Author: Peter Gardner

I have been a public transport user for most of my life – both in Melbourne and in Gippsland. When living in the hills a trip to Melbourne – an 80 minute bus trip plus four hours on the train each way – meant an overnight stay and thus was used less frequently. Since retiring to Bairnsdale the train has become more accessible and has made the day trip to the city, if a long tiring one, possible.

Recently a citizens jury (Is this a means of transferring responsibility?) recommended that the Gippsland line terminate at Pakenham. This would force country travellers to change trains and add a substantial period of time to their journey. For many of them this is already a long trip. On the surface it seems just another plan to make the service a bit less user friendly than it is, and rightly raised an outcry amongst locals.

Public transport has generally been allowed to run down, privatised where possible, with insufficient maintenance and few, if any, improvements. A new bridge over the Avon River at Stratford, for instance, has been needed for a very long time. Also some of the Traralgon trains could be extended to Sale with connecting services to Bairnsdale. No doubt there are many other suggestions to improve the service

Earlier this year whilst attending a climate change rally in Melbourne our train had some unforeseeable delays – once it reached the suburbs it had to squeeze in between suburban train times of an already crowded service. Stopping and starting frequently the train arrived almost 2 hours (though with time for the march) late.

In terms of greenhouse gases public transport – even diesel powered locomotives – has always been the most sustainable means of travel. Any long term disruption to services that puts more cars back on the road is a step in the wrong direction. It is obvious that both city and country public transport requires a massive injection of funds. Perhaps it is also time for a dedicated Gippsland Line.

Brown coal, or lignite, is the major contributor of greenhouse gases in Victoria where it still provides about 80% of the state’s electricity. It is a low grade fuel with its energy values approximately that of dry hardwood firewood of the same weight. There are a large number of reasons why all coal – and especially lignite – is harmful and should be left in the ground. Global warming is the predominant concern. But many of these other harmful aspects of brown coal electricity generation – like flood and fire in the open cuts – will undoubtedly be exacerbated by the warming.

The global warming that has already occurred over the last century – about one degree centigrade across the earth – has been caused mainly by the combustion of coal. A worst case business as usual future scenario will cause at least a 4 degrees centigrade rise in the earth’s average temperature and make large parts of the globe uninhabitable. Victorian brown coal electricity generators contribute approximately 10% of all greenhouse gases in Australia annually. Every year they produce approximately more than 200 million tons of CO2 – the most damaging of the greenhouse gases. If humanity cannot rapidly reign in its greenhouse gas production the predictions are dire. Already with one degree of warming in Gippsland we are experiencing increased heatwaves, drought, floods and bushfires. It is imperative that we phase out brown coal and switch to renewable energy as quickly as possible.

There are a number of other reasons why this should be done immediately including the continued threat of both floods and fire to electricity production; the health threats to those in the Valley from air pollution and coal dust; the threats to wider Gippsland from heavy metal pollution including mercury; the substantial consumption of a scarce resource – water – by the power generators; the threat of land slips and subsidence to Valley communications and the wider threat of subsidence to the Gippsland coast.

For most of the twentieth century the Latrobe Valley generators have been the ‘life blood’ of industrial Victoria. It was not until the late 1980s and early 1990s that doubts began to be expressed about pollution and climate change which are now obvious to almost everyone. Brown Coal is the new asbestos, but many times worse. It is already causing an unknown number of fatalities, both here in Gippsland and more generally across the earth as the extreme weather events exacerbated by global warming become more frequent and severe.

Guest speaker at the recent Gippsland Environment Group AGM was Dr Chris Bales from Sweden. Chris leads a research programme on solar thermal systems and thermal storage, including solar cooling, at the Solar Energy Research Centre SERC, a working group within the energy and environmental technology subject at Dalarna University College. He was a member of the board for the Solar Energy Association of Sweden for a number of years. Chris teaches about one third the time and the rest is devoted to research into solar thermal areas including heat pumps.

The meeting was well attended and Chris’s presentation was informal answering a number of questions from the audience as he went. He described the situation in Sweden which was almost the opposite of Australia with all the energy going into heating and no cooling whatsoever. Sweden has embarked on a program of refurbishing older housing with an emphasis on passive solar heating. This involves the use of triple glazing and installing massive amounts of insulation – using up to half a metre thick of wood fibre bats in roofs.

