We are part of an Australia-wide network of groups like us. The issues that are to do with the proposed massive expansion of coal mining and export in Queensland are of national and global importance. They affect us all.
The latest news from climate science is that the great ocean current known as the Gulf Stream is slowing down. It has already slowed by 15%. This foreshadows changes in the global climate beyond what we have seen so far.
The scientists have been saying for a long time now that we need to “keep it in the ground”. Unfortunately, we collectively have become a bit too good at not listening to them.
Australia did sign the Paris Climate Agreement, though you would hardly know. Of the 52 countries that signed, our level of commitment to reduction of greenhouse gas emissions was ranked second-last. Even this modest level of commitment is not going to be met, for want of truly purposeful leadership.
Court rules NSW land clearing laws ‘invalid’
From Echonetdaily.
The Land and Environment Court has today ruled the NSW Government’s land-clearing laws invalid because they were made unlawfully.
‘The government has bungled the introduction of one of its signature pieces of legislation, and in the process demonstrates its careless disregard for nature in NSW,’ Nature Conservation Council CEO Kate Smolski said.
‘Today’s ruling is an embarrassing admission of failure by the Berejiklian government and a great victory for the rule of law and the thousands of people who have supported us in taking this action.’
The Nature Conservation Council, represented by public interest environmental lawyers EDO NSW, launched legal challenge against the government’s land-clearing codes last November.
Stop Adani Tweed community survey
Stop Adani Tweed wishes to survey the views of Tweed Shire residents, regarding the proposed massive expansion of coal mining in Queensland, including the so-called “Adani” mine in the Galilee Basin.
Yes, the projects that are the subject of our survey are located in Queensland, but many of the issues at stake have national and global implications, so you are entitled to an opinion!
We intend to compile the results of this survey into a statistical view of opinions among Tweed Shire residents, so that Government at all levels can be influenced accordingly.
Please take part in our survey, and respond in a timely manner, not later than 31st March, 2018. To complete the survey on-line, go to Stop Adani Tweed community survey
Stop Adani Film Night 22 Feb Brunswick Heads
Rally to Save the Train 3pm Thurs 15th Feb Murbah Railway Station
Message from Northern Rivers Railway Action Group
Dear Team,
As we all live at the far flung districts of the Region and have no train service to enable easy meeting, I am copying you my March Plan, Route Plan and Safety Management Plan.
It is attached as an easy to Print PDF, or copied below.
Please print, Share, Forward, tell your friends, and let’s pull a big crowd and make a very good impression.
Remember the absolute rule, this is to be Peaceful, so, no badgering people, No disturbance to Businesses, No Shouting or Fist waving.
Be very tolerant, there may be some who will attempt to disrupt or cause a fight. Just ignore any heckling.
Keep off the road and follow directions of the Road Crossing controllers who will be wearing high visibility vests (The Polite Force!).
Final Draft Rural Land Strategy presentation
There will be a drop-in session at Murwillumbah Civic Centre’s Canvas and Kettle Room, Thursday February 1 from 7pm to 8:30pm. The session will cover the more than 140 proposed actions in the Draft Strategy which will shape the future of rural land use in Tweed Shire. Draft Rural Land Strategy on exhibition until 28th February.
Journey to Stop Adani frontline
A journey to the front line is being arranged by the Northern Rivers Stop Adani Group leaving on January 13 and returning on January 21. Living costs for the week on the front line are $250 and include everything. For more information look up the Stop Adani Byron Shire Facebook page. You can also post questions and ask someone to contact you on the Facebook page.
A social night on January 9 at Mullumbimby Commons, 91 Main Arm Road from 6 to 9pm will help inform the community about what is taking place as well as provide information on the upcoming journey and encourage people to get involved. Alternatively every Monday at 6.30pm a strategy meeting is held upstairs at the Middle Pub in Mullumbimby to discuss how to effectively move the campaign forward.
