Justin Field | Politician
Justin Field
Phone: +61 2 9230 3335
Reviews
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25.01.2022 Wow. Did you know particles from tyres are the second most common micro plastic found in our oceans? Hundreds of thousands of tonnes every year washes of roads into creeks, rivers and the sea. Great concept. Let’s hope these types of solutions can come to market quickly and be mandated. Driving less helps too!
25.01.2022 Do you think the NSW Coalition under Gladys Berejiklian is saving the Koala? - Since 2016 there has been a 1300% increase in land clearing approvals. - In 2018 an area 100 times the size of the Sydney CBD was cleared.... Under the Coalition we've seen a return to broad scale deforestation in NSW. Under these policies the Koala is expected to go extinct in NSW by 2050. Let's stop the games and actually do something to protect the Koala in NSW.
24.01.2022 Why is the Darling dying? It’s pretty clear when you look at the facts. The study found that while the Darling River recorded 433 days of zero flow at Bourke in 2018-19 - when close to a million fish were killed downstream - 100,000ML of water was captured by the upstream tributary dams.
24.01.2022 Water management under the NSW Nationals has been a failure. Fish kills, water theft, failed water sharing plans, attacks on environmental water, big new dams with no business case, the ongoing brinkmanship over the plan undermining confidence - it goes on and on. Here’s a big new front in the battle for living rivers and prosperous river communities. In the next 9 months the Government is supposed to complete the licensing of floodplain harvesting in the North West of the ...State. Billions of litres and billions of dollars are at stake. The policy is a dog’s breakfast. Last night the State’s Upper House struck a blow for the rivers but it is just the start. Communities need to stay engaged in this debate because there is so much to lose if we get this wrong and trust me - lots of people have a vested interest in us getting it wrong!
24.01.2022 Why is Shoalhaven Council ignoring the pleas of residents to pressure the NSW State Government and Environment Minister to reign in the actions of Forestry Corporation. Council are ignoring community concerns despite 85% of local forests having been burnt in the fires and Forestry Corproation already being under investigation for breaches of logging rules. Good to see the Mayor Amanda Findley recognising the genuine community concern. Forestry Corporation now wants to go in...to three more sites in the South Brooman State Forest and intend to close an important local road that will have huge impacts on local businesses. They can't take another hit after last summers fires and now Covid-19. If this isn't a local issue, I don't know what is. About time Shoalhaven Council recognised that business as usual after the fires is just not on when it comes to logging in our damaged local forests. They need help to recover and need leadership from council.
23.01.2022 I will vote against the no- confidence motion against the Premier today and I suspect that with my vote the motion will fail - here is my speech about why I have taken that position. _______________________ I rise to speak on this no confidence motion....Continue reading
23.01.2022 Thank goodness the bureaucracy stood in the way of what would have been a knee jerk, destructive and decisive policy. That the Transport Minister thought he had the power to order the destruction of millions of trees is concerning. The fires on the South Coast deeply impacted all of us who live there, but my experience is that the grief for those who lost their lives and homes is equaled by the grief for nature - our forests and wildlife. ... Andrew’s own electorate is known as the Sappfire Coast - known for the majestic wilderness that lines the Princess Highway and local roads. It’s one of the key reasons people live there and visit. The idea he would want to unilaterally destroy that is unthinkable. We need a plan for building local resilience to catastrophic fire risk, but just destroying more trees is not the answer and science tells us it can increase the risk. This war on nature, trying to put community safety against the trees that sustain our wellbeing, that give us clean air and water, that support our local wildlife, has to end.
23.01.2022 Important Covid-19 update for people who live in or have visited the Milton-Ulladulla area recently.
23.01.2022 Sydney’s Juukan Gorge! The NSW Government’s plans to raise the Warragamaba Dam threatens to flood hundreds of important Aboriginal cultural heritage sites including sites that are part of the creation story for the Gundungurra People. It may flood even more sites but the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage assessment appears to have been totally inadequate. ... Governments are failing to learn the lessons from Rio Tinto’s destruction of the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara. Aboriginal heritage is again being cast aside for development.
22.01.2022 So horribly sad to see this. Let’s hope we can get to the bottom of why this has happened so we can prevent it.
