Greenie opposition to big new coal mine (of course)

All reasonable objections have been taken into account by years of investigation by State and Federal governments.  But Greenies are not into "reasonable".  Note that it is a LEFTIST State government which has just given approval

SOON Australians will be asked to take sides as the opposition to the Adani coal mine reaches a crucial crunch point.

The owners of the proposed Carmichael coal mine in Queensland are due to make a final decision on its future after six years of delay caused by legal challenges to the $21.7 billion project.

The State Government this week gave Adani the final approval it needs to go ahead with the mine, a water licence that will give it access to 9.5 billion litres of groundwater.

A Department of Natural Resources and Mines spokesman said modelling assessed by the department found up to 4.55 gigalitres of groundwater could be taken per year.

“In granting this licence, the Department of Natural Resources and Mines has carefully considered a broad range of information,” he told news.com.au in a statement.

He said Adani would have to fairly compensate landholders for impacts on water resources, and there were 100 conditions relating to groundwater.

On Friday, the head of Indian mining giant Adani said the company was ready to start construction this year.

Adani Mining chief executive Jeyakumar Janakaraj told a business lunch in Brisbane that the company expected to start engineering work on a rail line the mine needs to transport its coal to Abbott Point by June, and to start major construction by September.

While he was defending the mine against environmental concerns, about 200 protesters gathered outside the Hilton Hotel in Brisbane’s CBD to voice their opposition.

It’s just the first stage in what is expected to be a relentless battle.

While the “lawfare” may be wrapping up, environment groups say the matter is far from over, and will actually ramp up their efforts in coming months.

More than 4000 people attended #StopAdani roadshow events across Australia., with dozens of new groups forming to stop the mine from going ahead.

Former Greens leader Bob Brown is leading the next stage of the fight against the mine and has described the campaign as this generation’s Franklin River, referring to the decades-long protest movement that eventually stopped the Tasmanian river being dammed in 1983.

“This is the environmental issue of our times and, for one, the Great Barrier Reef is at stake,” Mr Brown recently wrote in an opinion piece.

Alongside millionaire businessman Geoff Cousins, a former Howard government adviser, Mr Brown announced that 13 community groups would form the Stop Adani Alliance to oppose the mine.

If the previous track record of the two leaders is anything to go by, Adani should be very worried.

Mr Cousins was also involved in the successful campaign to stop the Gunns pulp mill in Tasmania and the proposed Woodside gas hub in the Kimberley.

Before he was the Greens leader, Mr Brown led the non-violent campaign against the Franklin Dam.

Now the duo have their sights set on Adani.
Dr Bob Brown speaks to Tasmanians at a protest rally in 1983 to stop the Franklin Dam being built. Picture: Andrew de la Rue.

Dr Bob Brown speaks to Tasmanians at a protest rally in 1983 to stop the Franklin Dam being built. Picture: Andrew de la Rue.Source:News Corp Australia

They are already being supported by prominent Australians including Australian Test cricket captains Ian and Greg Chappell, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks and rock group Midnight Oil, who signed a letter to Adani chairman Gautam Adani, urging him to abandon the project

Adani however rejected the demand as “a motivated attempt by a very small group of 76 misled people”, the Press Trust of India reported.

While there are a couple of outstanding legal issues, including an appeal in the Federal Court and a bill that needs to be passed in Parliament, the mine looks to be on track.

The last major government approval needed is a water licence and the State Government is expected to announce its decision in the next few days.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland said the mine would be a big win for the state’s central and northern regions, particularly for Townsville where the project’s headquarters is expected to be located.

Charters Towers and Moranbah have also been earmarked as service centres for the mines, while Bowen is expected to be the base for rail construction.

“It’s about supporting our regions and not leaving them behind, creating new jobs and supporting our youth,” CCIQ policy adviser Catherine Pham said.

“Projects such as Adani is definitely a win for our regions, but all Queenslanders should see the positive economic impacts of the project once it kicks off.”

