LAPEROUSE

The Eastern Suburbs Cemetery Trust are proposing resumption of 60% of the Gardens, major engineering works(this is a floodplain area) with special Aboriginal and Asian cemetery areas.Previous postings in 2008 at link 1 and link 2.   Notes of the meeting provided by Daphne Lowe Kelley President of the Chinese HeritageAssociation of Australia Inc. appear below. The ESCT comprise the following: John Morrison, Rod Neville, Jack Walker, Elizabeth Fitzsimmons, Ron Greenstein, Stelios Coudounaris, Russell McLay .    

The CEO is George Passas.

Two years ago CHAA led a campaign for the retentionof these 7 hectares of Heritage-listed Chinese Market Gardens.  There was media interest including letters to the Sydney Morning Herald (at left) and articles below from Herald and Southern Courier.

Dan Cross, a Senior Environmental Officer of the Department of Lands assessed the land and published his findings in May 2008 - see this link     His assessment was that it was unsuitable for cemetery use (page 35-36) Read the rest of this entry »

ABC guide on election at this link:  Anthony Green’s Blog - this also provides a comprehensive explanation of the voting system in the Legislative Assembly and Senate.

Kingsford  Smith is considered a very safe labour seat.  At the 2007 election 52.8% voted ALP, 33.9% voted Liberal, 10.4% voted Green and 2.9% went to other parties.  After distribution of preferences ALP had 63.3% and Liberal 36.7%  - around 90% of preferences went to Labour.  Candidates for 2010:

Peter Garrett - sitting member, ALP - link to website

Michael Feneley - Liberals - email address - mfeneley@stvincents.com.au -  link to details

Lindsay Shurey - Greens - link to website

Significant Environmental and Economic Issues unique to Kingsford Smith  

Sydney Airport - alongside Port Botany issues of congestion and pollution associated with growth.  Sydney Airport is Australia’s largest airport and accounts for over 50% of Australia’s trade value in airfreight.

Port Botany - National Ports Strategy and implications for environmental regulation in Botany Bay.  Port Botany is Australia’s second largest container port.  Current trade is around 2 milllion TEU (twenty foot equivalent units) per annum.  In 2005 the State Government set a cap of 3.2 million TEU but in a submission to the National Ports Strategy (May 2010) the NSW Ministry of Transport indicated that the projection for 2029/30 for Sydney would be 5.8million TEU.  Achieving a target of 40% on rail is problematic Read the rest of this entry »

To download the full Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan click here (8.4MB).

For the Synopsis of the plan click here (2.2MB)
“With our natural advantage Australia can and should be positioning itself as a global renewable super power for future prosperity. This report will help shift the climate debate to focus on energy; security; affordability; export and of course opportunity. Beyond Zero Emissions offers a new and invigorating message that is much needed” Professor Robin Batterham, President, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, formerly Chief Scientist of Australia

“For decades, those opposing the transition to clean energy have claimed that it is not technically feasible. This report puts that argument convincingly to bed. There is no longer an excuse for inaction. Starting the transition now is our responsibility to future generations.”Professor Ian Lowe,President of the Australian Conservation Foundation,Emeritus Professor Griffith University

“The Zero Carbon Australia Stationary Energy Plan is a provocative and timely contribution to the climate change debate, and it deserves attention both here and abroad. The Plan demolishes a pile of conventional wisdom that Australian policymakers still seem unable to get past. The sorry history of Australian climate policy procrastination is littered with polluter-friendly analyses conducted by economic hired guns. Read the rest of this entry »

We are currently celebrating the Macquarie Bicentennary with major exhibitions, eg. State Library (see link)  So why wasn’t this work on the Macquarie Tower done before the Bicentennary celebrations?    Why is there no information displayed for visitors?   Why is there no marketing to attract visitors?   Another case of Fawlty Towers.

Article about the Tower from Sydney Morning Herald 1930s

The Macquarie Watchtower is the earliest known surviving, sandstone tower building in Australia. The Macquarie Watchtower has long been recognised as a picturesque landmark on the headland, which is much photographed.

The Macquarie Watchtower is the oldest surviving watchtower in Australia, the oldest building in Botany Bay and the only known tower specifically constructed for colonial border protection and the prevention of smuggling. It became the first Customs outstation in Australia in 1829 and operated as a Customs Station until 1903. It is also a rare surviving symbol of the vexatious issue of customs barriers between the colonies, which was one of the main factors underlying the push for Federation.

Exhibition: 15 July 2010-16 January 2011
Open 10am–4pm Thursday to Sunday
Laperouse Museum - End of Anzac Parade, La Perouse, Sydney  For further information

(painting of L’Astrolabe and La Boussole by Robert Carter)

    At the Exhibition opening on July 13: L-R Delivering Speech- Alistair Henchman, Director Sydney, National Parks & Wildlife Service; Tom Peters, William Peters,  Joshua Jones with Bob Carr and Vic Simms.

There have been three sightings of humpback whales off Frenchman’s beach over the past week.  Good places in the Bay for watching are Frenchman’s Bay, Bare Island, and the Sydney Ports Visitor’s Lookout at the end of Prince of Wales Drive (Molineux Point).  BW photo taken 1965 at Bare Island.

Ports Australia, the peak body representing Australia’s Ports operators have complained about environmental scrutiny and paying for environmental management and mitigation.  Submission to the Draft National Ports Strategy. 

The current Chairman of Ports Australia  is Jeff Coleman (Brisbane) and Deputy Chairs are Gary Webb (Newcastle) and Vincent Tremaine (Flinders). The other Board members are Stephen Bradford (Melbourne), Andre Bush (Port Hedland), Brad Fish (NQBP), Grant Gilfillan (Sydney), Robert Ritchie (Darwin) and Paul Weedon (TasPorts - up until 2010 Chief Operating Officer at Sydney Ports).

Ports flounder in red tape, Annabel Hepworth, The Australian, June 28, 2010

Container ships at Port Botany in Sydney. Picture: Stephen Cooper Source: The Australian

THE country’s ports are demanding the federal and state governments fast-track approvals for channel dredging. Read the rest of this entry »

Environmentally Speaking Winter 2010 Issue 24

Contents: Peter Garrett’s Kingsford Smith - the Forgotten Bay and its Forgotten People; Booralee - Sydney’s First Fishing Village in Botany where Fishing is now Banned; The Greatest Moral Challenge of Our Time; Death by Flying Fox; End of An Era - Cann Snake Show; Whale at Bare Island 1965; The Truck Numbers Don’t Add Up.

Up to 45 road deaths could be avoided every year if just 15 per cent of ‘contestable’ road freight was transferred to rail. This was revealed recently in an article published on the latest issue of the Journal of the Australasian College of Road Safety.

“A simple shift to rail of the 15 per cent of road freight said to be transferable (or contestable) could save up to 45 lives annually (calculated on the basis of roughly three deaths for every 1 per cent of freight hauled).”

The article, written by independent transport and road safety researcher Peter MacKenzie, also suggests that by shifting the same amount of freight from road to rail, 275 people or more could be saved from paraplegia, quadriplegia, brain damage and other long-term serious disabilities. In economic terms, it is estimated that the potential saving to the nation would be more than 1 billion dollars.

Bryan Nye, chief executive of the Australasian Railway Association (ARA) said: “I want to be very clear in that this is not a competition with the trucking industry, we are simply advocating for the optimisation Read the rest of this entry »