31 May, 2011

Coal Seam Gas vs Shale Gas ~ notes from the field



The following rant is taken from a bloke who left the CSG industry last week...reposted here for those who are interested in such things




There are 2 industries, and 2 VERY different legislators at play here.



ok, so what you saw in gasland was shale gas; that went largely unregulated and unchecked.



Shale gas, (and oil), reservoirs, like all conventional reservoirs, can be subject to all the conventional nasties, SBRs (sulphur reducing bacteria), mercury, heavies, condensates, hydrogen sulphide and other sulphates, benzene etc etc etc... this is, by and large, thermogenic gas.



In a coal seam, it is predominantly thought of as biogenic gas. Coal seams have varying amounts of gas adsorbed onto the carbon lattice depending on how much anaerobic digestion went on in laying down the coal, and how porous the coal is etc



To release the gas, all you have to do is drop the pressure, the easiest way to do this, is pump the water out.



Long story short, in a shale well, you have massive depths, high temps, and some corrosion accelerants down there that you want to deal with; which is by, as I understand it, they put some serious biocides down there, as well as some pretty nasty corrosion inhibitors.



In a coal seam, the coal will "skin up"and not allow the gas to move to the wellbore (which is essentially a water well with a pump in the bottom of it),so no coal seam gas operator with any nouse, will really want any hydrocarbons in their reservoir as it will bind the coal and essentially kill the well.



Fraccing is a process where high pressure formation water is pumped into the coal seam to "fracture" the coal to increase the permeability of the gas thus increasing your drill spacing to yield the reservoir. When I say pumped, they roll up with about 2000hp of turbocharged diesel pump to shift this water, its hardcore. Then a propant, which is either washed river sand, or a thermoset gel, like a guiar gum (the coagulant used in ice cream) Additives used in fraccing fluids in coal seams usually consist of some chlorine bleach, and some acetic acid to kill off whatever bugs may have been in the water that was sitting on the surface pre fraccing.



note:this is usually formation water, from the coalseam. The issue with fraccing in CSG is not the chemicals, its the hydro geology.



Here's the clincher, IF YOU DON'T HAVE GOOD GEOLOGICAL INTEGRITY YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHERE YOUR FRAC IS GOING! IF YOU CANNOT PROVE THERE WILL BE NO VERTICAL COMMUNICATION TO OTHER GROUNDWATER, YOU SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO FRAC.



Technically, this is quite manageable, but it will be more expensive for the operator to do so.



Salinity on the surface from the evap dams and the R.O. plants needs some more planning, as does the effects of bulk movement of formation water (water out of the coal formation) and what effect that can have on the groundwater filtering out of other basins, into the coalseam then up into the dams. What effect this will have in 20 years if we try to pump 4 LNG trains out of Gladstone full of gas, is not yet well known enough. This is where the DERM needs to focus environmentally.



Socially, taking intensively farmed blacksoil, that is a whole nuther discussion...

26 May, 2011

Sustainable Business Weekly QLD Edition [Green Tape, Climate, MDB]


Green Tape

The state of environmental compliance in the State of Queensland is in a state of emergency. That is why ASBG is including a session on how to stay out of trouble with the regulator at our next Environmental Management Seminar.

Anecdotal evidence would indicate Environmental Practitioners loathe to deal with the Department of Environment & Research Management (DERM).

The Greentape Reduction project is an attempt to streamline, integrate and coordinate environmental regulatory requirements under the Environmental Protection Act 1994. The project is a response to business and Government concerns that navigating the environmental regulatory framework has become diabolically complicated, while compromising environmental outcomes. This in turn can make it more difficult to comply with the law.

The project seeks to ensure Queensland’s regulatory framework is proportional to the environmental risk of the particular activity. The approvals process will also be simplified and clarified.

DERM representatives met with and invited comment from the Australian Sustainable Business Group (ASBG).

Officers from DERM will be consulting throughout Queensland over a six-week period, meeting representatives from industry. For further information plus detailed discussion of each initiative, please see the discussion paper and regulatory assessment statement or contact the department at epact.policy@derm.qld.gov.au or phone (07) 3330 5899.