Not everyone agrees. GetUp environmental justice campaign director Miriam Lyons said Adani was a reckless company that threatened people’s lives and livelihoods across Australia.

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What happens when you are kind to Sudanese

They came to Australia as refugees.  Below is the thanks Australia gets

Six [African] teenagers as young as 16-years-old are being held in custody after being charged over a string of Melbourne home invasions and carjackings that involved a gang of youths brandishing an array of weapons.

Four juveniles and two men were charged following the crime spree which occurred during the early hours of Friday morning around Melbourne's north and west.

The gang, who targeted homes in Caroline Springs and Greensborough, were reportedly armed with a range of weapons including a machete, poles and wooden stakes.

They managed to steal an unknown sum of money and four cars, with two of those being recovered.

Police failed to comment on whether the burglaries were related to notorious Melbourne gang, Apex.

A Greensborough resident, whose home was subject to one of the attacks, described the ordeal to 9 News after hearing 'intense smashing' shortly before the invasion on her home.

'They couldn't get in straight away and so I quickly grabbed my phone,' 28-year-old resident Jade said.

'I wasn't quick enough and then five Sudanese men stormed into my room – next to the front door – holding weapons and were threatening to kill me if I didn't give them money.'

Police say the gang also made failed attempts to break into homes in St Albans and Truganina.

 Following the burglaries, the youths allegedly sped off in the stolen vehicles - which included a black Volkswagon, discarding their weapons  by launching them out of the windows.

Two men are due to appear before the Melbourne Magistrates' Court on Saturday, while four teens will face a children's court at a later date.

All six were held in custody on Friday night following the arrest of seven teens in Kings Park.

A 19-year-old Taylors Hill man and 18-year-old Kings Park man face charges of attempted aggravated burglary, attempted burglary, attempted theft and committing indictable offences while on bail.

Three 16-year-old boys and a 17-year-old boy face similar charges.

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Leftist racism is now acceptable in Australia

IF you don’t think that multiculturalism and the politics of identity have become instruments of division in Australia, then you need to hear Tara Coverdale’s story.   

Like most mothers with young children, Coverdale enjoys opportunities to socialise with other mothers of children the same age while on maternity leave, especially in her neighbourhood in inner-city Sydney.

So when a Russian-born friend mentioned a playgroup on Thursdays, at the Alexandria Park Community Centre, she was enthusiastic.

Two weeks ago, on a humid Thursday morning, she bundled her eight-month-old baby in the pram and walked with her four-year-old son the short distance to the community centre.

When she arrived, her red-haired son raced off to play while she looked around for her friend.

That was when a staff member approached and asked if it was her first day. Coverdale thought how nice that she was so attentive.

“I’m sorry you can’t come here. It’s a multicultural playgroup.”  But then the woman said: “Can I ask what your cultural background is?” Taken aback, Coverdale, who has blonde hair and freckles, said: “I’m Australian”.

Immediately, the woman said: “I’m sorry, you can’t come here. It’s for multicultural families and people who speak languages other than English at home.”

Coverdale stood her ground: “I said ‘I’m not leaving’. My kids were playing. My older son was having such a good time with his buddy, and I thought, ‘Why should I leave?’”

But then the centre “facilitator”, aka manager, Jo Fletcher, confronted her: “Can I just ask what your cultural background is.” When Coverdale said she was fourth-generation Australian, Fletcher said: “I’m sorry you can’t come here. It’s a multicultural playgroup.”

This conversation is an account from Coverdale’s recollection. Fletcher did not respond to phone calls and a text message last week, but she confirmed to the NSW Department of Education, which funds the centre, that such a conversation had taken place.

Coverdale said she tried charm in a bid to be allowed to attend the playgroup, but Fletcher insisted it was exclusively for “multicultural” mothers who “might be lonely and might want to build a network of people who speak the same language”.

Coverdale asked wouldn’t it be better for those mothers to meet someone like her, who knows a lot of people in the community.

“What if I was really lonely and I get sent away from a play group?”

