Coal Seam Gas Industry lies

September 2012

Following on from a previous BLOG with regard to fracking with Australia's water future, I am again urged to buy in to the Coal Seam Gas (CSG) saga with this recent revelation brought to my attention by Australian lobby group GetUp. 

It is a another blatant reminder of how vigilant we must be with our local issues and in keeping our pollies accountable for what is best for Australia's future, not just what's best for Australia's immediate (corporate) financial present. The more I learn about the CSG industry, the more disturbed I am. And so should every Australian. 

Part of a new multi-million dollar advertising campaign by APPEA ("the voice of Australia's oil and gas industry"), says: ‘CSIRO and government studies have shown that groundwater is safe with coal seam gas’. But that's a lie and the CSIRO flatly rejects it.

Just the fact the CSG industry has to pay for deceitful advertising to spin this topic just further highlights to me the dangers and risks the CSG industry makes to Australia's fragile natural environment and is all the more reason for every Australian to look deeper into the issue and be aware of what is going on. It's for the future security of all Australians that we take on this task.

From GetUp:
Have you seen the coal seam gas (CSG) industry's latest advertising campaign? The CSIRO's slammed it for misusing their research to claim CSG is safe for Australia's precious water and aquifers. Send the CSG spin doctors a message now demanding they publicly commit to ending their campaign of lies: http://www.getup.org.au/stop-csg-lies --

More Information on CSG:

Australian Geographic:
For another view, read what Australian Geographic have to say about it here

Excerpt:
There are serious concerns, nationally and locally, about CSG production, including increases to our greenhouse gas footprint (relative to renewable energy sources), leaking wells contaminating freshwater aquifers, and the impact of thousands of wells and kilometres of pipeline that could adversely affect large tracts of land.  

http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/csg-gas-mining.htm


Documentary:
2011 Oscar Nominee: Best Documentary, A film by Josh Fox
For a really good doco that will fill you in on everything else you need to know, check out GASLAND Australia.  http://www.gasland.com.au

Gasland is a 2010 American documentary film written and directed by Josh Fox focussing communities in the United States impacted by natural gas drilling and, specifically, slickwater fracking, concieved after Fox received a letter from a natural gas company offering to lease his family’s land in Pennsylvania for $100,000 to drill for gas. 

Australian farm families are now going through this and more information about that can be found from on the website of  the Lock the Gate Alliance here
http://lockthegate.org.au



You will also find some more information on a previous BLOG from this site.  

Information on the potential depletion and pollution due to coal seam gas extraction on the Great Artesian Basin can be found here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Artesian_Basin.

The list of dangers and negatives outcomes is endless... Get educated and stand up before it's all too late! Write to you local minister, your state minister and your federal minister. It's too important not to.  

You can also email APPEA and let them know what you think about their spin doctoring via GetUp's website here.

 

Iraq War Inquiry?

Things in the news today that annoy me #2

Eminent Australians, including former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and former defence secretary Paul Barratt, are calling for an inquiry into Australia’s decisions to join the 2003 invasion of Iraq, following similar inquiries in the UK and Netherlands.

Hurrah! 

"I do not believe that any one person in Australia should have the power to take this country to war, especially when due process has not been followed,” Mr Fraser said. Amen to that, I say. As Malcolm said, going to war is a serious business. There's no need to elaborate on that point.

The information that determined a John Howard Liberal Party to follow the US-led invasion – those phantom weapons of mass destruction – was proven to be fabricated, and was even considered dubious at the time. And yet we still went to war on that basis. 

We were peddled a pack of lies in order to support a war that likely had more to do with oil or other American interests than protecting the western world from Iraq. 

Just another example of how it’s time we made our politicians more accountable for the decisions they make. Otherwise, we have no business touting our democratic superiority. Otherwise, we are just equally as much victims of our government’s propaganda as are the people of the countries we supposedly aspire to liberate. 

STOP THE BOATS

Things in the news today that annoy me #1

Stop the boats...???

Oh yes, the off-shore processing monster has been very busy recently. It appears we finally have agreement from both major parties to push through parliament the processing off-shore of those evil, queue-jumping asylum seekers.

The agreed legislation has passed the Lower House of Federal Parliament and is likely to pass the Senate by tomorrow, to be enacted within the next month. 

As mentioned in a previous blog, approximately 2000 boat people sought asylum in Australia in 2009 compared to 50,000 people each year that come legally on visitor visas and then over-stay those visas. 

HELLO??? I feel like swearing, but will refrain. 

I’m sure all those fleeing appalling and/or life-threatening conditions or living in refugee camps are glued to their big-screen plasma TVs waiting to hear what is going on in Australian politics before deciding if it is worthwhile taking a life-risking trip to Australia so they can be imprisoned for up to five years or more, even though likely are not criminals, nor have broken the law by seeking asylum.

That's right - seeking asylum is NOT ILLEGAL. These people have a legal right to seek asylum if they are genuine refugees. Get it through your heads! When did the term ‘asylum-seeker’ become a dirty word? Are we a country of red-necks?

