Greens MLC at press conference to support local climate change activists

Tomorrow, I'm going along to see a media conference at Newcastle City Hall at which current Greens MLC David Shoebridge, the lead candidate for The Greens NSW Legislative Council ticket for the March election, will be joining well-known author and academic Clive Hamilton, in support of the seven climate activists being pursued for $525,000 in ‘victims’ compensation’ by Port Waratah Coal Services (whose T4 coal loader expansion was recently supported by Newcastle's Labor member, Jodi McKay - see my previous post, "Greens give ticks and crosses for McKay on T4 coal call")

In a media alert for the press conference, David said:

"It is astounding that the NSW Police are being used as debt collectors for these multinational mining giants.

"The NSW State government should not be spending scarce state resources chasing peaceful protestors on behalf of global mining giants.

"For corporations like Xstrata and Rio Tinto to be playing the victim on climate change shows just how distorted the law is in NSW. These corporations are not victims they are directly profiting from damaging our environment.

"This law needs urgent reform to make it clear that the only victims who can claim compensation are people, not corporations," Mr Shoebridge said.

See the Rising Tide media alert here

Greens give ticks and crosses for McKay on T4 coal call

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Newcastle Greens

27 January, 2011

Greens give ticks and crosses for McKay on T4 coal call

The Greens candidate for Newcastle, John Sutton, today welcomed yesterday’s public response by the Member for Newcastle, Jodi McKay, to calls from the Newcastle community for a single, independent, one-stop-shop authority to act on complaints about dust, noise, vibrations and odour caused by local coal transport and loading operations, but condemned her advocacy for continuing Newcastle’s dependence on coal.

“I’m very pleased that Ms McKay has taken up proposals by Throsby basin communities for a single, independent authority to deal with local coal impacts, and I look forward to a further statement from the current Labor government (of which she is a Minister) and the Coalition Opposition that this will become a reality following the March election.

“But I’m very disappointed that Ms McKay and NSW Labor continue to actively advocate expanded coal exports through the Port of Newcastle, despite the overwhelming evidence indicating the contribution of these exports to climate change, and the clear need for a planned transition away from the Hunter’s dependence on non-renewable energy sources to a jobs-rich, carbon-neutral, renewable energy economy.

“Unfortunately, Ms McKay, NSW Labor and the Coalition have failed on the big picture challenge presented by climate change, and the need for a planned, structured, equitable and long-term transition away from our reliance on coal.

“Yesterday’s announcement by Ms McKay of her support for the Kooragang T4 coal loader demonstrates that it’s still business as usual for her as far as the continued expansion of the coal industry is concerned.

“Ms McKay and NSW Labor must recognise that the reality of climate change means that this approach is not sustainable, and that the sooner we begin the necessary transition away from coal, the less pain and the more opportunities such a transition will offer to local communities and the regional economy.

“Every extra ton of coal mined and exported is a step backward in making this necessary transition, and in meeting the challenge of climate change.

“Instead of supporting the projected additional 60 million to 100 million tonnes of coal that will be exported every year via the proposed T4 Kooragang coal loader expansion, Ms McKay should be supporting The Greens call for no further expansion of coal mining or coal loading infrastructure, and a strategy for a phased transition to jobs-rich renewable energy,” Mr Sutton said.

Jodi McKay caught out on bus loop proposal

The Member for Newcastle and Minister for the Hunter, Jodi McKay, was caught out in an interview on local ABC radio yesterday on her latest proposal for a Newcastle bus loop (see yesterday's posting).

In an interview with Paul Bevan (1233 Afternoons presenter), Ms McKay explained that her bus loop proposal would follow a "circuitous" route to "places of high visitation" around the larger Newcastle area (including the John Hunter, Westfield Kotara, Charlestown Square, etc).

At the same time, she continued to assert that her proposal was recommended in the AECOM Transport Management and Accessibility Plan (TMAP).

In fact, the TMAP proposal (as I explained yesterday) was for a much more restricted route that was solely confined to the Newcastle CBD (see map in yesterday's posting).

Here is an extract from the TMAP report that identifies the various locations that the proposed loop service would visit:

The proposed loop service provides access between the land uses within Newcastle City Centre, including:

• Wickham Railway Station and surrounds, such as future residential and commercial buildings;
• Civic Railway Station and surrounds, such as the existing TAFE, cinemas and hotel accommodation and future university and legal precinct;
• Honeysuckle Precinct north of the railway line, including the existing and proposed commercial office buildings;
• Newcastle Railway Station and Coach Terminal precinct, including hotels and restaurants;
• Civic and Cultural Precinct surrounding Newcastle Town Hall, such as the Civic Theatre; and
• Schools, parks and other activity areas within the City Centre.
  

[Transport Management and Accessibility Plan, Phase 1, Newcastle City Centre Bus Strategy, p.48]

Nothing there about anything outside the Newcastle CBD.

When pressed by Mr Bevan on the origin of her loop proposal, Ms McKay insisted that "it was in the TMAP...".

It isn't.

The TMAP report doesn't consider anything like the loop proposed by Ms McKay, and - contrary to her media release statement - makes no such recommendation.

When Mr Bevan suggested that the proposal was not costed, hadn't been tested, wasn't based on any apparent existing plan, and didn't seem to have the support of the government of which Ms McKay was a member, Ms McKay accused him of being "a bit negative".

Ms McKay told Mr Bevan that she had been "pushing for this since about June".

What exactly has she been pushing for?

The TMAP was released in October 2010. If the proposal that Ms McKay has been pushing for is the one recommended in the TMAP report (as she confusingly asserts), how did she know about this four months before?