Climate Commission

The Climate Commission is an independent body set up to provide information on climate change, and to help inform the debate. ASBG will provide some analysis of “The Critical Decade Report.” in coming weeks.




Murray Darling Basin

The Wentworth Group of Scientists have have walked away from the Federal Government's Murray Darling Basin Authority process, in protest.

Right now the Murray Darling Basin Authority are in the final stages of recommending how to deal with the water crisis and scientists are saying that the Authority is preparing to announce environmental water flows that are so low they won't save our nation's food bowl.

Even more worryingly, the Authority has cancelled all independent scientific review of the government's Murray Darling plan in an attempt to cover up their lack of environmental credibility.




Sand Mining on Straddie

As previously reported, on 22 March 2011, the Premier announced she would be shutting down mineral sand mining on Straddie in 2019. This announcement has created considerable uncertainty for Sibelco Australia's operations as well as the Straddie community.

The public debate over mining on Stradbroke Island has gone quiet recently. ASBG do not think there has been enough thought or discussion of the implications of this decision. ASBG encourages your feedback.



IWC’s Water Leader Scholarships

The International WaterCentre’s Water Leader Scholarships are now open to study the IWC Master of Integrated Water Management in 2012.

The program equips students with the integration, leadership and managerial skills to become part of an elite group of water leaders with sustainable and holistic solutions to global water and climate change challenges. The program takes a multi-disciplinary, whole-of-water-cycle approach. Apply online




ASBG June Seminars

Don’t forget ASBG QLD’s Environmental Management Seminar on Thursday 15 June 08:00-12:30 see attached flyer and programme.



The Association for Sustainability in Business Inc., 2011 Conference*

Not an ASBG Event

Taking Care of Business: Sustainable Transformation 15-16 September 2011 Radisson Resort, Gold Coast, Australia

This year’s conference will boast a cutting edge program & feature over 40 presenters in keynote and concurrent sessions & workshops.

There will be two networking functions to maximise business opportunities along with free wireless internet for all delegates and exhibitors.

There will be an online Business-to-Business Forum, which enables registered delegates, presenters & exhibitors to network before, during & after the Conference.

"Zero Carbon Australia" by Beyond Zero Emissions

beyond Zero Emissions will be discussing their “Zero Carbon Australia Plan” on the 2 June 2011, 18.00 19:30 at the Hawken Engineering Building (50) Theatre 203

It is the plan for Australia to move to 100% renewable energy and zero carbon emissions in ten years, using technology that is commercially available right now!

The plan will be presented by Brad Schultz, a Mechatronic Engineer who works as an Energy Specialist for Honeywell reducing energy use in large commercial buildings

RSVP to ewbee.uq@gmail.com

23 May, 2011

Green Tape

The state of environmental compliance in the State of Queensland is in a state of emergency. That is why ASBG is including a session on how to stay out of trouble with the regulator at our next Environmental Management Seminar.

Anecdotal evidence would indicate Environmental Practitioners loathe to deal with the Department of Environment & Research Management (DERM).

The Greentape Reduction project is an attempt to streamline, integrate and coordinate environmental regulatory requirements under the Environmental Protection Act 1994.

The project is a response to business and Government concerns that navigating the environmental regulatory framework has become diabolically complicated, while compromising environmental outcomes. This in turn can make it more difficult to comply with the law.

The project seeks to ensure Queensland’s regulatory framework is proportional to the environmental risk of the particular activity. The approvals process will also be simplified and clarified.

DERM representatives met with and invited comment from the Australian Sustainable Business Group (ASBG).

Officers from DERM will be consulting throughout Queensland over a six-week period, meeting representatives from industry. For further information plus detailed discussion of each initiative, please see the discussion paper and regulatory assessment statement or contact the department at epact.policy@derm.qld.gov.au or phone (07) 3330 5899.

21 May, 2011

Social Enterprise


Today's blog post is based on my own navel gazing as I seek to find ways to earn a livelihood, whilst solving social and/or environmental problems. For me there is no such thing as work/life balance.......it is all LIFE.

My problem seems to be more economic: I have a floundering social enterprise.

It does not cost me much to keep it ticking over, but it is not returning on my investments of time or money either.


