Monday, February 28, 2011

Immigration to probe North West Shelf slave labour claims | The Australian

Immigration to probe North West Shelf slave labour claims | The Australian


IS THIS NOT PEOPLE SMUGGLING

We are fighting them on the beaches but they are coming in the back door

Dear Redhand

I fully appreciate how busy everyone is at the moment but feel that it may be important to draw attention to the WA State Government’s latest oil and gas exploration acreage
release along the Eighty Mile Beach which includes DECs RAMSAR wetlands.

This development and extension is being driven by Buru energy backed by the Mitsubishi Corporation. http://www.buruenergy.com.au/web/Projects/ This Company has been engaged in hydro fracking in the Fitzroy River Valley.

The executive director and sixth largest shareholder for Buru energy is Eric Streitberg.

He is also the chairman for APPEA http://www.appea.com.au/
and the Marine Parks Reserves Authority.

This latest release needs to be challenged by calling for Eric Streitberg’s resignation from his position with Department of Environment and Conservation.



Buru Energy plans seven-well program in Canning basin

BY Rick Wilkinson

Perth-based Buru Energy Ltd. will soon begin a comprehensive seven-well exploration-appraisal program in the onshore Canning basin of northwest Western Australia supported by joint venture partner Mitsubishi Corp.
The program includes appraisal of the Pictor oil and gas discovery in permit EP 431, drilling two exploration wells in the Yulleroo field area, two exploration wells in the Acacia field region, the Cyrene-1 exploration well in EP 438, and a well to evaluate one of the unconventional play types being delineated by Buru.
Executive Director Eric Streitberg said the company is encouraged by results of the 2010 program, especially the Yulleroo-2 appraisal, that there will be commercial accumulations found. He also believes the Canning Superbasin contains extensive unconventional reservoir potential.

Gas hub legal stoush takes new twist - ABC Kimberley WA - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Gas hub legal stoush takes new twist - ABC Kimberley WA - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

"The Gulf oil spills toxic legacy".


Those BB's said...

Back when the spill was on and the BP clean up gangs were putting up a show, Redhand wrote a piece about what was going to happen to the people and creatures of the Gulf.
At the time some may have thought"more greenie nonsense".Just some beat up stuff to spoil the Woodside party.
WELL THINK AGAIN !!!

This well written piece explains that even Redhands worst nightmares pale against the awful truth coming out of the Gulf recently.
And it is well worth remembering a few things here.

1. BP is going into the Great Australian Bight to drill.
2. Just how "well oiled" their cover up machine is.
3. What is happening in the Gulf,is without a doubt happening in the areas off our north coast impacted by the Montara disaster.
4. We in Broome and the Peninsular are being fed the same bullshit they have used everywhere else to get away with murder and destruction.
5. BP are partners with Woodside.

http://www.theage.com.au/world/the-gulf-oil-spills-toxic-legacy-20110225-1b8mz.html

Environmentalism is failing: radical social change is never respectable | Crikey

So we urgently need a new environmental radicalism; one built firmly on a full confrontation with climate science and its meaning; one that understands the need to defeat big carbon rather than seek a detente with it; one that resists pressure to conform to the prevailing political structure.

We need a new environmental radicalism made up of those willing to put their bodies on the line; because no one ever achieved radical social change by being respectable.

Environmentalism is failing: radical social change is never respectable | Crikey

Friday, February 18, 2011

All WE NEED IS THE CLEAN AIR TO BREATH

Air, water and the earth is more than just physical components of the planet: they are all the scared elements, giving life to all terrestrial organisms, linking all life into a single matrix, joining the past, present and the future in a single flowing earthly orbit.

We, humans boast that we are in possession of intelligence, but what intelligent creature, knowing the critical roles of all these elements for all life on earth, would than proceed to deliberately and continuously pour toxic poisons into it?

We are all totally connected to these scared elements, so what ever we do to these elements, we do to ourselves. We know air, water and earth are life giving but we turn them into toxic dumps.