Frontline Action on Coal
Ways to help from home http://www.frontlineaction.org/get-involved
To join the frontline action http://www.frontlineaction.org/pledge/
VICTORY. Downer drops Adani!
This is HUGE!!
Downer quietly dropped to the stock exchange this morning that they will no longer build or operate Adani’s Carmichael mine.
Adani are pretending that it’s ‘mutual’, that they can build the mine themselves. But Adani have never built a mine in Australia and never built a mine this big. They simply can’t do it without huge delays, massive costs and extra risk to investors.
We’ve led the campaign to get Downer out of bed with Adani. Hundreds of citizens have blockaded Downer industrial sites day and night, bought shares, protested, donated and even got arrested. Please honour their efforts and celebrate this victory by:
- Sharing this news story
- Sharing our Facebook post, excited video and Tweet
- Donating to our fighting fund so we can target Aurizon, Gina, Macmines or whoever is next
Thank you for your ongoing support. Together we will win!
Stand with the Wangan & Jagalingou people
At any moment, the Queensland Government could extinguish Wangan and Jagalingou native title rights in the Galilee Basin – the land Adani wants to build their Carmichael mega mine on. [1]
The Wangan and Jagalingou (W&J) Family Council have already said NO to Adani four times and are in the midst of a court battle to protect their country. [2]
It’s urgent: in the last few days, the newly elected Queensland Government was asked by W&J to give assurance that they would not extinguish native title until the Federal court case, but the Queensland Government has refused to make this commitment. [3]
This means they could trample Indigenous rights at any moment.
Can you stand with the Wangan and Jagalingou people and make a phone call to tell the Queensland Government not to extinguish native title under any circumstances? Read more on the W&J website.
Stop Adani Tweed campaign launch
Wednesday 13 December, 7-9 pm. Regent Cinema, Murwillumbah. Screening ‘Guarding the Galilee’ documentary, speakers, Q&A panel. Food for sale and live music from 6pm. Tickets at the door or online at http://www.trybooking.com/337282
Repower NSW Week of Action
Renewable energy at Council
Stop Adani Big Day of Action Cabarita Oct 7
Draft Crown Land Management Regulation 2017
Future protection, management, use, transfer or sale of our publicly owned Crown Lands will be defined by the draft Regulation now on exhibition. The Regulations underpin the Crown Land Management Act 2016 (NSW).
Comment can be made until midnight on Sunday 15 October 2017.
Documents that explain the Draft Regulation and inform submissions are:
Draft Crown Land Management Regulation 2017 – See Highlights
Key points for submissions – Crown Lands Alliance
Tweed Shire Council submission
Submissions can be made:
Online
or Email to legislation@crownland.nsw.gov.au
or Post to
Draft Crown Land Management Regulation comments
Department of Industry Lands and Forestry
PO Box 2185
Dangar NSW 2309
Stop Adani Big Day of Action Cabarita 7 Oct
Sunlight and Seaweed
Sunlight and Seaweed , the most recent book by Tim Flannery is a must-read book for all who want to look straight ahead at climate change and its effect on our planet and our lives. Importantly it is a book that presents hopeful solutions in the face of these challenges. Flannery believes we cannot now avoid the 2% warming level but he goes on to show that already there is innovative technology and initiatives which, if embraced in time, can mitigate the legacy we have created.
Central to the solution is a new and much more powerful method of collecting sunlight and one that allows storage of heat despite the disappearance of the sun each night. Access to such clean and abundant power, along with other developing technologies, can solve many urgent problems. For example, it will allow the cleanup of the swaths of polluted and unusable soils on the planet and of the mass of toxic rubbish in the ocean as well as giving access to unlimited use of desalinated water from the sea. Flannery also predicts that food production in the future will rely on extensive use of hydroponics as well large scale seaweed farming, the latter being also a way to substantially reduce carbon in the atmosphere. Each of the initiatives presented is already in operation and the book gives accessible detail about methodology and current development stage.
An Inconvenient Sequel
Keep speaking out against Adani
A message from GetUp..
