Pittwater Online News

Commonwealth Marine Reserves Review Update 

25 September 2015

Since our last update we have held a further 80 meetings and teleconferences aimed at testing draft revised zoning options. These meetings through July and August were specifically targeted at those who were likely to be affected by the changes we were proposing, and allowed us to ask stakeholders directly whether there were any further issues that would require us to refine our recommendations before finalising our report to government.

The testing of zoning options was generally well received with stakeholders providing very constructive feedback. Again we have found the balancing of competing interests challenging as once more we heard differing views on zonation for the reserves.  We did, however, identify a small number of key areas where we were able to make further improvements.

We are again very thankful for the contributions from individuals and organisations and the time they have invested in the process. We are confident that our recommendations are all the better for the insight and specific knowledge that we have been provided.

Towards completion of the Review

Our focus is on finalising our recommendations to government. We continue to balance the extent to which our options will improve conservation and/or socio-economic outcomes, or how they will make it easier for users to comply with or Parks Australia to manage the areas in the future.

Our recommendations are being heavily informed by the feedback and suggestions that were provided by stakeholders at our meetings, via written submission and our online survey.

We are progressing to complete our recommendations and report in the coming weeks.

Prof. Colin Buxton    Mr Peter Cochrane

Co-Chairs - Bioregional Advisory Panels 

www.marinereservesreview.gov.au

 Bylong Coal Project : NSW Government must act to protect water and farmland

September 23, 2015: Lock the Gate Hunter region

The Environmental Impact Statement for a major coal mine project in the picturesque Bylong Valley in the upper reaches of the Hunter catchment has been placed on public exhibition this morning, prompting calls for the NSW government to fix major gaps in mining and planning laws before more farmland and water resources are permanently lost to mining.

Lock the Gate Hunter region coordinator Steve Phillips said, “This project will potentially affect 440ha of mapped strategic agricultural land, and permanently remove 200ha of that land. A further 117ha of equine critical industry cluster land will be directly affected by the mine. These lands were supposed to have been made off limits to coal mining years ago but the Government has utterly failed to deliver promises to protect farmland from mining. 

“The proponent’s own studies indicate that this project will mean the loss of $2.6 million in agricultural productivity.

“Has the New South Wales Government learned nothing from the backlash to the Shenhua Watermark project?  How much more of our farmland needs to be lost to coal mining before the Government gets off its hands and creates the no-go zones that the community expects and demands?

One of the most serious problems with the mine will be its impact on water.

“The EIS reveals the dramatic damage this mine would do to the Bylong River and its productive alluvial aquifer if it were allowed to proceed. It appears that it will triple water demand in the Bylong Valley, and draw down the river’s alluvial aquifer.

“NSW’s lack of clear legally binding thresholds to prevent damage and loss of this productive groundwater is leading to long-term damage and it needs to be addressed before any more of these damaging projects go through our very compromised planning process,” said Phillips.

 Springvale mine extension application sent to Planning Assessment Commission

21.09.2015: Departmental Media Release: NSW Department of Planning and Environment

A proposal to expand Springvale mine’s underground mining area allowing it to operate for another 13 years has been referred back to the independent Planning Assessment Commission for a final decision.

“The application has been put under the microscope through a number of extensive reviews, involving analysis by independent experts and community consultation,” a Department of Planning and Environment spokesperson said. 

The Department has recommended the mine’s expansion be approved with a number of strict conditions to manage potential impacts, including:

• strict limits on the salinity of mine-water discharges, developed by the Environment Protection Authority

• strict requirements on offsetting subsidence impacts to upland swamps, including a Swamp Offset Bond and a swamp monitoring program

• an action and monitoring plan for the Upper Coxs River.

 The proposal was previously subject to two reviews by the Commission. The Department’s recommended conditions are based on the findings of those reviews.

Springvale Mine is the only local coal source for the Mt Piper Power Station, which provides 15 per cent of the State’s electricity.

The spokesperson said the expansion would secure 310 full-time jobs and an additional 60 jobs during construction as well as 1,200 indirect jobs across NSW. 