Only when we stop and use mother nature's gifts of the wind, the tide, and the sun, to power our indulgences, only then will we be able to claim that we have intelligence.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Way cleared for gas hub deal to be signed - ABC Kimberley WA - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Way cleared for gas hub deal to be signed - ABC Kimberley WA - Australian Broadcasting Corporation

James Price Point, THE WAY IS FAR FROM BEING CLEARED THERE ARE MANY LEGAL AVENUES & ALL OF THEM WILL BE IMPLEMENTED. ITS ROUND ONE IN A 100 ROUND BOUT.

Mr Roe has been granted one week to appeal. Mr Roe will Appeal to the Full Federal Court and this Appeal is currently being drafted as I blog this.

The ABC's report states “The decision means the newly-appointed representatives (Rita Augustine, Anthony Watson and Uga Paddy) are able to sign a deal with the State Government and Woodside, enabling the $30 billion project to proceed.”

If this is media report is correct, what has happen to the original Heads Of Agreement and where does this leave the Compulsory Acquisition threat.

How does this really work when these newly - appointed representatives still do not have Native Title, or have a Registered Native Title Application?

Meanwhile, as this decision has been handed down Gail McGowan from the Department of State Development are currently at the Mercure Inn, in Broome, meeting with Kimberley Land Council to discuss the Indigenous Land Use Agreement.

Considering, that the decision was only handed down at 9.30am this morning, its interesting that they have wasted no time in jumping into ILUA negotiations. Its also highly questionable why this meeting had been even scheduled prior to today's Court Announcement or before a decision had been handed down?

The clouds are gathering, lighting is flashing and the storms of opposition is growing

Gas hub 'would destroy dinosaur prints' - The West Australian

Gas hub 'would destroy dinosaur prints' - The West Australian

In a earlier report:

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/newshome/8542773/heritage-bid-deals-blow-to-gas-plant/#comments

The Australian Heritage Council recommended the site be included in a national heritage listing for the West Kimberley, late last year. What the Heritage Council have actually nominated is still unclear?



Why did the The West Australian have to apply under the Freedom of Information to obtain this information?

Why were these facts not included in the Strategic Assessment Reports.

Why didn’t the Department of State Development employ experts to undertake their studies instead of an ancient shark expert.

Why were the two reports undertaken by the DSD written by the same person, one under the WA Museum and the other under AECON?

These dinosaur footprints along the west coast of the Dampier Peninsula have great international and nation heritage value. If Australians were more aware of their existence and understood their heritage values, there would be a public outcry.

Redhand hopes that the following videos will give people a general idea and insight into the variety and scope of these heritage sites. Please take the time to read the following link to the WA Heritage Council for the Current Heritage Trails Listing for Lurujarri to gain a greater understanding of Marrala.

http://tourism.heritage.wa.gov.au/ht_pdf/Lurujarri.pdf

As a nation, we cannot allow Woodside to desecrate any more of our national heritage.

Woodside have already desecrated the oldest rock art in the world in the Burrup and they are now planning to destroy the world's best preserved dinosaurs footprints in the world.

Woodside is not a Good Corporate Citizen and the Broome and Damiper Peninsula communities will never issue the social licence to operate.



Monday, February 14, 2011

Who will assess the volumes of the Social Impact Assessments for James Price Point?

The only vocabulary that has changed throughout this whole Assessment process has been the name of the project instead of the Kimberley LNG Project it is now being referred to as Browse LNG Project. Why.? Because the intention is to confuse people and because the Kimberley already has a national and international brand that does not include industrialisation.

The Kimberley Brand has assisted the conservation & preservation groups to build strong national and international campaigns because the Kimberley is sexy, in its beauty, remoteness and its wildness. It’s one small corner on the planet that still has biodiversity and has been left relatively unmolested.

So who will assess all the volumes of the Social Impact Assessments, associated the proposed Kimberley LNG Project? Under what legislation or Act will the volumes upon volumes of reports be assessed, who will assess them, and how will they be assessed?