As a timber country with about 70% of their land area in forest much of Sweden’s energy is produced by co-generators. These use wood pellet fired generators to produce both heat and electricity. Heated water, at near boiling point temperatures, is sent through buried pipe through the towns where it is used to heat residences via heat exchanges. These wood pellets are partly produced from wood waste and partially from locally sourced timber. If the latter is from plantations then this is clearly renewable and sustainable energy. Chris also detailed how 99% of the Sweden’s waste was recycled. Otherwise intractable waste was incinerated and powered co-generators in some towns.

It was pointed out that the situation is completely different in Australia with the need to protect and preserve native forests as carbon sinks. Only the use of plantation timber waste under strict conditions should be considered climate friendly and sustainable. The meeting went on to discuss the wilful damage being currently carried out by several government departments clearing large tracts of roadside trees under the feeble guise of ‘public safety’. This appears to be done in a haphazard manner with no public accounting whatsoever. Moreover the roadsides so damaged appear to be remote from settled areas and can in no way be considered relevant to protection from fires. Whereas to even pretend to be carbon neutral at least 100 trees should be planted for everyone that is felled. The meeting concluded with the President, John Hermans thanking Chris for his talk which was heartily confirmed by those present.

Tracey Anton’s report (below) on John Hewson’s proposal for a coal to oil project in the Latrobe Valley has changed things in this column. As recently as 2 weeks ago I was nominating him as one of the very few leaders recognising the need for action on climate change on the conservative side of politics in Australia. About 2 years ago Hewson impressed me when he spoke at a Breakthrough conference on Climate Change. As I have been continuously searching for politicians on the right of centre to smooth the approach to bipartisanship he was one of very few rays of hope. Because he recognises that Climate Change is the most important issue and that action is necessary this is a step in the right direction and still puts him a country mile in front of his fellow conservatives.

On the downside some of his proposals for acting on climate change are dubious. For instance he appears to have been promoting a particular form of concentrated thermal energy in which he possibly has an interest whilst denigrating other, very similar, working technologies. The technology for coal to oil production has been around for a long time and has failed to take off. It is not the answer to reducing our greenhouse gases for a number of reasons. When it is burnt it still produces carbon dioxide. To these greenhouse gas emissions must be added those that are produced in the mining, manufacturing and distribution of this product. Only when all emissions are counted can we consider whether it will help us in our struggle to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions to zero as quickly as possible. I have not seen anything to suggest coal to oil is even part of the answer. John Hewson appears to be ‘flogging a dead horse’ and his attempt to flog it in the Latrobe Valley is a retrograde step.

I recommend that John (and all of us) watch some of the ‘disruption’ Youtube videos by Tony Seba.  The disruptions that Seba is talking about are in the crucial energy and public transport areas – solar energy, battery storage, electric vehicles. According to Seba these things will be adopted in an incredibly fast rate hence the terms ‘disruptive’ and ‘disruptions’. Seba gives disruptive technology examples such as the change from film to digital cameras and from landline to mobile phones. In each case of disruption there are stranded assets eg. Kodak. With the energy and transport disruptions which Seba claims will be inevitable the list of possible stranded assets included coal, big oil and the internal combustion industry is large.

With that clearly in mind residents of the Latrobe Valley and Gippsland, their politicians, and governments at all levels should be planning for a just and smooth transition from coal powered energy to renewables as quickly as possible. The time frame for action is narrowing rapidly when the ‘disruption’ will come to the Valley with its mines and power plants becoming ‘obsolete’ and ‘stranded assets’. Whether we plan and prepare or not it will be all over by 2030. We need the Just Transition to begin now.

Coal and CSG Free Mirboo North, brought their 2,000 strong signature petition to ban Mantle Mining from coal exploration and mining in the Gippsland region, before the Baw Baw Shire Council on the 13th July. Mantle Mining was granted exploration licences in 2015 extending through three Shires – South Gippsland, Latrobe City and Baw Baw. Both Latrobe City Council and South Gippsland Shire Council showed their concern about these licences after the group presented Councillors with submissions and the petition.

