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.

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

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 #budget. 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 @KRuddMP 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.....

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

@KRuddMP 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 @KRuddMP discussed the water, sanitation & hygiene (#WASH) budget, without the passion of Bob McMullan. I suspect the spending on #WASH 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.

@KRuddMP 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.

@KRuddMP 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.

Sustainable Business Weekly QLD Edition [Budget, Sustainable Transport]

Budget

After weeks of warning Australians, the budget would be tough, on Tuesday night Treasurer Wayne Swan made a quite a predictable budget speech reiterating the measures that the Government already pre-leaked or released.

Tuesday, Bob Brown said: “I hope you're not holding your breath for any mention of indigenous Australia or the environment.”

On Thursday Tony Abbott replied to the budget by reiterating speeches from the 2010 Federal electoral campaign.

The carbon price debate & the 2011 Budget were overshadowed this week by the recent developments in off-shore processing of asylum seekers.

The details of the proposed Carbon Tax have still not been finalised and its impacts have been left out of the budget. As expected, the Budget was silent on the implications of a carbon price mechanism. The Government has indicated details of this initiative will be announced in July 2011.

The proposed framework indicates all revenues raised from the carbon tax will be recycled back into the economy.

For business, this means less than 50% of the revenue will be redistributed to industry and R&D investments in clean technologies, with the remainder going to households.

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.

One has to dig a little deeper to find news of any environmental initiatives in this year's budget. Most of the initiatives involve delays, postponements or elimination of programmes.

What has been included in the Budget is an additional $100 million until 2024 for investment in early-stage renewable energy. This clearly has limited implications in comparison with the proposed carbon price.

The renewable energy industry was particularly hard hit. Funding cuts and spending deferrals came in at more than half a billion dollars.

The Australian Federal Government is opening up the “Population” debate again under the platform for a Sustainable Australia 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.

Labor’s billion dollar promise to modernise the electricity grid to accommodate renewable power looks to be in trouble. The Government has confirmed its previously announced intention to provide an upfront tax deduction for exploration of geothermal energy sources from 1 July 2012.

The National Schools Solar Program, which supported schools to put pv panels on the roof, will be wound up, saving the government $156.4 million.

The National Rainwater and Greywater Initiative, which provided money for people installing rainwater tanks and greywater systems, will be ended.

The Green Car Innovation Fund & 'cash for clunkers' have all been previously eliminated. Most of the transport and infrastructure funding announced was for roads. However, the FBT is moving to a flat rate 20% over the next 4 years, removing perverse incentives to drive. There is no detail on these measures but one would assume this means it will be on new leases and the current ones will be grandfathered.

Funding for the carbon capture and storage research 'flagship' has been delayed, saving $420million over several years. An additional $84.2 million will support landowners who set aside protected areas for wildlife.

Sustainable Transport

24 May 2011 the Society of Sustainability & Environmental Engineering (SSEE) will be hosting a Technical Meeting at Engineering House, featuring Dr Andrew Simpson one of Australia’s foremost independent experts in renewable electric vehicle (EV) technology, policy and strategy.

There will be a panel discussion on the wider issues of sustainability & transport including representatives & advocates of mass transport, active transport & new technologies versus the incumbent modes/technologies.

The Panel includes:

Genevieve Graves - the Manager, Sustainable Transport at RACQ. A policy analyst for the past twenty years she has experience in transport, social capital and human services. Her role at RACQ is focused on greener motoring including electric vehicles and eco-driving. She is a keen environmentalist and the Treasurer of Save Our Waterways Now, a local environment group seeking to restore the habitat of the Enoggera Creek catchment.

Robert Dow - administrator & founder of RAIL Back On Track: A web based community group that advocates for sustainable transport solutions mainly rail and advocates strongly for rail commuters, and at times other public transport commuters eg. bus & ferry, & is also concerned with the interface of other modes of public transport with rail.

Robert is by profession a medical scientist and was an academic at the Queensland University of Technology before he retired in 2010. He is a Life member and Fellow of the Australian Institute of Medical Scientists which reflects his long involvement in the Medical Science profession. Robert served in the Australian Army for around 23 years in the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps and saw operational service in South Vietnam and Irian Jaya, and retired as a Captain. A life long interest in railways and frustration with failing transport services lead Robert to form RAIL Back On Track to engage with the media and advocate for public transport improvements.

