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Under the mask
Ali Bohn ... My loved one has dementia and they have no bloody idea who I am at the best of times, but add this freak show costume and it’s an impossible situation. But I am Covid-19 negative, so why am I wearing all the paraphernalia?
NSW Flood Inquiry final report – Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals reaction
"Local response plans cannot be effectively formulated bureaucratically and remotely from the disaster epicentres. For this reason, the BCCM has strongly advocated the establishment of a National Co-operative Disaster Recovery Centre of Excellence, with Lismore the stand-out candidate for its location" : Melina Morrison, CEO, BCCM.
Net zero targets won’t last long
This story is about the impossible challenge of feeding a growing world population while staying true to net zero emissions targets ... Something strange happened in June this year when two of the world's most bullish emissions reduction advocates, Germany and Britain, panicked at the huge spike in grain prices and called for temporary waivers on biofuels mandates to combat soaring food prices.
Australia on cusp of regional revolution: Daniel Moloney, Regional Capitals Australia
In media comments recently, the Business Council of Australia said that in order to achieve lasting nation-changing reform, we had to ‘unleash the regions’. These are interesting comments given that in years past, the common perception of regions was that they were laggards – sleepy hollows where time stands still and blowflies outnumber people.
Bushfires, leaving aside climate, weather and drought: John O’Donnell
If we as a society don’t identify all the non-climate, climate change, weather and drought factors that influence the extent, intensity and severity of major bushfires across Australia and action associated opportunities, Australia will continue to have more of the same disastrous bushfires, impacting on communities, fire fighters, flora, fauna and the environment.
It’s time
It’s not just the ‘it’s time’ factor, nor the furore around Allanah MacTiernan's recent comments linked to Foot and Mouth disease, nor her failure to get her Department to operate effectively, or even the fact she has been captured by the unscientific religion of regenerative agriculture, that she has to go. No, it’s simply the fact that farmers have stopped listening to someone who prefers to lecture rather than listen.
Licensing, legalities and loonies
Water politics in Australia’s $13 billion political plan to save the Murray-Darling Basin is rapidly deteriorating as political drivers rip apart what remains of meaningful engagement, sustainable water industries and communities reliant on a balanced plan. Despite all the promises and shiny beads, sadly, politics and bureaucracy show little interest in change.
Hard truths from WESA should prompt rethink on 450GL: NFF
Australia’s peak farm body says the release of the Second Water for the Environment Special Account (WESA) Report should prompt a major rethink of the Australian Government’s policy of recovering an additional 450GL under the Murray Darling Basin Plan. National Farmers’ Federation President Fiona Simson said the findings provide Water Minister Tanya Plibersek the opportunity to reset the Government’s approach, and to focus on achievable pathways to realise environmental outcomes.
FMD is far more important than festivals
This opinion piece is all about the failure of our Ag Minister to understand the importance of elevating biosecurity to the top of DPIRD’s list of things to do ... With the arrival of Foot and Mouth Disease in Indonesia, DPIRD needs to be up to the task of stopping it at our borders or wiping it out within the 3-4 months that a recent CSIRO report claims is possible for localised outbreaks.
Commonwealth Government ignores Basin Plan facts and history: VFF
The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has raised concerns that the Commonwealth Government is rewriting history in an attempt to buyback and deliver water to South Australia under the Murray Darling Basin Plan. VFF Water Council Chair Andrew Leahy said the response from Water Minister Tanya Plibersek to South Australian MP Rebekha Sharkie’s question in Parliament this week ignored the history behind the 450 GL up-water target.
Government’s gift to irrigators will kill the Darling River: The Greens
The NSW Environment Minister has just approved Water Sharing Plans that will enable floodplain harvesting licences to be handed out in the Northern Basin. Cate Faehrmann, NSW Greens MP and water spokesperson, says this is a gift for big irrigators in the northern basin and will spell the end of a healthy Darling-Baaka River and Menindee Lakes.
Full throttle on Choke
The Barmah Millewa Choke is in the MDBA’s sights as the pesky sand slug slithered its way out of the pages of gold mining history, to now find itself lodged fairly and squarely in the road of supplying the mounting downstream demands for the precious water stored in Hume and Dartmouth. According to the MDBA, this particular sand slug must not be confused with the Cobram beach sand slug.