Simon McKeon is amongst other things the Chairman of the CSIRO and a board member of World Vision. He is also Australian of the Year.

Simon was engaging & interesting. He said lots of things about including women, aging populations & people with disabilities & disadvantages into the workforce......but the workforce he described seemed quite entrenched in modern paradigms.

He was hopeful that using genetically altered plants to produce omega 3 fatty acids was going to reduce dependence on wild fish stocks. Simon seemed to think GM is a really good idea. I am not so sure.

There has been a lot of talk in recent years about Corporate Social Responsibility. I struggle with the concept of business who are seeking to be socially responsible when their core businesses &/or mission statements are socially destructive (like fossil fuels or tobacco or industrial food).

I have not refined my concept of a Social Enterprise but I am seeking models of enterprise that are a little different.......I am looking for ways that I (and others) can meet our humans needs and/or provide for our dependents & achieve social objectives.

I love the work that Food Connect are doing. My challenge (for myself) is to find commercial solutions for environmental problems. I would love to be part of a business that employs stay-at-home parents, semi-retired professionals & people with disabilities.









20 May, 2011

NGER Amendment Determination & A Price on Carbon

A Price on Carbon

The Federal Government has still not released the details of the proposed Price on Carbon.

The impacts of the proposed Price on Carbon were left out of the Federal budget last week.The Government has indicated details of this initiative will be announced in July 2011.

The first step in understanding the Carbon Price is to get one’s head around National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 (the NGER Act).

The Howard Government introduced a national framework for the reporting and dissemination of information about greenhouse gas emissions, greenhouse gas projects, and energy use and production of corporations which will form the basis of the financial liabilities for a price on Carbon.

The objectives of the NGER Act, as stated in the legislation, are to:

· inform Government policy and the Australian public;

· help meet Australia’s international reporting obligations;

· assist Commonwealth, state and territory government programs and activities;

· avoid the duplication of similar reporting requirements in the states and territories.

Corporations that meet an NGER threshold must report their:

· greenhouse gas emissions;

· energy production;

· energy consumption;

· other information specified under NGER legislation.

The Federal Government is inviting comments on The NGER Amendment Determination 2011 Exposure Draft. Submissions are due on the Tuesday 31 May 2011. The intention is for the Amendment Determination to come into effect on 1 July 2011 to inform the preparation of NGER reports in October 2012 (for the 2011-2012 reporting year only).

Many of Australia’s largest organisations will be significantly impacted and, under the current timeline, will have less than a year to prepare, develop and implement a comprehensive strategy. These proposals will not affect NGER reports which are due in October 2011.

The Department is also publishing a response paper summarising submissions and outlining the Department’s current position on issues raised in the discussion paper.


18 May, 2011

Sustainable Business Weekly QLD Edition [A Price on Carbon, Sustainable Australia, WASH, Transport]

A Price on Carbon

The Federal Government has still not released the details of the proposed Price on Carbon.

The impacts of the proposed Price on Carbon were left out of the Federal budget last week. The Government has indicated details of this initiative will be announced in July 2011.

The first step in understanding the Carbon Price is to get one’s head around National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act 2007 (the NGER Act).

The Howard Government introduced a national framework for the reporting and dissemination of information about greenhouse gas emissions, greenhouse gas projects, and energy use and production of corporations which will form the basis of the financial liabilities for a price on Carbon.

The objectives of the NGER Act, as stated in the legislation, are to:
· inform Government policy and the Australian public;
· help meet Australia’s international reporting obligations;
· assist Commonwealth, state and territory government programs and activities;
· avoid the duplication of similar reporting requirements in the states and territories.

The first annual reporting period began on 1 July 2008.
Corporations that meet an NGER threshold must report their:
· greenhouse gas emissions;
· energy production;
· energy consumption;
· other information specified under NGER legislation.

Many of Australia’s largest organisations will be significantly impacted and, under the current timeline, will have less than a year to prepare, develop and implement a comprehensive strategy.





