Logan and Albert Conservation Association

We all need to send this letter - EPBC potential loss

PETITION TO SIGN!

To date the most important piece of legislation in Australia to protect the natural environment from greedy exploitative practices and unsustainable development is the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, EPBC.

It provides a legal framework to protect and manage nationally and internationally important flora, fauna, ecological communities and heritage places — defined in the EPBC Act as matters of national environmental significance.

Under pressure from big business Federal, State and Territory governments are moving forward with an aggressive plan to wind back our environmental protection laws. By cutting 'green tape', handing important federal approval powers to the states, and fast tracking approvals for large development, federal protection for our most special places and wildlife will be removed, and mining and other destructive development in our forests, woodlands and along our coasts will be accelerated.

History has shown us that the Federal government has a critical role in protecting matters of national environmental significance. Short-sighted development proposals have threatened Australia's natural heritage several times in the past and the Federal government has stepped in to prevent irreversible harm.

Without Federal intervention, the Franklin River would be dammed, there would be oil rigs on the Great Barrier Reef and pristine Shoalwater Bay would be home to a large coal port.

Without Federal protection the KOALA will be doomed to extinction.

The Places You Love campaign was founded by a group of 30 organisations, including HSI concerned with the proposals to wind back our system of environmental laws. We strongly believe that the reforms proposed will set us back decades on hard won protection for our land, water and wildlife

 FRIENDS OF THE EARTH have arranged a petition - very easy step to sign to send to Prime Minister Julia  Gillard. You might like send to other politicians - by email or snail. Read text of letter you can use or adapt here and

PUBLIC MEETING @ PARK RIDGE  PUBLIC MEETING @ PARK RIDGE PUBLIC MEETING @ PARK RIDGE

TUESDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2011

7pm

Park Ridge (Baptist) Church Main Hall

3922 Mt Lindesay Highway Park Ridge 4125

(Take the exit off highway at Park Ridge and follow the eastern service lane for the Mt Lindesay Highway – brick building with car park area provided)

NO LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY IS VIABLE

We want koalas not new tollways. We want quolls not more multi-lane roads. Bushland habitat is home to many native wildlife and wetland areas like Jerry's Downfall which is part of Chambers Creek Catchment Area provide critical filtering system for the rivers and creeks of Logan.

Bushlands wetlands and river systems all contribute to those essentials to maintain human life - clean air, clean water and food. Sustainable development, meaning  ecologically sustainable, requires that our human settlement - and moving around - does not destroy the natural envionment to introduce more built structures.

 COME TO THE PUBLIC MEETING TUESDAY 8 NOVEMBER 2011 @ PARK RIDGE @ 7pm - SAME VENUE PRC  INFO SESSIONS

Contact Karen 3802 2353 , Rod 0408 740 144 or Anne 3297 0624 for more details and contributions to meeting.

See STANDING AGAINST HIGHWAY

  Urban Land Development Authority Act 2007 - removes all rights of citizens

E petitions are one way to let government know how you feel about an issue. Link at end of article.

This legislation creates a new Authority, the Urban Land Development Authority to plan, carry out and promote development in declared areas. The purpose of that Act focuses on housing creation. 

When an area is declared an urban land development area by regulation, the declaration must make an interim land use plan for the area. The Authority must make a new development scheme for the area which is like a planning scheme. There is mandatory public notification of  the new planning scheme and public submissions must be taken into account. The development schemes must be published on the ULDA website. The development scheme sets out if any individual development applications must be publicly notified. The development scheme prevails over plans, policies and codes made under SPA or another Act.

 Effectively,  the Urban Land Development Authority becomes the decision maker in lieu of council. Only the Authority may go to the Planning and Environment Court to seek enforcement orders or declarations-  whereas under SPA any person has that entitlement.

GREENBANK people power - sign the E-petition

Governments - Queensland Government especially with the SOUTH EAST QUEENSLAND REGIONAL PLAN SEQRP have been writing and talking about ecologically sustainable development   ESD and sustainability.

The eight hundred local residents who gathered on the grounds at Greenbank - outside the hall - to hear CEO for ULDA Mr Paul Eagles and his chief planner Steve Connor appreciate the time given by these busy men to listen to our community concerns. That is also a huge contribution from the local citizens to help our planners developers and government achieve the best possible outcome for our global community.

However using a word or expresion to describe an activity doen't make it so. In 1992, the Commonwealth Goverment offered its own definition of ESD

Ecologically sustainable development is using, conserving, and enhancing the community's resources so that ecological processes, on which life depends, are maintained, and the total quality of life, now and in the future, can be increased.