Now it’s reported that the Immigration Department plans to create videos featuring Naura and Papua New Guinea's Manus Island to discourage asylum seekers from coming to Australia by boat. 

Yes, you heard me. It's laughable. 

I wonder, will these mucky asylum-seekers be watching these videos on You Tube from their computers using their high-speed internet connection from the side of the road? Perhaps they’re watching on iView from their wireless iPads? GET REAL AUSTRALIA. 

It doesn’t matter what we do. People are not going to stop seeking asylum, or better lives for themselves, as long as the dreadful circumstances they are fleeing from no longer exist. For F**K sake (I compromised on the swearing). 

At the end of June, Opposition leader Tony Abbott Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott offered crossbench MPs to increase Australia's refugee intake from about 14,000 to 20,000 within three years in order to get their support for a coalition amendment on asylum seeker legislation.

However he has now retracted that stance, saying such a move would be a magnet for asylum seekers. Hard to keep up with all the lies and back-flipping in politics these days, isn’t it? 

If we’re all so concerned with our immigration intake, perhaps we should focus our attentions on over-stays? Just a thought…

****************************************************

UPDATE 28 AUGUST 2012

from the GetUp team 

The SBS TV show, Go Back to Where You Came From returns to our screens tonight, Tuesday 28th August, at 8.30PM.
 
This morning, the horrid news of 17 Afghans reportedly beheaded by the Taliban is an acrid reminder of the circumstances that drive so many desperate asylum seekers to our shores. We've produced a new infographic showing the conflicts and crisis that drive asylum seeker movement. Click here to view it.

Leadership Speculation – AGAIN???

WARNING - Major rant ahead.

I saw a tweet a little while back. It said retweet if you are NOT one of the 27% who believe News Ltd is responsible for the current Labor polling (which was at its lowest at the time of the tweet – according to News Limited's Newspoll - for what that’s worth).

It was from an anti-Labor Twitter Group.

I didn’t re-tweet, but I did reply. You see, as you already know, I have an opinion on everything. And if you read my previous blog about media integrity, then you know I am a dubious ex-journo fed up with the irresponsible, inaccurate reporting in Australian journalism these days. 

And with all the negative press – oppressively so – that Labor has been receiving, I had already formed an opinion that something was dodgy in Dodge Town. After all, let’s not forget that Australia is doing a helluva lot better than most of the rest of the western world post-GFC.  And yet the Labor Party are - day after day - receiving bad press after bad news story after negative spin in the media.

Everyone seems to forget that, along with all the forward motion the government is making in policy and announcements, unemployment is under five per cent nationally, interest rates are down, inflation is under control, and there is a budget surplus - albeit a small one. 

But we don’t hear much about the positive Gillard government achievements in the mainstream media. 

And the only press Tony Abbott and his Liberal cohorts have been receiving is from their negative comments about the Gillard government. 

Forget saying anything positive, coming up with a better alternative, or even mentioning a policy or two of their own that the Liberal Party might have come up with. Nothing like that from the man that touts himself as the alternate PM. Just negative spin-doctoring.

So needless to say, for me, I was just thrilled that 27% of people that came across that poll  could also smell a media rat against Labor. That makes me less conspiratorial and more your average, astute media and political junky. :-)

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not 100% a Labor – or Julia – fan. But I do think she is getting a rawer deal in the media than any PM before her. And now, yet again, we are back to the leadership speculation story. 

Is there really a story here, or is it the media again creating a story where none exists; all of the outlets jumping on the same copy/paste bandwagon in an attempt to further deflate the popularity of the current Labor government?

Well let’s have a brief look at just the recent history. 

In February there was a challenge by Kevin Rudd for her leadership (and I could argue the challenge was a result of constant media speculation about a challenge.) Julia received overwhelming support of her Party, 71 – 31. Kev moved to the backbench and made it very clear that he wouldn’t challenge Julia for the leadership again. Both vowed to set aside internal party squabbles to focus their efforts on beating Tony Abbott in the 2013 federal election. 

So that’s the end of that. Right? Oh no…

The media started up again in March. And it wasn’t even induced by anything happening in federal politics, but at the state level, following Labor’s resounding loss in the Queensland elections. 

Again, in April. “Herald-Sun sources” in the Victorian ALP and union (funny how there are never any names) apparently voiced a fresh leadership challenge against Julia Gillard could be mounted by August, with Kevin Rudd still considered the best option. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/kevin-rudd-a-favourite-to-challenge-julia-gillard-again/story-fn7x8me2-1226338306825

 

"There is a growing realisation that next year's election could turn out like the catastrophe of Queensland," one source said. 

“Another senior party figure said…” the article goes on and on, quoting unnamed sources. And I could continue to dig up examples.

And now, in May, Kevin is seen having a coffee with good friend and Member for Hunter and government whip Joel Fitzgibbon, and the speculation is back on - in every media outlet. 

That’s all it takes. 

Fairfax and News Limited papers reported, and other media outlets reported their reports, that Mr Fitzgibbon had been openly canvassing for votes to return Kevin Rudd to the party leadership. And not one direct quote supporting the story.