22.01.2022 We are destroying the Darling River. More precisely - the National Party is. Over allocation, flawed water sharing rules and a failure to adequately account for climate change and worsening droughts have left the river and communities that rely on it suffering. It can no longer be relied on to provide water into the Murray and South Australia putting more pressure on Southern Rivers to meet NSWs’ commitments. That’s breeding anger from irrigators in the Southern region. It’s... a debacle. Tomorrow in Parliament I will move to disallow regulations that have exempted floodplain harvesting from the requirements for a licence and for certain dams and other water supply works from requiring approvals. After a public inquiry and months of public debate the legal basis of the regulation is still unclear and the level of take that is currently allowed is clearly unsustainable. If we don’t get this right, the NSW Government risks handing out billions of dollars worth of floodplain harvesting licences for unapproved and potentially illegal works that future generations will be forced to buy back to save our rivers. Premier Berejiklian can’t afford another costly environmental disaster from the NSW National Party. If the Legislative Council is perform its role as the house of review it should disallow this regulation.
22.01.2022 I watched Seaspiracy last night. It is hugely disappointing. The film shows an important truth that global commercial fishing is devastating to fish stocks and the health of the oceans, heavily polluting, corrupt and exploitative of people and grossly cruel. But this message is confused by an overemphasis (and I don't think fully justified) on attacking environmental NGOs for being the enablers of this destruction, no recognition of the positive effect of well designed and e...Continue reading
21.01.2022 Some photos from this morning's training session for the Pilliga Ultra - a run to save the Pilliga Forest from the Narrabri Gas Project. Just under 4 weeks to go until the race. 32km this morning and a 71km week. Probably the biggest week I'll do in the leadup. Feeling a bit stiff this afternoon. I spent most of this morning running through Garrard Reserve at Narrawallee which is not far from where I live on the South Coast. It's a beautiful patch of forest that is recoveri...ng after years of logging. Its beauty and the sounds of the birdlife hides its history. Very few trees that are left standing in the reserve are as big as many of the stumps left from logging decades ago. The reality is that this is still a young forest with very few large habitat trees compared to what it would have been before the loggers moved it. It is also fragmented, with residential and agricultural development now surrounding it. But the reserve is here and has been given a chance to recover and grow old again because people stood up and worked to protect it. Garrard Reserve is an amazing place to go for a walk or run or a bike ride and running through it this morning made me think a lot about our relationships with forests and in particular why I am going up to the Pilliga next month. The Pilliga Forest is the largest contiguous patch of forest and woodland in Western NSW. Most of it is contained with National Park, Nature Reserve, State Conservation Area or State Forest. About half of it is State Forest which is open to logging and some hunting and it is here (mostly in the Bibblewindi and Pilliga East State Forests) where the Narrabri Coal Seam Gas Project has been approved to sink 850 coal seam gas wells. The Pilliga is home to 900 plant species, 40 native mammals and 50 reptiles and 15 frogs. It used to be home to one of the largest populations of Koalas in NSW. Here are two facts you need to know about forests. About 80% of all terrestrial species live in forests and 70% of the carbon stored in a tree is captured in the last half of its life. That means protecting mature forests is one of the best things we can do to halt the extinction crisis, protect biodiversity and mitigate climate change. The last thing you want to do while we are in an extinction and climate crisis is to fragment the largest temperate forest and woodland in Western NSW with gas wells, pipelines and roads. This is one of the reasons I am running in the Pilliga Ultra to help those group working to protect this forest for the future. You can sponsor me by going to this link: https://pilligaultra.raisely.com/justin-field Or follow the tabs to support the other runners. All funds raised are split between these groups: - Gamilaraay Next Generation - The Gomeroi Environment Centre - Mullaley Gas and Pipeline Accord
21.01.2022 Mining at Cudmirrah? At Swan Lake and Sussex? You've got to be kidding right! The Shoalhaven community has been shocked to see an application to explore for non-metallic minerals over 9 square kilometres of the sensitive coastal area between Sussex and Berrara has been lodged with the NSW Department of Regional NSW. The area includes the township of Cudmirrah, parts of the sensitive coastal Swan Lake and areas of Crown Land covered with endangered Bangalay Sand Forest. ... This is an area highly unsuitable for any form of extractive industry and it is inconceivable that exploration for mineral deposits could eventuate into any form of commercial mining in the area. I've written to the Department and Minister responsible, Deputy Premier John Barilaro, to find out what's going on.