Thea (Tae) Baker – is an Inner City resident of Brisbane who passionately took up the cause of CityCycle, Brisbane City Council’s flagship and flagging active transport project, from its release in October 2010. After living in the Inner City, including Spring Hill, New Farm and Fortitude Valley, Tae has been an avid user of Public Transport since first relocating to Brisbane from the car dominated Gold Coast almost ten years ago. Now, instead of walking or taking the bus, Tae walks and rides to work using the CityCycle scheme, as well as incorporating it into her social life as her primary means of transport for the Inner City. Tae is the National Recruitment Coordinator for a major charity based in Brisbane and often finds herself in our other capital cities and rural towns – often with her helmet in tow. Not your typical lycra wearing cyclist, Tae will be able to discuss the successes and challenges of CityCycle for Brisbane and its users from her own anecdotal experiences.

ASBG June Seminars

Don’t forget ASBG QLD’s Environmental Management Seminar on Thursday 16 June 08:00-12:30

Recycling, Transport, Wetlands, Wildlife, Coal in Court

Why Materials Efficiency Matters!

Rod Welford, Chief Executive of the Australian Council of Recycling Inc (ACOR), will be giving a lunch time presentation:

· describing the reformed role of ACOR to provide policy leadership around resource efficiency;

· exploring some of the policy requirements for improving economy-wide efficiency in the use of resources;

· outlining how the more efficient use of materials can drive efficiencies in energy and water concurrently;

· Considering the implications for climate change and the as yet unrecognised importance of resource recovery and recycling to achieving Australia’s carbon abatement goals.

Thursday 12 May 2011, 12:30 - 13:30 in the Wet Tropics Room at the Department of Environment & Resource Management (DERM) Level 3, 400 George Street. BYO Lunch

The next session on 25 May 2011: Learning from the past: the history and future of human sustainability, Richard Cassels, Director, Climate Leadership

Sustainable Transport

On the 24 May 2011, the Society of Sustainability & Environmental Engineering (SSEE) will be hosting a Technical Meeting at Engineering House, featuring Dr Andrew Simpson one of Australia’s foremost independent experts in renewable electric vehicle (EV) technology, policy and strategy.

Following Andrew’s presentation there will be a panel discussion on the wider issues of sustainability and Transport including representatives and advocates of mass transport, active transport & new technologies versus the incumbent modes/technologies.

Note for your diary:

Annie Leonard: the star of the Story of Stuff will be in Brisbane as a Keynote Speaker for the SSEE 2011 International Conference in October this year. Go to the Conference Website to register your interest. The conference runs from the 24 to 26 October 2011 at Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (BCEC).

ASBG June Seminars

ASBG QLD is very excited about a couple of seminars to be hosted at Norton Rose Australia in June 2011.

Details of the Environmental Management Seminar on Thursday 15 June 08:00-12:30 are in last week's blog.

In 2008, Workplace Relations Ministers from around Australia agreed to nationally harmonise work health and safety (WHS) laws. Safe Work Australia is currently developing national model WHS laws, which the Commonwealth and each State and Territory will implement by the end of 2011.

The national aced agenda for the harmonisation of work health and safety laws and practices is progressing and will be a focus for Workplace Health and Safety Queensland over the next twelve months.

Employers & managers should become familiar with the new legislation and the impact it will have on their businesses.

On Wednesday 22 June from 08:00 to 12:30, ASBG is running a Safety Management Seminar which will include the proposed new regulations and new codes of practice.

World Environment Day

ASBG’s rural correspondent Lord Julian will be celebrating all things for a sustainable lifestyle, in Boonah for World Environment Day featuring free creative workshops, market stalls, demonstrations, talks, local organic produce, recycled artwork and jewellery, native wildlife, eco cleaning products, live entertainment, and recycling bays.

Wetland Management online tool

The Queensland Government has launched new online tools on its wetlands management resource website, WetlandInfo. The new online tools include wetland place names, an ability to link wetland mapping using Google maps functions and an advanced search function that allows users to search for wetlands. An up-to-date toolbox of planning legislation allows planners, decision making agencies and individuals to get a customised list of laws and regulations that could affect a project that impacts on wetlands.

Protecting endangered animals and eradicating pests

Australian ecologists at the University of Queensland, have developed a set of simple rules that will not only help protect endangered native species and eradicate introduced pests in Australia and overseas, but also manage biosecurity and disease outbreaks.

The research which was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences this week, describes a decision tool that will help wildlife conservation managers to prioritise their management strategies and focus on the most efficient conservation or control strategy.

Qld Coal Miner in Court

Mining giant Xstrata has been taken to the Land Court by the community based activist organisation – Friends of the Earth.

Xstrata has been asked to defend the greenhouse impacts of its proposed Wandoan coal mine.

An initial hearing this week has set out the scope of the trial. A variety of experts will give evidence concerning the impacts of Wandoan Coal mine on Qld's environment & the global climate. The trial is set for 22 August 2011.

osama bin laden

"I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.