cutting unnecessary environmental red tape and ideology.

Here is a snap shot of a few things I have gleaned from Hansard...concerning Environmental Law & Sustainability.  Some of this may end up in my "Sustainable Business Weekly" newsletter.

Cutting Green Tape

During the recent election the Liberal National Party made five pledges to:

1.   Lower the cost of living for families by cutting waste;

2.   Deliver better infrastructure and better planning;

3.   Revitalise front-line services for families;

4.   Restore accountability in government,

5.   Grow a four-pillar economy to provide better opportunities for all Queenslanders in all walks of life.

The Qld Treasurer Tim Nichols believes that, the Qld Government needs to cut back on the red and green tape.  In removing the regulation that he believes has at times strangled industry and endangered Qld’s reputation as a safe place to invest (particularly in reference to Coal Seam Gas Development).  He is adamant that in simplifying and or removing regulation (green tape) the Qld Government will not do so at the risk of endangering our most productive farmland and our most valuable environmental assets. Mr Nicholls introduced the Treasury (Cost of Living) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill to Parliament, to give effect to a number of key election commitments including:

•     Increasing the payroll tax exemption threshold for businesses  to $1.1m,

•     Freezing the standard electricity tariff (Tariff 11);

•     Abolishing Sustainability Declar-ations when selling houses

•     Introducing an Office of Best Practice Regulation to save unnecessary red tape.

In his opening speech to Parliament, Premier Campbell Newman spoke of his plan that will free Qld of debt, red tape, impractical ideology and indecision.  As a foot note, the Premier says will protect Queensland’s environment by raising the bar on environmental performance and by cutting unnecessary environmental red tape and ideology.  There is anecdotal evidence of a recent increase in enforcement activities by the regulators.

The Premier reiterated his ambition to build a broader, stronger Queensland economy based on the four key pillars of agriculture, resources, tourism and construction.  

We have seen some of this in action with the split up of DERM  into the:

·       Department of Environment and Heritage Protection

·       Department of Natural Resources and Mines

·       Department of National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing

·       Department of Energy and Water Supply

·       Department of Science, Information Technology, Innovation and the Arts

Don’t forget the move to abolish the waste levy in Queensland from 1 July 2012, which will undoubtedly attract large amounts of waste from NSW.

In agriculture, the Premier has set a target to double Queensland’s food production by 2040. He aims to do this by improving education, skills, technology and practices.

ASBG members involved in food processing industries may be interested to know that the Premier has promised to protect strategic cropping land through statutory regional planning and he declared that he will go further to identify and develop new areas for intensive food production.

Those involved in mining, minerals or hydrocarbon processing should note that the Premier claims he will deliver investment certainty and he will facilitate major projects instead of impeding them.

In her maiden speech the incoming Shadow Minister for Shadow Minister for Transport, Environment and Heritage Protection, Small Business, Consumer Affairs and The Arts: Ms Jackie Trad said: “we will ensure that our environment is protected for future generations. The Labor Party is part of a political movement that is acutely aware of its responsibility to this state and this nation.”

The Member for Gympie, David Gibson noted in his speech that his electorate has a particularly special environmental area, the Mary Valley and the Mary River. He reminded Parliament of the previous Government’s failed plans for the Traveston Crossing Dam.

Bill Byrne (ALP – Rockhampton) "We have been resoundingly defeated at the polls. ‘Belted’ is a more accurate term. However, it would be a factual misrepresentation to condemn every facet of Labor’s record. Labor made some very substantial investments and progress in areas such as education, disabilities, child protection and environmental protection. These achievements were before my time so I will not be dwelling further on the past. As we have already seen this morning, I am sure that the government will be reminding us enough over the next 12 to 18 months about their recollections and, I dare say, interpretations of the legacy of this period."

Links between CSG and Bore Depletion

The Queensland Water Commission’s (QWC) independent scientific study of underground water supplies found that there would be impacts on the Great Artesian Basin. The Deputy premier Jeff Seeney is downplaying these impacts.

The Queensland Water Act 2000 requires petroleum tenure holders to carry out baseline assessments of water

bores before commencing production, and to make good impairment of bore supplies now and into the future.  With the Surat and southern Bowen Basin undergoing a major expansion in CSG production, the region was declared a Cumulative Management Area (CMA) under the  Water Act which gave the QWC the responsibility of preparing an Underground Water Impact Report (UWIR).

The draft report found some across the Surat Cumulative Management Area would be affected by the CSG industry in the next three years.  The report states that in the longer term bores will be affected.  Laws will require the CSG companies to “make good” & the Gasfields Commission will be an important part of making sure that those laws are enforced.

