Baillieu Government set to renege on election promise of 20 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions

I would like to share the following from Climate Code Red in light of the recent report in the The Age that the Baillieu Government is considering dumping the states plan to cut Victoria’s greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent over the next decade. It is noteworthy that many of the commentators who fire up the most about the significance of Julia Gillard’s ‘no carbon tax’ statement are conspicuous by their absence when a Liberal Government changes a position it took to an election, especially when it waters down action on climate.

·         While government support to renewable power sources is subject to seemingly endless media and political scrutiny, the 500% larger subsidies given to oil, gas and coal rarely get much attention.

·         Worldwide, governments and taxpayers spent $409 billion in 2010 supporting the production and consumption of fossil fuels, three-quarters of which went to the oil industry. 

·         Just 8% of that $409 billion went to the poorest 20% of the population

·         Global subsidies for fossil fuel consumption are set to reach $660 billion in 2020 unless reforms are passed to effectively eliminate this form of state aid, according to International Energy Agency chief economist Fatih Birol.

·         Eliminating fossil fuel consumption subsidies by 2020 would cut global energy demand by 4 percent, cutting demand for oil by 3.7million  barrels a day.

·         Dropping subsidies could slow growth in CO2 emissions by 1.7bn tonnes a year, equivalent to the total emissions of the UK, Germany, Italy and France.

·         In Australia, the SMH reported that taxpayers spend about 11 times more encouraging the use of fossil fuels than on climate change programs. Fossil fuel incentives and subsidies will cost about $12.2 billion this financial year in Australia, compared with $1.1 billion spent on programs designed to cut greenhouse gas emissions and boost research.

It’s hardly as though big oil needs the cash. The five biggest oil companies made a record-high $137 billion in profits in 2011, and have made more than $1 trillion in profits from 2001 through 2011. And for every $1 spent on lobbying in Washington, the big five received $30 worth of tax breaks.
    

On 24 January 2012, Independent US Senator Bernie Sanders pledged to introduce legislation to repeal federal tax breaks and subsidies to the fossil fuel industry, declaring at a Capitol Hill rally that "the most profitable corporations in the world do not need subsidies from the American people."

Australian Financial Review's ‘Brave New World’

The Australian Financial Review of 6 March had a wraparound front cover with the headline “First we revolutionised the Price. Now we’re revolutionising the Agenda.” The two page colour spread below the headline appeared to be a graphic of the Fin Review’s idea of Australia. I found it a very troubling picture.

It was entirely devoid of any Australian wildlife. There were no Kangaroos, Koalas, Emus, Lyrebirds, Echidnas or Platypus. There were no birds or animals or reptiles at all. In one sense this was scarcely surprising, because the picture of mines, industry, agriculture and infrastructure left no room for them – they cannot survive in an Australia without forests and grasslands and waterways and wildlife corridors.

But it is a barren Australia, totally stripped of the natural beauty which has been such a source of joy and inspiration to Australians and visitors for hundreds of years.

The Financial Review’s accompanying words refer to a clean environment, but surely an environment without birds and plants and animals would be a sterile nightmare. I hope the omission was inadvertent.

Australian War Graves desecrated in Libya

Tuesday 6^th March 2012/ac

Australian War Graves desecrated in Libya

I was shocked and appalled to see footage of Australian War Graves being desecrated in Libya.

Footage of violent extremists smashing and violating Australian War Graves is highly disrespectful to those brave Australian servicemen who paid the ultimate sacrifice in the defence of Libya from aggression during the Second World War.

More than 1000 servicemen who lost their lives in the Western Desert wars in 1942 and 1943 are buried at the site, including at least 55 Australians.

The sacrifice of these young servicemen allowed us all to enjoy the freedom and liberty that many of us today now take for granted. Their vision of a just world was not unlike the vision the rebels in Libya had to liberate them from the tyranny of Colonel Gaddafi. Many of the same countries who helped Libya in 1942 and 1943 came to their aid again last year.

Religious fanaticism and fundamentalism never bring about a better world. People who think their religious beliefs entitle them to violence against members of their own families, members of their communities, or people of different beliefs, are totally and utterly wrong and must be resisted at every turn. The perpetrators of this horrific behaviour must be brought to justice.

Kelvin Thomson MP

Federal Member for Wills

Workers Who Are Experiencing Domestic Violence Should Be Supported

Gary Johns in an article titled “Social work not employer’s business” (The Australian, 16 February 2012) advocates against employers providing support for victims of domestic violence by claiming that domestic violence is not a work related issue and that “production related costs (of domestic violence) are avoidable by hiring a new worker”.

I believe Mr Johns has not availed himself of all the facts on this issue.

Safe at Home, Safe at Work? National Domestic Violence and the Workplace Survey, which had over 3600 respondents, highlights the impact of domestic violence in the workplace and clearly demonstrates that domestic violence is a workplace issue that affects safety and productivity.