19.01.2022 Santos' newly released sustainability report at today's AGM shows their carbon emissions are going up and their plan to reduce scope 3 emissions is to....you guessed it....export more LNG! Today Santos held their AGM and released their 2021 Sustainability Report. It is mostly 74 pages of fluff about their workforce, community partnerships and contributions (or bribes) and local procurement. The little bits that are actually about sustainability are all hollow promises - espe...cially about their carbon emissions. Santos' emissions targets are these: - Reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions and emissions intensity by 26-30 per cent by 2030 - Reduce Scope 1 and 2 emissions to net-zero by 2040 - Reduce global emissions (Scope 3) through LNG export growth by growing LNG exports to at least 4.5 million tonnes per annum by 2025. But here's the facts - - check out these emissions figures. Santos' carbon emissions are still going up year on year and business growth shows they'll go up even more. Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions are all up in the last year. - nearly all of Santos' emission reduction strategies to meet their targets are based on carbon capture and storage (are we still talking about that?). - best of all is that Santos claim they are going to help reduce global emissions by increasing their LNG exports by at least 4.5 million tonnes per annum by 2025 - because the answer to every challenge for a gas company is more gas! You can read the report here: https://www.santos.com//210414_Santos-releases-2021-Sustai
19.01.2022 There is no reason why protecting the environment should be a partisan issue. Surely we can all agree on the need for clean air and water and protecting biodiversity. Being strong on the environment doesn’t seem to be an electoral barrier to the Tories. Why are the NSW Liberals so quick to conceed to the Nationals on the Environment? If the Liberals can’t turn around the anti-environment policies of the Government in NSW while in Coalition with the Nationals, they need to tear up the Coalition agreement - it’s wrecking the state.
18.01.2022 The entire biodiversity offsetting scheme in NSW warrants investigation (not just an internal departmental one) and reform. Conflicts of interest are one thing but the reality is that the scheme doesn’t protect or improve biodiversity, it allows the destruction of biodiversity under the guise that in exchange for that loss, another area will be permanently protected. Firstly, that’s still a net loss. ... Secondly, often the land used as biodiversity offsets were never at risk of being developed, so there is no future avoided loss either. Thirdly, increasingly there is insufficient land available to offset the loss of certain species or habitat. It’s a hugely complicated process and inside knowledge would position clever consultants with capital backing to take advantage of this ‘industry’. It’s morally wrong, and if it’s not legally wrong - it should be. The profits claimed in this story is public money that isn’t now available to preserve other areas or implement recovery programs for threatened species. The environment loses and developers and consultant gain - and the program was specifically designed to do that.
18.01.2022 Is this some kind of joke? Does anyone believe John Barilaro's media comments that he wants to see a thriving Koala population in NSW? At the end of the day you can't protect Koalas if you keep chopping down trees and the National Party has never seen a tree they didn't want to cut down. Why did John Barilaro allow unburnt critical koala habitat to be logged against EPA advice? Under the Nationals, land clearing approvals have increased by 1300% since 2016.... The NSW Nationals continue to back in the Shenhua coal mine and Narrabri Gas Project that both threaten local koala populations. Today we learn John Barilaro's advocacy on the Koala SEPP was on behalf of a property developer, not a farmer. It's all crocodile tears from John Barilaro and the Nationals. They are more responsible than anyone for the decline of Koala habitat in NSW.
18.01.2022 12 months ago today the Currowan fire started. It burned for about 3 months leading to a loss of lives, hundreds of properties being destroyed and hundred of thousands of hectares of forests burnt and millions of animals killed. Some of those forests badly burnt were the first to face a return of logging in NSW. The systemic breaches of rules by those logging operation led to the creation of the Brooman State Forest Conservation Group. Their efforts to document the illegal logging activities led to stop work orders being issued by the NSW EPA. Business as usual cannot continue. Those fires changed everything in my community and across the South Coast in particular. Where Governments have failed, the community has stood up to take action.
17.01.2022 This isn't a gas led recovery - it's a free cash for mates recovery. The Coalition - the so-called party of the free market - wants to intervene and sure up demand for gas drilling that is a risk to land, water and the climate. The big threat to regional NSW is the industrialisation of the landscape, whether by the gas or mining industry or corporate agribusiness. Where are the National Party MPs threatening to run to the X-bench now? ... The East Coast gas export industry has been a total failure of industry and climate policy? So what does the Coalition propose to address this failure? Keep doing what they've done before and pretend it will be different. It won’t be.