The QWC’s independent scientific study of underground water supplies found relatively small impacts on the Great Artesian Basin. Its draft report released found just 85 of some 21,000 bores across the Surat Cumulative Management Area would be affected by the CSG industry in the next three years.  The CSG industry and the State Government are assessing options for treatment and reuse for irrigation or other agricultural purposes.  Reinjection of treated CSG product water into the groundwater systems might be cost prohibitive.

The new State Government wants to work on all of these issues in cooperation and consultation with those involved.  The report is open for public comment until 22 June 2012.

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.

I attended a lecture this morning at the Ideas Festival titled: Inclusive Australia: Is there a place for profit in social enterprise?

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.

I love the work of Hub Melbourne and/or the School of Social Entrepreneurs and/or Think Act Live

Sustainable Business Weekly QLD Edition [Water, Ideas, Sustainable Food]

ASBG June workshops

This week ASBG announced a couple of workshops to be hosted at Norton Rose in June. Registration forms will be sent out soon.

Both these workshops will provide an update on the recent changes to Australian & Queensland Laws affecting Environment & Safety respectively.

Thursday 15 June 08:00-12:30

Environmental Management Practitioner's Workshop

Wednesday 22 June 08:00-12:30

Safety Management Practitioner's Workshop (incl Global Harmonisation).

There is a Carbon Price workshop ready to roll, as soon as there is sufficient detail released by the federal Government (watch this space).

ASBG attended a breakfast meeting on the National Broadband Network (NBN) hosted by Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation. ASBG are looking at holding a discussion forum to discuss the Ecological Sustainability aspects of the NBN.

The blame game

Last week the Premier, Anna Bligh, made an announcement in Parliament relating to the possibility of councils taking back their water businesses.

Brisbane City’s Lord Mayor, Graham Quirk, has spoken to the media stating that Brisbane City Council is not at this stage planning to resume control of water and sewerage services. Brisbane City Council is more focused on calling on the QLD State Government to cap bulk water prices.

It’s business as usual for Queensland Urban Utilities (which covers the municipalities of Brisbane, Ipswich, Scenic Rim, Lockyer & Somerset). ASBG cannot imagine any of the other Councils wanting to take back the associated risks & liabilities.

Qld Flood Inquiry

Last week the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry announced the first round of public hearings into the 2010-11 flood events. The interim report is due in August 2011, to enable early recommendations to be implemented before next summer's wet season.

Last week the Inquiry focused on the operations of the dam. The Operations Engineers gave testimony about the procedures they follow. It was noted that priority is given to the integrity of the dam itself. The inquiry reviewed the decisions concerning the impact downstream, particularly flooding in the urban areas of Ipswich and Brisbane.

The public hearings will be held in Toowoomba and Dalby this coming week (18-20 April 2011).

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Ideas Festival Program

The 2011 Ideas Festival will be held from 19 to 22 May at the State Library. Delve a little deeper into the themes of food futures, sustainability and happiness, things are bound to get a little bit deep and meaningful.

The Festival Program was release this week.

Sustainable Food

This week Food Connect is celebrating the first birthday of 3 of it's pioneering replications. The three social enterprises based in Sydney, Melbourne & Adelaide have taken the model pioneered by Food Connect Brisbane and adapted it to work for local farmers in and around their respective cities. The model is an innovative hybridization of the well know Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) local food system gaining support around the world.

The founder of Food Connect Robert Pekin said this week that "even through trying times for a lot of businesses these replications had taken a lead role in proving that you can be good at business and also be good for farmers at the same time".

A recent survey, carried out by Independent consultants, interviewed 6 of the original farmers concluded with the all the farmers describing food connect as a friend. Many of these farmers would not be in business today if it were not for Food Connect. This is despite the desperate figures of an average of five farmers leaving the land in Australia per week.

From a competitive point of view Food Connect is around 20% more affordable and yet still manages to return an average of 50% of the retail dollar back to the farmers (the average is around 15%) Robert commented. "I don't actually know of any retail distributor that even comes close to the value given back to farmers than us".

At the recent national sustainable food summit held in Melbourne recently, the Food Connect model was mooted as one of the few models that embodied how a truly sustainable food business should look and act. The Food Connect Foundation was set up around 2 years ago to be the custodians of the replication of the model as well as set up other programs needed to provide food and fibre resilience to communities.

For information foodconnect.com.au

In future editions of the Sustainable Business Weekly, ASBG will discuss a Life Cycle Analysis of a foodconnect tomato, which was carried out by the Engineering firm Arup.