Leave of Absence

I need to apologise for my so far unexplained absence - its nearly ten weeks since I have updated the Blog! Ten weeks where I just haven't been able to bring myself to make comment on the woeful state of political leadership in NSW. My sincere apologies to Sally, not so much because she likes to read what I write, but more because she sees my Blog as a tangible sign that I have at least done something!

NSW has not risen to any great heights of governance or political maturity in the meantime. Highlights include the overturning in the Land and Environment Court of the approval given by former Minister for Planning, Frank Sartor, for the controversial Catherine Hill Bay development. The development proposed by the Rose Group was found to have been tainted (my words) by a memorandum of understanding signed by the Minister and the developer regarding land transfers to the public once approved. This is one of those times I get to say "told you so" as I specifically made that point to Frank soon after his approval. I told him that I believed he had compromised the perception of objectivity in assessing the proposal. I must admit that I saw it as a point of complaint but not one that would gain enough traction to succeed in court.

The judgement leaves some outstanding questions, though. The Government often gives some indication of "you do that, we'll do this." Councils do it as well and I have often been with staff where we have negotiated a range of outcomes attached to a future approval. Specifically, this is done under Voluntary Planning Agreements where a fair balance between development and other outcomes is negotiated. The judgement needs further explanation to clarify where this type of approach can rightly be applied as opposed to where it would fetter an objective assessment.

Did anything else happen in the meantime? ..... other than the murder of Michael McGurk, the re-emergence of Graham Richardson from the shadows, an introduction to the Medich brothers, an Upper House Inquiry into Planning issues surrounding lobbyists; and of course, the downfall of the Minister for Health John Della Bosca, and serious questions about ALP connections with Hightrade, Tony Stewart gained a victory of sorts when Premier Rees agreed that not all relevant information was considered when Chris Ronalds SC inquired into his behaviour; for this, Stewart dropped further legal action against the State - to mention just a few.

In the meantime the Shooters Party continue to unashamedly hold the Government to ransom in the Upper House until the Government supports their Game and Feral Animal Control Amendment Bill allowing amongst other things, hunting in National Parks.

Amongst a myriad of other things, I have been working on a Private Members Bill (Surface Coal Mining Prohibition (Lake Macquarie) Bill 2009) that would unequivocally rule out the possibility of open-cut or “open-cut-ish” mining operations in Lake Macquarie. The text of the Bill is available on my website and I will write more on it soon. At this stage however, I am hoping to do the First Reading of the Bill on Friday 13th November and in the meantime will be asking the Government to support the Bill rather than kill or modify it.I am meeting with staff from Minister Keneally's office tomorrow and hope to get an indication of their view.

Tony Stewart Part II

Tony Stewart is finally having his day in Court over his sacking as a NSW Government Minister.  Representing the Government, Brett Walker SC has argued to the NSW Court of Appeal that the judiciary should have nothing to do with the decision. 

Walker argues that the Ministerial appointment was an at-pleasure appointment and that Stewart could have been sacked without the report of Chris Ronalds SC.  Mr Walker is absolutely correct that Nathan Rees did not need the report to get rid of Tony Stewart as a Minister – the grievance is that he used the report! 

Rees could have chosen to get rid of him because he didn’t like his style, his dress sense, or his haircut….. anything at all; but using the questionable findings of a ‘kangaroo court’ that would leave a black mark against his name is shameful. 

It is hard to know if the woeful judgment exhibited on many issues since becoming Premier can all be attributed to the Premier's natural and inherent genius - if so, then we're in big trouble.  I suspect that while the Premier must take ultimate responsibility for the decisions, he has no doubt been provided with atrocious advice from his Labor appointed advisors.

I don't believe that there is an argument that Stewart should be reinstated as a Minister.  That would be untenable and undermine the right of the Premier to select his Ministerial team.  The Premier however should acknowledge that the Ronalds investigation was flawed, should not have been used as the basis of Stewart's sacking ...... and he should offer Tony Stewart and his family an apology.

Della Bosca! - to the Back of the Line Please!

The news that John Della Bosca might be making a move for the Premiership has surprised me, and I would be surprised if the plan is advanced as media speculation suggests. Della’s aspirations for the top job have been part of routine speculation for some time and if he was in the Legislative Assembly when Morris Iemma resigned I have no doubt that he would be Premier now. 