According to the Kimberley (Browse) LNG Precinct – Scope of the Strategic Assessment, Section 14: Peer Review Process it stated:

“Given the significant environment and the scale and complexity of the proposal, there is required a high level of confidence of the technical work underpinning the Strategic Assessment. As such there is an intention to undertake ongoing reviews of the strategic assessment process and of all deliverables and outputs. Arrangements for Peer review, including the establishment of a Peer Review Panel consisting of members from government and non-government sectors are to be advised.

So when is the WA Government going to advise us about the arrangements for this Peer review? When does the WA Government plan to establish this Peer Review Panel? Who will be the members of this Panel? When will the boarder community and stakeholders be advised of the establishment and makeup of this Panel and will the community be included?

Then, we are informed in Volume 3, Strategic Assessment Impact Management Plan, November 2010. 8. Social Aspects and Matters of National Environmental Significance, page 28, that:

“Importantly, this Social Impact Assessment is not being considered under those environmental acts, Environmental Protection Act 1986 (EP Act) and Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), but under the Terms of Reference for the Strategic Assessment as agreed by the Western Australian and Commonwealth Government.”

But when you return to refer to the Terms of Reference for the Strategic Assessment, there are no Terms and there are no References about how the Social Impacts Reports will be considered. There is no mention of the legislation or the Act under which they would be assessed or by whom. Only under an Attachment C, titled Strategic Assessment - Endorsement Criteria: attached to the original State and Commonwealth Agreement states:

“In arriving at a decision to approve an action or a class of actions the Minister must act in accordance with his obligations, including giving consideration to:

issues relevant to any matter protected by a provision of the EPBC Act; and

social and economic matters.”

However, those economic and social matters have never been clearly defined, outline or clarified either in the Terms of Reference or in the Strategic Assessment Report.

So, how does the Social Impact Assessment Process really work, when there is nothing in place to assess the process, the reports, their findings or people’s responses to these reports?

Many people are currently out there, plowing through the volumes, working their hearts out, writing up their objections, questionings and challenging the findings within all six volumes of reports, but to what avail?

Basically, our community, our sense of place, our lifestyle values, our love for Country and hope for the future will be assessed under the Biodiversity Act! We've been hoodwinked.

Sunday, February 13, 2011

In Australia, a Fight Over Aboriginal Lands - NYTimes.com

In Australia, a Fight Over Aboriginal Lands - NYTimes.com

Local, national and international this is a Campaign that will be successful. Its no longer about jobs, its about fresh air, water and retaining a community that people wish and can afford to live in. There is no job on a dead planet. James Price Point is the sign post of change.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Not real democracy,just elections.

Blatantly undemocratic regimes and parties call themselves democracies – Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak’s party was called the National Democratic Party; the Stalinist one-party states of Eastern Europe were called People’s Democracies. Even the fascist British National Party (is a far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front) said “Free speech and democracy are our absolute core values.”

However, demo­cracy is also invoked by people who cannot be dismissed as rogues and opportunists. Nelson Mandela proclaimed his willingness to die for democracy just before being jailed by apartheid South Africa. Similarly Martin Luther King lost his life in the US deep south during a campaign that was first and foremost for democratic rights.

Karl Marx also was a committed democrat, before and after he became a communist, and so too were the Russian revolutionaries Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky.

Even more importantly, millions of ordinary people have fought and died for democracy. The tradition stretches from the Levellers in the English Civil War, through the sans culottes of the French Revolution, the Chartists, the Suffragettes, the anti-fascist fighters of the Spanish Civil War, the resistance fighters of occupied Europe in the Second World War to the Egyptian Kefaya activists, the Burmese monks and even the Pakistani lawyers.

It’s true that millions of people who live under what is generally thought to be democracy, in Australia, are currently bitterly disillusioned with it. Swap the word politics for democracy and people will blast to express their contempt,”it doesn’t matter who gets in, they are all the same”.

What is perplexing however is the facts that people deprived of democracy will lay down their lives for it, but once they have got it they rapidly become indifferent to it. Even the meaning of the word democracy has been under such sustained attack, that it has been successfully reversed the meaning in many people’s minds, from government by electoral consensus, to government by entities who purport to represent the people.