“In addition, $200 million in royalties, taxes and other income will be provided back to the State to be spent on services such as hospitals, school and roads.” 

The Commission will now make the final determination on the project, taking into account the Department’s final assessment and community feedback. 

If the proposal is approved by the Commission, it will be subject to regular inspection and review by the Department’s Compliance Officers who will ensure the mine is adhering to its conditions.

For more information about the proposal and to view the Department’s assessment of the project, visit www.majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.au.

______________________________

DIRECT LINK:www.majorprojects.planning.nsw.gov.aujob_id=5594 

PAC Determination – Approved (Received 19.9.2015 - Approved 21.9.2015): HERE

Now goes to Federal Government for....

PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS – Objects: 214 – Supports: 81 

 Clean up of Wollangambe River continues

EPA Media release: 9 September 2015

The clean-up of the Wollangambe River is continuing following the incident at the Clarence Colliery mine on the 2 July 2015.

Gary Whytcross, NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) Director South, said as of 7 September 2015, 48.6 tonnes of wet coal fines had been removed from approximately 1.9 km of the Wollangambe River to date.

“Centennial Coal is continuing with its clean-up of the Wollangambe River following the serious incident in July this year.

“The EPA has been inspecting the clean-up operation and is satisfied that the coal fines, being mostly removed by hand at this stage, are being taken out in a way that does not risk further damage to the environment.

“The NPWS has also been accompanying the EPA on some inspections.

“The coal fines are being put into bulka bags and transported by helicopter out of the Greater Blue Mountains National Park and World Heritage Area. This is the most environmentally sensitive way to do this work.”

Mr Whytcross said that in addition to the work on the river the EPA has also been inspecting the clean-up of the drainage line. 

“On 8 September 2015 the EPA inspected the clean-up of the drainage line on the hillside that has been completed. The affected area is now being rehabilitated, and the EPA will ensure that some sediment control structures remain in place while this work is being done,” Mr Whytcross said.

“I would like to thank the many community members and bushwalkers whose continued information about which sections of the Wollangambe River have the heaviest deposits of accumulated coal fines has been extremely useful.”

The EPA is continuing to keep a close eye on work being undertaken by Centennial Coal and will continue to monitor the clean-up works on a regular basis. The EPA’s investigations into the incident are ongoing.

 SOUTHERN HIGHLANDS KOALA CONSERVATION PROJECT 

Thursday, 24 September 2015 

Environment Minister Mark Speakman has announced the second round of installing GPS tracking collars on koalas in the first-ever study of the mammals in the NSW Southern Highlands. Mr Speakman said he anticipated the final 10 of 20 koalas would be fitted with collars over the next month.

“The study aims to provide a clear direction for the long-term conservation of one of Australia’s most iconic species,” Mr Speakman said. “It’s timely to be finishing fitting the collars today because September is Save the Koala Month.” 

Mr Speakman said the $155,000 Southern Highlands Koala Conservation Project was a partnership between the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage, Wingecarribee Shire Council, the University of Sydney and the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife. “OEH’s $85,000 contribution comes from a four year $1.48 million program to protect the long-term future of five iconic species including the koala. Other projects to protect the koala include supporting local government to survey koalas, map their habitat and develop comprehensive plans of management. OEH also has undertaken research using long-term data sets to monitor change and evaluate the degree of success of earlier koala conservation efforts. 

“The government also has allocated $100 million over five years starting from 2016 for the Saving our Species program to protect our threatened flora and fauna,” Mr Speakman said. As an iconic species, the koala will be a priority for investment of the $100 million, however the distribution of funding for the SoS program is still being developed. Since the launch of the SoS program in 2012, $717,000 has been spent on Koala conservation projects and a further $120,000 is committed for this financial year. 

“Twenty koalas in the region will be fitted with GPS satellite tracking collars that will provide valuable data to assist in the conservation of the local population. Ten koalas have already been fitted with collars and are being monitored. “The information will give Council and other land managers the knowledge they need to make informed land use decisions. This will ensure there is sufficient habitat for koalas to live, to breed and to move about.” 