In an astonishing revelation, Baw Baw Councillors said that they were totally unaware of these licences and had in no way been consulted. They were shocked to learn, that their valuable farmland was at risk in this way and thanked the group for their work on informing them. Councillors spoke eloquently for a motion that ensures the protection of their valuable farmland, tourism industry and environment from the risks of coal mining.

The motion was carried unanimously that Council request the Minister for Energy and Resources rescind the coal mining exploration licences within the Baw Baw Shire and that the Shire writes to the Minister to encourage increased community consultation and engagement in relation to future mining and exploration activities. Suzanne Wightman, who initially brought the petition to Council in February, said she was very pleased on the outcome and believes that, “This consolidates our position against Mantle Mining, or any other coal mining company, in that South Gippsland Shire Council have taken a strong stand against coal exploration and mining and now Baw Baw Shire going a step further in asking for the licences to be rescinded.

Latrobe City Council, (in the heartland of the coal country), is insisting on better community consultation on future coal projects. This means that it’ll be almost impossible for any coal mining company to proceed with any exploration or mining activities in these tenements. It means that our environment, land and lifestyle have greater protection from this unwanted industry.” Lorraine Bull, spoke to Council of the dangers of more coal mining and how it could only serve to exacerbate the consequences of climate change. Dan Caffrey explained how Mantle Mining’s dubious business proposal of a pumped hydro system in Hazelwood had duped investors and communities alike.

Marg Thomas warned Council of all they had to lose if this industry were to encroach into the Shire and the risk of damage to ‘Brand Gippsland’. The devaluation of land would have serious impacts on rate revenue. Beef farmer, Fergus O’Connor, informed the Councillors of the potential impact of mining on farm management and the undesirable effects on the productivity of a farming enterprise. He pointed out that mining of any kind is incompatible within our farming region. The successful motion was greeted with a resounding round of applause from the gallery.

Coal and CSG Free Mirboo North, 0408 319 397

On Friday 29th July, Traralgon hosted Dr John Hewson offering his insights on the future economic opportunities for Latrobe Valley given “climate change is real.” Trouble was, it was his sales pitch on his own business venture that manipulates the transition conversation under the guise of renewable energy whilst pretending to be a saviour to the world’s global warming problems. As a past leader of the Federal Liberal Party his performance was polished but his story was disturbing and deceiving.

Peter Gardner has recently reported about our Victorian Government issuing green bonds from our billions in superannuation for the purpose of reducing our emissions to effect change. But Hewson talked about that program expanding Australia wide. He wants access to that money to sell his project to investors with LV transition his target, except the deception was quickly revealed as Hewson stated: “the best way to phase out coal is to refine coal and export it.” His whole team was there, lawyer, accountant and chemical engineer all ready for that all-important community meeting the next day to conveniently tick the box of community consultation for Hewson’s mission to stitch up the Latrobe Valley for decades to come.

Of course Hewson’s ‘refined’ coal plan was short on detail but with a quick google search on the night all was revealed.  The video states ‘mined’ raw coal is stripped of all the abrasive mineral content (the nasties), but retains the volatiles (oils) then the fine powder can be used to fuel engines in two ways mixed 50:50 with water or with air. They scrub the coal with hydrofluoric acid over two cycles, one to remove the silica and the other to remove any residual mineral matter and reagent. Conveniently, it is not mentioned that this is one of the world’s most dangerous working chemicals and the Latrobe Valley would be swimming in it. What is most intriguing of all, according to Hewson and the video, this technology has been tested and proved in pilot studies by the US since the late 70’s, again in the 80’s and 90’s yet no one has picked it up as a viable option and developed it over the next 30 years. We ask WHY?

So, as with all these new coal technologies you only hear about the technique and end result, not the full life cycle. The complications with ongoing aquifer depletion to maintain the stability of the mine wall batter, the considerations to planning as it comes a point where the holes can only get so big before town boundaries, gas, water and sewerage pipes can no longer cope with worsening land subsidence let alone how to rehabilitate these gaping holes into the future. Hewson can manipulate the green bonds through reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution and creating saleable by-products through the refining process so in a political environment short on common-sense and forethought, we should be worried.

