Peru is the world centre of origin for potatoes - a gene pool of potato biodiversity too precious to jeopardise. Read on and if you think developing GE potatoes for Peru is a bad idea, send your group’s endorsement of the following open letter (more…)

(letter to the NSW Premier)

URGENT

Dear Premier,

Apparently logging has just commenced in the above-mentioned compartment.  On behalf of Braidwood Greens, I write to strongly object to this and urge you to ensure that this compartment is immediately removed from the NSW State Forests logging schedule.

The Bodalla State Forest logging and its impact on Gulaga also prompts me to write to you in relation to the continued woodchipping of our native forests.  In 1995 Bob Carr promised to end woodchipping by 2000.  Instead, this practice has expanded, with the industry recently “celebrating” an annual total of a million tonnes of chips. (more…)

Greens Senator Kerry Nettle today urged the Treasurer not to continue the government’s contempt for university students and instead ensure that the budget next week delivers key funding for student financial support, funding to reduce class sizes and retain a broad range of course offerings.

“Today the National Union of Students are protesting for better quality and more accessible higher education. The Greens echo this call and urge Peter Costello to loosen the purse strings to help our struggling university system.

“The contempt that the Howard government has shown to students over the past 11 years has strangled educational productivity.

“The Greens call on Peter Costello to use his last budget to deliver the money needed to reduce class sizes and end fees, an adequate living allowance to support students’ when they are studying and real indexation of government funding of universities. (more…)

Thankyou for the opportunity to make a submission. On behalf of the Braidwood Greens, I wish to make the following short submission on the proposed foray into nuclear power in Australia.

For all the reasons which have been outlined on countless occasions by environment groups, and reinforced by prominent figures like Mikhail Gorbachev, the Braidwood Greens are strongly opposed to any expansion of the uranium industry. (more…)

Dear Premier,

The Braidwood Greens are deeply concerned at your government’s push to rush through new legislation that will critically damage our rivers and wetlands by taking yet more water away from them.
The health of our rivers and wetlands is in decline. (more…)

Thankyou for the opportunity to make a submission on the LEP template. This is only a brief submission, given the closing date is today.

The LEP template is an important step in streamlining the NSW planning system. However, we believe that a major flaw in the template that it has been designed as a “one size fits all” document, and this is entirely inappropriate given the diversity of circumstances in metropolitan and rural areas. With that in mind, we would advocate separate templates, because if this does not happen, we believe that there may be an adverse impact on both metropolitan and rural areas. (more…)

The Braidwood Greens make this submission in support of the above Bill, recognising that it is essential that voters themselves are able to determine where their preferences are going in the event that they want to avoid having to fill out a large number of squares through the process of below-the-line voting.

Under the current system and with the public’s knowledge about the electoral process in general so poor, voters are often unaware of the process of preference distribution for above-the-line votes and many are appalled to learn, after an election and when it is too late, that their vote has flowed onto and perhaps elected a party or candidate whom they would not have supported otherwise. (more…)

Braidwood Greens are deeply concerned that, now that a decision has been made on the new reserves, the moratorium will be lifted on those areas of State forest that were not protected, and that Forests NSW will amend the Plan of Operations for the Southern area. If this happens, significant diverse forest containing old growth and important as carbon store are at risk. One such example is Tallaganda Forest, on the doorstep of Braidwood - an isolated ecosystem, largely separated from the rest of the forest estate, unique due to its high altitude and not represented anywhere else in the Southern reserve system. (more…)

June 6, 2004

The Greens are very concerned about a number of aspects of the draft Budget and Management Plan, which has gone on exhibition and which is to be finalised on June 22, four days before the Eastern Capital City Regional Council (ECCRC) elections. (more…)

To the Hon. Craig Knowles
Minister for Planning, Infrastructure and Natural Resources
Dear Minister,

The Braidwood Greens are extremely concerned about the Environmental Planning and Assessing Amendment (Development Consents) Bill 2003, which would allow the Minister to extend the lapsing period on Development Consents for Projects of State Significance for a maximum of three years.

Extending a five-year Development Consent without further evaluation could pose new risks to the environment given how environmental circumstances and knowledge of best practices change over time. An example of this is the area’s hydrology, which has changed since 1999 with the embargo on water licences that have come into effect.

This Bill is an extremely inappropriate response to the situation at Lake Cowal. Third party litigation has not been brought by environmental opponents of the development. Rather, litigation has been primarily over the issue of the collection and destruction of Aboriginal artefacts and all litigation has been brought to the courts by Wiradjuri Elder, Neville Williams. (more…)