(political) It takes the rest of the world to tell...

[i-need-a-martini]

...Abbott to pull his head in.

His idiotic plan to open up areas of protected forests in Tasmania has been rejecetd by the World Heritage Committee.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/unesco-rejects-feeble-abbott-government-bid-to...

[debra9275]

Good!

I hope a few more of his plans get thwarted too

[boris1gary]

shame we couldn't get rid of this govt in 7 minutes.....

[bluecat*dancing]

Great news!

[durruticolumna]

Yay.Petitions do work 🙂

[durruticolumna]

Now for the Reef.They're currently trying to convince the Bank of Scotland from bankrolling that crooked Indian company's attempt at opening up that huge coal mining project in Qld.The German banks have already given the thumbs down.

[durruticolumna]

Kudos all round.The milky bars are on me:)

[monman12]

"Now for the Reef.They're currently trying to convince the Bank of Scotland from bankrolling that crooked Indian company's attempt at opening up that huge coal mining project in Qld.The German banks have already given the thumbs down."

Crooked, prove it?          
      

Now for some facts.

"In a letter to campaign organisations last night the bank wrote: “RBS is not involved in the Abbot Point expansion project and has no plans to be involved in the future.”

"Deutsche Bank ......... said there was speculation that it was the "most likely" bank to fund the expansion...... speculation !

"However, it said it would not finance an expansion without the assurance of both the Government and UNESCO that it would not damage the Great Barrier Reef."

The "Reef" angle is  green nonsense,  and does not stand up to scrutiny, which is probably why:

"The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) has approved plans to tip about 3 million cubic metres of spoil in the marine park area as part of the project ...."

But the organisation says there will be safeguards in place to ensure the reef will not be adversely affected.

The conditions include limits on when the spoil can be dumped, a long-term water quality monitoring plan and compensation for commercial fishers in the event of adverse impacts.

Authority spokesman Bruce Elliot says the dump site does not contain coral or seagrass."

Does anyone know how far away the GBR is actually from the selected dump site?   About 30Km!   What is being dumped? seabed  on the seabed

Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay had nearly 8 times as much (22.3 million cubic metres) of  seabed dredged and deposited some kilometres away in the same relatively shallow Bay. The same  dire (unscientific exaggerated) claims  of doom and disaster did not eventuate, which is what will happen at Abbots Point.  Which has been approved by both colour Federal governments.

"Miners GVK Hancock and Adani are pushing ahead with their plans to build terminals at the port.
"This doesn't impact our proposed projects in any way," GVK said in a statement.
"The expansion of the existing Abbot Point port will not impact the outstanding universal value of the Great Barrier Reef."

nɥºɾ

[boris1gary]

but where is the graph?

[boris1gary]

recent good news but more to be done

This is great news - the Royal Bank of Scotland now joins Deutsche Bank, HSBC and Credit Agricole as major investment banks to publicly walk away from funding Abbot Point. Adani still needs to find billions of dollars to proceed, and every major bank that pulls out represents another blow in its quest to exploit our Reef for profit. Congratulations. 

---------- 

http://www.wwf.org.au/?10060/World-Heritage-Committee-stands-firm-on-need-for-stronger-Reef-protecti...

Fight for the Reef campaigners have welcomed the decision by the World Heritage Committee (just after 7pm Australian time) to maintain pressure on Australia to improve protection of the Great Barrier Reef and address threats from industrial port development, dredging, dumping, and poor water quality.

“The World Heritage Committee has resisted intense pressure from the Australian and Queensland Governments to water down its decision on the Reef,” said WWF-Australia Reef campaigner Richard Leck.

“Instead, the Committee has put Australia firmly on notice to take stronger action to protect the Great Barrier Reef.

“This is a victory for the millions around the world who say our Reef is not a dump.”

At its annual meeting (held this year in Doha) the World Heritage Committee decision:

• Kept alive the threat to list the Great Barrier Reef as “world heritage in danger” in 2015
• Expressed concern and regret over the government’s decision to allow the dumping of 3 million cubic metres of dredge spoil in Reef waters at Abbot Point (despite the Australian Government’s attempts to have those words removed)
• Indicated that the handover of federal environmental approval powers to the Queensland Government is premature

“The Australian and Queensland Governments must take responsibility, lift their game and improve management of the Reef,” Mr Leck said.

“If not they face the shame of having the Reef declared “world heritage in danger” in 2015, putting at risk thousands of tourism jobs.

“Australia has clearly not lived up to the standards expected by the international community when it comes to protecting the Reef.”