA was paid $80m for its overland flow water rights without 
tender in 2017 when Barnaby Joyce was agriculture minister......

Saturday 26 October 2019

Cartoons of the Week

Alan Moir

A Costa


Tweets of the Week



Friday 25 October 2019

A few facts about the NSW Minerals Council and how it operates as an industry lobbyist in 2019


Stephen John Galilee is currently Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NSW Minerals Council, a private sector lobby group for the mining industry with less than 100 members – not all of which are directly engaged in mining activities.

The council conducts public and policy advocacy on behalf of the mining sector, with a staff of 15 full-time equivalent employees – 6 of whom are primarily engaged in work on policy and 5 or 6 engaged in public advocacy, communications & media activity.

Stephen Galilee’s previous employment was as chief of staff to then Liberal MP for Manly Mike Baird when he was Treasurer in the O’Farrell Coalition Government and, before that he was employed as chief of staff to Liberal MP for Groom Ian Mcfarlane when he was Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources.

On 21 October Galilee gave evidence under oath before a NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption inquiry into lobbying practises in this state.

During his evidence Galilee confirmed that the NSW Minerals Council:
  • income is derived from annual membership fees which are set at a percentage or proportion of the value of members commodity production;
  • annual revenue is between est. $4 million to $8 million;
  • is an associate member of the Minerals Council of Australia;
  • meets with government officials “on a regular basis” and such meeting are sometimes with government ministers;
  • probably has face-to-face meetings with between four or five individual ministers at some point during the year which include council policy directors and/or the CEO;
  • has a “regular engagement with the Deputy Premier in his capacity as Minister for Resources”;
  • requests to see ministers are generally submitted by letter to their chiefs of staff (with reasons given), then followed up with a ‘phone call;
  • shadow ministers are also lobbied on occasion;
  • CEO has met with between 8 and 10 NSW Government ministers over the last 2 to 3 years and with 10 to 15 ministerial chiefs of staff. These often involve follow up meetings with ministers' offices, departments or specific policy personnel;
  • meets with the Resources Regulator and Environmental Protection Authority “every couple of months” and with the Dept of Planning’s Division of Resources and Geoscience “every two or three months”;
  • in the past four years has made “around 150 public submissions in response to government proposals for changes to legislation, policy or regulations”;
  • at the moment is regularly engaging with the Department of Planning concerning planning system issues, in particular provisions in the Environmental Planning & Assessment Act;
  • does not use the official form required since 2017 to request meetings with the Dept. of Planning;
  • has meetings with the Dept. of Planning which are not minuted;
  • CEO does not keep records of meeting he attends - often his record comprises only diary entry of meeting date and "three dot points on a piece of paper" to aid memory;
  • current focus in relation to policy advocacy regarding planning system issues is to reduce financial risk for mining/commodity investors which has been spurred on by United Wambo determination, Bylong Project decision and actions of the Independent Planning Commission;
  • is currently "running a public campaign against the Planning Minister and his planning system".
  • states that the government departments “take a lot of industry money to deliver services for us. So we like to make sure those services are being delivered...”; and
  • holds "a lot of functions and events for the industry and we invite local MPs, for example, to attend and ministers and shadow ministers from time to time come along to our functions and events".
[https://www.icac.nsw.gov.au/investigations/current-investigations/2019/lobbying-and-the-nsw-public-sector-operation-eclipse/the-regulation-of-lobbying-access-and-influence-in-nsw-a-chance-to-have-your-say-april-2019]


The NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment apparently considers the NSW Minerals Council an organisation containing 'inhouse' lobbyists not a third party lobbyist and therefore doesn't record contact with this group in its Lobbyist Contact Register to date.

Based on the evidence given  on 21 October, it is possible that there may have been times when no other person has been present at a meeting between a NSW Minister and the NSW Minerals Council.