We should be uncompromising in our understanding here. Democracy is government of the people, by the people, for the people; nothing more and nothing less.

“While the
Australia slide towards oligarchy, the forced elections in Afghanistan have brought no good. The west’s proudest export to the world this past decade has been democracy. That is, not real democracy, which is too complicated, but elections.

Australians followed and supported US government invasion into Iraq and Afghanistan, laid waste to much of the countries including entire villages and towns, and massacred untold numbers of civilians in order to bring democracy to Iraq and Afghanistan. We are told that our young soldiers are dieing in battle for it. For days Egyptians have been in the streets demanding it.

When apologists are challenged to show some good resulting from the shambles, they invariably reply: ‘It has given Iraqis and Afghans the vote.’”

So, what does all of this have to do with this week’s Broome Shire’s Recommendation 2 of Agenda item 9.1.3 LOCAL GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS 2011 - Ordinary Meeting of Council 17 February 2011

Page 25. http://www.broome.wa.gov.au/council/pdf/agenda/2011/20110217oa.pdf

The Shire recommendation

2. Determines the Shire of Broome 2010 Ordinary Council Election be conducted as a postal election in accordance with the provisions of Section 4.61(2) of the Local Government Act 1995.

In a postal voting election, election packages are posted to all eligible electors. They vote and then return their completed ballot papers and elector certificates by post to the Returning Officer.

The Broome township and the Dampier Peninsula communities do not have a postal service that does home deliveries, most people have a postal box, or have to go directly to the Post Office to access their mail. A lot of our fellow electors do not have accomplished literary skills and for many English is a second language. Many people will not and do not understand the postal voting process. So what is fair and open about this?

Currently, the local Electoral rolls have people’s place of residence addresses, not their postal details, who and how will these addresses be obtained? What assurances do we have that everyone will receive their elections packages? What will stop people accessing these election packages when a majority of them will be dumped in the bins provided at the post office? Who will ensure that all these packages will reach to voters in remote communities? Who will ensure that there is no buying and selling of votes or ballot tampering? Who will ensure that all the postal votes will be counted? Mail is known to go missing. It will also reduce the secrecy of voting for electors.

This item was previously discussed at Ordinary Council Meeting 14 May 2009 – Item 9.1.1

http://www.broome.wa.gov.au/council/pdf/minutes/2009/20090514om.pdf3

Where one of the COUNCIL’s RESOLUTIONS was

That Council:

3. Gives further consideration and obtains community input into a change to conducting an election as a postal election in 2011 or future years.

This was CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY

Under CONSULTATION attached to this current new agenda item is states that:

discussions with officers from the Department of Local Government and the Western Australian Electoral Commission were undertaken.

But when did the Shire obtain community input into this proposed change. Is this democracy at its best?

Political equality should be a core value in any democratic society. It is based on the idea that all are born equal, deserve equal respect and opportunity and should have equal voice.

Put this way, the ideal of political equality is a rich but deceptively simple one. It exists in creative tension with another fundamental value, political freedom. Freedom asserts that people are born free and should, as far as possible, be the authors of their lives. Political freedom, then, is the ideal that people should be free to develop, express and advance their beliefs about what makes a good life in a good society.

In a free, capitalist society such as Australia, political equality and freedoms come together at several key points. People are not equal if one group’s vote is worth less than another’s. And nor are those groups likely to be free, because their political inequality is likely to lead to restrictions to participate in a democratic process and their ability to shape their destinies is limited because they do not have access to a postal service or can not read or write.

What is one to conclude from all of this? Is it that democracy is wonderful so long as those already in power remain there?

This is quite simple. We, the electorate, following considerable exposure to all the relevant information, should decide the direction and thrust of this policy change.

Ah, democracy, rule by the people, the promised path to just government and the end of tyranny. What ever happened to it?