Then she asked what playgroup would she be allowed to join.  “We don’t have one here for you,” said Fletcher. “You’ll have to go up to Erskineville or Newtown.”

Erskineville’s playgroup is for “Rainbow babies and kids”, and Newtown is a 30-minute walk.

The only other playgroup offered at Alexandria Park is on Wednesdays but it is reserved for “Swedish-speaking families”, according to a timetable Fletcher provided.

“We’re in a pretty progressive area,” says Coverdale. “It’s very accepting of all people. But I feel like I’m excluded.”

And she asks: “How does that help Australia help people to integrate speak English and build a life…

“I pay a lot of tax. I pay my rates. To think I’m actually not welcome is unfair.”

The other mums thought her treatment was “terrible… They think it’s a great facility and appreciate it but they don’t want to exclude people”.

While she was at the centre she saw other mothers walk in and, “they were made to feel very welcome. Because they didn’t look ‘Australian’ they didn’t even get asked about their background.”

So Coverdale and her red-haired sons were ejected from the playgroup.

Ironically enough, it was just a few days before Harmony Day, a big event at Alexandria Park, “to celebrate our country’s cultural diversity”, with a free halal beef and chicken sausage sizzle. To twist the knife a little deeper, this year’s theme was “We all belong”.

Just not if you are of “Anglo-Celtic” heritage.

Anti-Discrimination Board Acting President Elizabeth Wing confirmed on Friday that “on the face of it”, exclusion from a playgroup “on the basis of race or ethnic background... would appear to be a breach of the [anti-discrimination] act”.

After being alerted to the problem on Friday, Education Minister Rob Stokes and his department, to their credit, instructed Fletcher to allow all families to attend the playgroup.

“I was disappointed to hear that a mum and her young child felt they were not welcome... This is not acceptable. Everyone, regardless of their background, should feel included in these wonderful community activities.”

The Education Department also has “counselled the program facilitator [Fletcher] regarding the requirement of the program to be inclusive”, said a spokesman late Friday.

A good result, but Fletcher is a creature of her milieu. It is politically incorrect to say so, but anti-white racism is now acceptable in Australia, in the name of diversity and “celebrating difference”.

In the ADF, for instance, there are attempts to erase the “Anglo-Saxon” warrior culture, and a recent lamb advertisement stated there are “too many white people” on TV, and lined up caucasians sneeringly labelled “white-whites, translucent whites, beige whites, red whites, and dark whites”.

Bigotry is condoned as a corrective to so-called “white privilege”.

But reinforcing separate cultural identities inevitably leads to the balkanization of Australia and the disowning of our national identity.

Thankfully, Zed Seselja, Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs, last month reset national policy, with an approach which emphasises unity and shared values. It’s about time.

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Babies are dying because of narcissistic activists. It must stop

SITTING by the bedside of your baby in intensive care knowing that nothing more can be done and your precious child is going to die is the most hideous experience a parent can ever face. I know, I have been there.

The devastating helplessness and abject failure you feel as a parent, whose most basic task is to keep your child alive, is excruciating, like a living death, and so my heart breaks for a family I know that has been living that very hell this past week.

Just over a week ago, their tiny month-old baby suffered a massive and irreversible brain haemorrhage due to what is known as vitamin K deficiency bleeding or newborn haemorr­hagic disease.

Newborn haemorrhagic disease is caused by a deficiency in vitamin K and it used to kill about 15 newborn babies a year in NSW in the late 1960s and early 1970s ­before routine vitamin K injections given at birth reduced the incidence to near zero.

Breastmilk is low in vitamin K and babies take some months to produce enough to ensure the blood clots. This simple injection has saved thousands of lives.

Just two weeks ago we wrote about the anti-vaccine movement driving a rise in ­vitamin K deficiency bleeding in babies because, even though it is only a vitamin supplement, the anti-vaccine and wellness industry has lumped it in with lifesaving vaccines as somehow not natural, and therefore dangerous, scaring vulnerable new parents away from a harmless but possibly lifesaving treatment.