It is also clear from the evidence that the NSW Minerals Council would be unhappy with any new legislation or regulations requiring a greater degree of transparency with regard to its lobbying activities.

At the same time the NSW Minerals Council does not appear to always trust that public officials and public authorities make decisions on cogent evidence in a balanced, detached, informative way - blaming public interest advocacy and "noisy objectors" for what it perceives as skewing outcomes.

As it now stands the NSW Minerals Council as a lobbyist group seems to be minimally regulated with regard to its activities.

BACKGROUND

NSW Minerals Council membership on its official website as of 23 October 2019:
Full Members
Anchor Resources Limited
Australian Pacific Coal Limited
BHP

Bengalla Mining Company Pty Ltd
The Bloomfield Group

Centennial Coal Company Ltd
Chase Mining Limited.
Cobalt Blue Holdings Ltd
China Molybdenum Co
Clean Teq
Evolution Mining
Fortescue Metals Group Ltd
Glencore Coal (NSW) Pty Limited

Gloucester Resources Ltd
Great Southern Energy Pty Ltd T/A Delta Coal
Heron Resources Limited
Hillgrove Mines Pty Ltd
Idemitsu Australia Resources Pty Ltd
Iluka Resources Pty Ltd
Kepco Bylong Australia Pty Ltd
Mach Energy Australia Pty Ltd

Newcrest Mining - Cadia Valley Operations
New South Resources Pty Ltd
Omya Australia Pty Ltd
Peabody Energy Australia
Regis Resources Limited
South 32 Illawarra Coal Holdings
Shenhua Watermark Coal Pty Limited
Shoalhaven Coal Pty Ltd
Silver Mines Ltd
Thiess Pty Ltd
Whitehaven Coal Limited
Wollongong Coal Limited
Wyong Areas Coal Joint Venture
Yancoal Australia Limited

Associate Members

Ampcontrol Pty Ltd
ARTC - Australian Rail Track Corporation
Ashurst
Aurizon Holdings LTD

B Marheine Holdings Ltd
Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation
Civeo Pty Ltd
Coal Services Pty Ltd
ElectraNet
Emeco International Pty Ltd
EMM Consulting
EMS Group Pty Ltd
Genesee & Wyoming Australia Pty Ltd

Gold and Copper Resources Pty Limited
Golden Cross Resources Ltd
Helix Resources Ltd
Herbert Smith Freehills
Hunter Business Chamber 
Hughes Mining Services
Hansen Bailey Pty Ltd
Jervois Mining Limited
Sydney Mining Club
Jennmar Australia
Johnson Winter Slattery

Geos Mining
McCullough Robertson
Mitsubishi Development Pty Ltd
MRS Services Group Pty Ltd
NuCoal Resources Ltd
NSW Aboriginal Land Council
Niche Environment & Heritage
Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group
Orica Australia Pty Ltd
Pacific National Pty Ltd
Paradigm Resources Pty Ltd
Peel Mining Ltd 
PricewaterhouseCoopers
Port Waratah Coal Services Limited
Hetherington Exploration and Mining Title Services Pty Ltd

Hughes Mining Services
Rangott Mineral Exploration Pty Ltd

Quarry Mining & Construction Equipment P/L
Rimfire Pacific Mining NL
Resource Strategies Pty Ltd
RW Corkery and Company

Sapphire Resources
Seyfarth Shaw Australia
Silver City Minerals Limited
Sparke Helmore Lawyers
UNSW Mining Engineering
TAFE NSW
Thomson Resources Ltd
Umwelt (Australia) Pty Limited
University of Wollongong
XCoal Energy and Resources

Two lives lost and 88 homes destroyed across northern NSW to date in 2019 bushfire season


Bushland and grass fires are still burning across the Northern Rivers region and NSW predominately volunteer 'firies' are still keeping the flames from our doors where and when they can.

Here is the sad toll......