Sustainable Australia

Further to discussions on the Federal Government’s Sustainable Population Strategy. It has not set a population target, but includes major initiatives to drive growth to regional areas.
The platform for a Sustainable Australia was included in the Budget with $140 million of new expenditure:
• to encourage employment precincts in outer metropolitan suburbs to reduce travel time and fuel use;
• to support for regional areas to plan for future growth and housing supply, and
• new indicators to measure the nation's sustainability needs.

Sustainability in Water, Sanitation & Hygiene

There was an international AusAid Conference in Brisbane this week, considering sustainability in water, sanitation & hygiene, in the context of emergency relief & international development assistance.

Some of the issues that were raised at the Conference included:
· Institutional Sustainability;
· Functional/Environmental Sustainability;
· Behavioural Change & Social Sustainability &
· Financial Sustainability.

ASBG QLD is having a closer look at these same issues in the context of Queensland’s ongoing flux in the institutional arrangements, ecological impacts (& systemic failures during the floods) & the political machinations & ongoing blame game between State & Local Governments & the Statutory Authorities.

The Queensland Government has announced a new Energy and Water Ombudsman Queensland (EWOQ) following the retirement of Barry Adams. Mr Forbes Smith will have his work cut out for him with the blame game on water pricing between State, Local Government & the various Utilities still in flux. He will commence his duties on 4 July 2011.

An Issues Paper preceded development of the Strategy. The Australian Water Association has previously commented on the rising cost and potential environmental and social impact of the extension of sewerage (&Trade Waste) systems. In an urban area, water supply cannot be extended without a concomitant extension in sewerage services. The discharge of treated effluent and the management of biosolids have, potentially, a significant impact on the environment. Installation of sewerage systems is expensive, particularly in brownfield sites where access may be difficult and land is in short supply.


Sustainable Transport

24 May 2011, the Society of Sustainability & Environmental Engineering (SSEE) will be hosting a Technical Meeting at Engineering House including a presentation on Electric Vehicles & a panel discussion on the wider issues of Sustainable Transport, including rail & active transport.





the History & Future of Human Sustainability

Richard Cassels, a Director of Climate Leadership will be discussing “Learning from the past at a lunch time presentation on Wednesday 25 May 2011 from 12:30 - 13:30 at the Department of Environment & resource Management (DERM) Wet Tropics Room, Level 3, 400 George Street.


ASBG June Seminars

Don’t forget ASBG QLD’s Environmental Management Seminar on Thursday 15 June 08:00-12:30.




17 May, 2011

Some notes on Coal Seam Gas Development








I compiled the following notes following the QnA session on Coal Seam Gas held by the Australian Sustainable Business Group at the Brisbane City Council Library. last September.

I gave the panelists to opportunity to review the notes and make comments or corrections.




regards,

Rowan Barber
State Manager
Australian Sustainable Business Group
www.asbg.net.au


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Coal Seam Gas Development Q&A

Wednesday 29th September, 5:30pm-8:00pm at the Brisbane City Council
Library

Moderator
• Adjust Professor David Hood, Faculty of Built Environment and
Engineering, QUT

Panel members
• Dean Ellwood, Assistant Director-General, Queensland Department of
Environment and Resource Management (DERM)
• Drew Hutton, Spokesperson on Coal Seam Gas, Six Degrees
• Dr Michael (Mike) Clarke, Consulting Engineer, METTS Pty Ltd
• Professor John Cole, Director, Australian Centre for Sustainable
Business and Development, USQ

Minutes

David Hood
- Adjunct QUT professor
- Chair of Australian Green Infrastructure Council
- Active in Engineers Australia
- Purpose of evening: Raise awareness, hear from people who know about
CSG

Dean
- CSG has been used for decades in domestic supply
- CSG technology on this scale is new and has brought with it
opportunities and money
- Diminishing supplies of cheap crude oil and a global appetite for
energy are creating opportunities and the potential for huge sums of
money, in the order of $120 billion
- CSG is developing quickly due to technology that drops gas
temperature down to a point where ships can transport it overseas
- The Government has been very busy working on CSG
- Technology
- CSG is a natural gas, approximately 98% methane, which collects in
underground coal seams by bonding to the surface of coal particles
- The CSG process involves drawing water from the coal seams which
releases the CSG
- The water that is brought to the surface is variable in quality but
generally has a high salinity

