Sunday 28 June 2009 at 10:33 pm
The freeway, the bandicoots and frying and dying. How Mr Brumby and Lester help us learn to stop worrying and love the bomb.
Once upon a time Mr Brumby and his government decided to build a big shiny new freeway to make it easier for them to get to their seaside holidays on the Mornington Peninsula.
Mr Brumby says ‘Don’t worry. We will do an Environment Effects Statement to show how the new freeway can be built without destroying the environment. We are so confident that we can do that that we don’t even need to wait until the EES is finished before announcing that the freeway will be built!.
Now, even though Mr Brumby has already said that the freeway will be built, we still get to play the EES game. So, the EES is written. People get to put in submissions. Aren’t they lucky to be able to spend their weekends doing such fun things like that!
Then comes the really fun bit of the game. This involves three lovely gentlemen getting together as a Panel. Their job is to say how well the EES has done in its quest of saying that we can build a freeway and protect the environment and reduce carbon pollution and create world peace.
The Chair of the Panel is a bloke called Lester who lives in Brunswick (Lester used to be seen as a bit of a greenie. Not any more.)
Lester and his Panel say ‘Mmmm, The EES says traffic is increasing. Congestion is a problem. Population is increasing ( but not too much) . And what do you know! There is land that has been set aside for the freeway for a long, long time – almost back to when time began. Magic Freeway Land!
Lester and his panel say ‘We agree with the EES. We have to have the freeway. No way around it. Some silly sausages think that more public transport might work instead. But look – the people who want to build the freeway say that won’t work, because people just want to drive their cars. Of course they do. Silly anyone who thinks otherwise. So, that means we have to give them a big shiny new road to drive their cars on.
But, oh dear, the Magic Freeway land includes some very important bits of habitat. The shiny new freeway cuts The Pines flora and fauna reserve in half and destroy half of it. It will go through sites of state and national flora and fauna significance. It’s quite possible that it will cause the local extinction of the southern brown bandicoot which is classified as a threatened species and is in serious decline across Victoria
‘Mmm, not good. It’s a dilemma’, say Lester and his team. It’s lucky they’ve had an EES. It’s lucky they’ve called our Panel together to think about this. What can we do.... because we need the road. It’s got to go ahead.
We can’t build the road outside the Magic Freeway land because that would mean acquiring houses. That would cost a lot and make people unhappy. Can’t do that. We’ve got to use the Magic Freeway Land. That’s why its there after all.
We can’t put the road in a tunnel through the Pines reserve because that would make the road cost twice as much ( and don’t forget chimes in Mr Brumby, those nasty feds won’t give us any money for this road!! )
‘So, there’s only one thing to do’, say Lester and his panel.
‘Let’s shift the road a teensy weensy bit, and plant lots more trees, and build some nice tunnels under the freeway for the bandicoots to use… and the bandicoots may still go extinct… but we need the road so that’s how it is. Tough titty bandicoots. But Mr Brumby and his government will keep track of your decline, you have our word on that.
Now Lester and his team roll up their sleeves. ‘Our great and glorious government have said that there will be a 60% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. How does this new freeway relate to that target?
‘First things first’, says Lester with pride. ‘We’re standing up for the environment here. The Freeway builders are saying that the new road will reduce carbon emissions. That’s not right. We agree with the greenies here. This road will encourage more people to drive. It will increase carbon emissions.’
‘But, when it comes to thinking about the 60% reduction target, its not that simple', say Lester and his crew. 'You can’t look at any one road and say how it will or won’t contribute to this goal. It’s got to be considered at a Melbourne wide strategic basis.
So there’s only one thing my Panel can properly do, says Lester. We’ll ignore carbon emissions.
Let’s certainly not mention that any strategic consideration of transport carbon emissions has to include stopping encouraging more car travel – even Mr Brumby’s own climate change Green Paper says we need to do that.
And even more definitely not mention that to have any chance at all of meeting the 60% reduction by 2050 target, (let alone the zero carbon target that’s needed if we are to stop us all frying and dying) –then we need a lot less car travel per person, even if people are driving cars that don’t guzzle as much gas.
And absolutely definitely don’t mention that if we had a lot less car travel per person then there won’t be increasing traffic. Because that would mean we wouldn’t need the new freeway…but we’ve already agreed – we need the new freeway ( don’t worry Mr Brumby we won’t let you down!)
We need the new freeway. We need the new freeway. We need the new freeway.
So, Dear Minister – we need the new freeway. What’s being proposed looks pretty good to us. Shame about the bandicoots. And climate crisis? What crisis?