Member for Wollondilly Jai Rowell said that this was a great project, which would have a meaningful outcome for our koala population and the environment. Wingecarribee Shire Mayor Councillor Duncan Gair said the project was established after a major fire in the Yerrinbool-Balmoral area in 2013 wiped out some of the koala population and forced many other koalas to move. “The fire caused chaos for the local koala population and scattered them out of their familiar habitat on to the Hume Highway and in backyards,” Mr Gair said. “It became apparent that an action plan was needed to ensure the local population would survive and that’s why the Southern Highlands Koala Conservation Project was created.” 

The project will help us to understand:  how many koalas there are and where they live;•  how they move about and the routes they take;•  the main risks to these koalas, such as being hit by cars or disease;•  what gum trees they like to eat, so these can be used for replanting projects in the area. 

An important aspect of the project will be to make sure everyone in the Southern Highlands knows about their koala colonies and what they can do to help their long term survival. Southern Highlands Koala Conservation Project: www.wsc.nsw.gov.au/koalas

NSW Cancer Plan 2016-2020 - Invitation for review and comment

The Cancer Institute NSW provides statewide strategic direction for cancer control in NSW and has a 12 year history in developing and implementing activities that support the community to decrease their risk of cancers, utilise cancer screening services and access world class treatment services.

The Cancer Institute NSW is seeking your comments on the draft NSW Cancer Plan 2016-2020. This draft has been developed following a substantial consultation process to date on key areas of cancer control in NSW with a range of partners and stakeholders, via nine workshops held in February-May 2015, including two consultation and formative research processes with Aboriginal communities and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities. Thank you to those that have contributed as part of this process.

The current NSW Cancer Plan 2011-2015 reflected an integrated and collaborative approach to reducing the burden of cancer in NSW by coordinating priorities, resources and efforts among individuals, organisations and governments agencies involved in cancer control. We will be building on these efforts in the NSW Cancer Plan 2016-2020 where we will continue to focus on:

• reducing the incidence of cancer,

• improving the survival of people with cancer

• improving the quality of life of people with cancer

The draft plan also highlights the importance of focusing particular attention on priority populations and priority cancers to both improve cancer outcomes and lessen the gap for groups within the community who experience poorer outcomes.  

Thank you for your support and involvement in the implementation of the current NSW Cancer Plan 2011-2015. We look forward to receiving your feedback on the draft state-wide Cancer Plan for 2016-2020 and working with you to further reduce the burden of cancer in our community.

A copy of the draft NSW Cancer Plan 2016-2020 is available on the Department of Premier and Cabinet’s ‘Your Say’ website. ANDHERE 

Please provide your comments and feedback on the draft plan via our online survey by 30 October 2015.

Additional comments can be sent tocancerplanfeedback@cancerinstitute.org.au. 

Thank you for taking the time to complete this survey and review the draft NSW Cancer Plan 2016-2020. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

 ‘Technology and Australia’s Future’ report launch

On 23 September, the Chief Scientist launched a new report by the Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA) entitled Technology and Australia’s Future.

Read Professor Chubb’s speech below. You can view the full report on the ACOLA website.

Stumbling to progress

About 2.6 million years ago a human ancestor picked up a rock somewhere in East Africa and knocked off a bit to make a sharp-edged flake.[1]

Before that, we were users of tools. Now we were toolmakers – and we might say that tools had begun to make us.

But our ancestor didn’t know that when he or she picked up the rock.

We didn’t come together as a tribe, much less as a species, and decide on the balance of the evidence that tool-making was going to serve humanity well.

We didn’t envisage that tools would in time allow our descendants to spread across the Earth and dominate all other forms of life.

We didn’t foresee that food could come in packets, water from a tap, light at the flick of a switch.

We didn’t imagine all the gadgets on which we now collectively spend about US$1 trillion, every year.[2]

But nor did we imagine the 42 million tonnes of unwanted gadgets dumped in 2014 alone.[3]

Nor did we think about the 8 million tonnes of plastic waste that enter the oceans, every year.[4]

Nor did we worry that human beings would acquire the technologies to build the capacity to destroy themselves – in ever more ingenious ways.