16.01.2022 These the are so called Zombie PELs of NSW. Petroleum Exploration Licences that have long ago expired but the Government has not extinguished as they were waiting to see what happened to the Narrabri Gas Project. This has left communities covered by these PELs living with the uncertainty of gas exploration for years and years. It looks to me as if at least four of these PELs encroach cover the Upper Hunter electorate. What say you Upper Hunter by election candidates? What w...ould you do with these long expired exploration licences? Thanks to NWPA for the map.
16.01.2022 Independent NSW MLC Justin Field has called on the NSW Government to commit to an independent investigation into the state’s biodiversity offset scheme following revelations in the Guardian that consultants advising the Government on major developments had made windfall profits buying land to obtain and sell biodiversity conservation offset credits back to the Government. Independent NSW MLC Justin Field said, "The allegations raised in the media today should be independentl...y investigated by the Auditor General as part of a thorough review of the entire biodiversity offsetting scheme in NSW. "It is totally unacceptable that consultants with specialised inside knowledge of a process are able to make windfall profits from public money. This is money that now won’t be available for further investments in biodiversity protection. There are either fundamental problems with the scheme in terms of addressing conflicts of interest or the wrong thing has been done. The internal investigation promised by the Government is not enough, it needs to be independent. The revelations come just as the NSW Government is consulting on changes to how offset credits and developer charges are calculated with a plan to reduce transparency in those calculations. Any changes to the scheme should be paused until a thorough independent review is completed. "We need to step back and ask if the currently biodiversity offset scheme is even fit for purpose in terms of protecting biodiversity. "Australia is in the grip of an extinction crisis, driven in large part by the loss of habitat through land clearing and development. You cannot offset your way out of that crisis and allow a continual loss of habitat which is what this offset scheme allows. "It's time we had biodiversity protection laws that drew a clear line in the sand and protected what is important as well as investing in the regeneration of degraded land," Mr Field said.
16.01.2022 BREAKING NEWS: John Barilaro’s Department has directly intervened to force logging back into critical Koala habitat threatening the ecological recovery of the forest after last season’s fires. This is despite warnings from the EPA the move could be against the law. Read the story here: https://mobile.abc.net.au//barilaro-logging-propo/12692102
15.01.2022 Good signs. NSW needs a fiercely independent and transparent environmental watchdog who will uphold the law and hold those who break the law to account. The recent stop work orders to NSW Forestry Corporation and warnings to that organisation over plans to log under pre-fire rules have been widely supported by the community. Ping Matt Kean MP
14.01.2022 Absolutely appalling. Land clearing and deforestation in NSW has exploded since the Coalition came to Government in 2011. Check out the full story here: https://www.abc.net.au//deforestation-land-cleari/12535438 2nd only to Queensland in Australia and among the highest rates of deforestation in the world. ... A Koala SEPP can’t fix that. The Nationals anti-environment policies are destroying the country.
14.01.2022 If you think clearing a few trees reduces bushfire risks you’re ignoring the science. We need an honest discussion about what it will take to prepare communities for future catastrophic fires. Ideological wars against nature set us all up for failure.
13.01.2022 It seems to me that Labor is making a political judgement that honesty about coal - the fact that transition is both necessary and inevitable - is not worth the electoral risk. That risk comes because the other side of politics, with the backing of the Murdoch press, are prepared everyday to tell lies about climate change and the role digging up and burning coal plays in making that worse. Instead Labor will leave it to the market which will be less and less likely to put m...oney into new and expanded coal and more as more likely to back renewables. Labor hope their positive policies for renewables will mitigate any backlash from the electorate about their continued support (as half hearted as it no doubt will be) for new coal. It’s hard to argue against this political judgement given the last decade of destructive climate and energy debate in Australia and how that seems to have disproportionally have impacted on Labor’s electoral chances. But what of the risks from having both major parties in Australia being prepared to ignore science and choose political positioning over honesty and working to build a public consensus for change? Taking a position of support for new coal cannot be justified on any basis - economically, socially or environmentally - but that is where the centre and right of politics is in Australia today. But that’s not where the centre of the country is at the moment and it seems like a monumental error to cede that ground. This debate isn’t something that is going to be resolved easily or soon. The transition is going to get harder, not easier. So when and how does Labor pivot to say enough - not only no new coal but now we need a state sanctioned shut down because we approved a bunch of mines that never should have been. I guess they are hoping they can do that from a position of political strength in Government - but Gillard’s no carbon tax under a govt I lead and the political backlash to the ETS negotiated in minority government comes to mind. I’m not in Government or in a Party trying to form Government so my opinions on this come from a position of political luxury. I’m not going to just point a finger and say not good enough Labor - because I’m not in those rooms making those decisions. But how deeply disappointing it is that more than a decade into the craziness of climate and energy policy in this country that both sides of politics are back spruiking for new coal mines to win votes in a handful of electorates.
