Sunday, May 20, 2012
Posted by Jim on March 19, 2012
Catch up with Noosa Greens Candidate Jim McDonald and read what he says on various election topics.
Jim has been activiely campaigning to get some decent representation of Noosa into the parliament
Posted by Jim on January 25, 2012
The Greens candidate for Noosa, Dr Jim McDonald welcomed the announcement for an election date by Premier Anna Bligh, this morning.
Dr McDonald said that the LNP and Labor leaders had descended to a schoolyard level of debate on the election date.
“I have no doubt that the decision will be controversial concerning the decision to push back the Council elections, but people have been confused between coverage of State and local government elections.
“The Greens policy supports fixed terms and the adoption of that principle will take away the demeaning argy bargy that we have seen this week between Campbell Newman and Anna Bligh.
“However, the biggest problem we face in Queensland is that no party once in government seriously commits to any long term action planning.
“People often say to me that The Greens can never win government so it is a wasted vote. But voting for The Greens is a vote for the future. We must leave behind the dysfunctional ratbaggery that has characterised the Queensland Parliament and deal with long term issues beyond the three-year electoral cycle instead of short-term, populist programs.
“If I am elected to the Parliament for Noosa I can focus my contribution in representing Noosa on the solutions requiring long-term strategy and action, such as a commitment to the infrastructure planning and programs necessary to prepare for the effects of climate change in the region and economic prosperity for Noosa in the post-carbon economy.
“This is not something you ever hear from Mr Elmes or the Young Labor candidate from Brisbane.
“Because I am not constrained by the vested interests that support Labor and the LNP, my focus will be on the benefits for the whole of the electorate and the region rather than select groups and the coal and gas industries.”
Dr McDonald said, “The Noosa and Hinterland Greens Branch are organised and ready for the long campaign.”
Jim McDonald
Greens Candidate Noosa
Media Release, 25 January 2012
Posted by Jim on September 11, 2011
A link to Senator Larissa Waters’ maiden speech in the Senate is now included on this website.
Senator Waters’ speech epitomised what The Greens stand for: the strong links between family, a sustainable future, the commitment to the environment, and the contribution to community through social justice, a renewable energy economy, and protection of our resources.
Senator Larissa Waters with Wide bay Greens Candidate, Jim McDonald, during the 2010 Federal Election campaign
We welcome the Senator’s contributions to making Australia a better place, not only now but for our grandchildren and future generations.
She will make a difference – we all can.
Jim McDonald, Greens Spokesperson, Wide Bay Federal Electorate, 11 September 2011
Posted by Jim on August 22, 2011
Good luck on Thursday, Drew.
There is no doubt about the immorality of CSG extraction and coalmining on productive land and in people’s homes, but the laws are not geared towards what is best for Australia’s food security, nor what is best for the aquifers and the Great Artesian Basin, nor for the atmosphere as methane leaks, nor for the destruction of family lives and the peace of communities. On these grounds alone you have an absolute reasonable excuse.
The work you have done for the farmers and communities of the Darling Downs is sowing seeds across the country sustained by your’s and the farmers’ courage to stand up against multi-nationals and Australian companies out for a fast buck whatever the damage they do.
Drew, you should be proud of what you have achieved for all of us in bringing the pernicious industrialisation of our land and its resources to the public consciousness. I am!
Jim McDonald
Wide Bay Greens Spokesperson
Posted by Jim on April 24, 2011
We have been concerned about this for some time.
Even Alan Jones gets it.
State and Federal Governments, Labor and the LNP don’t: failure to protect our farmland will kill off agriculture and the environment.
Click on the mike to hear Alan Jones’ podcast:
Jim McDonald, Greens spokesperson Wide Bay electorate, 24 April 2011
Posted by Jim on December 14, 2010
The Greens spokesperson for the Wide Bay Federal Electorate, Dr Jim McDonald, has called on the Gympie Regional Council to stand up to mining interests in the Mary River Valley.
He said there is a serious threat of coal seam gas [CSG] extraction in the Mary River Valley and drilling exploration had commenced in Wolvi.
“People should not be complacent about their region,” he said. “The Fraser Coast Council this week announced its support for CSG exploration in Hervey Bay. It is not impossible that some Gympie councillors won’t likewise be seduced by the coal industry’s spin.