As it is, he’s in the Upper House (Legislative Council) and would need to find a Lower House seat to contest and win before he could become Premier.  Regardless of speculation as to whether the Premier can be from the LC, the reality is that it would be almost impossible for that to be the case.  That’s the first hurdle. 

Secondly, he would need to be very sure that he had the numbers to displace Nathan Rees before having a go because adding to his risk, he would have to resign from the Legislative Council so as to contest an election for the Legislative Assembly.  Under that scenario he could end up with nothing – the ultimate political fizzer! 

Thirdly, Della Bosca is regarded as a smart politician and from what I have seen of him I would agree.  He knows that the ALP factions are more divided now than for a long time.  Not only would he have to be able to unite warring parties to get support; he would need to convince the electorate that he is worthy of support, particularly with the damage the Iguanagate Affair did to him.  Della is a good politician and given time he could probably convince the electorate about himself – I have my doubts though that they would easily embrace John and Belinda. 

I might be wrong but I can’t see this happening yet even though there seem few options acceptable to the Party.  Frank Sartor can never be written off either.  He certainly has his enemies and detractors but Sartor also has a track record of achievement and quite a few friends (political friends – not necessarily friends in the sense most people use the word) across the factions.  Those loyalties will no doubt further test Della's ability to get sufficient support. The only thing certain is that if Nathan Rees is to improve his popularity in the polls it will need to be on the back of Rudd and the Federal stimulus funding.  If that doesn’t work then we’ll see the outcome suggested by some from the Right – there will never be another Premier from the Left!  For some, the experiment will have failed, for others, the Plan will have worked!

Rees Investing in the Hunter

It was very heartening to see the six page glossy "Community Cabinet Report - Investing in the Hunter" delivered throughout the electorate of Lake Macquarie this week.  

While there are lots of worthwhile projects being promised for the Region, the Business as Usual spin of this Premier is heartening, especially when we would have all been worried by his claims of a fresh approach as Premier, promising to do away with spin.

As the State desperately tries to attach itself to the massive Commonwealth Economic Stimulus package Nathan Rees seems to have deferred his commitment to all things "fair dinkum".  The opportunity to role out blatant Party Political advertising under the guise of information was obviously just too much of a temptation.

I can only guess what the cost of these brochures were but I imagine $30,000 per electorate would not be far off the mark.  Not a bad supplement to the Electoral Mailout Allowance for the local Labor members for Swansea, Charlestown, Newcastle, Wallsend and Maitland, the only local members who featured!  Of course, it would be even better if all of this printing was done locally - and as there is no indication on the brochure, I imagine they can claim that it was.  

Not to say that the Government hasn't been fair though.  They did after all deliver two boxes of these brochures to my State office.  And just to be fair, if anyone wants one, I would be glad to get a brochure to them - after all, if the Premier has been tempted back into using public funds for partisan, party political purposes, it would be a shame to further waste the hundreds of thousands of dollars they are spending on brochures, TV, internet, and other areas telling us how good they are.

Olstan Auger Mine abandoned!

The proposed Olstan Auger Mining Project near Blackalls Park in Lake Macquarie has been officially confirmed as dead. In a Media Release this afternoon, Centennial Coal has confirmed that they will be withdrawing the application for the development which would have produced a relatively minor 1.5 million tonnes of coal over the 3 year life of the project.

Having had discussions with the General Manager earlier today, I was pleased that the confirmation of that understanding was forthcoming.  Centennial have based their decision on the commercial viability of the project which all agreed was marginal from the start.  The environmental requirements and the additional standards which Centennial wished to apply so as to address community concern have shown that the project was not worth pursuing.

This is great news for all those people in the local area who were very concerned for the health and amenity of their area, as well as for the natural environment which would have been significantly impacted by what I believe would have constituted a hybrid open-cut/auger mine. 

We must now make sure that the definition of an open-cut mine, banned in Lake Macquarie, incorporates mining techniques such as was proposed.

Text of the Media Release below:

Friday July 17, 2009

PROPOSED OLSTAN PROJECT

Centennial Coal has announced its decision to withdraw the project application for the proposed

Olstan Auger project following its review of the latest technical studies.