ABC’s Basin Plan reporting slammed
An advocacy group has slammed what it calls “inaccurate and harmful” reporting of an issue that is crucial to rural communities and the national prosperity. Speak Up Campaign chair, Shelley Scoullar, said rural Australians are ‘fed up’ with unacceptable media standards and the lack of effort to ensure crucial issues are reported accurately and with balance. Mrs Scoullar said the latest example was from the ABC’s national environment and science reporter, Michael Slezak, and his reporting of Australia’s State of the Environment document, in which he used selective information that presented a false picture of Murray-Darling Basin Plan progress in broadcasts and online, including ABC National News.
What did the Winemaker drink OS?
Just back from three weeks overseas ... I thought I would write a few lines about booze overseas: quality, range and distribution ... Our first stop was the US ... We used to drink wine on our visits to the US ... Spent the first day in London walking the “Monopoly board”, stopping for a reviver or two in beautiful pubs.
Bushfire theories versus real world experience
Sadly, death and destruction will continue to escalate whilst governments rely on advice from academics and firechiefs and give them increased funding after every disaster. Sustainable fire management would be very much cheaper and better.
The role of academics in influencing the perceived threat from climate change: Frank Batini
Some academics are happy to comment in areas where they have no expertise or local knowledge. In contrast, the views of locals with years of practical management experience are mostly ignored.
Money drives madness
Australia’s $13 billion Murray-Darling Basin Plan is yielding some unintended consequences as decades of sage warnings went ignored ... Money is the motivator. “Almonds, citrus, and table grapes can all be grown above or below the Barmah Choke, but horticulturalists believe they can each be grown more profitably below the Choke.”
Existing environmental benefits mean 450GL isn’t needed: VFF
“Over 2,100 gigalitres of water has already been recovered for the environment and has delivered great benefit to our ecosystems. But we must acknowledge the huge toll on rural communities and agricultural jobs as a consequence. Further recovery can’t be achieved, will hurt farming communities and jobs, and won’t provide any real environmental benefit” : VFF Water Council Chair, Andrew Leahy.
Outgoing farm leader sees hope on horizon: NSW Farmers
Outgoing NSW Farmers President James Jackson says there is a great future ahead for Australian agriculture if governments and the public support the vital sector ... “Australia as a nation lags behind on backing farmers, with a government paper on food security this week revealing we have one of the lowest levels of agricultural support across the 37 OECD member countries – and when compared to major emerging economies."
TFGA suggests review of land acquisition legislation
Ian Sauer, TFGA President believes that it is time for an independent or parliamentary review into legislation such as Land Acquisition Act 1993, Irrigation Company Act 2011, Hydro-Electric Corporation Act 1995 and other associated legislation, which allows for the authorised acquisition of land for the purpose of infrastructure ... An irrigation scheme was fully sold before the relevant GBE approached the Scott-Youngs’ and informed them they would need to acquire around 5 per cent of their land to locate a dam. This parcel included 20ha in the middle of the farm. Right outside their front door.
Don’t believe the hype: not every fresh fruit and vegetable price should be going up
Jane Richter. The early onset of cold weather in Queensland coupled with great rains in the last 12 months means there is a bumper crop of newly maturing ginger being harvested right now. And shoppers should get the benefit ... if only the retail giants would pass on the huge cost cuts that they have been enjoying for at least the last month ... The wholesale market sale price in Sydney recently dropped to below $7 per kilo for fabulous fresh large-sized mature ginger, and yet the product is still being sold at $45 or more per kilo by the major retail chains.
On time and in full
It’s been seven weeks since the election in which Labor promised it would deliver the basin plan in full. Last week, a private jet jaunt around selected parts of the basin saw Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek doubling down on the promise ... Once again, the plan rolls on with decisions made on high and an attitude of propaganda rather than collaboration and information sharing. I suppose when one body implements, oversees, reviews and funds the science, it would be hard to get any outcome other than the one they seek.