This baby and the parents, who reside in the anti-vaccine heartland of northern NSW, are victims of the anti-vaccine movement’s stupid, deadly and irresponsible misinformation.

The child is not expected to survive. No doubt they thought they were doing the right thing by their child but whoever gave them misinformation on vitamin K should be culpable. It is another example of a devastating disease making a re-emergence because of narcissistic activists who ­imagine their twisted agenda is superior to hundreds of years of scientific research.

They use the internet to spread their mischief, fake news and junk science — dressed up with scary anecdotes — and unchecked by the rigour that binds both the scientific and legitimate media professions.

Some are even midwives and doulas working in homebirth circles.

There have been six deaths from the disease in babies whose parents refused consent in the past two decades, including one in 2013 and another in 2012. A NSW Health study also showed thousands of ­babies were being denied the shot because their parents ­refused consent.

The Sunday Telegraph revealed six babies were admitted to hospital for the condition in 2013. The parents refused consent in five of them.

Meryl Dorey, founder of the anti-vaccine movement in northern NSW, has sold “information packs” on the harms of vitamin K for $10. “Breastmilk is low in vitamin K, but this is not a deficiency, nor is it a hazard for newborn,” she writes, before dredging up outdated, superseded and withdrawn studies.

This woman has no qualifications, medical or otherwise, although I am not suggesting Dorey had any involvement in the cases outlined above.

This has got to stop. What are our health authorities doing to counter this endemic rubbish proliferating online, in mothers’ groups and homebirth circles?  Why isn’t the information given to mothers at the 19-week scan or even earlier?

Every week Lismore paediatrician Dr Chris Ingall is faced with parents refusing the vitamin K shot. They are also refusing the hepatitis B shot.

He has previously cared for babies who have faced an ­unnecessary and cruel death from this.

We are calling on both federal and state politicians to step up and save lives by ­investing in a targeted information campaign to where it is needed.

They need to listen to the pleas of the doctors and vaccine campaigners, who are begging for more help in areas such as northern NSW.

They must think of the plight of the tiny bub who never had a chance because a noisy minority has been hard at work spreading lies in an ­information vacuum.

SOURCE




   

NSW: Higher School Certificate students to study classic literature including Shakespeare and Austen - alongside Australian cinematic gem The Castle

Students studying for their Higher School Certificate (HSC) will now explore some of history's greatest works of literature - including the Australian classic The Castle.

High school students' minds will be broadened by literary gems from classic authors Shakespeare, Dickens and Austen as the Year 12 curriculum is given a new lick of paint.

A new list of prescribed texts for students was revealed by Education Minister Rob Stokes as a response to critics who claimed school kids could complete the HSC without reading a single novel.

The texts that will be devoured by teenagers includes work from literary talents Dylan Thomas, T.S. Eliot and George Orwell to modern writers and filmmakers including George Clooney, Al Pacino, Che Guevara and Australia's very own Rob Sitch.

Lovers of classic Australian film will be thrilled to learn the iconic movie The Castle is also on the list of prescribed texts.

The Castle had previously been studied in lower level English subjects during the HSC for the unit 'experience through language' - but it will now be a major component of the English course.

Australian novelists Henry Lawson, Tim Winton and David Malouf also made the list of texts HSC students will study from October next year.

'I am very pleased important works of literature by writers such as George Orwell, Virginia Woolf and Albert Camus ­remain part of the HSC English syllabuses,' Mr Stokes said.

'Quality literature has ­always been a key component in every student's study of English and this will not change.

This decision makes clear that under the new syllabus students of year 12 English will have to study at least one novel.'

SOURCE 

Posted by John J. Ray (M.A.; Ph.D.).    For a daily critique of Leftist activities,  see DISSECTING LEFTISM.  To keep up with attacks on free speech see Tongue Tied. Also, don't forget your daily roundup  of pro-environment but anti-Greenie  news and commentary at GREENIE WATCH .  Email me  here