How great is my 'valley'...ooh & my 'unicorns'...oooh & my other 'mythological concepts'...

(Image: Member for Hunter's messsage to the valley, YouTube)


Ohhh! PER-LEEZE...who are you kidding, Joel? - and on the subject of the Branxton freeway (which you raise in your feelgood film), rather than 'saving lives' it will only help finish off the Hunter Valley as a destination by encouraging motorists to whizz through the unsightly hole the Hunter has become - sigh.

Freeways and bypasses spell doom and gloom for country towns - and we all know it no matter who is delivering the warm and fuzzy spin.

Beautiful moon rising

We climbed to the top of Rossgole on Monday evening and sat on a rocky promontory surveying the surrounds as the 'night-before-the-full-moon' moon rose and took it's place in the sky.

The night was so beautiful, so calm, so cold, and sitting there with a bunch of us, sipping glasses of red and muching on crisps, it was almost possible to imagine that the twinkly lights in the distance were a cute little village and not Dartbrook mine, and that all was alright with our valley, and that the rest of the Hunter really wasn't being mined into oblivion as we watched from our peaceful but chilly observation point.

Sigh...if only that were really the case...

...but we know that it's not because 'air pollution' and 'lives being cut short' are the stuff of international news, and if 'China's reliance on coal reduces life expectancy by 5.5 years' then it's a good bet that it's probably the same here too despite current spin to the contrary...

...but still our politicians tell us to go forth and dig.

WTF, America...go home and take your bombs with you

(Image: screen capture from The Guardian)


Breaking news from The Guardian...

...why do we have to play 'War Games' with the Americans? They're big, they're bullies, and given they don't give a shit about our environment - too too sad

How dirty is my valley

(Photos: my view of 'Bayswater & Liddell Coal-fired Power Stations' from Scone train)






This is my home, this is my valley...

...this is the internationally acclaimed HUNTER VALLEY; the 'Newmarket' of Australia; the 'Bordeaux' of Australia...

...and this is what the 'Newmarket' & 'Bordeaux' of Australia looks like today - sadly.

It's a far cry from the verdant image of lush vineyards and picture-perfect horse studs that my address usually conjures in the minds of inquirers.

However this is my acutal reality - Coal-Fired Power Stations & Mines - and there's only going to be more...

...and not only for my Valley - it's happening everywhere - everyone wants a piece of Australia.

But back to us in the Hunter, we are selling our children's inheritance as fast as we can get it dug up & popped on ships.

Whatever happened to the notion of 'Intergenerational Equity' so nobly enshrined in the principle of 'Sustainable Development'?

We're clearly not having a bar of it. Disappointingly it appears we'd much rather 'post' our soul off to Asia, so we can get on with the business of watching our souless flatscreens.

Yet by relinquishing our valley were losing our community.

Cash flow is higher than ever but our committment to each other has plummeted. The itinerant feel to my valley has made us edgy, and eroded our sense of belonging. Everyday my home is being chipped away and all my local council can do is to operate as 'bag-men' in order to facilitate easy entry for mining 'carpet-baggers'.

What to do when politicians of all political persuasion 'Tiptoe Through The Tulips' with corporations of all corporate persuasions?

...think:

* Resources,

* Minining & Energy,

* Transport,

* Logistics,

* IT,

* Banking & Finance,

* Infrastructure & Telecommunications,

* Aus RAIL

...now:

1. Pick an industry, any industry...& then another one

(for example) Banks (ANZ) + Finance (Dow Jones)

----------------------------------------------------

2. Observe a 'core-partnership' claiming 'environmental' approval

(for example): Banks (ANZ) + Finance (Dow Jones) = leading corporate responsibility award

----------------------------------------------------

3. Scratch the surface (just a touch) - and what have we got?

(answer) Banks (ANZ) + Mines

----------------------------------------------------

4. Observe a 'core-partnership' without claim for 'environmental' approval

(answer): Banks (ANZ) + Mines = 'Greenwashing-spin'

----------------------------------------------------

Sigh!

What to do when governance & corporate-entities are so inextricably linked?

My home is doomed - my community is doomed - we no longer belong - I no longer belong

My valley is destroyed - I am destroyed.

(originally posted on Freedom Cyclist blog in April 2011, over 2 years ago, and today 'Matters Hunter Valley' have only got worse)

Love in the time of coal

(Images: Australian Marine Conservation Society)

(Images: www.ecocitizenaustralia.com.au)


What will it take to kick our coal habit?

Can we stop this relentless march of coal mines that expands from the Hunter Valley to the Barrier Reef and beyond? In fact is anywhere in Australia safe from draglines and excavators?

Fast tracking development is wrong and the world has us on notice.

What is wrong with us?

...and is it already too late to save our reef?

Australian media & helmet promotion - a toxic romance

They are familiar murmurings and they gather righteous crescendo as they seep into print, broadcast and online media platforms.

But to many of us, we have heard them all before and recognise the strategy for what it is - helmet promotion via medical media release.

The language is paternalistic as are the players so why do Australian mainstream media fall for this bait every single time; hook, line and sinker?