Every polling system, whether it uses pencil and paper, punch cards, touch-screen (DRE), or any other method, must assure that voters are identified accurately and that their votes are counted accurately. It is also essential that the people have confidence in the results; in other words, that the system chosen not only conforms to these basic requirements, but that it does so in a manner that is clear and well understood by all participants. Every polling method should be as secret and anonymous, fair, accurate, and transparent as a well-managed paper-and-pencil balloting system:

Redhand encourages everyone to write and email to all the Broome’s Shire Councilors and attend the Shire Council meeting later in the week to voice opposition to this agenda item, otherwise the Egyptians might not be the only ones in the streets.

Friday, February 11, 2011

The Broome Chamber of Commerce met in a special meeting tonight and voted on several motions.


by Craig Phillips on Thursday, February 10, 2011 at 7:07pm

There was a clear majority in favour of its advertised position promoting the benefits of compulsory acquisition of the land at James Price Point for an LNG plant. About a dozen business representatives voted to change the Chamber's position and for the Chamber to be more inclusive of its members but to no avail. Will an LNG plant at James Price Point be good for small business in Broome? Will it be good for those on little income? Will the Chamber's support of compulsory acquisition damage Broome's reputation and continue to divide our community? I am sad for the Broome I came to 27 years ago. I am sad for the Broome I moved to 16 years ago. What will Broome be like in 10 years?"

Comments by Kel:

Well, I want names! I want to know which businesses I am no longer going to have any dealings with.

I want to see those names plastered all over town, so that all like-minded people with even the smallest sense of justice and morality knows which businesses not to have dealings with anymore.

I want to hear those names shouted from the rooftops so that all Kimberley Traditional Owners and Aboriginal people know who the colonialists are that still think it's okay to steal someone else's land to further their own pursuit of greed.

Economists say that a dollar today is worth more than a dollar tomorrow. Well let's show these merchants of greed just how many dollars they can lose today in the hope of some vague promise of dollars tomorrow.

I want names!

Kel

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Workers camp planned for Broome's outskirts - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Workers camp planned for Broome's outskirts - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

http://www.broome.wa.gov.au/notices.htm
The Broome Shire is seeking Public Comment for this proposal however, the link to the proposal is not available for the Broome Shire Web site.

SHIRE OF BROOME, ANNUAL ELECTORS MEETING, 27 JANUARY 2011

http://www.broome.wa.gov.au/council/pdf/minutes/2011/20110127aemm.pdf

Interesting, questions were raised at the Electors Meeting at the Broome Shire, By Nik Wevers

Question 2: “I note that the Strategic Infrastructure Assessment (SIA) is part of the Strategic Assessment Report (SAR) and the SIA will be an assessment by the StateGovernment which is also the proponent. Do you do two submissions?

The SIA Report section of the Strategic Assessment Report for the proposed LNG precinct says that the Broome Airport will not be moving and Council’s position has been for some time, that the airport will move within 15 years (this from 2005)? How do you explain this inconsistency and what will Council do about this?”

Answer – Chairperson: “This is an error in the SAR. Council has made submissions to Government on this and the vesting status is that it remains unvested. Protection of the site is vital and Council’s position is that the airport will need to move, and sooner than planned if noise becomes problematic. Council’s position has not changed.”

Question 4: “Kimberley Regional Planning Commission – Where will the Shire fit in with this?”

Answer 4 – Chairperson: “I am on this committee and this has not been a consideration by the committee at this stage.”

Answer 4 – Chief Executive Officer: “The Council’s 2005 Strategy identifies the new airport area. The Interim Five Year Strategic Plan to be presented to Council in February/March this year will look at these particular issues.”

Question 5: “I have questions regarding the location of the construction camp?”

Answer 5 - Chairperson: “An application may come to Council in a short timeframe
as there has been discussion about this site as it is one of the four sites being
considered.”

Friday, February 4, 2011

Greenhouse Gas emissions of Projected LNG Projects | Scott Ludlam

Greenhouse Gas emissions of Projected LNG Projects | Scott Ludlam

Govt gives oil spill firm the go-ahead - WA Business News

Govt gives oil spill firm the go-ahead - WA Business News

Sea Turtle Restoration Project : Action Alert

Sea Turtle Restoration Project : Action Alert

It Is Not Appropriate For The WA State Government To Undertake The Environmental Impact Assessments Where They Are The Proponent.






