Despite being confronted with the full force and influence of Woodside and its bedfellows, dissenting communities are fighting might with right. Woodside Vs The Goodside
PS. To keep up to date on the Bentley situation over the next few critical days, please like and follow the Lock the Gate Facebook page.
PSS. To contribute to the campaign to support communities at risk of unsafe drilling around Australia, please consider becoming a Gate Keeper today.
Professor Flannery said in a statement that it was critical for emergency and health services, as well as the public, to have the best information from scientists.
''Ignoring it or shooting the messenger will not reduce the threat of climate change, it will just mean that Australia is less prepared,'' he said. ''We'd be living in the past to think that Australia did not need to prepare for a changing climate.''
Professor Flannery, a palaeontologist and author who was Australian of the Year in 2007, has been seen as a polarising figure by some because of his calls to phase out large-scale use of fossil fuels.
Palaeontologist, Dr Steve Salisbury from the University of Queensland, Goolarabooloo Lawman, Richard Hunter and Scientist and former Australian of the year Tim Flannery on the Goolorabooloo coast early morning over Easter examining dinosaur footprints in collaboration with Broome Dinosaur Trackers.
A Climate Commission report released on Wednesday examined links between Australia's extreme weather and human-induced climate change. It found natural events were being influenced by climate change, because greenhouse gases are accumulating and trapping extra energy in the Earth's atmosphere and oceans.
Broome to be Inpex supply hub |
TOLL Mermaid Logistics Broome, a 50%-owned subsidiary of Mermaid Marine, has won a five-year, $20 million contract to provide supply base services to Inpex in Broome, Western Australia. Under the contract TMLB will develop dedicated infrastructure and provide various services at its Broome supply base to support Inpex’s Ichthys LNG project development drilling works. |
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Minister nervy
ReplyDeleteIT'S always worth hearing things from the horse's mouth, so when federal Energy Minister Martin 'Marn' Ferguson sat down with some institutional investors for a lunch hosted by Commonwealth Bank last week, the dozen or so invitees were all ears.
A free and frank discussion ensued to the apparent annoyance of Ferguson's minder, whose wind-up signals were ignored.
Among the minister's more noteworthy comments, according to CBD's spy, was that development of Santos' Eastern Star Gas project was very important for New South Wales, particularly in curtailing gas price rises. He hinted at a major government-backed campaign that would help farmers see the joys of coal seam gas (CSG) once the long-awaited energy white paper was released in December.
Ferguson also mused that the Shell-PetroChina ''Arrow'' liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Queensland should be tacked on to one of the three existing CSG-to-LNG projects at Gladstone.
He even ventured that the federal government didn't mind whether gas from Woodside's Browse field was brought onshore at the controversial James Price Point site, or was piped down to Karratha to underpin expansion of the Pluto LNG plant.
Whatever stacks up on economic and commercial grounds, was Ferguson's message. CBD put all this to the minister and - ouch! - we hit a nerve somewhere. A spokesman chided that everyone at the lunch had been told several times the conversation was under Chatham House rules - which provide for speakers' anonymity in any reporting on comments - and the minister wouldn't be commenting on any of it. Except to say this: the comments more reflect the opinion of your source, than the truth. Make of it what you will.
http://www.smh.com.au/business/lights-sirens-action-anzs-fortified-jakarta-tour-20120805-23ntq.html#ixzz22ktxpk9Q
SO WHY IS HE CARRYING ON LIKE AN ASSHOLE?
HE MUST BE USING JPP TO BASH THE GREENS AND NOTHING ELSE.SHITHEAD.
He hates the protestors against woodside,has called them all the names under the sun from dirty hippies to well heeled elitists,but he tells his banker mates he doesn't care where the gas is processed.No wonder Labour stinks.
ReplyDeleteMcGowan is happy to use JPP against Grylls,but last year on Black Tuesday Labour supported "the vote" and wouldn't say anything about Barnett's riot squad.
Ripper and Talbot,"We support the vote."
That is the only comment they would make.Now they pick a KLC candidate who claims shes never heard of the gas plant or JPP.
Labour hasn't just lost it's soul - it's lost it's brains.
Why has Ferguson taken pleasure from splitting the community,splitting famillies,busting up friendships?Causing grief and sickness.
And McGowan seeks to exploit this?
Good riddance to Carol Martin.
What lousy elections - state and federal - the only question we wrestle with is,"who stinks the most,Labour or Liberal?"
The stock market may be up,but the ship is still sinking.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2184603/British-firms-exit-EU-banks-amid-concerns-euro.html
Some of the UK’s biggest listed companies are pulling money out of European banks and drawing up contingency plans for the break up of the euro, amid growing fears over the future of the single currency.