The Victorian government recently had an issue of ‘green bonds’ for $300 million which was quickly oversubscribed. The ABC reported: “Green bonds worth $300 million that will fund environmentally-friendly projects in Victoria have been issued by the State Government, in what the Treasurer says is an Australian-first. The bonds, which were snapped up by investors within a day of their release, are expected to finance and refinance government investment in energy efficiency, renewables, public transport and water treatment projects across the state…Bonds involve lending money to a government or company, with a promise it will be repaid at an agreed interest rate over a period of time. The green bonds were issued for a five-year period, with a yield of 1.79 per cent.”

I assume many Gippslanders have savings invested in banks or superannuation funds. The trouble with this is your money could be supporting the Adani coal mine development in Queensland or assisting the suburban housing sprawl in Melbourne. On the other hand your savings may be invested ethically but you have little control over where they are invested – perhaps in China or Timbuktoo. The Victorian Green Bonds are a giant step in the right direction in that the funds are invested both ethically and locally.

Is the next step is to have Gippsland local councils issue bonds of this sort? My preference is for Renewable Energy bonds used to finance renewable and energy efficiency projects as these may hasten a just transition from coal to renewable energy in the Latrobe Valley. Currently our electricity payments end up with three multinationals and most of the profits from their operations are remitted overseas. However opportunities abound to invest locally in renewable energy and energy efficiency, to have the profits remain locally, and to boost local employment. The obvious one is to cover north facing roofs of buildings with as many solar panels as possible especially buildings whose operations are mainly daytime such as the library in Bairnsdale. Another is heat pump manufacture in Morwell. What is needed is a finance vehicle and organising body for these projects.

Shire Councils are a possible answer but they would probably have to arrange such bonds, or similar methods of finance, with a local bank. The use of the investment should be transparent, the bonds should be government guaranteed and offer ordinary interest rates, with the investment to occur only within their boundaries. Unlike the Victorian offer the bonds should be open to anyone – not just institutional investors. What is to stop the Shire of East Gippsland, or any other community body for that matter, coming to an binding agreement with a group of citizens willing to finance any one or more local projects? And if bonds are not the answer perhaps there is some other simple way Gippslanders can finance local renewable energy projects.

 

To my mind the main attribute of leadership is doing something first and bringing your followers with you. It is a far more difficult task than people imagine. Often it is a very long process, and often for the leader, a very lonely one. My grandfather, a grocery store manager, was the first to introduce a self-service grocery in Victoria after the Second World War. It was a failure. Fifty years later it is ubiquitous. My own experience in writing on Gippsland history has been much more satisfying but the results also a long time coming. In the early 1970s I began writing about the local indigenous tribe – the Kurnai – and the shameful and violent treatment they had received in the past. Nearly fifty years later this part of our history is generally recognised and accepted across the region. But (like my grandfather) it is unlikely that I will live to see the fruits of my own meagre efforts on Climate Change in Gippsland.

Our parliamentarians, even our prime ministers, seldom qualify as true leaders. In 2007 the Labor PM Kevin Rudd recognised climate change as the most important issue of our times but lost courage at the crucial moment when the implementation of an emissions trading scheme was defeated. (He should have called a double dissolution – over a real issue unlike the one we have just had.) Likewise our current PM continues to disappoint, seemingly a prisoner of the hard right denialist faction of his coalition. In my last blog I highlighted Margaret Thatcher as an early political leader. In America President Obama also leads though he is restrained by reactionary politics and the hugely powerful fossil fuel lobby. We exaggerate the US trends with our so-called leaders controlled and constrained by the same reactionary politics and lobby.

In science and religion leaders have been calling for concerted action on climate change for many years including James Hansen, formerly of NASA, in Australia Tim Flannery and more recently Pope Francis. Others include former business leader Ian Dunlop and former Liberal Party leader John Hewson. In the media – a crucial sector forming public opinion – leadership is largely absent with a small number of exceptions including Peter Hannam of Fairfax and a few other journalists. The main part of our print media (guess who?) remains in the denialist camp.