“Mr Fitzgibbon’s open canvassing of a leadership change last week – reportedly telling MPs 'the hung Parliament is killing us’’ – followed a ‘‘catch-up’’ between the two men at Singleton’s Coal Rock Coffee Bar on Friday, May 18.” says the Newcastle Herald, for one. 

Reportedly? Reported by who?

On Twitter, Mr Fitzgibbon responded ‘‘I thank my colleagues for the publicity but no one does more to support the PM and the government than me!’’. But it didn’t stop the speculation. 

Nor did the denials of all the senior Labor pollies rallying around behind Julia. Foreign minister Bob Carr dismissed the leadership rumblings as a "non-story". "I think there is less to this story than meets the eye. I think this is a revival of leadership speculation without justification," he said. 

Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said he had spent Friday with Mr Fitzgibbon, who had mentioned nothing about his support for a leadership change. 

Leader of the House Anthony Albanese said the leadership question was settled in February. 

Finance Minister Penny Wong said, "She has my full support and she has the strong support of caucus and I think this sort of speculation is unhelpful."

In a nice little twist, the latest Newspoll shows a four-point surge in the Prime Minister's popularity, with Julia's rating as preferred prime minister now at 40 per cent, while Tony Abbott's popularity is down three points to 37 per cent. 

The Prime Minister now leads Mr Abbott as the country's preferred leader, while Tony Abbott has suffered an increase in his dissatisfaction rating, up to 60 per cent - his highest figure ever recorded. 

Perhaps it is Tony Abbott’s leadership that the media should be speculating about?

I think the ABC said it best… Weekend reports that chief government whip Joel Fitzgibbon was canvassing numbers for a possible Kevin Rudd leadership challenge have thrown the spotlight back on Ms Gillard's leadership.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-28/discontent-simmers-amid-more-pressure-on-gillard/4036382

 

Yes, the spotlight is back on Julia’s leadership. Again. And my point is; that’s the whole point of this speculation circus.  

The Premier's er... The Queensland Literary Awards

So - ever since the Campbell Newman Liberal National Party (LNP) got into power at the Queensland state elections by a landslide in March - and with a record number of seats - I have been waiting. Waiting for all the fodder to pour in that would so incense me that I would have to let off steam here in my little soap-box blog. And I have not been disappointed. 

But I have been short on time, so I have been steaming off to my poor, long-suffering but patient partner instead. But there's only so much he can take. 

The first thing that really annoyed me was - before the ink was even dry on my ballot paper - Campbell Newman axed the Premier's literary awards. What? Was that a mistake? Did I hear right? 

Surely this was not some feeble attempt to keep his promise to cut government spending?  Could cutting this one tiny Premier's literary award bring the budget back to surplus? Improve the standard of living for Queenslanders? Return the state's AAA credit rating? Does it even take up 0.04% of the 2011-2012 Cabinet Budget of more than $700 million? What have you got against writers, writing, the arts, Campbell?

I boiled and burned and promised to come in here to my soapbox and rant about it. But time slipped away. And then the May edition of the Queensland Writers Centre's monthly WQ magazine arrived in my inbox, promptly on the 1st. And they had their own little rant. 

I could not have said it better or more succinctly than was voiced in the magazine. So I have blatantly ripped it off and transposed below. With credit! I could not have said it better.

The upside to this story is that members of the Queensland literary community are working to ensure that the awards continue, without the sponsorship of the dark and gloomy and artless Premier's office.

Many in the writing community will be watching your spending very closely, Mr Newman. We know about those nice, new leather chairs...

Stay tuned... there'll be more Newman ranting to come, I'm sure. As soon as I have time...

"Just before this issue of WQ went to press, the news broke that newly elected Queensland Premier Campbell Newman had axed the state’s literary awards, leaving Queensland the only state without such recognition of the writing community.

It’s a strange priority action from a government yet to swear in its Cabinet, with its arts minister yet to occupy her office.

Newman’s surprise fait accompli denies emerging and established writers the recognition and opportunity the awards offer, while the meagre budget savings the move will deliver are cringeworthy in comparison to the national embarrassment the action has sparked and the slap in the face to the arts industry it represents. 

We can only hope that the State Government’s approach to fostering a thriving creative community shows greater foresight and consultation in the future."

from May WQ Magazine

more about the awards... http://queenslandliteraryawards.com/

Stop fracking with our water!

http://csg.getup.org.au/

http://lockthegate.org.au/

UPDATE 1 MAY 2012: Amongst many of protests that this issue has invoked, this might be the largest to date.

Thousands of people descended on Sydney's Martin Place today calling on the government to protect land and water resources from coal seam gas (CSG) mining.

Read the AAP story on the SMH web here

And another view-point from ABC Northcoast NSW here

UPDATE 1 JANUARY 2013:
Still Mother Fracking around....

http://econews.com.au/news-to-sustain-our-world/report-csg-fracking-likely-in-sydney-area/

A message for all of humanity