British Airways, pharmaceuticals giants AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline, as well as Royal Dutch Shell, are among those making emergency preparations as the eurozone debt crisis escalates.
They can't burn what they have now,but having melted the polar ice cap,it's drill baby drill.
http://www.en.rian.ru/business/20120806/175020900.html
Russian state oil major Rosneft and American energy giant ExxonMobil have set up a tender for the design and construction of oil rigs that would facilitate their exploration of the Arctic shelf, Rosneft said in a statement.
...
The Arctic has become the latest hotspot for energy development, as countries with an Arctic border have raced to the region to develop energy deposits. But exploration is technically challenging, and energy giants have been scrambling for the latest and most advanced technology to properly tap the deposits.
Dispersants.
http://www.nola.com/opinions/index.ssf/2012/08/doubts_about_oil_dispersants_u.html
The results surprised researchers, who said that they did not expect the dispersants to have such a big effect on plankton.
Michael Crosby, senior vice president for research at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Fla., said that the experiment points to danger for the Gulf's food web. "If you got a couple steps beyond their findings, I think we're going to see these things happened, and it's going to take years for them to be seen.'' He pointed to the herring population in Prince William Sound, which collapsed four years after the Exxon Valdez disaster.
The study's findings are worrisome -- one scientist called them scary -- and demonstrate the need for far more research on dispersants and their long-term impact on marine life.
What are the risks of deepwater drilling?
They still wont say.
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Oil-Companies-Still-Hiding-the-True-Risks-of-Deepwater-Drilling-from-Investors.html
“Oil and gas exploration and production is becoming a riskier business every year,” said Julie Fox Gorte, senior vice-president for sustainable investing for investor Pax World Management in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
The 10 companies were rated in five categories for drilling risk: safety and environmental statistics, drilling risk management, spill response, safety R&D and corporate governance on drilling. Out of the 50 ratings, only four were good, and 29, or 58%, were ranked poor or undisclosed.
And they don't pay tax!
http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2012/08/06/conocophillips-exxon-chevron-paid.html?ana=RSS&s=article_search&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+bizj_houston+%28Houston+Business+Journal%29
ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) in 2011 paid some of the lowest federal tax rates among the 10 most profitable U.S. companies, a report says.
According to financial site NerdWallet, those 10 companies paid an average federal tax rate of 9 percent last year, and the three energy companies on the list paid rates lower than that.
TALKING OF RISK DISCLOSURE,WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO WOODSIDE DISCLOSING IT'S TRUE POLLUTION NUMBERS TO INVESTORS?
The elders and TO's who support the gas plant must be kicking themselves they let Bergman and his cronies rig that vote.
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter who speaks on the subject of their rights to have their say on that country,as soon as the vote is mentioned their case is tainted and falls apart.
They must be asking themselves,"what if?"
What if Wayne Bergman had seen to it all the paperwork was done on the ancestors?
What if the rules hadn't been changed in the lead up to the vote?(Especially after Barnett,Grylls and Day changed theirs.)
What if all those people and kids hadn't been bussed in and paid to vote?
What if Mary Tarran hadn't told famillies to get out from that place,they weren't on the list so they had no right to vote?
People she had known all her life.(Before the rigged vote there was the community survey to sort out who would support the development,and who was against.)
What if Bergman hadn't lied about the phone call to Barnett at the previous vote,and threatened and lied to those people?
What if we had included all the people in this,all the rightful TO's,the wider community too.
What if the vote had been fair and square?
They wish.At least they would have a leg to stand on.As it is they have completely undermined their own case.All they can do is parrot Barnett and his lies.These get thinner every time they tell them,to the point now they are riddled with holes.
How will the KLC ever rebuild their credibility and respect?
It doesn't matter for the shire or BCC - they didn't have any to start with.
But it would be fair to say many people of all walks of life were dismayed to see an organisation like the KLC behave in this manner.
You can't fool all of the people all of the time,a valuable lesson that one.
Apache gouging WA on gas prices.
ReplyDeletehttp://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/business/a/-/wa/14483762/apache-defends-high-wa-gas-prices/
Apache Energy has reignited the debate over the State's high domestic gas prices, with the US petroleum giant revealing that WA is now its second-most lucrative market in the world.
Latest second-quarter figures from the Houston-based Apache show the average price it achieved from domestic gas sales in WA was $US4.41 ($4.18) per thousand cubic feet of natural gas (roughly equivalent to the local standard of a gigajoule).