This description can in no way be applied to the current high density housing proposal which may / may not be appoved before any semblance of community engagement with freedom to access background studies ground truthed and peer reviewed by local specialists.

The Australian Youth Climate Coalition and World Vision, through this Youth Decide vote, www.youthdecide.com.au  have created an opportunity for young Australians to lay their cards on the table and express what kind of future they want to choose.

This campaign is original and creative enough to cut through. The young organizers can help to present a unified youth voice calling for a very different kind of future to the path we're currently on.

Voting opens Monday 14th and closes Monday 21st September and if you're aged 12 - 29 and live in Australia you're eligible to vote. Choose wisely - it's your future.

                                                     CURRENT  EPETITION         

Queensland residents draws to the attention of the House the community's total opposition to the construction of this power line because it will be a permanent obtrusive and dangerous structure that will cause:

- damage to this unique environment by destroying vegetation, native animal habitat and resulting in erosion of the riverbank, the loss of community amenity and visual amenity (restricting current and future uses of the river by visitors and residents and spoiling this beautiful green landscape and valuable community asset);

- potential health and safety risks to residents, maintenance and emergency workers during floods and to grazing and native animals; and

- adverse impacts on property values.

The House should note that the construction of this power line totally contradicts the principles of the Queensland Government's Towards Q2 plan (Green Qld - Protecting our Lifestyle and Environment) which stresses the need to 'protect our natural landscapes' and to 'retain the green spaces between neighbourhoods and regions that create a natural break in our built environment and protect areas that support our unique native wildlife and fragile ecosystems'.

Getup current campaign alerts all citizens to this rather anomalous situation. Millions of ordinary people are taking personal actions to reduce their energy use and greenhouse gases.

Under the proposed scheme to reduce emissions 5-15%, the other aspect is that the big polluters will be able to increase emissions.

GetUp National Director Simon Sheikh through questions asked of the Department of Climate Change and the Commonwealth Treasury presents this information.

Target Range:
The Government?s household support package, its industry support package and the carbon price it is using are all based on a 5% target. So while they are attempting to package this up as a 5-15% target range, they are in actuality locking in a meaningless 5%. The Government did not, as expected, leave the door open to a 25% target. The target can ONLY be changed AFTER 2020.

There exists a blatant contradictory flaw in state legislation that permits areas deemed worthy of 999 year conservation agreements between state and landholder to be quashed by short-term mining ventures.
In particular, we draw attention to 'Bimblebox Nature Refuge' in the Desert Uplands which was part-funded by the Commonwealth National Reserve System Programme, on account of its outstanding floristic values. It has since become a stable base for numerous scientific research projects relevant to the entire bioregion. 'Bimblebox' is now threatened by the development of a large open-cut coal mine.

For further information go to website. Several research programs and monitoring are occurring at the valuable biodiversity site. Coal exploration activities are likely to affect the results of these ongoing monitoring activities, by creating increased human presence in a relatively isolated area, increasing ‘edge effects' on woodland fauna, and resulting in significant amounts of clearing.

Black Duck Valley is closed to customers. This petition to The Honourable Judy Spence Minister Department of Sport and Recreation has been started by individuals hoping to continue the operation of the facility: Petition Online link.can be accessed and signed here. Black Duck Valley has been a sports and recreational facility for motocross riders. Queensland population, particularly in the south-east, has grown exponentially, and sales of motocross bikes has also increased, but riders now have fewer facilities then a few years ago. Not all people are unhappy about the closure as this archived information shows.

Current opportunities to support current Queensland Parliamentary  EPetitions  are available here including  recycled sewerage effluent, daylight savings, Gold Coast Hospital,light rail for Brisbane, proposed destruction of Fairy house to upgrade roads, mining in Wildlife Reserves.

Other opportunities to comment and help shape our future are available online as follows:

The federal government’s discussion paper on improving fuel efficiency of Australian vehicles is open for comment until 7 November 2008. See www.environment.gov.au/settlements/transport/

According to Minister for Natural Resources and Water Queensland has a number of river systems which have been almost untouched by development and are therefore in near natural condition, with all, or almost all, of their natural values intact. They are important because they:
• help sustain healthy ecosystems for native plants and animals
• support sustainable economic activities, such as grazing, fishing and eco-tourism
• provide unique opportunities for recreation and tourism.
One way of preserving this valuable part of our natural heritage for the benefit of current and future generations is to designate them as ‘declared wild rivers'.