Since we last spoke, we’ve had two huge wins against Adani. The momentum is palpable.
First, after almost 8,000 of you chipped in to run a huge marginal seats campaign, another Coalition MP has publicly defied Turnbull over the $1 billion dollar Adani loan.
The campaign is now in full swing, with newspaper ads, billboards and rallies saturating key marginal electorates. If we can get more MPs to speak out, this could become a full backbench revolt.
Then, on Friday, Westpac refused to finance Adani!
That leaves Adani with no financial backers. Not one. Australian banks won’t touch it. International banks won’t touch it. Adani’s mine is so politically toxic that 17 banks across the world have refused to fund it. The only person left who thinks it’s a good idea is Malcolm Turnbull.
Northern Rivers Railway Action Group – Film Screening Night 13 March
Climate Emergency Declaration Petition
Calling on the Australian Parliament to declare a climate emergency and to mobilise resources to restore a safe climate. http://climateemergencydeclaration.org/petition2/
Steve Posselt is a Northern Rivers man kayaking to Canberra where he will deliver the signatures on Feb 26. More about Steve’s trip at http://districtbulletin.com.au/steve-posselt-climate-change-kayak/Have your say – Draft Coastal Management SEPP and Coastal Maps
There is still time to have you say on protections for our sensitive coastal environments – the submission deadline has been extended until Friday 20 January 2017.
The NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DOPE) is undertaking public consultation on a Draft Coastal Management State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) and Draft Coastal Mapping. The Coastal Management SEPP and maps will underpin the new Coastal Management Act 2016 that was passed earlier this year (but is yet to commence operation).
The new Coastal Management SEPP will replace existing SEPP 14 – Coastal Wetlands, SEPP 26 – Littoral Rainforests and SEPP 71 – Coastal Protection.
The new coastal management laws divide the coastal zone into four new coastal management areas, and it is important that mapping of these new areas is correct and that sensitive areas are protected from the impacts of urban expansion, biodiversity loss and climate change.
North Coast Energy Forum 2016 – It’s a wrap!
Welcome to the final NCEF newsletter for 2016, and for a while thereafter.
First of all, a huge thank you to everyone involved in this year’s forum – the sponsors, speakers, organising committee, and of course all of you who attended. As with previous years we had over 100 people there, despite a paucity of local media interest (thanks especially to the local World Rally Championship the weekend prior). And a special thanks too to the battery suppliers, some of whom came a long way to showcase the technology that is already transforming the energy sector (and it can’t come quick enough!).
Everything ran pretty smoothly on the day (considering Adam Marshall was delayed), and the evaluations were overwhelmingly positive, although we note the feedback from some that we tried to pack too much in (which to others was a virtue). However, we are always happy to take on advice about how to do things better, should be decide we are up for this task again in another year or two somewhere else in the region.
Solar citizens – Northern Rivers 100% Renewables Forum
Tuesday 29th November, 6:30-8:30 pm (doors open at 6pm). Lismore City Hall, 1 Bounty St, Lismore, NSW. RSVP here.
This event is part of our 100% Renewables Roadshow, with forums in towns and cities across the country. It will feature a presentation of the Homegrown Power Plan — a comprehensive policy road map designed by some of the brightest minds in the business which shows how we can upgrade Australia to 100% renewable power by 2030 — as well as other incredible guest speakers. List of speakers.
The forum will be an opportunity to discuss what’s needed for the orderly transition of the local region and Australia to renewable electricity. You’ll get the chance to hear where local politicians stand — and hold them to account!
Laws passed – Baird condemns wildlife to bulldozers
Premier Baird just gutted the land-clearing laws that have been saving the lives of thousands of native animals like koalas, pygmy possums and squirrel gliders every year.
After several fiery hours of debate, it took just a few minutes for the final vote to seal the fate for our endangered wildlife. It’s a decision that will weigh heavily in the hearts of everyone who values our incredible wildlife, bushland and sustainable farming.
