Australian Greens Senator for NSW and forests spokesperson Lee Rhiannon says the major parties’ refusal to rule out federal funding to support the operations of the proposed Eden wood-fired power station, by voting against a motion she put to Federal Parliament yesterday, suggests the proposal could still have life.

The full motion and debate from Hansard is provided below. Senator Rhiannon and NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge are visiting South East NSW next Tuesday 30 August.

“When I visit South East NSW next week with David Shoebridge we will be talking with locals about stepping up the campaign to stop the construction of a wood-fired power station,” Senator Rhiannon said.

“The Greens are concerned that the Federal Minister for Forestry Senator Ludwig did not use the opportunity in Parliament to rule out future funding of the Eden bio-mass power station which is still on the Department of Planning’s books.

“We know that the Federal MP for Eden-Monaro Dr Kelly has continued to promote the power station, despite electricity generation from native forest feed-stocks no longer being eligible for Renewable Energy Certificates. (more…)

Greens MP Ian Cohen today congratulated the National Parks and Wildlife Service on their 40th anniversary and urged the community to enjoy the generous offer from NPWS to visit their local park for free this Sunday.

“Go and enjoy a visit to a national park this Sunday and celebrate the achievements of the conservation movement and the superb efforts of the NPWS to preserve these areas for future generations,” said Mr Cohen. (more…)

NSW Police have threatened eleventh-hour legal action against Sylvia Hale MLC in order to stop the NSW Greens MP holding a media conference with 21 mock world leaders dressed as lifesavers in Martin Place on Friday morning at 11:00 am. The media conference is to be addressed by Greens Senator Kerry Nettle and Ms Hale who will call on the APEC leaders to take serious action to address climate change.

Ms Hale was served with a letter from NSW Police General Counsel Michael Antrum this afternoon threatening legal action if the MP did not agree to move the media conference from Martin Place. (more…)

Dr JOHN KAYE [5.36 p.m.] (Inaugural Speech): As a matter of protocol, and also as a mark of respect, I acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, the traditional owners of the land on which this Parliament sits. I pay my respects to the elders, past and present. I also pay my respects to those who, 40 years ago, struggled for and achieved constitutional recognition for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their rights to at least be counted as part of the census. Their success sits proudly in the great Australian history of struggle—a history of social justice activists, unionists, environmentalists and a stirrers, people who created a powerful tradition of taking the notion that it does not have to be this way and translating it into action. That tradition even to this day says that working people deserve a fair share of this nation’s wealth, that corporations should not be allowed to ravage our environment, and that economic disadvantage should neither be punished by impoverishment nor allowed to become an inherited condition. (more…)

QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Climate Change
Question

Senator NETTLE (2.31 p.m.) ­My question is to the Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation, Senator Abetz. Has the government conducted a study of the climate change impact of the logging of native forest in south-eastern New South Wales, in particular for the supply of Eden woodchip mill for export woodchipping?
Answer

Senator ABETZ ­This may be a revelation to the Australian Greens, but forestry is the only carbon positive sector of the Australian economy. Therefore, if anybody is genuinely concerned about getting greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere, about cleaning up the atmosphere, they should be loud spruikers in support of forestry ­forestry that is done on a sustainable basis, where every tree that is harvested is replanted and indeed more than replaced, such as we do in Australia today. (more…)