Drew
- The issues are mainly social & political
- Ironic that when the world is trying to reduce it's emissions that
Queensland is trying to rapidly increase its emissions
- Queensland is undergoing a rapid transformation - the biggest since
19th century
- Queensland is the most energy and resource intensive state in
Commonwealth
- New and expanded coal mines will add 25% to emissions in 4-5 years
(40 tonnes CO2e per year), which will make national targets very
difficult
- Queensland will be trapped into a carbon-based economy


Mike
- Climate skeptic and proud of it
- Wells have two functions - gas and water - so will need two networks
to transfer, but that infrastructure won't always be needed so will
have to be converted back into farming land
- Water that comes out is very variable (TDS anywhere from 1000 ppm to
10000 ppm), which brings with it challenges

John
- Doesn't disagree with anything he's heard so far tonight about the
issues to do with CSG
- All kinds of risk with CSG - known unknowns, unknown unknowns, etc -
so risk management is important
- Social impacts e.g. Resources sector including CSG taking every
tradie it can get, potentially disrupting the learning lifecourse of
an entire generation in regional centres
- Towns between Toowoomba - Roma are being approached by CSGcompanies
offering to assist with airport extensions to facilitate FIFO. Fly in/
Fly out is not always good for communities.
- There are Multiple gas fields - all with different issues - Bowen
Basin, Surat, Galilee. Issues and environments are different in
Dalby, Roma, Miles etc.
- Farmers are realising there are other risks besides the process
issues such as access to properties eg water rights and land
degradation.
- Queensland appears to be rushing to meet deadlines imposed by
multinationals in a dash to market Qld gas internationally.
- CSG is a transition fuel and Australia could be outbid by Saudi
Arabia and Russia in the future
- The market is not just about China
- Need to separate:
- Process issues e.g. land access issues which are upsetting
farmers - could be fixed
- Risk and sustainability questions: Whether it should be done or
not
- International issue - multinationals deciding whether to do CSG here
or somewhere else, and they will go somewhere else if investment
opportunities are more attractive
- Growing demand for gas internationally and ecojomies become more
energy intensive
- Some people in the basin think they can leverage off this to build
communities
- The Government should impose social conditions as part of the
approvals; make the companies pay for the right to drill here e.g. pay
for the infrastructure that will be required to support their
operations such as extending regional airports, otherwise in 25-50
years when the CSG runs out all we’ll be left with is 30,000+ holes in
the ground and not much to show for it
- There are lots of CSG companies but not all will get involved as
there is not enough room; 4 are currently involved (Origin, Santos, BG
(QLD gas) & Shell (Arrow)) but it is expected 2 of them will bundle
into other consortia and sell, leaving 2 major operators
- Pipelines to Gladstone will be feed gas into an LNG plant for export
- In the order of 20 million tonnes of LNG is expected to be produced
each year over 50 years with the Government claiming potentially a
private sector investment of more than $40 billion,and the creation of
over 18,000 jobs

Mike
- US don't want any LNG being imported because they found some in
their territory that they didn't know was there
- Asia may find similarly find reserves and will exploit them

John
- Critical sustainability question: what is left at the end?


Drew
- Agree and disagree
- Important question: is this a green energy source? No. (Mike: yes it
is). Over the lifecycle it's no better than coal.
- Compressor stations will create noise that can be heard in a 1km
radius

Mike
- Company he's consulting to is interested in small generators for
trucks and trains that use CSG
- CSG would be better than diesel as it is less carbon intensive

John
- Thats the area where there is a clear eco dividend

Michel
- Is there going to be a push from Queensland government for transport
to use more gas?