A growing group of critics is questioning why the media accept these helmet pronouncements as received opinion and is wondering whatever happened to scepticism and evaluation.

On May 6, the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) published a letter by Dr Michael Dinh, emergency physician and co director of trauma services at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, stating that the results of his report "[added] to the growing weight of observational data supporting the use of helmet which should therefore be considered at least as protective for pedal cyclists as they are for motorcyclists."

Following the letter in the MJA, Dr Dinh appeared on ABC 702's 'Breakfast with Adam Spencer' as well as writing an opinion piece for The Conversation which was then released to the Brisbane Times, SBS Cycling Central, Reddit and various online bicycle forums such as the Bicycle Network.

But what exactly attracted the media to his findings, if they were able to find them?

The report is not the stuff of rigorous peer review. A small sample set, observational studies rather than randomised controlled trials, no factoring in of confounders and variables, or hospital data bias.

Really, media, no questions?

But not all Australian medical practitioners hold the same views on helmet legislation.

Dr Paul Martin, MBBS, FANZCA, a specialist anaesthetist, Brisbane, despairs at both the state of cycling and the state of academic cycling research in Australia today.

"Essentially any barriers to cycling are regrettable," he says, "and it's most important to get rid of them.

"The numbers in Dinh's study are teeny tiny. Consequently, the study is biased and not looking at the big picture - it's irresponsible. Alcohol is one of the biggest confounding factors and yet Dinh doesn't correct for alcohol, drunk cycling or running red lights. How does he get away with writing a letter when that data is not published in a peer-reviewed journal? It's a sneaky way of getting a citation in a medical journal and it's irresponsible of the MJA not to make Dinh publish the study.

"As an anaesthetist I see how much the lifestyle diseases blow out the costs for the community. Hospital equipment has to be upgraded and there's a great risk of not even surviving theatre - its death by a thousand cuts. Doctors don't understand the chronic cost to the health budget and lifestyle diseases are killing the budget - ischaemic heart disease, osteoporosis, strokes, fractures, all take too long to recover afterwards.

"Forcing helmets on all riders no matter how fast or slow they go is ill-thought out.

"I wear a helmet when training and competing in triathlons because sport has a different profile but for transport and getting the groceries, I don't."

Michael Rubbo, Australian filmmaker and a former commissioning editor at ABC television, agrees that mainstream media have an ideological fixation about mandatory helmet laws (MHLs).

"Many self-identify as cyclists themselves, and consider MHLs to be proactive with an excellent safety record," he says, "and it is extremely frustrating. You get a sense that there is a locked-in mindset, a locked-in orthodoxy.

"When MHLs were passed, their club formed and they became members in an almost cult-like capacity. They geared up and took cycling seriously. Their identity was captured by MHLs. It was an affirmation of a badge of honour leading to resentment towards the other side of cycling.

"Utility cyclists, now unfavoured by law, did not feel that cycling was unsafe and have been demonised because they do not see cycling as helmet promoters do. Helmets are like school colours and if you're not wearing one you're somebody on the outer and you'll get a dressing down like you might from a prefect."

Observing the media in action it is not hard to think that Australian bicycle IQ is in decline - even our bicycle organisations 'cheer' on ambitious helmet promotion as it tries its hand further afield.

The Dutch are now under attack, and Marc Van Woudenberg, online marketing strategist and proprietor of Amsterdamize.com, is not impressed by the 'false framing and broken record' manipulation pedalled by Shell and other helmet promoters.

"The Netherlands,” he says, "can boast about having the highest cycle density, the highest cycle rate and the highest participation rate in the world...and...the lowest casualty rate (by a very wide margin) at the same time.

"Australia should stop chasing its tail, stop sustaining its confirmation bias, stop fighting symptoms, stop marginalising and (victim-)blaming people on bikes, start looking at the root causes and own up to it. It's definitely worth losing (political) face over...just ask any Dutch person...or child."


(Photos: Amsterdamize, flickr)

It is hard not to notice a disturbing picture of vested interests as the continuous oil slick of helmet promotion, seamlessly pedalled by medicos and parroted by media, spreads across the planet.

When will the Australian media think about questioning clinical judgments based on observation and when will they think about questioning data that has not been published and peer-reviewed?


(Photos: ABC News Online)

...and our man and his little son’s bike ride last year?

... illegal here in Australia, and we are the poorer for it.

(first published on Freedom Cyclist blog last month)

The Carbon Games

The fog edges to the very seams of dawn, and dutifully the morning light retreats to the sidelines to await further instructions.

In those cold early hours, the paddocks of the Hunter Valley whisper a memory from another time, a time of brood mares and foals, of good reds and Swiss browns, until sulkily the fog agrees to leave so that daylight can begin albeit late for its day as is the norm now.

But the soul of the valley is never prepared for the moonscape that greets it, so diametrically opposed to that earlier time when any sound of digging and sifting of dirt came from galloping hooves rather than caterpillars and excavators.

Welcome to my home, one of the many playgrounds where Australia’s deadly Carbon Games are played all year.

The Carbon Games’ rules are read out regularly to the townspeople of Scone including all amendments that come with each new edition. Initially, we were asked to select our teams: Team Overpass and Team Bypass. Naturally Scone being Scone, we helpfully obliged with our role in this selection process, and willingly submitted many a submission or letter with our task in mind.