NSW Rural Fire Service, media release, 16 October 2019:
The NSW Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS) has confirmed 64 homes were destroyed in last week’s bush fires across northern NSW.
NSW RFS Building Impact Assessment Teams have now completed the bulk of inspections of fire affected areas.
Over the past week, these teams have conducted more than 1000 surveys of homes, buildings and facilities in the area directly impacted by fires.
The assessments have found:
›   64 homes destroyed, 23 damaged
›   7 facilities destroyed, 9 damaged
›   153 outbuildings destroyed, 70 damaged
›   329 homes in the direct area impacted by the fire saved
Of those homes destroyed, 44 were at the Busbys Flat fire.
Nineteen were due to the Long Gully Road fire, and in addition to 24 which were destroyed by the same fire in September. Tragically, two lives were also lost in this fire last week.
One home was destroyed at the Purgatory Creek fire near the Gwydir Highway at Jackadgery last week.
Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said so far this season, there has been more than 5000 bush and grass fires across NSW, which have burnt through more than a million hectares of land.
“We have seen large and destructive fires take an enormous toll on lives, farms, businesses, homes and communities in recent weeks and months, with a loss of 108 homes already this season.
“And while each one of the properties destroyed is a tragedy for those impacted, more than 1200 homes in the direct area of these fires have been saved due to the hard work of firefighters, landholders and residents.
“It’s important to remember that this is no ordinary bush fire season and we can’t afford to have anyone think this is just another year.
“The crippling effects of the drought, unseasonably warm weather and strong winds have seen fires develop quickly and impacted on lives, farms, businesses, homes and communities.
“There will be more fires this season and there’s a high likelihood of more homes being destroyed – so now is the time to get ready, make a plan, and have a conversation with your family.”
Visit www.myfireplan.com.au for advice on making your bush fire survival plan and preparing your property.

Thursday 24 October 2019

NSW Liberal-Nationals Government to forbid planning agencies to consider potential impacts of climate change


Nature Conservation Council of NSW, media release, 22 October 2019: 

Planning changes deny our biggest challenge – climate change
The Nature Conservation Council condemns the NSW Government’s plans to forbid planning authorities considering the full climate impacts of coal mines and gas projects.
“The government is effectively banning planning bodies from considering the biggest environmental challenge of our age,” NCC Chief Executive Chris Gambian said. 
“The state government has cravenly capitulated to pressure from the Minerals Council, raising serious questions about who controls planning policy in NSW.
“Minister Rob Stokes announced a review into the Independent Planning Commission just days ago and has already undermined it with proposed legislation.
“For the past 12 years NSW has had a planning policy to consider the climate damage of coal produced in this state. 
“It is reckless and irresponsible to gut this policy when dangerous climate change is on our doorstep with fish kills and more extreme heatwaves and bushfires every summer.
“Courts and planning authorities have been trying to deal with climate change because the government has utterly failed. 
“Now the government is tying planning authorities’ hands and undermine the science-based, responsible decision making the people of NSW want.
“No wonder people are marching in the streets for urgent action on climate.” [my yellow highlighting]

Lock the Gate Alliance, 22 October 2019:

Berejiklian back down: NSW Government capitulates to coal lobby
A NSW Government proposal to prevent the Independent Planning Commission from considering downstream climate emissions when assessing mining projects is a terrible mistake that will be remembered by future generations, according to Lock the Gate Alliance. 

It is being reported the government will move to restrict the IPC from considering the effects of "scope 3" greenhouse gas pollution when considering coal mining projects, with new laws to be introduced to parliament this week.

Scope 3 emissions are the greenhouse emissions produced when coal is burned at its final destination. 

Lock the Gate NSW spokesperson Georgina Woods said the legislation would be remembered by future generations as a shameless capitulation to the coal lobby that would harm communities in NSW.

“The government is capitulating to mining industry pressure and winding back laws to address the most important strategic, economic and environmental challenge of our century," she said.