“Centennial and its consultants have been conducting technical studies to ensure that the

project would comply with both the statutory environmental standards and our own company

standards”, said Katie Brassil, Centennial Coal’s Group Manager External Affairs.

“As studies have progressed there have been a number of concessions to the mine design in

order to address potentially unacceptable impacts on the environment and community. These

changes have increased both capital and operating costs and the project is no longer viable”, Ms

Brassil continued.

In April this year, Centennial lodged a Project Application including a Preliminary Environmental

Assessment (PEA) with the Department of Planning for the proposed Olstan Auger Project.

Olstan was to be a small-scale auger-mining project recovering less than 1.5mtpa of remnant

coal over 3 years.

Centennial has consistently highlighted that the onus is on the company, as project proponent,

to demonstrate, using scientifically based evidence and fact, both the benefits and impacts a

proposal may have for the local community.

Therefore, Centennial has been progressively working on the range of technical studies required

to compile the final comprehensive Environmental Assessment for the project. The assessment

process also requires concurrent community consultation while finalising the technical studies to

ensure informed and balanced decision making on the project.

“Centennial has followed the government’s rules and processes, and while the proposed project

has garnered opposition, Centennial has remained focussed on the planning and assessment

process and the facts, and this is the basis for our decision to withdraw the project application”,

Ms Brassil explained.

Olstan was intended to supply coal to fill current contracts with the local power stations.

Therefore, other options will now be investigated to address any potential shortfall. These

options may include increasing production at an existing operation or sourcing coal from another

location.

Centennial’s long-term future in the Lake Macquarie area remains with our existing operations

and the Awaba East and Mandalong South underground projects.

Solar Feed-In Tariff for NSW

The announcement today by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change that NSW will introduce a feed-in tariff for solar photovoltaic (PV) systems up to 10 kilowatt is great news for the PV industry and particularly good news for residents and small business operators who have already, or are wanting to, invest in this form of renewable energy. The policy will take effect in January 2010.

While many people and groups have been calling for a gross feed-in tariff, this net feed-in tariff is certainly better than none, and returning a rate of 60 cents per kilowatt hour is very generous. A net feed-in tariff means that the installation will earn money for energy surplus to the household or business need, and sent to the grid. A gross feed-in tariff would have seen all power generated, including that used within the home or business, paid a tariff.

The Minister and Government has rejected that proposition for a number of reasons including the view that the net system will encourage greater energy efficiency from the premise, and that the feed-in tariff must be paid for by all power users by way of a small increase across the user base. That is true, though it is unclear to me just what the variation in cost might be. The Minister's statement also identified that many people would be financially unable to invest in PV systems and that the net feed-in tariff was more equitable for those people.

As well as the 60 cents per kilowatt tariff, which is some four times the retail energy rate, household or small businesses will still gain the benefit of power they generate and use, thus not having to purchase power at 15 cents per kilowatt.

Even though a typical installation will take an estimated 12 years to pay off, this new policy on a Feed-In Tariff is great news which will drive investment in PV systems creating jobs and further encouraging investment in improving the technology. Minister Tebutt and the Government need to be congratulated on this one!

Favours for Old Ute - Fair Shake of the Sauce Bottle!

With calls for Kevin Rudd and Wayne Swan to resign over the "Ute Affair" you would hope that there was something truly significant to the issue - not so that we can see a Prime Minister or senior Minister brought down; but so as the Opposition can remain credible.  

To most Australians this would seem like a huge waste of time.  The ute in itself seems to me to be a modest contribution to a local member and I imagine that someone has been trolling and cross checking every declaration the Kevin Rudd has made.

The issue to be fair isn't now about the ute as such; it is about whether or not Kevin Rudd mislead Parliament in denying assisting his friend and car dealer, John Grant, in seeking assistance through the Federal OzCar Scheme.  I imagine that it would be very easy for Kevin Rudd to ask questions or make comments that could be used against him by political enemies. He would speak with so many people on so many issues unless he knowingly set out to do something wrong I doubt that he would even remember such detail.

Perhaps my views on this one are a bit soft - but really, does Malcolm Turnbull really think that anyone other than "rabid right" anti Ruddites would want to bring down a Government over an issue such as this?