In Gippsland leadership is hard to find, in the media or amongst our political representatives. Shire councils are by far the most encouraging in this regard. Our local parliamentarians are either nowhere to be found on this issue (State) or still in a state of denial (Federal). It is hardly comforting to know that the laws of physics and the course of events will eventually force momentous changes. Aside from the inevitable loss of life our freedom will probably be amongst the early casualties.

The Wednesday 19 July Wellington Shire Council meeting was focused on the future of onshore gas mining. Prior to the meeting CSG-free Maffra noted “It is important we fill the public gallery with supporters holding signs to display the need for a permanent ban on onshore gas mining in Victoria. The Mayor, Darren McCubbin, will report on his meeting with Resources Minister, Wade Noonan and then call for comment from the gallery. With an August decision due about an onshore gas industry in Victoria, it is imperative we utilise every media opportunity to back our stance on a permanent ban of onshore gas mining.”

Darren McCubbin opened the meeting with his Mayor’s Report on discussions with Resources Minister, Wade Noonan earlier this month, to a packed public gallery. He outlined surrounding doubts on endorsing an onshore gas industry in Gippsland. His report was articulate and that of a progressive thinker, leaving Councillors to agree that there seemed little evidence an onshore gas industry would deliver economic benefits to outweigh the protection of our water and farmland.

Councillor Rossetti congratulated Darren McCubbin on, ‘The most exciting Mayor’s Report,’ he had heard in chambers, Councillor Crossley called for a ‘Permanent Ban’ and other Councillors stood to publicly announce the need for further scientific studies and an overhaul of the current regulatory framework surrounding onshore mining practices, with one Councillor announcing he would fight against an onshore gas industry.

Members from the public gallery were invited to respond before leaving the meeting to other tabled items on the agenda. Thanks echoed around the chambers. While supporters and councillors have met time and again over the past four years of the Gasfield-Free campaign, last night’s ‘on the record’ meeting has cemented a real sense of community cohesion on the issue. To have the backing of Wellington Shire Council will take us a long way in seeking a permanent ban on onshore gas mining in Gippsland.

Wednesday night’s historic Wellington Shire Council meeting is detailed via live streaming on the Council’s website. For further information contact Lorraine 0423 368 518

From the moment the problem of climate change was politicised in Australia a single issue climate change party became necessary. Politicisation means division and in our political system becomes inevitably viewed as a ‘left’ versus ‘right’ contest. On the ‘left’ we have Labor with a barely creditable climate policy and on the far left we have the greens with the only policies of any credibility on climate. On the ‘right’ we have the Liberals with no policy to speak of and on the far right we have the denialists – the Abetz-Bernardi hard right faction of the Liberals, the Nationals, and now in the Senate the Hansonites. The current counting of votes makes clear that the general population is evenly divided between ‘left’ and ‘right’. What this probably means in terms of policies and positive action on climate is that little or nothing can, or will, be achieved.

In the long run the politicisation of science will be defeated and, in this case, shown as a pointless, negative and possibly a criminal exercise. But as JM Keynes pointed out ‘we are all dead in the long run’. Politicising science is absurd as I have tried to point out on many occasions. We can deny gravity or the shape of the earth till the cows come home, but it is still there. We can have an opinion on ‘climate change’ or even deny it but it makes no difference.

The then British conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher made a rallying call to the UN General Assembly in 1989 to act on climate change. She stated that “…the danger of global warming is as yet unseen but real enough for us to make changes and sacrifices, so that we do not live at the expense of future generations.” Nearly 30 years later there has been little or none of the “changes and sacrifices” that Thatcher called for. This is one rare example of a conservative politician concerned about the welfare and future of her nation and the earth, rather than personal ambition and short term political advantage.

The role of the single issue climate change party is to counter the politicisation trend and even defeat it. To do this it must garner support across the political spectrum and especially from the centre and the ‘right’. Of course rusted on denialists – which Gippsland unfortunately has more than its fair share – will never be convinced. But there must be large numbers of ordinary people who are conservative voters who are alienated by this process and who understand that something needs to be done, perhaps even urgently. When this political party begins to take large chunks of voters from the major parties, when climate change is placed to the forefront of the news, then we will see rapid and positive action.