“This is a regressive and fatal mistake that will be remembered for generations.

"New South Wales is right now experiencing a severe and unprecedented bushfire season and one of the worst droughts on record due to climate change. There is so little time left to prevent the problem escalating beyond our control. 

“The public expects all responsible agencies to use the powers available to them to act to avoid harm to our communities and our environment. 

"This is absolutely the wrong move at the wrong time for the Berejiklian Government. A petty political act of vandalism against the urgent needs of their constituents, particularly those on the frontline of global heating in rural Australia.

"Instead of pretending we have no stake in global action on climate change, we need a plan that recognises that the Hunter region will need to adjust to declining coal use worldwide and to prepare our communities for the severe weather extremes that are bearing down on us."
BACKGROUND

The Guardian, 22 October 2019:

The New South Wales government has announced it will introduce legislation to try to stop planning authorities from blocking mine developments based on emissions from coal once it is burned.
The push is a response to the historic Rocky Hill verdict delivered by the NSW Land and Environment court earlier this year and comes just days after the government launched a review of the state’s Independent Planning Commission (IPC).

Environment groups and the legal firm that represented Groundswell Gloucester have described it as a capitulation to the mining industry, which has waged a campaign over recent planning decisions that either rejected mining projects outright or imposed conditions on them related to their impact on the climate.
The NSW deputy premier and resources minister, John Barilaro, said the government would introduce legislation to parliament in the next week to prevent “the regulation of overseas, or scope-three, greenhouse gas emissions” in mining approvals.....
“The government has a very clear policy when it comes to the consideration of scope-three emissions and this will now be enshrined in legislation and through changes to the Mining SEPP (state environmental planning policy),” Barilaro said on Tuesday.
The changes the government is proposing include amending the State Environmental Planning Policy (Mining, Petroleum Production and Extractive Industries) to remove the requirement to consider downstream emissions (emissions after coal or gas is sold and burned).
It also plans to amend the Environmental Planning & Assessment Act so that planning authorities are prohibited from imposing conditions on developers related to downstream emissions.
“These changes will help restore NSW law and policy to the situation that existed prior to the Rocky Hill decision and will provide the mining sector with greater certainty,” Barilaro said.
The proposal is not unexpected and was foreshadowed by the government earlier this month following a campaign by the NSW Minerals Council, which has attacked a number of recent decisions by planning authorities in NSW.
The Sydney Morning Herald, 15 March 2019:
The NSW government prepared sweeping climate change policies to decarbonise the state's economy only to have the plans shelved when Gladys Berejiklian became Premier, documents obtained by the Herald show.
The program included a proposal to "embed climate change consideration into government decision making", and was developed with the advice of the government-appointed expert panel, the Climate Change Council.
Mark Speakman, then environment minister, led the work on two sets of policies that were to give substance to the government's aim to make NSW carbon neutral by 2050. The net-zero carbon goal was announced in November 2016 when Mike Baird was premier.....
Echo NetDaily, 4 April 2019:

Less than a week after being returned to office, the Liberal-National Party moved quickly to weaken environmental protections and local government powers by transferring them to the planning department and the premier, Gladys Berejiklian.

Under the Administration of Acts Order and associated changes made on Tuesday this week, the Coalition government have moved many key ministerial responsibilities, effectively disempowering the ministers and their departments.

Of major concern, say NSW Labor and the Greens, is the scrapping of the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH), a department tasked with the oversight of environmental protection across the state. Premier Berejiklian told Fairfax’s SMH that ‘heritage would be shifted to the Arts portfolio headed by Don Harwin as minister’.

SMH reporter Peter Hannam also wrote, ‘As part of the changes, the Office of Local Government will also cease to exist as a separate entity, while the Planning & Environment cluster will end its operations as of July 1 this year’.

According to Administration of Acts Order, the re-appointed Planning Minister Rob Stokes will now exercise all the powers under the Local Government Act 1993....