We saw only what we wanted, and a way to bring it about.

And so we have continued to this day – in little steps or bigger leaps, never knowing where they would take us over time.

There is no inevitable path. There is no guarantee that the steps will be wise, or that humanity will be better off because we took them – next year, next century, next millennium.

There are only fallible people, with short memories, and limited imaginations, making choices, as best they know how.

Today we are a world of some 7 billion people, heading to a world of 9 if not 10 billion people by 2100.[5]

So how do we make the decisions about the technologies that will make us who we are?

And how do we maximise the chances that our decisions will ultimately serve us and our descendants well?

In short: how do we face the future?

Responding to the impetus to change

In the past, we might have set out to be ‘future-proof’. Our Prime Minister has observed, and he repeated it last week, that the phrase is well-meaning, but unhelpful.[6]

You build a bomb-proof shelter to be safe from bombs. You build a rabbit-proof fence to keep out the rabbits.

But the future is not a threat from which we need protection – or can be protected. It is something we can shape by our actions today.

So instead of future-proofing we ought to talk about future-priming – building those assets and skills that position us to benefit as best we can from change.

That, on my reading, is the challenge that has been put to us, as people who reflect and occasionally offer opinions on these things.

So this is a timely paper from the Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA).

It was one of the initial six papers commissioned in the Securing Australia’s Future series in June 2012.

The intent behind this series was simple: we can’t know the future, but we ought to know it’s going to be different, so we may as well think as constructively as we can about how to make it better. How to focus on opportunity, not anxiety.

We have many tools across the research community for thinking about the opportunities: tools developed within different disciplines, which help us see a richer and more complex picture than any one perspective alone.

So when the Office of the Chief Scientist and the Australian Research Council (ARC) got together to commission this program and these papers, we did so quite deliberately through ACOLA.

We wanted to bring together the expertise and the perspectives of the different disciplines that are found within the four academies.

We also wanted to look at the chosen topics all the way to the horizon.

This was a reflection of the fact that the government of the day (and several of the ministers) were losing interest when the agenda of Prime Minister’s Science Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC) was so far ahead of the exigencies with which they had to deal that it had little immediate relevance to their needs today.

We had to develop a process that would give advice on the immediate to short-term, as well as advice about positioning on some topics that would see us well prepared for the medium to longer term. We did, and this Securing Australia’s Future program is part of the latter.

Our final requirement as the contractors was that the reports should provide evidence from which recommendations could be drawn – by a group using the evidence provided but comprising people mostly outside the Expert Working Group (EWG). That is to say, the Chief Scientist, together with the chair of the EWG and officials would draft recommendations for consideration by government.

It was the feeling that a more ‘arm’s length’ approach to recommendations, relying on the evidence provided, would have the weight of them not being put together by experts with a particular interest. I have seen no reason to change that feeling.

Education is the key

Other speakers will expand more fully on the findings of this report – talk about the evidence, if you like – but to me the take-home message is simple.

We are not just a species that uses technology. We are a society of technology users.

So every one of us needs to be part of that society, and the education to be able to contribute meaningfully to deliberations about the way forward.

And if enough of us have that grounding, beginning in primary school if not pre-school, then from it will flow the pipeline of STEM-trained people we require.

People with the encouragement and support to be the scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians who will provide us with the opportunities to survive and prosper in a competitive, probably hostile world.

And STEM literate people who will help us to make the ‘moral judgement’ that Tony Blair once talked about – because we all know that technology can be used for good or for ill.

We have to choose, and fear-mongering feeding off ignorance is hardly a healthy part of the conversation. We have to be better than that. And STEM communication will be a key. People will need to see the difference between evidence and snake oil.

Alongside this, we must remember the importance of the humanities and the social sciences. It is they which will play an important part in the future: from the design and development of technologies to the decisions we will have to make, the understanding of where we came from, how we got there (or here) and the societal implications and possible responses to certain action or inaction.

There is not one piece of this puzzle that is not important to the nation, indeed to the world, that we are trying to build.

The key to it all is education.