But while we were brainstorming all options for the right teams for Scone, the requisite background scenery was steadily adjusted to accommodate the Games, the players, the officials, and the audience.

The building frenzy has ensured that the Games will be a success, and Games officials such as the Australian Rail Tracks Corporation (ARTC), Roads and Maritime Services (RMS), State and Federal governments and no doubt Urban Taskforce and probably Infrastructure NSW as well, can rest easy that their work is progressing nicely.

From Gunnedah down to Newcastle, officials have engineered a complete remodelling. Rural roads are now super highways and rural towns have become motorway services.

Roll up, roll up, everyone’s a winner...

...and for my town, our Carbon Games' enhancements have meant the building of an enormous carbon friendly Council Chamber, the insertion of traffic lights, and plans for a bypass coupled with plans for an overpass.

The final execution of planned infrastructure projects will ensure that the Carbon Games can begin, and that career community-destroyers will be able to declare ‘my work here is done’ in a rather Mary Poppins’ way only without the spoonful of sugar.

With the announcement of approval for two new mines in Gunnedah, the projections for track and road movements in Scone are grim. Weasel words have peppered weasel meetings and to make matters worse, the town mood appears to have improved now that we have been told we can have both teams; Team Bypass and Team Overpass.

Inexplicably my town wants this. Why?

When coal is mentioned as the driver of these unfathomable pieces of municipal misfortune, folk are tersely reminded that coal is a good thing.

At the recent Roads and Maritime Services presentation at the Scone Motor Inn, RMS project manager, Phil Davidson explained that, “the federal budget has boosted the Nation Building 2 Programme so there is more money on the table.

“It will take another 2 - 3 years to develop plans which include buying properties along the pathway of the bypass. Property owners will be contacted and we have started that process in letters already - basically we’re still at the planning stage.

“But now with more money on the table, RMS can support Council’s request for a local bridge after the bypass has been put in. From the meeting last year, we know that the regular Scone townsperson wants both.”

Upper Hunter Shire Council Mayor Michael Johnson agrees.

“It was never an ‘either or’ solution - it was always a priority situation. First, it was to sort out the railway line and then, it was a question of getting the heavy vehicles out of town.

“The game changed when $90 million was put on the table. Council suggested and RMS agreed in principle to do both.”

But Mr Joel Fitzgibbon, member for Hunter, is sceptical about plans for the two options.

“I struggle with the concept of doing both: a heavy goods vehicle route needs to be a good road to be able to take the weight of trucks and then if that is the case other vehicles will use it too.”

And when asked if he’ll be part of the process, he acknowledged, “we certainly always are when [council] come cap in hand for money, and each time they have, we have delivered.

“We, the federal government, are dependent on various technical bodies for their recommendations and in the absence of an overpass a solution is not sorted. I have not been advised as yet of the bypass.

“I am sceptical of the costs; in 1990 the Hunter Valley Expressway was to cost $180 million and now in 2013 it has cost $1.7 billion. The RMS have their own agenda and putting in a heavy vehicle detour is in their interest.

“The community will decide.”

Oh but how can we? It is like saying the audience can organise the Olympic Games.

And what about coal being a morally reprehensible energy source? What about councils and infrastructure bodies facilitating the devastating Carbon Games? Should we be continuing on this super-highway to elimination?

The world has us on notice and it can only be a matter of time before our ‘coal reserves become worthless as the world attains carbon emission limits.’ And the warnings ring here in Australia as well. The ‘Unburnable Carbon - Australia’s carbon bubble’ report states that:

'...within the coal sector it is clear that if demand is reduced and prices fall then the most expensive sources of coal will suffer first. Given Australia’s current position as a high-cost producer, this should be of concern to the sector and those who invest in it.'

John Connor, Climate Institute CEO says, “Our point is that investments both public and private rest on a speculative bubble.

“Climate change denial is a question of indifference or dreaming.”

So why do our mayor and local member express views that coal will be with us for a very long time?

“We are reducing our fossil fuel dependency more than any other government,” Fitzgibbon says, “and we’re doing more than any other government to lessen our carbon footprint.

“Renewables have their opponents as you will remember. The windmill park in Scone was ill-received.”

I do remember, and back then I was opposed. But times have changed and we cannot keep ‘dancing to the end of love’ with coal. We need wind; we need sun; we need anything but coal.

Yet the Carbon Games continue in a commercially prescribed dystopia.

And what of those who do try to stop the insanity, and are brave enough to throw themselves in front of the planet wreck? They are meted out with a brutal retribution.

No we are to fight to the death, and in Scone that means we will continue watching on, allowing coal to entertain us, to feed us, and to even provide us with a jolly community magazine that encourages us to get behind the mines as though they were a valiant community group under threat.

Pitted against stronger players who have trained for this operation all their operating lives, we are intimidated us by the spectre of losing the work - this depenedent fear stymies rebellion.

The canary is long since dead and we did not notice. Our town has morphed into a mining community. We are captives of the mines

Oh yes these games will be televised...to the planet’s inexorable death.