Our job is done – if we may be excused now Mr Brumby, we’ll go home to Brunswick and have a good lie down.
Wednesday 15 April 2009 at 1:09 pm
Voting has now opened for the Victorian Greens lead Senate candidate. with voting closing on 22 May. My nomination statement is printed below, or if you prefer, it's also available as a pdf. The statements from my four nominators are available here, and supporting statements from Greens members and others are here.
Janet for the Senate
Authentic, experienced,
with a passion for change.
Authentic.
All my adult life I’ve worked passionately
for change. Taking action on climate change has been a huge priority for me since
studying meteorology at university more than twenty years ago. It’s the most
important issue facing us. Now, it’s an emergency. I’m asking for your support
to become our Senator so together we can use the power of that position to lever
real change on climate, as well as biodiversity, greening the economy, and the
other urgent issues we face.
(more)
Tuesday 07 April 2009 at 09:04 am
I resubmitted my letter to the Age regarding public transport to the airport yesterday after they ran an article quoting the transport minister saying there wasn't any demand for a airport rail link! They pubished it today:
No demand? Really?
LYNNE Kosky's spokesman says "there doesn't appear to be much demand" for an airport rail link (The Age,
6/4). I've got an idea for the Transport Minister — she could determine
demand for reliable and affordable public transport by providing it.
Currently,
in addition to the $16 each way Skybus service, there is a cheaper
option — a bus service from Broadmeadows station to the airport. It
takes 20 minutes and is covered by a Met ticket. The problem is it runs
only every two hours. An improvement would be to run an express bus
service from Broadmeadows so that it meets every train. It would also
service workers in the airport precinct, for whom a return trip on
Skybus every day is out of the question.
The new 401 bus
service from North Melbourne to the hospitals and university has shown
how successful services can be when they are fast, frequent and direct.
Run the Broadmeadows trains and buses every 10 minutes and I reckon the
Transport Department would have another success story — something it
sorely needs.
Janet Rice, Footscray
Tuesday 31 March 2009 at 10:51 am
I've just written a letter to the Editor at The Age reflecting on the cost of parking at the airport which has just been found by the ACCC to reflect a monopoly! Surprise, surprise! Here's the letter:
It’s no surprise that
the price of parking at Tullamarine has been found to be ‘consistent with airports having a monopoly position’ because that’s exactly what
exists. Not only are there no convenient alternatives for parking, but the
option of not driving is just as expensive – $16 for a skybus trip and over $50
for a taxi trip from the city.
There is however a little known cheaper
option of the bus service from Broadmeadows station to the Airport. It only
takes 20 minutes and is covered by a Met ticket – the only problem is it only
runs every two hours!
A modest but highly effective public
transport improvement that would break the parking monopoly would be to run the
bus service from Broadmeadows so that it meets every train. It would also
service the huge numbers of workers in the airport precinct, for whom a $25
return trip on skybus every day is out of the question.
The new shuttle bus service from North Melbourne to the Hospitals
and University has shown how successful bus services can be when they are fast
frequent and direct. Run the Broadmeadows trains and buses every 10 minutes
throughout the day and I reckon the Department of Transport would have another
success story on its hands – something it sorely needs.
Wednesday 18 March 2009 at 1:59 pm
Totally confused by the Rudd Government's so called Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme? Help is at hand! I've just finished writing a
piece summarising the problems with the scheme. This paper will be the basis for the talk I am giving tonight at the Fire and Water Forum in Footscray, organised by WeCAN - Western Community Action Network (see
www.wecan.collectivex.com).
Monday 09 February 2009 at 08:56 am
What can one say about the fires currently burning out of control through Victoria? The loss of life – 100 confirmed dead so far, the infernos ripping through homes, forest, farmland. It's an absolute tragedy. We grieve for our fellow Victorians who have lost their loved ones, their homes, their livelihoods. The conditions were worse than Ash Wednesday in 1983. Hotter than Black Friday in 1939. Presumably once the smoke clears, there will be an inquiry, and climate change has to be on the agenda.
At 46.4 degrees Melbourne’s maximum temperature on 7 February was the highest ever recorded. It’s almost a degree hotter than the previous all time record and smashed the previous February record by 3 degrees. The state is so dry – over a decade of drought. We can shore up our water supplies by building desalination plants, (and adding to energy usage and climate change) but we can’t just ‘ fix’ our natural environment. We are destroying it.
