As the March 23, 2011, NSW election looms over the horizon, we may be witnesses of a record vote against the incumbent ALP. The first Nielsen poll of the election campaign revealed that Labor could win as few as 13 of the state’s 93 Lower House seats, with the party’s primary vote at 22% to the Coalition’s 53%.
One of those 13 seats that may be retained by the ALP is Maroubra, held by Michael Daley, Minister for Police and Minister for Finance, since the September 2005 by-election following the retirement of former Premier Bob Carr. Maroubra is classed as a very safe Labor seat requiring a swing of 16.1% for it to change hands.
This begs the question, why should Michael be re-elected? As a member of Climate Action Sydney Eastern Suburbs (CASES) and convenor of Sustainability Street Phillip Bay, I will pass judgement on all the Maroubra candidates based on their approach to carbon pollution and the environment.
Clearly Michael has NO credibility with respect to carbon pollution mitigation. The a ALP supports the mining of coal and the building of polluting coal fired power stations to meet the ongoing needs for base load electricity generation. This is a flawed policy. Coal will run out. By definition, renewable energy sources will not. NSW has access to ample solar and wind to power itself without ever having to mine coal again, ever! Beyond Zero Emissions’ study has identified several locations for the building of a base load concentrated solar thermal power station, that use molten salt storage to make it a 24 hour operation.
Currently, the NSW Labor government pays subsidies for fossil fuel use. This is unacceptable. I will only vote for a candidate who supports the redirection subsidies from polluting activities to non-polluting developments, one who rules out the establishment of a state run coal mine at Cobbora and who immediately suspends any coal supply agreement that distorts energy markets by artificially reducing the price of coal. Only a candidate that will encourage an economy wide application of renewable energy, including an effective gross fee in tariff will get my vote.
When I asked Michael at a recent public meeting what he’d do to lead the transition to renewables he replied, “Coal is so cheap why would you leave it in the ground?” The choice is clear. Michael will not lead NSW into a clean future. He has NO VISION for a sustainable NSW. I cannot vote for such a candidate.
Constituents of Maroubra, I urge you to consider your future as you prepare to cast your vote on March 23. I urge you to change Daley for the clean future of NSW.
Slag Delivered By Australian Coal Association.
In response to the government’s decision to agree to restore $100 million to the Solar Flagships program to secure the Greens support for the flood levy, which is supposed to produce 1000 megawatts of large-scale solar power generation capacity, Australian Coal Association executive director Ralph Hillman said there was enough in the CCS flagships to advance projects and that solar programs were important. “What is disturbing is this is a government that had made a decision to make some cuts on the basis of . . . sound policy reasons only to unpick it to satisfy this group of fringe-dwellers, who haven’t a clue on policy, (and are) ideologically driven,” Mr Hillman said.
This is a gross misrepresentation of the fact that the fossil fuel industry is subsidised to the tune of $9 billion pa, therefore artificially lowering the price we’ve had to pay for coal. Only when we have a price on carbon pollution and we see subsidies removed will we see a more level playing field with renewables!