“Tiaro Coal has already commenced CSG exploration at Munna Creek and the company recently started exploration drilling in the Wolvi district. Coalmining and CSG extraction irreversibly destroys the aquifers, uses huge amounts of water, and creates problems with storage of contaminated water.
“One of the issues that people don’t think about is what happens to the water allocations when mining companies buy out farming land. If the coal companies get their way they will control the Mary River and its tributaries. Coalmining and CSG extraction in the Mary Valley will utilise millions of megalitres of water a year if mining is allowed to go ahead.
“Mining along the Mary River and its tributaries within the Gympie Regional Council boundaries and further downstream will turn the region into the Hunter Valley. That is a far greater threat to the Mary River Valley and its communities than the Traveston Dam ever was.”
Dr McDonald, who has just returned from touring the Hunter Valley and the Darling Downs speaking to residents, shopkeepers and farmers, said the region’s Councils and people were too complacent about the mounting threats to the Mary Valley from coal and CSG interests. “Already farmers and communities in the Wandoan district face huge open-cut mines and some farms already have CSG wells dug on their properties.
“It will happen here and when it does, that will be the end of the Mary Valley forever and all the excellent work done to protect the viability of the Mary River and its communities will have been for nothing.
“You have to ask what the State member for Gympie, David Gibson, and the Federal Member, Warren Truss, are doing. They turned up at Traveston Dam protests, but their silence on coal and gas mining speaks volumes about their true environmental credentials.
“There’s a lot of rot spoken about coalmining bringing jobs and prosperity. In fact, it reduces agricultural productivity, alienates good cropping and grazing land forever, destroys property values and communities, and does little to stimulate retail businesses. Coalmining is a toxic threat environmentally, socially and economically.
“Gympie businesses might be seduced by the prospects of mining coming to the region but coalmining and CSG will wreck the Mary Valley for the sake of a relatively few jobs, the bulk of which will go to skilled and experienced workers and contractors from outside the the region. This happens at Muswellbrook in the Hunter Valley. Retail outlets are struggling. Over the weekend the miners not on shift have left town. Muswellbrook is only 220 km from Sydney, about the same distance Gympie is from Brisbane. Coalmining offers little true benefit to Gympie’s economy.”
Jim McDonald, Greens Spokesperson, Wide Bay Federal Electorate, media release
Posted by Jim on September 21, 2010
I refer to the independent member for Nicklin Peter Wellington’s comments published in the Noosa News, Tuesday, 21 September about developing the Mary Valley as a food bowl.
Mr Wellington is picking up rather belatedly on one of the issues I raised during the Federal election campaign back in May. But Mr Wellington, like most politicians, fails to address the key issues and only scratches at the populist elements of the issue. What is needed is the immediate cooperation of farmers, agricultural scientists, ecologists, climate scientists, the food industry, economists, the regional communities and the State and Federal Governments to plan out a future for the the Mary Valley. And set a date on it for implementation in the next 18 months. Instead land lies in the hands of the State Government, which is only interested in offloading it.
But the future of the Mary Valley must be considered as a matter of urgent national and regional interest as part of an holistic approach to the triple challenges of climate change, population growth and food security. This makes the Government’s food cropping survey somewhat redundant for the region. Action is needed now. In the region.
There is a deadly lack of vision on all sides as the State Labor Government and the LNP continue to show ineptitude on all three of these highest priority challenges.
There is a deadly lack of vision on all sides as the State Labor Government and the LNP continue to show ineptitude on all three of these highest priority challenges.
The Mary Valley should become a model for efficient food production. Food distribution should be reformed by changing the inefficient supply chain practices of the large supermarkets. The primary market for Mary Valley should be the Burnett, Sunshine Coast, Fraser Coast and Wide Bay regions supplied directly from the Mary Valley, with the surplus exported to the rest of Australia and overseas.
In the face of the failure of the State Labor Government, the LNP at both State and Federal levels in the region are ineffectual on addressing climate change, population and food security. They also remain silent on the prospect of coalmining along the Mary River.
Jim McDonald, Greens Spokesperson, Wide Bay Electorate, 21 September 2010
Published Noosa News 24 September 2010
Posted by Jim on August 12, 2010
The Queensland Government’s proposed sale of Queensland’s railways to the coal industry will be the death knell for passenger rail services in regional Queensland, says Jim McDonald, the Greens’ candidate for Wide Bay.