An oversupply of unconventional shale gas in the US and Canada, which has also hit BHP Billiton, saw Apache's unhedged prices in North America slump to $US2.27/mcf from $US4.47/mcf a year earlier.
....
DomGas Alliance spokesman Gavin Goh said the average price understated higher current prices being charged to WA businesses of up to $10 a gigajoule.
"It makes no economic sense that Australia with its competitive advantage in energy now has some of the highest gas prices in the world," he said. "This is having a huge impact on manufacturing, jobs and household energy bills."
Apache's WA gas prices are likely to rise even further in coming quarters
http://www.news.com.au/business/companies/we-are-not-museum-pieces-elders-blast-greens-crusader-bob-brown/story-fnda1bsz-1226444934302
ReplyDeleteAll due respect to Rita but surely the JV partners saying that the Kimberley Aboriginals should get the $1.5 anyway,Woodside will have to agree,and the gas can be developed in other ways at other locations,is a far better result for all.
The state and federal governments have to step up with the health,education and housing,leaving the money to be used for business startups etc.,which will provide thousands of jobs - not a measly 300.
I'm a bit lost as to why the same old faces are clinging to this failed plan.Surely they can see it is very likely to fall over in it's current form.
Plus why pick on Bob?This worn out twaddle about the greens again.
Are they merely jostling for positions again,they don't want to loose their place in the queue?
Given what is happening right now their position makes no sense,other than it is a message in code?
The momentum has left them.It would make more sense for them to join Bob and back his plan.
How many of the people at that table work for Woodside?
I don't know how much of this was really written by Rita but it misses the point in many ways.
ReplyDeleteA lot of it is no longer relevant to the situation today,and seems to be an advert for Woodsides plan rather than a good hard honest look at how things really stand.It also says nothing of Bob's efforts to get a better deal,efforts that have been well reported for some time.
Dear Dr Bob Brown,
I am writing to you because I have heard that you are coming to the Kimberley on a mission to our country and our culture from gas developments at James Price Point.
It is great that you care so much about our country and our culture. We are proud of our history of caring for this country over thousands of years. The country tells us who We are. It gives us strength and determination. But now we face great challenges; not only about our country and our culture, but about our survival as Indigenous people.
Our people have had to make a choice about allowing development on our lands. It hasn't been easy, but we have made a decision - a majority decision -to face up to our own challenges, and to build a better future for our children, our people, our culture, and our country.
Dr Brown, it is hard for us to understand why you think it is necessary for you to speak on our behalf, about our country, our culture, and our futures.
The only thing We need saving from, is people who disrespect our decisions and want to see our people locked up in a wilderness and treated as museum pieces.
We are a living people and a living culture. We have faced severe change over the last 200 years, and most of it has been far beyond our control. Now We have a chance to make decisions about our own lives and our chi|dren’s futures.
There are people, like you Dr Brown, who disagree with our vision for our future. And that's a good thing in our democratic society. But please, don't use us to push your view. We can speak for ourselves.
I am a supporter of the gas precinct. This was not an easy decision for my people to make and it was not done lightly. But our people need a future that isn’t reliant on Government Welfare. The Browse LNG Project presents that opportunity. I want my children and grandchildren to benefit because if our people don't survive; then the real, living culture dies.
The gas development decision was not made by the Kimberley Land Council. It was made by Kimberley traditional owners after years of consultations and meetings with senior lore bosses and elders. Some of our own group disagree with that decision, and we acknowledge that. The majority ofour group voted to support the development, and instructed the KLC to negotiate an agreement that would give us the power to control our own lives.
And by the way, the money doesn't go to the KLC. It goes to the benefit of Kimberley Aboriginal people.
I am an old woman now and I have witnessed and lived the despair and hopelessness of many Kimberley Aboriginal people. Dr Brown, do you know what it is like to be taken away from your family, to not have money to buy food, to live in a house that is dilapidated and beyond repair? To see your children grow up in despair, die before they are 50, or even worse, take their own lives before they get to their 20s?
My people have lived this life, and we don't Want it anymore.
You recently wrote an opinion piece about your mission to the Kimberley. You are a respected and honourable man in Australian society, but you got a few things wrong about this gas project, and about Aboriginal people and our culture and country. Itis not your place to tell Aboriginal stories of culture to the world, for they are our stories about our traditions and our culture.
ReplyDeleteBut what saddens my people most is your complete disregard for Aboriginal people. I know you care about the whales and the dinosaur footprints, but what about people?
The Indigenous suicide rate in the Kimberley is one of the highest in Australia. There have been 25 suicide deaths in the past year. Dr Brown, is this not an epidemic and national emergency?