13.01.2022 'Pretty fancy thinking’ won't solve the climate crisis or give us cheaper electricity. What a joke of a policy and a Government.
13.01.2022 Often the debate around marine sanctuaries becomes a very narrow environmentalist versus recreational fisherman debate. It's often framed about what it will mean for the ability to catch more or bigger fish. Some fishers try to make it all about them and what they can and can't do and what they think they should be able to do. I understand why some see this discussion that way but the idea of marine sanctuaries is broader than that. Most people agree that it makes sense to put some areas aside for protection. We do it on land, why not on water. Check out Save Batemans Sanctuaries
11.01.2022 Read all about it! Scott Morrison's gas fuelled calamity. A dud power plan from a dud PM. And the Nationals still aren't happy cause they wanted a coal-fired one!
11.01.2022 Have the lessons of the Juukan Gorge not been learnt? The plan to raise the Warragamaba Dam wall is being pushed by some in the NSW Government despite Traditional Owners and the Commonwealth raising significant concerns about the adequacy of the Aboriginal cultural heritage assessment.
11.01.2022 Waste incineration in Sydney is madness. It’s a health risk that will create a pull factor for more waste to feed these profit driven developments. Our focus needs to be on reducing consumption in the first instance, then reducing waste production like single use plastics, up cycling and recycling. What we then do with residual waste is a problem, but burning it has big risks.
10.01.2022 Did someone say the Nationals represent farmers? Looks like who they really care about is property developers and political donors.
10.01.2022 We need to create a new future for the Shoalhaven's forests - sign up to join the campaign today. 85% of state forests across the Shoalhaven burnt last summer. Despite the devastating ecological damage and tragic loss of wildlife, logging operations recommenced almost immediately after the fires. Forestry Corporation were ordered by the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) to stop work for clear breaches of logging rules. Despite this, they now want to go back to "business... as usual" and recommence logging at pre-fire levels - with 13 sites identified across the Southern Shoalhaven region. The EPA has warned that the environmental consequences of logging burnt forests at these levels is unacceptable. We need to imagine and create a new future for the Shoalhaven's forests. We can transition the forestry industry out of native forest logging and onto private land and plantations and continue to support these jobs. We can manage our magnificent state forests as ecological and recreational reserves that can support jobs in local nature based tourism and aid the recovery of iconic local animals like the Greater Glider, the Yellow Bellied Glider and the Glossy Black Cockatoo. We can support the forests to recover and adapt to climate change, to maximise their potential as vital carbon sinks, creating more jobs and economic opportunities for the region. The Shoalhaven's state forests are worth far more left standing. Sign up to join the campaign to create a new future for the Shoalhaven's forests today.
10.01.2022 This week the NSW Parlaiment gave some hope to Darling Barka River. Hope that we can turn around some of the bad decisions of the past and work to return life to the rivers of inland NSW. On Tuesday night, my motion to strike down laws that risked locking in an unsustainable level of warter take from floodplain harvesting across the Northern Basin of NSW was supported by nearly all non-Government MPs. It sends a clear message to NSW Nationals Water Minister Melinda Pavey. ...This isn't good enough. We need a reset. We need to work to rebuild trust, and to get to the bottom of the facts so we can have a proper debate about the future of the river. This decision won't solve the problems for the Darling Barka River, but it will stop some of them from getting worse in the short term. The long term challenges are ahead of us. Here's my speech to the house. Thanks to all those people who campaigned for this week's outcome.
10.01.2022 Raising the Warragamba Dam wall will damage and destroy significant Aboriginal sites including features that form part of the creation story of the Gundungurra. The Parliamentary Inquiry I am chairing will look into the failings in the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Assessment for the Warragamba Dam Wall in a new hearing next month. It is totally unacceptable that a full assessment of Aboriginal cultural heritage impacts has not been completed. Inadequate time seems to have be...en given to site assessment. State and Commonwealth agencies clearly have concerns with the adequacy of the assessment. It is totally unacceptable the voices of Traditional Owners seem to be being ignored when it comes to the inadequacy of the assessment, particularly in light of recent public discussions about the impact of development and mining on Aboriginal heritage.
