Sydney Knitting Nannas and Friends were back on the streets last week, sheltering from the rain, to welcome NSW politicians back for their first sitting days this year. Our big concerns are protecting our climate, water, food production and biodiversity.
Must Do Better
The Perrottet government talks a lot about a transition to clean energy in NSW. A Green Hydrogen strategy, Renewable Energy Zones, and a promise to cut emissions in half by 2030. So what’s the problem?
STILL FAILING ON GAS AND COAL
New Gas: The government supports the Santos Narrabri Gas Project in the Pilliga forest, the associated pipeline developments and exploration for more gas on agricultural land in the North West.
They approved the Morrison-funded Kurri Kurri gas power station – an unnecessary and destructive waste of taxpayer dollars.
Gas is a fossil fuel and a powerful greenhouse gas that’s many times worse than coal in the short term, so it is not a transition fuel from coal.
New coal: During the week the Department of Planning announced its support for the Glendell mine extension in the Hunter. They say mining a further 135 million tonnes of coal over 21 years is in our best interests! Also being assessed is the Narrabri underground coal mine extension. Its total emissions would be nearly half a billion tonnes of greenhouse gas. The Dendrobium mine under the Sydney Water Catchment wasn’t approved by the Planning Commission – so the government intervened to get it assessed again as ‘state significant’.
The IPCC told us last year: no new coal or gas mines if we are to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. All our pollies have a duty of care to take real action on climate change by opposing new coal and gas mines and infrastructure.
KOALA PROTECTION: enough talk – stop the bulldozers
Sydney’s precious koala colony at Campbelltown could be saved by Lendlease and the Perrottet government sticking to the Chief Scientist’s recommendations. Koala protections need to be in place before the massive housing development gets underway. The koalas’ survival depends on east-west habitat corridors and building underpasses on Appin Road. Please help by contacting your state MP.
NEW FLOODPLAIN HARVESTING REGULATIONS
The government snuck through new regulations while the Parliament wasn’t sitting in December. Our rivers need the protections recommended by the cross-party upper house inquiry, not a government cave-in to big irrigators. Traditional owners need cultural water allocations as promised in the Murray Darling Basin Plan.
The good news is that upper house MPs from Labor, AJP and Greens supported a disallowance motion on the government’s regulations by Independent Justin Field. Justin explains more here.
GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE PLAN FROM THE KNITTING NANNAS
- Extinguish all gas exploration licences (PELS)
- NO MORE coal mine approvals
- Stop ignoring First Nations people on protecting Country
- Say no to Kurri Kurri gas plant and Morrison’s gas-led disaster
- Stop destruction of koala habitat – act quickly!
Sydney Knitting Nannas and Friends 