March 6, 2008
As published in the Inner-West Weekly. By Fiona Brady,27 Feb 08
PLASTIC water bottles have been banned from the workplace at Ashfield Council.
And while the council is continuing to prove its green credentials by voting to end its use of bottled water, one councillor claims it is merely a stunt.
The move comes on the eve of Clean Up Australia Day on Sunday. Clean Up founder Ian Kiernan has proclaimed plastic bottles are among the most common rubbish items recovered.
Last week Ashfield councillors voted to ban bottled water, except at community events where tap water is limited.
The ban extends to outdoor council workers who are provided with water fountains. Water fountains are also in council buildings.
Greens councillor Mary Hawkins, who put forward the motion, said bottled water was unnecessary given the high quality of tap water.
“Bottled water is disastrous on every count,” she said.
“It’s not fluoridated. It is hugely expensive compared to tap water.
“About 200ml of oil is needed to produce each litre bottle of water.
“There’s also all the transportation involved and the subsequent CO2 emissions. Plus, you need to find landfill space for the empty plastic bottles.”
Only Liberal councillor Nick Adams voted against the motion.
He told the Inner-West Weekly he thought the move was unnecessary and part of an “alarmist” campaign to frighten the community about the environment.
“I don’t think our council stopping its use of bottled water will make any substantial impact in assisting the environment,” he said. “It is a token symbolic gesture what we have come to expect from the Greens and the general Left.”
Mr Adams said it would be better to investigate options to recycle plastic bottles.
Mayor Ted Cassidy said the media had originally rubbished the idea the public would ever pay for water, but it had now become “acceptable and popular”.
“The water quality from our tap is equally as good as anything you buy,” he said.
March 3, 2008
NSW Premier Morris Iemma has announced his government’s intention to sell NSW’s electricity retailers and to lease the publicly-owned power stations. Electricity privatisation and the construction of a new baseload power station would be bad news for the community, the workforce, the economy and the environment.
The union movement and progressive people are organising to stop the sale.
The Greens are committed to keeping the electricity industry in public hands and to exposing the myth that NSW needs a new baseload power station.It is not too late to stop the sale!
Premier Iemma and his Treasurer Michael Costa are facing considerable pressure from within their own party to reject the sale.
Join the campaign by calling (02) 9230 2668, by emailing the office of Greens MP John Kaye
here.
The GreenWay is a “grass-roots” regional vision in the Inner West of Sydney, Australia, to provide a fabulous tree-lined cycling and walking trail and wildlife corridor linking the sub-catchments of two of Sydney’s most important waterways
The Cooks River to Iron Cove GreenWay is a “grass-roots” community-driven project which seeks to refocus community attention to the local scene – to achieve a more environmentally friendly urban environment. The aspirations for this urban railway and canal corridor linking the Cooks River at Earlwood, and Sydney Harbour at Iron Cove are long-standing – but what is now needed is coordinated actions that could move things forward.
The proposed GreenWay could have features of:
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a safe and pleasant walking and cycling to schools, shops and parks in the area
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increased community participation in local environmental improvements
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a “ribbon” of native vegetation between the two waterways, with fewer weeds
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safe pedestrian and cycling crossings under busy roads such as Parramatta and New Canterbury roads.
The project so far has gathered together Leichhardt, Marrickville, Ashfield and Canterbury Councils, State Government agencies, local community groups and residents in positive and pro-active partnership.
Dr.
CHEE Soon Juan (born 1962) is the Secretary-General of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP). One of the 3 opposition political parties presently operating.
Dr Chee is known for his opposition and numerous confrontations with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) and speaks internationally on the plight of democracy in Singapore and the role of the Singapore government investments in propping up brutal regimes such as the Burmese military government. He is a respected figure in the EU parliament and US Democratic party circles.
October 4, 2007
Senator Kerry Nettle and the Greens NSW candidate for Lowe Marc Rerceretnam call on the State and federal governments to increase mandatory renewable energy targets (MRET) and impose binding targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% of 1990 levels by 2020 and 80 % by 2050. These measures are needed to avert catastrophic sea rises which will inundate coastal settlements in Australia and elsewhere around the world.
“Unless we take action to address climate change in 2100 shopping in parts of Lowe will be tough. So will walking the dog and playing cricket. These things will be hard to do ankle deep in water. That’s what we are facing if we don’t start taking seriously the effects of human induced climate change.” said Dr Rerceretnam.
“Estimates of sea level rise due to climate change range from nine and 88 centimetres by 2100 but this is thought to be conservative.
“The CSIRO has publicly stated that the risks for inundation of coastal settlements is ‘inevitable” with sea level rises up to 12 centimetres above the global average. With 80% of Australia’s population living within 50kms of the coast millions of Australians will be affected.”
Senator Nettle and Dr Rerceretnam have graphically demonstrated the effects on Russell Lea using a marker to show the water level in 2050.