• Education that allows individuals to pursue many different paths, but gives them a common language and sense of purpose.

• Education that teaches us our history in ways that help us shape the future.

• Education that engages us, excites us, inspires us.

It is an important message and a worthy outcome of this report.

So 2.6 million years ago a human ancestor picked up a rock.

I’m glad he or she did.

I hope that our descendants, whoever they are and wherever they are, will be glad for the decisions we made.

On that note, I am pleased to launch Technology and Australia’s Future.

Thank you. 

________________________________________

[1] Smithsonian National Institute of Natural History, ‘What Does It Mean to be Human? Tools and Food’. Available http://humanorigins.si.edu/human-characteristics/tools-food.

[2] Variety, “Electronics posts record 1 trillion in sales driven by new smartphones, tablets”, January 5, 2015. Available: http://variety.com/2015/digital/news/electronics-biz-posts-record-1-trillion-in-sales-driven-by-new-smartphones-tablets-1201392613/.

[3] Baldé, C.P., Wang, F., Kuehr, R., Huisman, J. (2015), The global e-waste monitor – 2014, United Nations University, IAS – SCYCLE, Bonn, Germany.

[4] Jambeck et al, “Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean,” Science 13 February 2015: Vol. 347 no. 6223 pp. 768-771.

[5] Wolfgang Fengler, “Will the World Reach 10 Billion People?” Brookings Institute, September 4 2015. http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/future-development/posts/2015/09/04-global-population-growth-fengler

[6] http://www.businessinsider.com.au/malcolm-turnbull-disruption-is-our-friend-2015-9

 CPAP therapy reduces symptoms of depression in adults with sleep apnea

September 22, 2015

A new study shows that depressive symptoms are extremely common in people who have obstructive sleep apnea, and these symptoms improve significantly when sleep apnea is treated with continuous positive airway pressure therapy.

Results show that nearly 73 percent of sleep apnea patients (213 of 293 patients) had clinically significant depressive symptoms at baseline, with a similar symptom prevalence between men and women. These symptoms increased progressively and independently with sleep apnea severity.

However, clinically significant depressive symptoms remained in only 4 percent of the sleep apnea patients who adhered to CPAP therapy for 3 months (9 of 228 patients). Of the 41 treatment adherent patients who reported baseline feelings of self-harm or that they would be "better dead," none reported persisting suicidal thoughts at the 3-month follow-up.

"Effective treatment of obstructive sleep apnea resulted in substantial improvement in depressive symptoms, including suicidal ideation," said senior author David R. Hillman, MD, clinical professor at the University of Western Australia and sleep physician at the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Perth. "The findings highlight the potential for sleep apnea, a notoriously underdiagnosed condition, to be misdiagnosed as depression."

Study results are published in the September issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine reports that obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a common sleep disease afflicting at least 25 million adults in the U.S. Untreated sleep apnea increases the risk of other chronic health problems including heart disease, high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes, stroke and depression.

The study group comprised 426 new patients referred to a hospital sleep center for evaluation of suspected sleep apnea, including 243 males and 183 females. Participants had a mean age of 52 years. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the validated Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), and the presence of obstructive sleep apnea was determined objectively using overnight, in-lab polysomnography. Of the 293 patients who were diagnosed with sleep apnea and prescribed CPAP therapy, 228 were treatment adherent, which was defined as using CPAP therapy for an average of 5 hours or more per night for 3 months.

According to the authors, the results emphasize the importance of screening people with depressive symptoms for obstructive sleep apnea. These patients should be asked about common sleep apnea symptoms including habitual snoring, witnessed breathing pauses, disrupted sleep, and excessive daytime sleepiness.

1. Cass Edwards, Sutapa Mukherjee, Laila Simpson, Lyle J. Palmer, Osvaldo P. Almeida, David R. Hillman. Depressive Symptoms before and after Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Men and Women. Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, 2015; DOI: 10.5664/jcsm.5020

 Sydney's new ferries

Published on 23 Sep 2015: NSW Government

Take a peek at Sydney's new ferries. The first ferry will be running by the end of 2016.