Thirty percent of respondents, working people, had experienced domestic violence. Domestic violence had affected the capacity of 15% to get to work, with workers being physically restrained, keys hidden or phones smashed. For one in five workers experiencing domestic violence, their partner or ex-partner continued to abuse them by turning up at their workplace or by making abusive phone calls or emails.

Workplaces who support workers experiencing domestic violence by providing leave to attend court for a protection order, by developing safety plans to stop the abuse at work, and by being decent caring people, do make a difference to people trying to stay in their homes and in their jobs through the crisis.

I believe workers who experience domestic violence should be supported in their workplace, and I would encourage employers to do so not only because it is the right thing to do, but also to promote higher morale and productivity in the workplace.

Proposed New Coal-Fired Power Station for Victoria

Victoria currently has 120 million tonnes of carbon emissions each year. We have a legislated target – it is Victorian law – that we must reduce this by 20 per cent by 2020 – in other words come down by 24 million tonnes a year. I am told by Environment Victoria that if the HRL 600 MW power station proceeds, it will produce around 4 million tonnes of carbon emissions every year. It’s hard to see how we can meet a target which is minus 24 million tonnes, if we proceed with projects that are plus 4 million tonnes.

The only money this project has so far is government money – the Howard Government allocated it $100 million in 2007, but the money has not yet been spent, as the conditions for spending the money haven’t been met. The State Government allocated $50 million – I understand most of this money has not yet been spent. No private money.

The Commonwealth Government is presently reviewing this proposed outlay, and the State Government should be doing the same. The Commonwealth Government is committed to producing a budget surplus next year, which is not easy given the global economic circumstances, and there are better ways to spend, or not spend, $100 million. And the State Government says it can’t afford to underground powerlines in bushfire prone areas, even though the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission says it’s a bad idea to have our electricity infrastructure and assets above ground on days of high fire danger risk.

The State Government says this power plant is necessary to meet Victoria’s power needs, but they put roadblocks in the way of renewable energy. They are requiring wind energy proposals to have the consent of every person living within 2 kilometres of the turbines! Seriously – have you ever heard of any other item of energy or transport infrastructure where this is the case – freeways, or airports, or power stations? I have constituents who are opposing the Brunswick Terminal Station upgrade who would give their right arm to have a 2 kilometre wide power of veto! The State Government is ringbarking renewable energy, while bankrolling fossil fuels.

On Monday the United Nations High Level Panel on Global Sustainability delivered its report to Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon. It has some heavy duty players on it – I had the pleasure of listening to them at the United Nations in New York last year – Tarja Halonen, President of the Republic of Finland, Jacob Zuma, President of the Republic of South Africa, Australia’s Foreign Affairs Minister and former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, the former Prime Minister of Mozambique, Luisa Diogo. Now among 56 recommendations this Panel recommended that governments should phase out subsidies for fossil fuels by 2020.

Repeat – The United Nations High Level Panel on Global Sustainability has this week recommended that governments phase out subsidies for fossil fuels by 2020.

The HRL grants would be a good place for we Victorians to start.

Proposed changes to environmental laws will undermine protection of endangered species

I am concerned about proposed changes by the Baillieu Government to laws governing the protection of rare wildlife, specifically the following proposed change to the Code of Practice for Timber Production 2007:

“Forest management planning and all forestry operations must comply with measures specified in relevant Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act Action Statements, unless determined by the Secretary that the requirements of an Action Statement do not apply, and any Flora and Fauna Guarantee Orders.”

I am most concerned that this will allow the Department of Sustainability and Environment Secretary to approve any and all forests planned for logging, regardless of whether endangered wildlife live there.  This will take out the required protection for threatened species and their habitat.

I believe this will undermine the legal framework that protects our biodiversity, along with the necessary transparency and accountability required to ensure proper enforcement of the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act’s Individual Action Statements for species protection.

I would like to encourage those concerned about this issue to send their comments to the following email address forestry.code@dse.vic.gov.au of the Department of Sustainability and Environment.

Collapse of Fish Stocks

An investigation of the fishing industry in the southern Pacific by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists shows how the fate of the jack mackerel may foretell the progressive collapse of fish stocks in all oceans.

From 2006 to 2011, scientists estimate, jack mackerel stock declined 63 per cent.

The South Pacific Regional Fisheries Management Organisation, formed in 2006 at the initiative of Australia and New Zealand along with Chile, has endeavoured without much success to date to protect fish, particularly jack mackerel. They have concluded that an annual catch beyond 520,000 tonnes will further deplete jack mackerel stocks

Industrial fishing interests are resistant to the implementation of a quota system. Some have thumbed their nose at the science and research that highlights the gravity of the issue.

Reporters and staff from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists working with the Chilean investigative journalism centre Ciper, have traced how eight groups with a near monopoly on the industry have pressured the Chilean government to set quotas above scientific advice.

The troubling reality is that voluntary restraints have not worked in protecting fish stocks and that a binding convention is required to ensure the jack mackerel does not disappear from the southern seas.