“Modelling of the effects sea rises caused by climate change on suburbs close to Sydney Harbour undertaken by the University of Sydney show waterfront areas including Lysaght Park, are at risk from a sea level rise of less than a metre” said Senator Nettle
“The federal seat of Lowe includes a number of harbourside suburbs including Drummoyne, Canada Bay and Haberfield. With predicted rises in sea level many residents will see the value of their homes fall.
Senator Nettle said: “The Greens are determined to work with the community to ensure that governments introduce binding greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and mandatory renewable energy targets.
“John Howard will not sacrifice the economy to save the planet. Membership of Howard’s Task Group on Emissions Trading was confined to public servants and big businesses including BHP Billiton, Xstrata Coal and Alumina Limited. No green groups were included in the Task Group”
August 23, 2007
The New South Wales Greens have launched their website for the upcoming federal election. Check it out at www.greens.org.au/nsw
August 7, 2007
From the Inner West Courier
Senator Kerry Nettle, who was raised in the Inner West, kicked off the campaigns of local Greens candidates last Friday with a multicultural message.So far, all the inner-Sydney Greens candidates for the yet-to-be-announced federal election come from ethnic backgrounds - a first for the political party.
The candidates include Ashfield councillor Marc Rerceretnam for Lowe and Marrickville councillor Saeed Khan for Grayndler.
Senator Nettle said multiculturalism would be a big issue in the federal election.
“At a time when the big parties are attacking multiculturalism and ethnic communities, the Greens are proud to support diversity,” Senator Nettle said. “I am looking forward to campaigning with [Marc and Saeed] in their electorates to send a message about the importance of multiculturalism for Australia.”
Dr Rerceretnam, who is of Singaporean background, said there were many issues to tackle in Lowe.
“I am passionate about protecting workers’ rights, stemming the effects of climate change and human rights,” Dr Rerceretnam said.
“A key local issue for the Greens is climate change and the legacy we are leaving our children. I have three young children and I worry about their future.”
Dr Rerceretnam said he hoped to pick up where 2004 Greens candidate Shireen Murphy left off.
Ms Murphy gained a 5 per cent swing and polled 9.2 per cent of the primary vote at the last election.
August 4, 2007
Marc Rerceretnam was elected to be the candidate for Lowe for the Greens. Marc has been an Ashfield Councillor since 2004 and is the chairperson of both the Communications Committee and the Local Multicultural Ethnic Affairs Committee. Marc has said he will take a holistic approach to issues and not ignore traditional state or local government issues just because this is a federal election.
If you would like to help with the campaign there are many jobs available for people of all ages and skill sets. Please email the volunteer coordinator Eva Griffith. If you have a specific job in mind, let her know. Current volunteer positions include:
- Staffing stalls in the Lowe area promoting the Greens.
- Delivering leaflets to letterboxes in your area.
- Handing out flyers and newspapers at Cityrail stations.
- And many more…
July 18, 2007
A leading academic in urban planning and development has unveiled a prototype for Sydney’s first ‘Eco-City.’ Rafael Pizarro is a lecturer in Sustainable Urban Planning at the faculty of Architecture at the University of Sydney.
“The idea came from the current crisis in climate change and global warming,” he said. “When this crisis became public with the Stern Report and the inter-governmental panel on climate change report, I decided that I wanted to give a new direction to my teaching, a new direction to the way I was training future designers and planners in this profession. So I decided to tackle this head on through the designing of cities.”
The project, White Bay Eco-City, features mid to high-density solar districts, food and energy production areas, storm water run-off systems and a water recycling plant.Residents of the eco-city would be able to get around on an internal public transport system consisting of a light tram grid and special roads for public GPS-guided ’stackable’ mini-cars.Mr Pizarro says two of the most important features of the eco-city are the internal transport system and the ability to use buildings to grow food.
“Food production not only happens in a spatial district in most of the eco-city, but also on most of the rooftops of the buildings,” he said.”We have created rooftop gardens where you can plant your vegies and in this way increasing the food supply for the eco-city while knocking out the cost and environmental impact of transporting food in and out. The other major feature is public transportation.”
Read more at ABC, or USYD.
From Village Voice:
The Greens have announced Marc Rerceretnam as the party’s candidate for Lowe in this year’s federal election, after the Ashfield councillor was successful in a preselection vote last Saturday.
Dr Rerceretnam defeated Canada Bay councillor and Greens candidate for Drummoyne Bernard Rooney and Pauline Tyrrell, who ran as a Green in the seat of Fowler in the 2004 federal election, for the position.
Dr Rerceretnam said both Mr Rooney and Ms Tyrrell pledged their full support for his campaign.
He identified climate change, industrial relations laws and political donations as the three big issues heading toward the election. Climate change will be a central issue for people living in Lowe because of the number of arterial roads within the electorate.
“We don’t like to delineate issues between state and federal; we like to look at things from a holistic point of view,” he said.
Read More.
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