Dean
- Limit to size of vehicle
- Great for long distance haulage

John
- Petrols and fuels are a national thing, not state government

Drew
- Makes sense but not what they have planned

John
- Uncertainty for farmers not knowing what is going to happen is
problematic
- Should have an Ombudsman in this space, like in energy
- Mining Warden is currently in this role but doesn't want to hear
those complaints
- Need to show farmers they are respected and valued
- Is an upside - lot of jobs
- Need an independent person whose findings can be arbitrated in a
court of law

Lady 1
- Notion that gas can be switched to road and rail is problematic

Mike
- Misunderstood me

Lady 1
- Increased infrastructure costs use will fall on communities, who
don't want CSG industry

David
- Need to get companies to cover those cost

Dean
- Will be incorporated into future plans



Drew
- Regulation doesn't usually work when you're dealing with big
industry because they are essential to the government
- DERM is best regulator out there at the moment, because they're
scared of the social movement
- Politicians telling regulators not to make things difficult for BHP
etc

Joe, EDO
- Risk - extraction of groundwater - lot of uncertainty about effect
on the basin - water moves slowly - effects could be delayed
- How much knowledge do we have in this area?

Mike
- Water is coming out of the coal, not normal aquifer water
- Very difficult to re-wet coal, water unlikely to flow back in,
although will in 100 years

Phillip, process engineer
- Question of whether extradite water will get into aquifer and
contaminate water
- Depends on whether aquifers are above or below drill holes

Alison
- What ranking has been done on the agricultural land that is being
mined? Are we keeping the best agricultural land?
- Could the farmers do this themselves and get benefit?

Mike
- Could be the way you say, if it is managed well

Dean
- Government just release strategic crop and land policy
- Local gain: some cases where locals have used water etc beneficially
- Previously used large evaporative ponds but can't right previous
wrongs
- Have legislated no more evaporative ponds and have to upgrade old
ones - world class legislation

Drew
- Do need strategic study

Mike
- Agree with local fuel use
- Set up local gas power stations with residual gas supply to supply
for period of time

John
- Queensland has some options in this space
- Fast moving space

Dean
- Layers of different aquifers
- Coal water comes from different aquifers
- Question about interconnectivity
- Government introduced adaptive environmental management so you can
change licenses over time as knowledge and conditions change

Guy 1
- I'm the past have found conditions...
- From political and technical point of view need certainty
- Is DERM going to receive the support to fix the problems that will
arise?

John
- Skills shortage in this area eg hydrologist

Guy 1
- Long term data

Dean
- Online portal for data - ground water
- Hydrogeologist are being appointed

Guy 2
- Impact of industry as a whole, cumulatively over time, hasn't been
taken into account
- Only looking at individual project impact
- Ecological collapse due to collective impact

David
- Research into this area funded by gov't or industry

John
- Communities not set up to leverage opportunities, deal with these
issues
- Council workers living in outlying towns due to high price of
accommodation
- Royalties for regions

Mike
- Where does the panel believe that opportunities exist?
- Reforestation - use water to irrigate

Rowan
- Will that work? Will the trees always need irrigation.

Phil
- No sign of producers collaborating on any research, not in a
position to

Michel
- Drew, what is the alternative? Delay the projects? Is there a
replacement for lost revenue?

Drew
- Calling for moratorium
- Government desperate for funds
- Industry want to drive it fast
- Don't know where the money is going to come from
- Should be taking a cautionary approach

Guy 3
- Credit to Government, have done research
- Companies will have to make good if aquifers are drained
- Gov't findings aren't due until June 2012 but approvals will be
granted before then
- Adaptive management yes but you can't adapt to everything
- Two current projects dont have a health impact statement

Dean
- Environmental impact assessment includes health and social impacts

Panelist wrap-up

Dean
- Nothing further to add.

Drew
- CSG will result in 10,000 wells, a huge social impact and reduced
quality of life

Mike
- CSG can be good for Queensland and Australia
- Have to think about the whole system

John
- Realistic
- Hyperbole in discussion
- Voting system different out there
- Not opposed to CSG
- Seeing slight collaboration between companies
- Good having European companies here
- Will win or lose in the next 5 years
- Philip has an idea to use water in biochar
- Do something positive with this

For more information
http://www.industry.qld.gov.au/dsdweb/v4/apps/web/content.cfm?id=16150
http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=495657925728&id=68280472472&ref=nf

14 May, 2011

international development assistance

I have been trolling through the 2011-12 budget looking for some good news for the environment.

I posted some thoughts here on the state of the environment budget.

Yesterday, I had the honour of hearing the Australian Foreign Minister, Kevin Rudd, bang on about the Official Development Assistance (ODA) Budget

I have a few thoughts that I would like to share with my growing readership. (I think there are nine of you now).

