Sunday 21 December 2014

Something to think about as many of us frolic by the sea over the holidays


Something to think about from the NSW Dept. of Environment, Climate Change and Water as many of us in New South Wales frolic by the sea over the holidays:

The NSW Government has adopted a Sea Level Rise Policy Statement (NSW Government 2009) to support consistent adaptation to projected sea level rise impacts. The Policy Statement includes sea level rise planning benchmarks for use in assessing the potential impacts of projected sea level rise in coastal areas, including flood risk and coastal hazard assessments, development assessment, coastal infrastructure design processes and land use planning exercises.

These benchmarks are a projected rise in sea level (relative to the 1990 mean sea level) of 0.4 metres by 2050 and 0.9 metres by 2100 (Department of Environment, Climate Change
and Water (DECCW) 2009). The projections were derived from sea level rise projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2007) and the CSIRO (McInnes et al
2007). These benchmarks will be periodically reviewed…..

Depending on the rate and scale of sea level rise, the environmental, social and economic consequences, in particular within low-lying intertidal areas, are expected to be significant.
In addition to open coast recession and higher inundation levels, saltwater intrusion and landward advance of tidal limits within estuaries will have significant implications for freshwater and saltwater ecosystems and development margins, particularly building structures and foundation systems within close proximity to the shoreline. Existing coastal gravity drainage, stormwater infrastructure and sewerage systems may become compromised over time as the mean sea level rises. Sea level rise will also influence entrance opening regimes for intermittently closed and open lakes and lagoons (ICOLLs). The level of protection provided by existing seawalls and other hard engineering structures will decrease over time due to the increasing threat from larger storm surges and inundation at higher projected water levels….

Increasing mean sea level over time will have two primary impacts within and adjacent to tidal waterways:
 increasing still water levels over time and
 subsequent recession of unconsolidated shorelines.

Old Bar NSW

Belongil NSW

Kingscliff NSW

Forster NSW

Hawks Nest NSW

* Photographs found at Google Images

Saturday 20 December 2014

The $61 million plus royal commission into trade unions fails to get the only scalp Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott was after



The Commissioner John Dyson Heydon AC QC handed his Interim Report to the Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove at Government House in Canberra on Monday 15 December 2014.

The Interim Report was tabled in Parliament on 19 December 2014.


Australian Press Council tippy toes around climate change "theories or predictions"


The Australian Press Council found a Crikey journalist should not have used the word “hoodwinked”, rejected the remainder of John McLean’s complaint and, then carefully moved on tip toes around the subject of global warming and climate change. Presumably in the hope that Tony Abbott and Andrew Bolt’s winged monkeys would not descend in angry hoardes.


The Press Council has considered a complaint about an article by Elaine McKewon headed “Big Oil-backed climate denier who hoodwinked Fairfax” on the Crikey website on 13 January 2014.
The article described John McLean, the author of an article published in Fairfax newspapers, as being “misinformed”, “falsely presented as an expert on climate science”, “not affiliated with any university”, and having “no verifiable qualifications in the field of climate science” or “standing or expertise in climate science”. It also said he was a member of the ICSC which was a body aimed at “discrediting authoritative science on climate change” and had funding links to the oil company Exxon.
Mr McLean said the claims about his lack of standing and expertise were inaccurate and unfair. He denied deceiving the newspapers about his expertise and said that, in any event, they were under no obligation to publish only the opinions of climate science experts. He especially criticised the word “hoodwinked” in the article’s headline. He also complained that the statements about his links with the ICSC and its funding were inaccurate and unfair.
The Council considered that the word “hoodwinked” in the headline could reasonably be read as implying that Mr McLean had actively deceived the newspapers and readers. As no reasonable basis for that implication had been provided to the Council, this aspect of the complaint was upheld.
Mr McLean’s claims to standing and expertise, however, were not of sufficiently compelling force to establish misrepresentation or suppression by Ms McKewon in that respect. The same applied to his criticisms of her references to the ICSC and its funding. Accordingly, these aspects of the complaint were not upheld.  But it was emphasised that this conclusion did not amount to a finding that her claims were necessarily correct. It also did not involve an endorsement or rejection of any particular theories or predictions about climate change warming and related issues.

Quote of the Month


The infamous culture wars sank to a sorry new low last night. At the Prime Minister’s Literary Awards, handed out in Melbourne, the prize for history went to a right-wing rant against Australian trade unions, an ideological tract that includes errors, hearsay, exaggeration and in some cases, sheer fiction and fantasy. History it is not. [Mike Carlton in Crikey on 9 December 2014]

Headline of the Week


[WKQ693 radio The Feed discussing Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott on 19 December 2014]