It makes climate change real and tangible – maybe even to the skeptics. I heard of one avid Andrew Bolt reader who whilst sweltering in the heat said he thought he may have been following a false prophet . If our political leaders have any brains at all they must realise the need for serious action at emergency speed to tackle our climate emergency– the fact they are not taking it shows just how beholden they are to the greenhouse mafia of the coal industry and others
Wednesday 04 February 2009 at 4:48 pm
I’ve just returned from a fabulous weekend at the climate summit in Canberra, bringing together over 500 climate change activists from 150 Climate Action Groups together, to plan a joint platform and joint actions for the coming year and beyond.
We agreed on some very radical but scarily necessary objectives for the campaign – to work to scrap the government’s Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, to campaign for 100% renewable energy for Australia by 2020, and for Australia to play its part in recreating a safe climate, by stabilising atmospheric carbon at 300ppm – that means taking carbon out of the atmosphere, and will allow the Arctic to refreeze. Have a read of more of my thoughts about the Summit here.
Forest Destruction on Brown Mountain
Just before Christmas the Victorian Government began logging majestic wild forest at Brown Mountain in East Gippsland. Their plans to continue the destruction are currently on hold because activists have found evidence of threatened species in the forest areas due to be logged. Brown Mountain has a special place in my heart – it was where we organised protest actions against logging in 1990 – and where on being totally sold out by the Labor Party both at a state and federal level I threw myself in establishing The Greens in Victoria. I’ve written a piece that explains the sellout by the Federal Government then – and how the Labor Party just haven’t changed a bit in the intervening 19 years.
Farewelling Council
I finished up on Maribyrnong Council at the end of November last year. I enjoyed my six years but it was time to move on. I’ve had some immense satisfaction including my work on sustainable transport and success in Council’s commitment to go carbon neutral by 2015. A quick summary of what I feel I achieved during my six year term is here. One of the big factors in my decision to move on was that being an active effective Councillor needs at least 30-40 hours a week, but you only get paid an allowance of $15 500. You can do it for so long, but not indefinitely. The allowance has now gone up to $20 000 but realistically it will only be when being a Councillor pays $30 000 or more that most people will be able to afford to put their hand up to be elected.
What’s in store for me in 2009?
I’m still working this out! I’m planning to stand for pre-selection for the lead senate candidate for The Greens Victoria. Nominations open next month, and the candidate is chosen by postal ballot of all Greens Members in May. Please contact me if you’d like to know more about this.
Other than this I’m aiming to work half time as a facilitator to earn some money – see my CV . I’ve currently got some available time, so if you or your colleagues need some facilitating done give me a hoy. And then with the rest of my time I’m planning on campaigning on climate change and transport.
- I’m now the Convenor of the Greens Victoria Transport and Planning Working Group – send me an email if you’re interested in joining. A key task for this year is working on a community campaign to run alongside the Parliamentary Inquiry into Melbourne and Victoria’s train service which Upper House Greens MP Greg Barber is initiating.
- I’ve taken on some work following the Climate Action Summit – specifically working on a local government action kit, and working on communications messages and materials.
- I’m helping to get the Western Community Action Network – WeCan! off the ground. We are planning an action for 28 February in the Yarraville Gardens focused on the Wonthaggi desalination plant. Click here for more info.
- I’m working with No Freeway for West Footscray on planning the campaign against the proposed road tunnel under Footscray.
- I’m currently doing some work with the GAMUT Centre (Governance and Management of Urban Transport) at Melbourne University aimed at forming the Sustainable Melbourne Alliance for Transport and Urbanism. Stay tuned for more details!
- As Convenor for the Western Suburbs Region of The Greens I’ll be encouraging and helping all members in the region to be campaigning strongly on critical issues such as claimte change, transport, water and gambling
Friday 01 June 2007 at 1188:00 pm
June 2007
Cr Janet Rice
VLGA Vice-President
Timor leste. An amazing country - my experience was of people who
were so friendly and welcoming, determined to make a go of things.
And the election was an absolute delight to observe -I visited five
polling booths in the district of Liquica, about 40 km west of the
capital of Dili, and I saw thousands of people lining up peacefully,
waiting to vote, voting calmly, determinedly, and the election being
carried out exceptionally well. The following day we returned to
Liquica to see some of the votes being counted. The count also was
undertaken very transparently and scrupulously carefully.
Overwhelmingly the election was observed to be free and fair by
international, national and party observers. Us being there was part of
giving the election validity - so the population could have confidence
that it was carried out properly so they are able to accept and trust
the result.
(more)
