Letter sent to state and national newspapers, published Daily Telegraph Jan. 1, Canberra Times Jan. 4 & Braidwood Times, Jan. 10 2007:

John Howard has said that a nation like Australia, with the world’s largest known uranium deposits, would be “crazy in the extreme” not to allow for the development of nuclear power. This same “logic” of doing things because we can, and because of the perceived economic benefits, has resulted in Australia having one of the highest per capita greenhouse gas emission levels due to the continued mining of coal and our voracious approach to energy consumption; a massive reduction in biodiversity and the endangering and extinction of a large number of species due to land clearing and the woodchipping of many of the last remaining areas of old growth forest, and the drying up of our mighty rivers as a result of too many dams and too much irrigation.

It would be nice to think that we could start the New Year with a commitment to thinking about the impact of our actions on the future generations of our own and other species, and start looking after the planet.

Catherine Moore
Charleys Forest

March 24 is the NSW State Election. Don’t forget to vote!!!
If you are not currently enrolled, you must do so before by 6pm on the day of the issue of the writ.
An enrolment form and reply paid envelope is available from your local post office. The form will enrol you for State, Federal and Council elections.

Primary Industries SA has just published online the location of Bayer’s 19 GM canola release sites in the Mt Gambier, Penola region. These releases are exempt from state government bans on commercial GM canola. There were just 9 sites last year.

“This GM canola was planted between October 19 and December 11, without notice to neighbouring farmers, beekeepers or the general public,” says Gene Ethics Director, Bob Phelps.

“Beekeepers were kept in the dark and could not comply with the 5km buffer restrictions,” says Network of Concerned Farmers spokesperson Geoffrey Carracher. (more…)

1. Cr Moore expressed her extreme disappointment at the lack of support for the nuclear-free motion, and the politicisation of it. She said that she dared to suggest that she was the least political councillor round the table. (more…)

The purpose of this motion is both practical and symbolic. It is practical in the sense of wanting to ensure that our shire is free from nuclear activity and the transportation of nuclear material in order to provide for the health, safety and welfare of our residents. It is symbolic in the sense that a powerful message could be sent to the Federal Government if the majority of Local Government Areas (LGAs) declared themselves nuclear-free zones in the same way that the states have all said that they do not want nuclear waste dumps or nuclear reactors. (more…)

Thankyou for the opportunity to make a submission. On behalf of the Braidwood Greens, I wish to make the following short submission on the proposed foray into nuclear power in Australia.

For all the reasons which have been outlined on countless occasions by environment groups, and reinforced by prominent figures like Mikhail Gorbachev, the Braidwood Greens are strongly opposed to any expansion of the uranium industry. (more…)

11 December, 2006

While re-use and recycling are important, reduction is the key to lightening our footprint on the planet.

Reducing consumption is a confronting concept, because it is widely held that the whole of the developed world requires continued growth, and consumption is the wheel that drives the system. (more…)