09.01.2022 The timber industry chooses to shoot the messenger rather than recognise their impact on the forests and role in making them more fire prone. Thank you to Professor David Lindenmayer for taking this stand and telling us straight the science about the ecological impacts of logging.
09.01.2022 BREAKING: The NSW Environment Protection Authority has commenced five prosecutions in the Land and Environment Court against Forestry Corporation for allegedly felling of trees in exclusion zones and protected areas, some of which are specifically set up to protect koala habitat. The charges related to actions in the Wild Cattle Creek State Forest near Coffs Harbour in 2018. This means - NSW Forestry Corporation - A State Owned Corporation Nationals Leader John Barilaro is re...sponsible for - is being prosecuted for logging in a #Koala protection area. Where will it end!! EPA Acting Chief Executive Officer Jacqueleine Moore said it was unacceptable to put vulnerable species, such as the koala, in danger by breaking the rules. I agree. Throw the book at them. I understand there are numerous other investigation underway into alledge breaches of logging rules by Forestry Corporation across NSW State Forests. See the full details here: https://www.epa.nsw.gov.au//epamedia201008-epa-prosecutes-
09.01.2022 If you think John Barilaro and the National Party's war with Koalas started and stopped with the Koala SEPP - you'd be wrong. Right now, John Barilaro's Department and Forestry Corporation is also at war with the NSW EPA over logging access. Forestry Corporation wants full access under pre-fire rules to log burnt and unburnt areas, threatening the recovery of our forests and the homes of threatened and endangered species like the Koala and Greater Glider. We need re-imagine ...the future of our State Forests. They are worth far more standing as environmental and recreational reserves and vital carbon sinks. Mature wetter forests give far more protection from bushfire than open, logged forests. There are more jobs for regional communities from managing our forests for nature based tourism and local recreation and timber jobs can be supported in a growing plantation and private native forestry sector. It's time to end native forest logging.
09.01.2022 This stuff really pisses people off. With no public consultation, and clearly against internal staff advice, the NSW Government under Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall and Environment Minister Matt Kean, announced an 'amnesty' to allow illegal fishing in 6 Sanctuary Zones in the Batemans Marine Park almost a year ago - all for a photo opp with the local fishing club. 12 months on the 'consultation' on the removal of protections hasn't yet begun and the promised broader rev...iew of the marine park is stalled. This Government has developed and demonstrated a terrible record for politicising processes, ignoring expert advice and pandering to vested interests. Marine Park policy is just another example. Are there any other laws in NSW the Government lets people break without fear of fine or prosecution? Or is it just environment laws like marine parks protections and land clearing? Matt Kean MP - there is an opportunity to fix this. Remove the amnesty and finalise the formal review of the marine park. No one should fear a review. We want the design of the park to reflect the needs of the marine environment and local users. There is no scientific question about the value and importance of fully protect marine sanctuaries - but they have to be enforced and one of the best ways to guarantee that is to have broad community support for them.
09.01.2022 More than 70% of Koala habitat targeted for protection to restore the species was burnt in last season’s fires. Despite knowing that, the NSW Nationals have pushed for logging in some of the last unburnt Koala habitat on the North Coast and tried to undermine planning laws designed to minimise further losses. It’s an absolute disgrace.
09.01.2022 The National Party’s Koala war continues. Forestry Corporation, under the direction of the Deputy Premier, ignored expert advice after the fires and resumed logging some of the last remaining unburnt Koala habitat on State’s mid-north coast. Disgraceful.
08.01.2022 More warnings about our country's failed policies on environmental protection and natural resource management. Countries including Australia, Israel and South Africa rank near the top of Swiss Re’s index of risk to biodiversity and ecosystem services. One-fifth of the world’s countries are at risk of their ecosystems collapsing because of the destruction of wildlife and their habitats...... Natural services such as food, clean water and air, and flood protection have already been damaged by human activity."
08.01.2022 Getting ready for the Pilliga Ultra - together we can protect the Pilliga Forest.
08.01.2022 Exactly! Stop John Barilaro’s ecocide! While a group of us were out in the South Brooman forest today preparing to take on Forestry Corporation’s latest push to log our previous forests, some of the team took the message direct to Gladys Berejiklian who was visiting the area. Great job Amanda and co.
08.01.2022 Good things happen when people work together. Good on you Helen Dalton MP for your hard work and advocacy for your community and water!!