February 2008, the Australian Government Environment Minister signed an agreement with the Western Australian State Government to undertake a Strategic Assessment of the impacts of actions under a plan for the Browse Basin common-user liquefied natural gas (LNG) precinct (now referred to as multi- user) and associated activities.

Some people are aware that this Strategic Assessment Report is currently open for public comment and will be only assessed by the Federal Environment Minister under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

Of great significance to this undertaking is the Senate Inquiry (August 2008 - The Standing Committee on Environment, Communications and the Arts, The operation of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act).

This was established to investigate the operation of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) and gauge how well Australia has responded to key environmental threats including ongoing land-clearing, invasive species and climate change.

Concerns were raised in this Senate Inquiry about the operation of bilateral agreements in circumstances where the proponent was closely linked with the State or Territory Government where there was a perceived bias or conflict of interest. In other words, it’s not appropriate for State Governments to undertake Environmental Impact Assessments where it is the proponent of the relevant project.

This Report goes on to say that [Section 4.8]

there are no guarantees of adequate assessment of, for example, threatened species and native vegetation, local heritage, Aboriginal cultural heritage, greenhouse gas emissions. It is inappropriate to accredit a process that potentially excludes comprehensive assessment of such matters.

In Section 23.41 the Coalition Senators’ Additional Comments to the Senate Inquiry’s Report included reference to bilateral agreements and welcomed Recommendation 6 stating that:

… The risk of State governments operating in the simultaneous roles of proponent and assessor as outlined in 4.10 of the majority report does have the potential to undermine public confidence in the system established by this Act.

However, this Strategic Assessment Process has been more than an undermining of confidence in the system. For the township of Broome and the Dampier Peninsula communities it’s been a devastating and divisive process that has had its own set of debilitating social impacts. This Strategic Assessment Process has been very carefully camouflaged with implementation more like a series of strategic manoeuvres that advantageously sought to maintain high levels of tension within building mistrust within the community.

Our wider community (families, friends, work colleagues and social groups) have been subjected to divide and conquer tactics, sponsorship bribes and dazzled by the sheer arrogant audacity of the Strategic Assessment Process. This process has failed as it has not achieved community endorsement; instead we are now being subjected to heavy-handed tactics.

As the proponent for the proposed world’s largest LNG refineries is the current WA State Government regime, where is the probity, legitimacy or authenticity in this process or it's Report's findings? Where is the justification for increasing debilitating social, environmental and economic impacts into a community that simply just does not want the LNG gas refineries to happen?

WA State Government Regime are:

·the proponents of this project,

·had the final determinations the boundaries of both the project physical location and the scope of the Strategic Assessment,

have undertaken measures to compulsorily acquire the land,

·re the lead assessors of all submissions/reports

·approvers of the approvals

·are using tax payers funds for the development of what primarily will be a private multinational company enterprise,

·have selectively only consulted with all their own affiliated departments in preparation of the Strategic Assessment,

·are remiss in failing to undertake any economic modeling or business feasibility justification for this project

·have circumnavigated, alienated and dismissed the communities of the Dampier Peninsula and their Shire Council as major stakeholders throughout the assessment process,

All of this has resulted in a total lack of community confidence in the process and all integrity has dwindled out of the Assessment findings into predetermined fabrications of the State Government regime in support their multi corporate co-conspirators.

Given the findings of the Senate Inquiry how can the Federal Government sit back and watch this happen considering the issues at stake.

So, as a community, where does that leave us?

Not In My Backyard & Not In Yours


Redhand has received emails from Department of State Development’s Director General, Anne Nolan’s stating

“The blog Hands off country claims my partner is employed by Woodside and oversee security in Broome. This is utterly without foundation and I request that you remove it immediately” Thank you Anne

and Gail McGowan, A/Director General, State Initiatives for the WA Government State Development requesting

“This statement is entirely without substance and I would ask that the reference is removed immediately”.