Chip in to help us hold Mike Baird to account for the destruction his laws will cause.
Your efforts haven’t been in vain. I know the laws would have been so much worse if you hadn’t taken a stand. I know that because together we have:
- Put Premier Baird on notice that his attacks on the things we value will be catapulted into the media spotlight and will damage his government’s reputation;
- Impacted the laws by securing important improvements such as excluding some areas like high conservation value grasslands, and critically endangered ecological communities; and ensuring that the Office of Environment and Heritage will be responsible for enforcing the law – not the Department of Primary Industries;
- Encouraged the Labor Party to commit to scrapping Mike Baird’s disastrous laws when they are next in government and replace them with strong protections for bushland and wildlife; and
- Supported thousands of people like you to stand up for what we believe in, growing the number of wildlife defenders who will continue to be a voice for nature.
– The plan –
With Mike Baird’s new laws due to take effect from July, our work is far from over. Over the coming months we will be:
Catalyst – The Anthropocene: a new age of humans
Human impacts on the way our planet functions have now become so extreme many scientists are claiming the Earth has shifted out of the Holocene state and into a new geological epoch.
They’re calling it ‘The Anthropocene’, the new age of humans, because millions of years after we are gone, the scar of our existence will be visible in the rocks of tomorrow.
In this episode we look at how the last 60 years of socio economic growth has transformed the human race into a geological force to rival nature.
The Bentley Effect – Regent Cinema – 18 November
When the coal seam gas industry staked aclaim on the Northern Rivers region of Australia, alarm bells rang out. A critical mass of people from all walks of life – activists, farmers, landowners, mums, dads, scientists, etc – organised themselves to rally against the unconventional gas invasion. Despite the enormous public opposition, the gas industry and the State Government were determined to see their gas plan through. A series of dramatic blockades ensued, before the final battle lines were drawn in the peaceful farming valley of Bentley. Thousands of people flocked to the site to stare down the threat of 850 riot police, ordered in to break up the protest.
Filmed over five years, The Bentley Effect documents the highs and lows of the battle to keep a unique part of Australia free gas-field free. This timely story of a community’s heroic stand shows how strategic direct action and peaceful protest from a committed community can overcome industrial might and political short-sightedness. It celebrates the non-violent ‘Eureka Stockade’ of our time and chronicles one of the fastest growing social movements of our time.
NSW Climate Change Policy Framework released
The policy sets two aspirational objectives:
- Achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
- NSW being more resilient to a changing climate.
The NSW government has also announced a $500 million funding package and released two draft climate change and energy savings documents for public consultation:
2016 North Coast Energy Forum
Theme: “The local energy revolution: Solar plus batteries plus us”.
Friday, 25 November, 2016
The North Coast Energy Forum was established in 2010 to drive the shift to a sustainable energy system for the NSW North Coast. Every year over 100 representatives of industry, government and the community come together to plan how to make this shift happen, strengthen the regional economy; and increase our regional energy security as well as lowering greenhouse emissions.
For the fifth time since the first Forum in Bellingen in 2010, we will bring together decision-makers from government, business and the community to work on creating a sustainable energy system for our region.
This year the theme is “The local energy revolution: Solar plus batteries plus us”. Our focus is on how solar and batteries are revolutionising the energy system from a centralised to a localised model in which power returns to the people. The key questions are: How can we, in the mid North Coast, play an active part in this shift? What are the opportunities for my local community, business or organisation?
Home Expo – Living for the Future 2016
Saturday 3 September 2016 from 9am – 2pm, Seagulls Club, Gollan Drive, Tweed Heads West. A one-stop-shop of local suppliers and inspirers with ideas and solutions for more sustainable living in the Tweed.
The Expo aims to help people:
- save costs
- be energy and water efficient
- reuse resources and reduce waste
- enhance the local environment
- cut greenhouse gas emissions
- move towards food and energy self-sufficiency
- improve your health and wellbeing
- support local suppliers