You are the mission leader bringing the Sea Shepard to the Kimberley to highlight the plight of the whales. We have had missionaries coming to the Kimberley before. What about our dying children?
Is this not a cause you should be protesting against?
If we can use the $1.5 billion in benefits that have been negotiated as part of the Browse LNG Precinct Agreement to save our peop|e's lives, will that not be a good thing? We are not money hungry people. This money is not going into our back pocket. It will be used to implement suicide awareness programs, training and counselling for families, education and employment opportunities, better health and housing. ls that too much to ask for?
You'll probably say these things are natural rights for all Australians, and that governments should be providing them regardless of gas projects. Yes they should. But look at the last 200 years and tell me ifthat has worked. If we wait another 50 years, there is a real risk that Aboriginal people, and the culture that We, and you, value so highly, will be gone.
Dr Brown, we are not enemies. We share many values. We love our land and sea country. We respect strong culture. We want the World to be a better place, not for us, but for our young people and their children.
Kimberley Aboriginal people have helped contain large scale gas development to a single site. We continue to push for the best environmental and social impact safeguards, and community benefits.
You could easily back us up in these efforts.
We don't live in a perfect World, but we do have an opportunity to make it better.
I know that saving the Kimberley is important to you, and maybe my humble Words won't change your opinion. But please, while you are in our country watching the whales, spare a thought for our people and whatwe are trying to achieve.
Yours faithfully
Rita Augustine
On behalf of the Environmental and Cultural Heritage Team and Jabirrlabirr Traditional Owners.
Once again the rigged vote lets them down and there is no mention of the poison EMMISSIONS or the CHEMICAL plants planned for the country around the gas plant.Watch the weasel words,"no other industries ON THAT SITE,"BUT WHAT WORRIES US IS THEIR PLANS TO SIGN AWAY ALL THAT LAND TO THE POISON INDUSTRIES FOR,"our kids health and education."
ReplyDeleteWe know how the game is played now and it is a very dirty business played by very dirty manipulating liars.
No thanks we'll stick with Bob.
This business about gas plants stopping suicide again.This is the biggest lie yet,industries like this with shift work and rosters cause ill health and high suicide rates.Well documented.
ReplyDeleteWasn't this Parrimans reason for the gas plant?
Rita didn't write it,we can all guess who did,just another load of recycled piffle.
Oh no not this again. everytime this mob start this we get pages of shit in the Australian.Lots of letters from south Queensland by the usual nothing to say mob.Bob you stay at sea,over to you Ms Milne.....
ReplyDeleteDon't all these mob,Greatorex,Tarran etc. work for Woodside?
ReplyDeleteAll this nasty carry on again,as if we weren't sick of listening to it already.
Many of us know people who have committed suicide,I doubt any of them could have been saved by a gas plant.
It is this stuff the Australian loves to print,it appeals to it's narrow minded subscribers,Woodside know this.
It takes the heat of the debate off them and makes it a war between the poor Aboriginals,who want to sell their land to them,and the greens "who don't care about people and suicide,only trees and whales."
I don't believe a word of it,it's not from Rita,it is the same old ploy they have used many times in the past to try and get a lot of confused comment from the east coast,people far away from Broome who believe this shite.The Australian and their campaign against the greens.
As Bob Brown says,"Dr Brown said the remarks were a "nasty representation" of the concern he expressed for Aboriginals in the meeting and during his political career. "The meeting was in good spirit and we had a very clear exchange of views," he said."
And as for their rubbish about the money,well here come the Woodside employees again,do they want the money without the gas plant,NO.Bob Brown again,"What I couldn't get from Warren was support for the moral position that $1.3bn from the exploitation of this gas should go to the indigenous people without the gas factory being placed across their land."
Nuff said I reckon,nothing has changed since Bergman was all over the Australian,same old same old.
But the issue is much clearer today,we are all more educated and wiser to the way oil and gas companies work,their words didn't make sense to start with.
Over it already.
Fossil fuel frenzy in the offshore mid west now.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-08-08/mid-west-oil-reserves-open-for-exploration/4184888?section=wa
Geoscience Australia says there may be vast deposits of oil and gas reserves off the Mid West coast.
The Federal Government has released more than 1,000 square kilometres off the central WA coast for petroleum companies to bid for exploration rights.
So where in the mid west does the gas plant go?
Only Colon can say.
On the Abrohlos Islands?
There is nothing there,they are unremarkable - not iconic - impacts can be mitigated and managed.
Lots of jobs for Indigenous folk.