 Do you agree with this statement?  Read more about this process and have a say. You can do this online from here.

Biosecurity Queensland classes camphor laurel as a Class 3 weed - meaning it cannot be sold and should be removed because it is capable of replacing native trees and disrupting power facilities.

Yet changing the proposed route of the proposed line to protect such a tree this is the only request that ENERGEX staff are accepting. This story appears in the ALBERT AND LOGAN TIMES Wednesday, 11 March 2009 which you can read here  030911_energex_save_weed.pdf 181.23 Kb 11/03/2009, 12:45

VETO had a public rally 2pm Saturday 14 March at Logan Village Green.

Visit their website www.veto.org.au to find out how you can help this campaign to protect the iconic Logan River.

Contact spokesperson Marie Slingsby for further information.

The petition of residents of the State of Queensland draws to the attention of the House issues relating to the proposed fast-tracking of Greenfield housing developments on the Sunshine Coast. [Though this petition relates to Sunshine Coast all Queensland residents are eligible to vote. Perhaps other petitions can be requested to cover other areas where land will be fast tracked for release?] Closing date was 24 August 2008.

GetUp is an independent, not-for-profit community campaigning group who uses new technology to empower Australians to have their say on important national issues. They receive no political party or government funding, and every campaign run is entirely supported by voluntary donations. If you'd like to contribute to help fund GetUp's work, you can donate online. 

Please go directly HERE for the latest campaign. 

Click HERE to take you to the Climate Action campaign

The Spot the Difference ad campaign has been well supported by the Australian community.

Dear friends,

You may have missed it, but the Tasmanian Government last week unbelievably signed an agreement handing over Tasmania's forests to the Gunns pulp mill for the next 20 years - in the very same week Professor Garnaut warned them of the dire climate change consequences facing us.

If we don't act now, bulldozers will start clearing land for the mill that will contribute 2% of Australia's greenhouse emissions - at a time when we're being told we need to drastically cut our emissions. But unfortunately Australia's forests were largely left out of Garnaut's recent interim report.

We have only one opportunity to put them in the picture. A proper assessment in his impending Climate Change Report of our native forests' climate change value may just sink the mill project. Click here now to sign the petition asking Professor Garnaut to examine the full climate impact of this mill madness and the logging of Tasmania's native forests.

The Sunshine Coast Environment Council has launched a campaign in response to the Premier (Anna Bligh) announcing that Greenfield sites will be fast tracked for development within the next 12 months. One of the many aspects of this campaign is to send bulk letters to the Council of Mayors urging them to ‘band together' and say NO to the State Governments' inept plan. It focuses on South East Queensland (not just the Sunshine Coast).

Act now to protect Moreton Bay's endangered sea turtles and dugongs!

Please help Moreton Bay's threatened marine wildlife today. Give 5 minutes of your time to sign this online letter to the Minister for Sustainability, Climate Change and Innovation asking for greater protection in the Marine Park, then forward to your friends and family.
 
Over the summer the Queensland Government released a draft zoning plan for Moreton Bay, earmarking a mere 15% protection in Marine National Park zones. These are areas where we are free to enter- to swim, boat, dive, and snorkel - but where all wildlife is safe from harm.
 
While 15% is better than the current protection of less than 1%, it does not go far enough for our threatened wildlife.

Marine scientists around the globe say that it is critical that at least 30% of all ocean habitats, such as seagrasses and corals, are given Marine National Park status. Our chance to support our turtles and dugongs is closing fast. Public comments were due by 5pm Friday 7 March 2008.

Moreton Bay Marine Park is only reviewed every ten years, so this is a once in a decade opportunity. 
Click here!

 Act now and sign the letter; 

 With overwhelming public support we really do believe that the Government will provide more than just a mere 15% protection for our precious marine wildlife. 
Don't let this chance go by. Our turtles, dugongs and other wildlife need your support today. Your grandchildren will thank you for it.

 
More than one million people worldwide have signed  the  WSPA  Animals Matter petition for a Universal Declaration on Animal Welfare at the United Nations. 
 
Every country in the world is now represented on the petition.

The Australian government has appointed a representative to liaise on this issue to help integrate animal welfare into the UN agenda. This is another
great step forward towards a Declaration that will help protect all animals, everywhere.

Please sign  the Animals Matter petition to help make the Declaration a reality. Go to the link below:

Sign the Petition here.