07.01.2022 Electoral hype versus facts. The Government’s candidate and John Barilaro are at odds with treasury, all economists and even some coal companies when they say coal is a forever industry. It is not. The Hunter and other coal communities need a transition plan not false promises.
07.01.2022 The community have recognised that after the black summer fires, business as usual is not possible in our forests. Forestry Corporation have systematically broken logging rules since the fires undermining the recovery of the forests. Community action has slowed them and the EPA has stepped up for the first time. ... Now the Government will task the Natural Resources Commission to review the rules and to develop a pathway back to pre-fire logging. That’s not possible. This review is an opportunity to develop a transition out of public forest logging and to reimagine our native forests as ecological and recreational reserves. I’m calling on the Government not to approve any more burnt forest logging until this review has been completed. Enough damage has been done already.
07.01.2022 These statements by Andrew Hastie seem to have more to do with the culture war being waged by the right wing of the Liberal Party than defence strategy and military organisation. To reduce the commitment of tens of thousands of Australians who have served in the Defence Force to, at its core, being about the application of "lethal violence" to defend Australian values is shocking in light of the alleged acts of murder that have been committed by Australian defence force pers...onnel in the very recent past. Who's values were being defended in those circumstances? It is a sad reality that a defence force must be trained and equipped to use lethal force in the defence of it's people, but the suggestion that a more inclusive military, more respectful of each other in the service and more respectful of the lives of civilians in the conflict zones in which our forces deploy is unquestionably a good thing. Having the power to deploy lethal force and using it are two very different things. I think we need a military trained to understand the need for their skills, but also the reasons why we should never want to use them. We need military and civilian leadership reflecting that in their public comments lest the military becomes a place only for those who want to be trained in and use violence. That is not a military that would be in our security interest in my opinion.
06.01.2022 Budget Estimates with John Barilaro today. After a year of watching the ongoing destruction of our burnt and suffering forests by Forestry Corporation under the direction of the Deputy Premier I have many many angry questions. But here’s the nub of it: How is it possible that after 80% of our South Coast forests were burnt can logging them possibly be sustainable and not be causing long-term damage and suffering to our wildlife. When will the destruction stop and the government invest in transitioning the industry to sustainable plantations and reimaging our local forests as ecological and recreational reserves.
06.01.2022 Resubmit! This project would be a joke if it wasn’t so serious. We have now seen state and federal agencies rip apart the flawed Environmental Impact Statement for this project. It has failed to asssess the impacts of the bushfires, failed to adequately identify the impacts on Aboriginal cultural heritage, failed to assess the impacts on World Heritage values, failed to adequately assess impacts on threatened species. ... It’s also trying to avoid costs to offset these potential impacts - by not assessing them! What more has to come out before Water NSW and Infrastructure NSW get a please explain from the Premier and Minister. Millions have been spent on a totally flawed EIS. The inquiry I’m chairing will be holding additional hearings in the near future to look into some of these issues.
05.01.2022 The simple truth
05.01.2022 The Frackman is back and taking on this 'gas' led recovery scam being pushed by the Prime Minister and his gas industry mates on the Covid Commission. Do you think the gas industry deserves a handout from Aussie tax payers? I don't. Share this video and help get the word out. We need a plan for our energy future, not a hand out to the dirty gas industry that has done more than most to cripple manufacturing and jobs in Australia and put at risk land, water and the climate. ... Thanks to the The Frackman - Dayne Pratzky for this great vid.
05.01.2022 Joel Fitzgibbon’s opinion on gas is worthy of the Daily Telegraph. Australia doesn’t need more gas. We need a plan for a renewable future and protecting land and water.
05.01.2022 The use of public money to serve political ends rather than the needs of the community. Pork barrelling isn’t illegal, but it is an abuse of public trust and morally questionable. The obfuscation around this grant program suggests all involved know that too.
04.01.2022 One driver behind the effort to undermine Koala protections is the growth of the Blueberry industry. Locals have long warned that farms are illegally taking water and heavy fertiliser and pesticide use are polluting local creeks and impacting on water quality in the Solitary Islands Marine Park. The regulators are now stepping in but why aren’t these issues dealt with before they become a problem? This has been known as a risk for years.
04.01.2022 Angus Taylor is lying about carbon capture and storage. Is anyone surprised? This Government’s energy and climate policies are a joke we will be paying for for generations.