If it's not the TMAP proposal (as the content of the proposal itself indicates), where did it come from, and why didn't she tell the community that she is supposed to be representing about it back then?

Hear the interview with Paul Bevan here.



Read the 1233 news story here.

Another loopy Labor transport proposal?

I note that 1233 news has been covering a media release from Jodi McKay advocating funding for a new bus loop service (read the website story here).

Ms McKay's media release says that Labor's newly announced expansion of free shuttle bus services to Sydney and the Central Coast should be extended to Newcastle.

Labor's strategy of having local Labor members (even Ministers) implicitly criticising the Labor state government says a lot in itself about Labor's re-election strategy.

However, Ms McKay says that her advocacy for a Newcastle bus loop is based on "a recommendation of the Newcastle City Centre Renewal Transport Management and Accessibility Plan".

This plan (the AECOM Transport Management and Accessibility Plan (TMAP) commissioned by Transport NSW and released in October last year) advocated a bi-directional bus route around the CBD, starting from Stewart Avenue/Industrial Highway, and going along Honeysuckle Drive - Merewether Street - Wharf Road - Watt Street - King Street - Stewart Avenue (see map below from the plan). It would operate at 10 minute intervals at peak periods.



It would replace the current highly successful fare-free zone which uses existing spare bus capacity, and thus doesn't cost anything extra to run.

Confusingly, whilst citing the TMAP bus loop proposal as the basis for her media release, Ms McKay says the fare-free zone "is limited to Newcastle's CBD". In fact, the TMAP bus loop is also limited to the Newcastle CBD, and would actually service a smaller area than the fare-free zone it would replace (missing, for example, Newcastle beach and the Gordon Avenue park and ride facility, which are within the fare-free zone).

The proposed TMAP city centre loop is uncosted and its feasibility and comparative cost effectiveness (with the fare free zone) are untested. It's certain to cost millions of dollars, since it involves new buses and new associated operating costs.

The city bus loop proposal was proposed in the TMAP in the context of the proposed loss of the current Wickham to Newcastle rail service that would result from Ms McKay's previous proposal to terminate these rail services at Wickham.

The effect of the city bus loop proposal on total public transport patronage is uncertain, but - taken in the context of the loss of rail patronage and the loss of patronage that would ensue from abolishing the fare-free zone service - it is more likely to reduce than increase total public transport patronage.

Essentially, it's an unfunded and untested proposal, that will be very expensive, and might actually take us backwards in terms of achieving state public transport patronage targets.

From what I heard on 1233, I understand that the Liberal candidate for Newcastle, Tim Owen, is also supporting this loop service proposal.

Labor’s Newcastle mine subsidence task force too little, too late: Greens

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Newcastle Greens

Monday, 24 January, 2011

Labor’s Newcastle mine subsidence task force too little, too late: Greens

The Greens candidate for Newcastle, John Sutton, today branded Labor’s announcement of a state government task force to address mine subsidence in the Newcastle area as a piece of pre-election window dressing.

“Mine subsidence has been identified as a major issue confronting urban development and city revitalisation in Newcastle for many years, and Labor (including the Minister for the Hunter, Jodi McKay) has done nothing about it all that time,” Mr Sutton said.

“Newcastle CBD Taskforce reports commissioned in 2008 by the Hunter Development Corporation (for which Ms McKay is the responsible Minister) identified that stakeholder forums had nominated mine subsidence in Newcastle’s CBD as “a particular area where coordination and expediency was desperately needed” and “as a “fundamental infrastructure” issue that presented “a significant challenge to investment” [see 2008 Newcastle CBD Taskforce reports on HDC website].

“Despite this, the HDC’s final Newcastle City Centre Renewal Report in 2009 failed to propose any strategy to deal with this issue, and Ms McKay was silent about it then.

“The Greens (via Newcastle Greens councillor Michael Osborne) pushed successfully for Newcastle Council to establish a Mine Subsidence Working Group in 2009.

“Now, with yesterday’s belated announcement of a state government taskforce, Ms McKay has the audacity to claim that mine subsidence in Newcastle is an issue that “no one else is prepared to tackle”, when the real issue for voters is why Ms McKay and NSW Labor have taken so long to respond to a problem that Ms McKay admits herself has been known for a long time, and was identified as such years ago by the agency for which she is the responsible Minister,” Mr Sutton said.

“Like so many other of Ms McKay’s recent announcements, yesterday’s announcement of a task force to address this issue has more to do with covering up years of Labor incompetence and inaction in the lead up to the March state election, and to defer any further commitment until after that election.

“With a change of government likely in March, the future of the task force announced yesterday is highly uncertain.

“If Ms McKay and NSW Labor had acted more quickly on this instead of wasting time on doomed fancies (such as cutting the Newcastle rail line), we could have already had a strategy, an appropriate planning framework, and a successful federal funding application for addressing mine subsidence in Newcastle,” Mr Sutton said.

See original Newcastle Herald story

Out of the Festive Fog!

From Christmas Day to New Year I was at the Woodford Folk Festival, listening to some of Australia's best musicians and comics, in between experiencing something of the deluge that is still inundating Queensland.

Amid the torrents of culture and rain, I managed to attend some excellent talks and discussions in the Greenhouse, including an eerily familiar account of the Queensland experience of coal seam gas exploration and mining, from Drew Hutton (prominent member of the Queensland Greens).

Their experience seems very similar to ours: little government regulation, scant and secretive assessment and approval processes, and a huge propaganda campaign by industry and government in support of coal seam gas), except that they don't have the marine version of the problem - yet.

Affected Queensland communities are on the verge of direct action via a "Lock the Gate" campaign against the gas exploration and mining companies.

Stay posted.