“High speed rail for both freight and passenger services should be an essential element in State Government climate change and population planning. A coal cartel will ruin the future of our rail system if Anna Bligh and Andrew Fraser get their way.
“The Brisbane – Cairns route needs a rapid rail system as much as the Melbourne – Brisbane corridor, especially for the Sunshine Coast and Wide Bay, to service a rapidly growing population and take trucks and passengers off the Bruce Highway.
“Federal and State Governments need to take serious steps to develop a standard gauge system in Queensland that will deliver frequent, rapid passenger and freight services to Maryborough, Gympie and the Sunshine Coast. Queensland lags the rest of the world in efficient rail transport because of the limitations of its narrow gauge rail system.
“The State Government should investigate selling off part of the rail easements to private interests to fund modernisation of the rail services that belong to the Queensland taxpayer. Instead, under Ms Bligh’s and Mr Fraser’s plan, passenger timetables will be affected by the coal industry’s priorities.
“The Government’s focus should be on fast rail, which will be an economic boon to the region in a low carbon future. A fast train plan could provide hundreds of jobs in Maryborough and Gympie if the State Government had a commitment to regional development and ensured that the rolling stock continued to be manufactured in Maryborough, instead of exporting the industry to China.
“High speed access to South-East Queensland markets will do as much to stimulate local industries and small business as the National Broadband Network.”
Dr McDonald said that the Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Anthony Albanese should include South-East Queensland and EDI Rail in the feasibility study for high speed rail.
“This is what the Greens mean by green jobs. Rail will always be more efficient and less polluting than motor vehicles. And it would provide jobs in the region. We need to think beyond existing frameworks. A high speed rail system would form a significant component of a low carbon economy in the region.”
Jim McDonald, Media Release, 12 August 2010
Posted by Jim on August 6, 2010
High speed rail in Australia could be a real boon and provide hundreds of jobs in Maryborough, says Greens candidate, Jim McDonald. He was responding to an announcement on Thursday by the Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government of a feasibility study for the Newcastle-Sydney corridor.
“As Minister for Regional Development, Mr Albanese should include EDI Rail in the feasibility study he announced.
“It’s indicative of the lack of long-term strategy in Labor or the Coalition that Mr Albanese spoke only of NSW. Green’s leader Bob Brown has been talking about a national high speed rail strategy for years.
“The Wide Bay and Sunshine Coast regions would benefit economically from a reliable, regular fast rail system. And it would reduce traffic on the Bruce Highway. Brisbane would only be a two to two and a half hours from Maryborough.
“This is what the Greens mean by green jobs. Rail will always be more efficient and less polluting than motor vehicles. And it would provide regional jobs. We need to think beyond existing frameworks. A High speed rail system would form a significant component of a low carbon economy in the region.”
Media release, Jim McDonald, 5 August 2010
Posted by Jim on August 4, 2010
River pollution from a coal mine in NSW south of Sydney confirms the concerns that the Greens have for the prospect of coalmining in the Wide Bay electorate.
The Greens candidate for Wide Bay, Dr Jim McDonald, said that an independent water quality report by researchers from the University of Western Sydney has shown contaminated water from an underground coalmine near Appin is flowing into the Georges River, south of Sydney [Sydney Morning Herald 4 August 2010]
He said that the report concludes that the levels of contamination are toxic to aquatic life. These are the real threats faced by proposals that would turn the Wide Bay electorate into another Hunter Valley.
Proposed open-cut coalmines at Tiaro, Munna Creek, which flows into the Mary River, and the Colton Coal Mine near Maryborough will affect the ecosystems of the Susan River and Saltwater Creek, Munna Creek and the Mary River itself.
The potential damage to the Mary River and Hervey Bay eco-systems of mine run-off on will affect the farming economy along the river system, the tourism industry in Maryborough and the world listed Great Sandy Straits wetlands reserve at the mouth of the Mary River. It will undermine the viability of the Great Sandy Biosphere, which aims at sustainable development in the region.
These dangers, the effect on regional agricultural productivity and the tourism industry, the effect on community health of coalmines, and the need to stimulate industries in a low carbon economy are the compelling reasons why the Greens oppose coal mining in the Wide Bay electorate.
Media Release, Jim McDonald, 4 August 2010
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