04.01.2022 It's time to test the Nationals claims about the Koala SEPP. I want to know how much lobbying Nationals MPs have been doing and on whose behalf. Last night the Parliament backed my motion to order copies of all correspondence from National Party MPs to the key Ministers about the Koala SEPP. Yesterday we found out the only representation John Barilaro's office had made to Rob Stokes as Planning Minister was from a property developer. That's a far cry from the theatrics we sa...w last week - that this is a number one issue in regional NSW for farmers. The order for papers is due next Thursday.
04.01.2022 A big night for the Darling Barka tonight. The NSW Legislative Council voted for my motion to disallow the floodplain harvesting exemption regulation. A long name for a simple issue. Basically this regulation risked locking in an unsustainable level of water take from the Northern Murray Darling Basin, threatening the long term health of the Darling Barka and communities and plants and animals that rely on it. ... You know the NSW Nationals have it wrong when Labor, The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers, the Greens, One Nation and Animal Justice all vote the same way. But that’s exactly what happened tonight. A big thanks to all those who lobbied and campaigned on this issue.
04.01.2022 We’ll all be safer on the roads for a while. But what will save the Koalas?
03.01.2022 Confused about the floodplain harvesting issue? Have a listen to The Country Hour coverage from yesterday. The risk was that an unsustainable level of water take would be locked in for years if these laws were allowed to stand. This win for the Darling is an opportunity for a reset.
03.01.2022 A strong response to yesterday’s revelations in the Guardian about potential profiteering under the NSW biodiversity offset scheme. It is clear there are big problems with the scheme. It is failing to protect biodiversity and is open to abuse.
03.01.2022 How good is this! Congratulations to the Milton Ulladulla community who have won their campaign to stop the sale of education department land at Mollymook. Good on the Government for reversing their plans to sell the land, but it should never have been put on the market in the first place. With local schools bursting at the seams we need a plan for meeting the future education needs of our growing community and that plan needs to be made in conjunction with the community. ... Congratulations to all involved in this successful campaign. This is Liz O'Connell and Leigh Maloney celebrating the win by removing the 60+ community signs that went up on the fence over the last fortnight. The fence comes down very soon and the kids will hopefully be back in on their bikes in no time.
02.01.2022 Are the NSW Nationals deliberately keeping water storage in the Menindee lakes below the level that keeps control of the lakes in NSW hands and limits the ability of the Darling River to flow to the Murray? If they were, they might be allowing over-extraction in the Northern Basin to ensure not enough makes it south. (where have I heard that before?) The conseuqences of this are pretty big. With less of a contribution from the Darling to South Australia's allocation, more pre...ssure goes onto the Southern Rivers. Farmers down there have been facing zero allocations while the private dams in the North are full. You'll hear a bit about this this week in Parliament. This is from a question last week.
01.01.2022 Did you know the NSW Government has put an amnesty in place to allow recreational fishers to break marine protection laws in the Batemans Marine Park? Marine Park policy making in NSW has been continually undermined by the Coalition in Government with the Nationals in the key fisheries portfolio. Fully protected marine sanctuaries have been shrinking and now make up less than 7% of NSW coastal waters. More than 90% of all areas along the NSW coast are open to recreational fishing. The public understands that we should put some areas aside for protection and the science backs that view. Why doesn't the Government!
01.01.2022 The NSW Nationals war on nature goes well beyond the Koala. Since coming to Government in 2011 the NSW Nationals have ushered in a new era of broad-scale deforestation. - land clearing approvals up by 1300%... - clearing in 2018 over 100 times the size of the Sydney CBD - 60% of clearing found to be 'unexplained' - set asides for clearing less than 50% of targets The NSW Natural Resources Commission has described the Nationals land clearing laws as a 'statewide risk to biodiversity'. The Liberals have allowed this to happen. They have outsourced Natural Resource Management to the Nationals and it's been a disaster for the landscape, for native animals, for rivers and the climate. If the National Party aren’t going to be part of the solution they need to be sidelined and the Liberals should work with the communities and stakeholders and political parties who want to address the critical challenges facing nature and the landscape and the communities who rely on them to be healthy and sustainable. The Environmental Defenders Office have put forward a plan to fix these broken laws: https://www.edo.org.au//report-deregulation-nsw-native-ve/
01.01.2022 By failing nature we fail ourselves.
01.01.2022 Another example of the Nationals abandoning regional NSW and farmers. A decision on the Narrabri Gas Project is due next week.
