Earth Day dates back to 1970 when the first one was held in the U.S.A., but this year’s in particular is a day for sober reflection, says Greens candidate for Eden-Monaro Catherine Moore.

“Every day there are email notifications calling for action on multiple environmental disasters. Unlike the finance reports however, which appear without fail in news bulletins and newspapers, many of these issues receive no coverage at all.

“You name it, it’s happening – the destruction of the Amazon Rainforest and the habitat of indigenous peoples for gold-mining; farmland and forest being turned into palm oil plantations;  attempts by corporations to patent a plant that has been used for thousands of years or to introduce genetically manipulated organisms into land or water when they have not been proven to be safe for human health or the environment. And of course the biggest potential environmental catastrophe of our time, climate change with its more frequent extreme weather and fire events, melting ice and glaciers, and rising sea levels. (more…)

Currently known candidates for Eden-Monaro will meet for the first time in a political forum to be held on Saturday April 13 as part of the Two Fires Festival of Arts and Activism. The Festival, to honour the legacy of writer and activist Judith Wright and named after one of her poems, has been held in Braidwood every two years since 2005. This is the first time there has been a specifically political event at the Festival.

“It’s about time,” says Catherine Moore, Greens candidate for Eden-Monaro.

“There is often a disconnect between activists working for change in their communities, and the politicians who are making the decisions which affect us all. Take the example of the Iraq War, where hundreds of thousands of Australians joined millions around the world protesting against it. But it made not a scrap of difference to the governments of the time.” (more…)

Introduction
Thankyou for the opportunity to comment on this important issue. Our submission seeks to raise a number of issues of concern rather than focus on the detail of the NFP. We endorse the excellent work being done by community groups and others advocating for the sustainability principles that comprise the basis of our approach to food growing and provision.

Issues of concern
The Braidwood Greens believe that the government’s National Food Plan (NFP) will not deliver the  safe, secure, sustainable, local, GM­-free food systems that Australia needs, and we call on the Minister to discard the current plan and start again, to create an NFP that puts the health, well-being and sustenance of Australians at the forefront. The first priority of any NFP ought to be affordable, local, fresh, minimally processed and health-­giving  foods for all. (more…)

Results of a CHOICE survey released today show that consumers are demanding transparent and reliable labelling for free-range eggs that meet high animal welfare standards which is best achieved through legislation, according to Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon and NSW MP John Kaye.

Dr Kaye said: “The Greens’ bill before the NSW Parliament would provide a legislated definition of free-range egg production that would help end the confusion and exploitation that is concerning consumers.

“The results of the CHOICE survey resoundingly reinforce the need to provide certainty to individuals when they buy free-range eggs. This can only be achieved by ending the free range free-for-all that industry self-regulation has become. (more…)

While watching the item on Julia Gillard’s visit to China on last night’s Lateline, I couldn’t help but feel buoyed by the following matter-of-fact response to Ali Moore’s question:

ALI MOORE: Well, I know in (Julia Gillard’s) speech tonight that she did raise the issue of the proposed carbon tax. Is that carbon tax, the idea or the plan to put a price on carbon, an issue for the Chinese?

STEPHEN MCDONELL: Well the interesting thing with global warming in China is that there’s no debate here, no public debate as to whether or not global warming is happening or that it’s man-made, because the Government just accepts the scientific evidence that both of these things are true. So, you know, you’re not gonna get people here questioning Julia Gillard about this. And the big companies here, the state-owned companies have essentially been told to get on with doing something about this. And so you’ve got the big oil companies here, they’re throwing billions of dollars at renewable energy, huge wind farms, solar energy and this sort of thing, so it’s not seen as such a conflict here in that way.

And I really think that any sort of - people questioning whether or not coal prices might go up, for example, imports, as a result of this is just a little bit at the margins. Essentially, as I said, this is - it’s recognised by the Government that these measures must be taken, and so, I s’pose in that sense, Julia Gillard is amongst friends here.

Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party, are you listening? And Big Business in Australia, and all the other detractors of the carbon tax, not to mention the climate change denialists - are you? (more…)

According to the NSW Department of Planning, which says that “Queanbeyan, Palerang and Yass Valley will be the fastest-growing local areas in the State’s  South Eastern region”, Queanbeyan is facing a 72% growth to 65,400 residents and Palerang a 69% growth to 21,900 by 2036.

“The Department seems to be suggesting that this will happen regardless, and we need to plan to accordingly. But how can we plan for increases like this when we cannot even guarantee that there will be adequate water?” asks Palerang councillor and Greens candidate for Eden-Monaro, Catherine Moore.

“With water security and the ongoing effects of climate change unknown, and transport infrastructure far from adequate in both of these Local Government Areas (LGAs), such predicted increases are worrying in the extreme.  (more…)

Australia Day. What does it mean?

For the First Australians, it represents the take-over of their land with the arrival of the first governor and the subsequent events which led to dispossession, disease, genocide and prejudice, not to mention mismanagement and destruction of the land and water systems that had provided for them for so long.

It re-emphasises the failure to acknowledge that Indigenous people were here for tens of thousands of years before the British flag was planted on the soil of what was conveniently called “Terra Nullius” - land belonging to no-one.

This in turn is further emphasised by the flying, draping, parading and wearing of the Australian flag, featuring the colonisers’ Union Jack in the left hand corner. And if that wasn’t enough, the notion of Terra Nullius is rammed home even more by the singing of the National Anthem with its first lines - “Australians all let us rejoice, for we are young and free.”

What’s to celebrate? (more…)

(letter to the editor, published in the CT January 28)

Let’s be honest. Every day more light is shed on why there is no hope for humanity and all those species whose survival depends on our making the right decisions, and your report “Koalas face big logging threat” (January 26) is yet another example. We ought to be doing everything we can to protect biodiversity by retaining habitat, in this case for the last known koala colony on the far south coast. Forest protection has many benefits. As well as providing habitat, forests help to soak up the massive amounts of CO2 we are pumping out, improve catchment and regulate the water table. But no, we prefer to turn our forests into woodchips to meet the demands of insatiable overseas markets, not just in Japan but also China, whose demand for woodchips currently and frighteningly outweighs the huge amounts we already are producing. As with climate change, it is easier to pretend the problem does not exist, or at least, that humans have nothing to do with it, because recognising that our voracious consumption is jeopardising our very existence would mean that we had to do something about it. Australians all let us rejoice? I don’t think so.

Catherine Moore, Charleys Forest

(letter to the editor, Sydney Morning Herald, not published)

Let’s be honest. Every day more light is shed on why there is no hope for humanity and all those species whose survival depends on our making the right decisions. SMH, January 25 – p. 2: “Snowy in dire state ‘on life support’ “ demonstrates that our inaction is ensuring that the Snowy River is “dying through neglect”. Page 5: “Logging plan poses threat to precious koala colony” warns that the last known koala habitat on the far south coast of NSW is at risk of annihilation because we prefer to turn our forests into woodchips to meet the demands of insatiable overseas markets than do everything we can to protect biodiversity (and maximise our contribution to soaking up the CO2 we are putting out). Page 2: “Storm brews over glacier blunder” highlights yet again the desperate attempts of climate change sceptics who will do anything to try to prove that climate change science is flawed. All this is on a backdrop of the underlying problem – our inability to come to grips with our voracious consumption, because if we did, we would have to do something about it. Australians all let us rejoice? I don’t think so.

Catherine Moore

The Greens are calling on the Rees government to address growing house sizes to avoid massive investments in the electricity network and increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

Commenting on a story in today’s Sydney Morning Herald (’Houses too big, say Greens’ 1 December 2009 page 4), Greens NSW MP John Kaye said: “Developers are currently reaping in huge profits by building big houses on relatively small lots.

“Larger houses use more energy, put more stress on electricity infrastructure and drive up greenhouse gas emissions.

“Household electricity bills across the state are going up to pay for the developer’s windfall gains as the Rees government commits NSW to $17 billion of new distribution and transmission wires and poles. More than 30 percent of the new investment is driven by the growing demand for electricity. (more…)