Just to refresh people’s minds about the offending bogged post, Redhand wrote:

Serious disturbing information has been brought to Redhand’s attention. It has been said that the Department of State Development Director General Anne Nolan’s partner is employed by Woodside to oversee their security arrangements in Broome. If this is true then there needs to be some very serious questions asked of Ms Nolan both by the public, the media and within the state parliament itself.

Well, it turns out that Ms Nolan’s partner is the ASSISTANT DIRECTOR GENERAL, OFFICE OF STATE SECURITY AND EMERGENCY COORDINATION, Mr Geoff Hay
Mr Hay was appointed to the position of Assistant Director General, Security Planning and Coordination in July 2005 following periods in the positions of Assistant Director General, State Administration, and Assistant Director General, Public Sector Management.

Prior to that Mr Hay held the position of Assistant Under Treasurer at the Treasury Department. Mr Hay has over 25 years of experience in the public sector and in addition to the Treasury Department; he has been employed by the Department of Corrective Services and the Fremantle Port Authority.
http://www.dpc.wa.gov.au/AboutTheDepartment/OurStructure/Pages/OtherSeniorOfficers.aspx

Office of State Security
http://www.ossec.dpc.wa.gov.au/Pages/Default.aspx

So yes, it is interesting times...

However, what is really disheartening about this episode is the fact that neither one of these senior departmental public servants had nothing to say about the other concerning issues that were raised in this particular post. Only when it was brought to their back door, did we see a reaction. If nothing else, this correspondence has assured Redhand that at least we have the higher echelons of this department’s attention, something the Broome Shire has not been able to achieve.

Meanwhile, this department remains completely unresponsive to our communities and this is clearly demonstrated with the fact that the Department of State Development still does not have an office operating within the township of Broome.

So here we are, in the middle of one of the largest strategic assessment undertaken within the nation and the WA government’s Department of State Development has no open door in which the community can: enter and engage with departmental staff, obtain information/reports, be assisted in understanding the assessment process and or some guidance in their responses to the Strategic Assessment Report (SAR).

The Department State Development has yet to set the dates for the three day Community Forum. This department had promise both the Broome Shire and other community representatives that am Expo type forum will be held sometime in Feb 2011, in order to assist the general public and local community members to have their say, increase their understanding of the process and be available to clarify issues raised within the Strategic Assessment Report (SAR).

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

James Price's Point, NO SOCIAL LICENCE TO OPERATE

It’s no secret that noxious industries tend to stay away from wealthy, white, and suburban communities. Several studies have shown that polluting industries target low-income communities and, most notably, communities of color. It’s their game plan.

However, Broome and the communities of the Dampier Peninsula has built a permanent base of people power and this consolidated collaborating and vigorous community will continuously challenge and hold accountable any dominant institutional powers or multinational corporate who’s intentions are to devalue and undermine our collective sense of social, environmental and economic justice.

Broome and the Dampier Peninsula comprise individuals and communities that are respectful co creators of community and social welling life. We will not be subjected or treated like passive objects of decisions made by those wrecking local national and global havoc for self-enrichment.

The Broome and Damiper Peninsula communities will never issue the Social Licence to Operate to Woodside and the Joint Venture Partners to operate the proposed world's largest LNG refineries in our cultural, heritage and recreational areas. We will never allow our town or community to become subservient to a CO2 pumping, climate contributing and poisons emissions creating ogre.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Court hearing over Kimberley gas hub - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Court hearing over Kimberley gas hub - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

The fact there has been no decision made at Joseph Roe’s Court Case yesterday and the decision is not expected to be handed down for a few months. Country remains very vulnerable and exposed even in this Appeals court process.

Injunctions can and will be slammed on both Woodside and the Department of Main Roads if they try to preempt this Court’s decision.


However, the Environmental Defenders office had a written assurance from Woodside that they would not try to undertake these works on clearing the Country, that agreement expired today.


Now is the time to remain vigilant.

Legal snag in law man's fight against hub

Legal snag in law man's fight against hub