longliner – the federal and state governments should ban the longline fishing boat Antarctic Aurora from the port of Hobart, Bob Brown Foundation said this week. “Hobart is a global centre for the management and protection of Antarctica,” said founder Bob Brown. The city’s reputation, as well as Australia’s, as a bulwark for the environmental well being of Antarctica is at stake here. This ship is unashamedly on its way to plunder Antarctica’s marine ecosystem for private profit. It will not come and go unnoticed. Just as, in the past, Japanese whaling ships were banned from Hobart and other Australian ports, so should this ship which is a giant Antarctic killing machine employing 60,000 hooks.”
Lord Mayor, Cr Anna Reynolds, told Tasmanian Times: “I am concerned to hear about this issue and will seek a further briefing for the Council to understand what is proposed.”
foreign interference – Australia’s peak scientific research body, CSIRO, faces its own challenges in protecting itself from foreign interference, according to Liberal Senator Eric Abetz. Questions on notice from Senator Abetz in March this year show that from 2011-12 to 2019-20, seven per cent of CSIRO’s funding dedicated to collaborative projects involving a foreign organisation have involved organisations from China. The questions also reveal collaborative projects involving organisations from the People’s Republic of China received funding and other resources allocated by CSIRO in the same years to a sum of over $18m. When asked what measures CSIRO has in place to determine whether employees are affiliated with foreign government talent recruitment schemes, the relevant department merely stated that “CSIRO staff are bound by CSIRO’s code of conduct and related policies and procedures, including avoiding and declaring any conflicts of interests,” and that “CSIRO also has due diligence guidelines for identifying and understanding potential risk associated with engaging with external parties.”
“Australian research should not be for sale to the highest bidder, least of all to a nation that actively seeks to undermine our sovereignty. This is further evidence of a widespread and systematic attempt to infiltrate our university system and silence critics,” said Abetz. “The attempted suppression of Mr Drew Pavlou at The University of Queensland, the deleting of social media posts by UNSW that were critical of China over Hong Kong and now this latest development demonstrates that our universities face an existential threat to their ability to operate as free, independent and open institutions of thought and research.”
Mansell on fishing – The Tasmanian government’s 10 year vision for Recreational Fishing disappointingly fails to address key indigenous issues, Aboriginal Land Council Chairman Michael Mansell said this week. “The key issues for Aboriginal people are a proper share of the use and benefits of the resources of the sea and promotion of cultural fishing,” he said. “The Tasmanian parliament recognised in 1995 that Aboriginal cultural fishing was being strangled by authorities who ignored Aboriginal interests. We stabilised our right to fish, but expected to also gain an economic benefit from the exploitation of our ancient fisheries. This review fails to even mention the topics.”
He noted that New Zealand acknowledged the Maori loss of sea resources by purchasing commercial quotas leading Maori to gain nearly a third of the New Zealand fishery, bringing them in $1 billion in revenue. “Here in Tasmania, we get nothing,” Mansell said. “It is a fact,” he added, “that we were dispossessed of our rights over the sea and its resources during the invasion. But it is morally wrong for the government to rest on the brutality of the invasion as the basis for its Aboriginal policy. The Vison and strategy should acknowledge our right to an equitable share of our resources of the sea.”
dangerous driving – according to Tasmania Police, on 8 September 2020 between approximately 6:30 pm and 7:30 pm police received reports of a vehicle driving dangerously between Warrane and Clarendon Vale on Hobart’s eastern shore. The vehicle was described as a 2003 silver Holden Astra. Between these times it is alleged the driver of the Holden Astra intentionally collided into a
champagne coloured Ford Laser multiple times on the South Arm Highway between Shoreline Drive and Oceana Drive, Howrah. Significant damage was caused to the Ford Laser. No injuries were reported.
Bellerive CIB are investigating the matter and ask anyone who witnessed the incident or has dash cam footage of the vehicle involved to contact Tasmania Police on 131444.
EPBC Act – the Federal Government’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Streamlining Environmental Approvals) Bill 2020 is ‘environmental vandalism in the extreme’ according to Clark MHR Andrew Wilkie. “It completely ignores Professor Graeme Samuel AC’s interim recommendations to accompany changes to the Act with stringent national standards and an independent regulator. And it hands decision-making to state and territory governments who have shown time and time again to be conflicted and incapable of protecting the environment.”
He said the watering down of the EPBC Act is especially alarming for Tasmania. “The Tasmanian Government is determined to progress the Major Projects Bill which will allow it to fast-track dodgy projects, so now more than ever Tasmanians need the protection of effective federal environmental legislation…the Federal Government has provided the country with a breathtaking insight into their contempt for the environment and fascination with making money at any cost. Shame on the lot of them.”
state service jobs – Labor called on the government to keep its promise to the Tasmanian public servants and not cut jobs and services as part of its review. Shadow Treasurer David O’Byrne said Peter Gutwein has waged a war with the public service over the last six years, and now is not the time to fire more weapons. “The review terms of reference refer to efficiencies, improvements, and streamlining – in the past this has been used as classic code for privatisation and job cuts. There is nothing wrong with a review of the state service to ensure it is undertaking best practice, but at such an unprecedented time in the state’s history, it must not lead to the loss of vital Tasmanian jobs or diminishing the quality of services. This pandemic has already caused enough heartache for Tasmanians. It will be bad for our recovery and our economy if the government goes after public service jobs and frontline services.”
Premier Peter Gutwein responded: “I have categorically ruled out job cuts in the public sector as recently as the last parliamentary sitting. I thought I had made that very clear, however it appears that Mr O’Byrne has selective hearing. As I have said, the Review of the State Service aims to identify structural, operational, service, practice and legislative improvements to ensure the public service is in the best shape to deliver the services Tasmania needs. Mr O’Byrne needs to stop scaremongering, and stop causing unnecessary fear in the community at a time when people are already facing unprecedented challenges. While Mr O’Byrne is using every opportunity to talk down our economy, we will continue to deliver our plan to grow jobs and rebuild the economy so Tasmania can return to the economic powerhouse it was prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