One of the first points that @KRuddMP made yesterday was that: "The power that lies in your hands"

Apparently NGO's lobbying the Torries on maintaining the Aid . was actually successful. It is alleged that this week Tony Abbott dropped a policy statement from his Budget reply speech that linked spending on Aid with budget deficits. This followed an orchestrated campaign by international development NGOs to lobby the opposition members of Parliament.

The next piece of good news is that 82% of Australians support the Aid programme. @KRuddMP alleges that: our (Australia's) natural sense of compassion does not stop at the Continental shelf

It is a sad fact of Australian political life that has to justify the education expenditure in Indonesia on the basis of self interest, just as John Howard did previously. Spending money in the right places for all the wrong reasons.....

discussed & influencing participation in schools. He did not mention the impact that (or lack there of) have on the participation rates of girls once they start to menstruate.

talked briefly about maternal health for women & children without the passion of his lovely wife: Therese_Rein (who spoke recently at an International Midwifery Day event at the Bronco's Leagues Club).

It is another sad fact of Australian political life that discussed the water, sanitation & hygiene () budget, without the passion of Bob McMullan. I suspect the spending on has been cut in real terms with more money allocated but over a longer period of time. Bob McMullan, the former Parliamentary Secretary for International Development Assistance (& former minister in previous Labor Governments) retired at the last election. Bob was not afraid to get his photo taken with a toilet. He was a great advocate for toilets. I miss him dearly.

has a different agenda & a different set of priorities. Australia has ramped up it spending in Africa. The relative amounts being spent in Africa are quite small in the global economic sense & quite insignificant in terms of the problems that need to be addressed.

However, I fear that Australia's engagement in Africa comes at the expense of programmes that were running in Asia Pacific. I fear that AusAid & its partners lack the experience & expertise to be effective in the African context. I have even heard stories of Australian Aid causing more harm than good, when the only Water Resource Officer for a region, is pulled out of his community to participate in Australian sponsored training.

I fear that Australia's engagement in International Development Assistance in Africa has more to do with Australia's ambitions for representation in the United Nations, than anything else.

It is great to see Australia ramp up its funding for tackling easily preventable blindness. It is a shame to see funding for tackling easily preventable diseases through sanitation & hygiene has been cut back (in real terms) & spread a lot thinner.

It is great to hear a focus on eliminating violence against women & acknowledgement of Australia's own issues at home.

wrapped up his discourse with a plug for volunteering & the new Australian Civilian Corps

In question time, @KRuddMP applauded a better relationship between AusAid & NGO's. in response to a question about exorbitant salaries @KRuddMP indicated that salaries & fees to technical specialists have been reduced from ~44% to ~22% of the AusAid budget.


Whilst I see a need for Aid (particularly following disasters & war) & International Development Assistance, I see a future for social enterprise & micro-finance to play a greater role in poverty alleviation.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The 2011-12 Aid Budget at a glance

Total Australian Official Development Assistance (ODA) in 2011-12 is estimated at $4.8 billion, this is equivalent to 0.35 per cent of Gross National Income (GNI).

New aid funding in the 2011-12 Budget will implement the Government’s 2010 election commitments for the aid program on:

· improving access to education,

· better maternal health for women and children,

· access to water and sanitation,

· tackling avoidable blindness,

· eliminating violence against women, and

· Australian volunteers.

In 2011-12 around 89 per cent, of Australia’s aid will be delivered through AusAID, the remainder will be delivered through other Australian government agencies, such as the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.

Around half of Australia’s aid in 2011-12 is expected to be provided to the Asia Pacific region. The ten countries that are expected to receive the most Australian aid in 2011-12 – Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Afghanistan, Vietnam, East Timor, Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Cambodia – are all in the Asia Pacific.

Assistance in the education, health and economic growth sectors is expected to comprise more than half of Australian aid expenditure in 2011-12.

AusAID’s humanitarian and emergency related expenditure is estimated to increase to $325.0 million in 2011–12. This will support the United Nations, Red Cross, and other international and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) to meet humanitarian needs in Asia and the Pacific, Africa and other developing regions.