Shelter to Close it doors as letter requesting more rentals goes out.

Salt Care - follow link to see their services 

I received the sad news that our local homeless shelter needs to close it's doors on Sunday 16 October. After 5 years of looking after over 800 families' men and women, which resulted in 16,000 beds. Salt Ministeries have worked tirelessly over the 5 years and have asked State and Federal Government to give some financial support to keep the doors open. Their calls have fallen on deaf ears and this vital service is no longer. 

Fast forward almost one month and our amazing community has worked tirelessly to support Salt Care. The local Ex Servo's (servicemen and women) donated $40,000 and the Councilor's came together to unanimously support $20,000 from the Mayoral Relief Fund. This allowed the shelter to reopen for a few months but doesn't go near the $260,000 that's needed annually - its unsustainable funding that will run out in March next year.

 My Greens colleagues in the NSW State Parliament helped apply some pressure to Minister Natasha Maclaren-Jones - Thanks Jenny Leong and Cate Faerhmann for your assistance. The Minister reached out to Salt Care and she asked for a fortnight to try and find some funding. It's almost three hours' drive from Nowra to Macquarie Street and instead of an online meeting the Minister insisted that Salt Care travel to see her - almost 6 hours of travel for not much purpose shows very little respect for the valuable time of Salts's volunteers.

A fortnight passed and the second meeting came around - going into the meeting feeling hopeful that two weeks had maybe produced results. There was no sign of the minister and not even the same bureaucrats in the meeting. 

Salt Care where disappointed but not really surprised, as this corrupt NSW Liberal Government continue to undervalue caring for people. What's diabolical about this situation is that the government is winding down to the Xmas period and an election, could have found some funds to keep this vital service open and they could have found the funds from monies that haven't been spent yet or from the budget allowance for people who qualify for emergency nights.

The emergency monies are sometimes held back IF the provider doesn't think there is a viable housing option ahead - that ludicrous position means that the Shelter cannot get a person into their care and take the time needed to work with them to understand what wrap around supports they need.

This will be a big issue for the South Coast in the coming State Election .

Housing Crisis Deepens Future Uncertain

 

Barely a week goes by without numerous contacts from people just looking for somewhere affordable to live. Almost every time my answer is the same - I'm so sorry, I wish I could help, have you tried...

The definition of affordable housing is in practical terms where you don't have to pay out more than 30% of your income to keep a roof over your head. Anything over that affordable line means you are in housing stress of some sort and it's a rare day indeed to meet someone who is anywhere near that 30%.

The cruelest thing is something could have been done long before we reached this crisis point. Governments in Australia have chosen to let the so called 'free market' decide on the cost of rent. Support for tax breaks for investment properties means that wealth is accumulating faster for those who could afford to buy into the property market and continues to squeeze people out. Successive governments have taken the popular way out and kept the tax breaks in place while reducing the spend on public housing.

 The Liberals in NSW took this one step further and transferred a huge percentage of the public housing stock to not-for-profit housing groups - here in the Shoalhaven those properties were mostly transferred to Southern Cross Housing. Some of the home transferred were not fit for people to live in and the measly budget that the Government supplied meant that fix ups are actually a waste of money - when what we need is new fit for purpose housing. Thats a band wagon I have been on for years and I can't tell you how many ministers I have handed a briefing document too outlining how redeveloping some of Nowra's worst homes would be a win for the government, a win for the people and a win for business! All responses were happy lip service and no real action.

I recently brought a Mayoral Minute to the table to try and explore some ways that council could possibly raise revenue for a housing fund that could assist with building more homes. 

This is the recommendation that had majority support but not all councilors voted for it.

That Council:

1.    Receives a report from staff in a timely manner on potential proactive actions that can be taken to influence the availability of existing housing and increase the amount of affordable housing available in Shoalhaven, that specifically considers the following opportunities/potential Council actions:

a.    Special rate variation (SRV) to create an affordable housing fund.

Note: including how relevant Short Term Rental Accommodation (STRA) properties could be identified; options to create a specific rating category for STRA properties and the associated administrative process, including any legislative impediments, for the movement of relevant properties; the processes required to establish and administer the SRV; and the creation of a restricted reserve account where all funds raised through the SRV are to be used for the purpose of generating additional perpetual affordable housing in Shoalhaven.

b.    Land use planning options to better manage the amount of STRA available within Shoalhaven and its use/operation.

Note: including the potential for mapping and/or other provisions in Councils Local Environmental Plan and other planning documents to prohibit, cap/limit or allow the continuation of STRA in Shoalhaven.

c.    Run a campaign to reach non-resident ratepayers and STRA owners to urge them to consider renting their dwellings longer term to contribute to the local rental accommodation market and assist in the provision of additional much needed affordable housing opportunities.

Note: including all possible practical and cost-effective ways of reaching relevant owners, such as direct mail outs, and the potential associated costs.

2.    Considers the potential impact of any actions that are ultimately pursued in this regard on the visitor economy of the City (including research if necessary) and achieve a supportable balanced outcome, if possible, for the future.

Once the minute was made public, it drew some negative points of view as would be expected, but overwhelmingly people have been supportive and see it as a positive way to try and do something.

Targeting the residents who provide short term accommodation is to try and disincentivize a market that has turned a home into a business and partially contributed to the squeeze that is currently being felt.

I doubt this will yield any fruit, but we have to try, not unlike the frustrated Mayor of Dorset in Tasmania who did something similar.

There is no quick fix to the housing crisis, and it needs all three levels of government rowing in the same direction, right now it feels like I am a professional hamster and the other levels of government have stuck the oars in the wheel.

 

WAMINDA - You need to meet these fantastic women

Its about time you met Waminda - based on the South Coast for over 30 years they are an Aboriginal womens helath and welface organisation. Deeply respected by many for the fantastic work they do across so many spheres. Last week I experience one of the cultural immersion days that they offer and it was deeply impactful and I highly recommend this day for all who want to be better allies. One of the programs that Waminda are working hard to get funding and a home for right now is the Birthing on Country Program, which supports Aboriginal women through the process of pregnancy, birth and early years , thorugh a wholistic and wrap around service point of view. Waminda have worked hard at this program where it has been recognised as a high standard model of care for women. Dont take my word for it though, go see for your self at the Waminda website. During the recent federal election it was great to see that there were pledges of financial support for Waminda's program and the clock is ticking to find some land or a building to repupose for the birthing and services home. I brought to council a Mayoral Minute pledging support for the project to allow for our startegic planning staff to work with Waminda to try and find land and to reach out to landholders jointly to see if we can push for a better outcome. One such landholder in Nowra is Woolworths of Fabcott Pty Ltd who own a number of useful parcels of land, which have been landbanked for no real puprose for many years now. Whats seriously annoying is that Fabcott dont reply to our letters asking for their consideration for a sale. So that makes me wonder - which supperannuation companies, what locals, or any other investor live in the Shoalhaven and would be prepared to contact them and get them to understand that instead of making grand statements they can actually do something ral and sell their land for a grand purpose. Please check out Wamindas webiste

Life long learning - keeping up with the politics

I love being a life long learner. Yesterday I got a great lesson on TERF's.

 ( Wait the explanation is coming if you too were unfamiliar with the term. )

This came about as I got asked "would I let radical feminists remain in the party if they disagreed with TRANS rights ? "

It was in a forum situation with a limited time to respond. I am not transphobic. I am familiar with and empathetic to those  compelled to undertake gender re-orientation. This takes courage and determination. I celebrate the diversity of humanity, and I believe that my party is a party of inclusion. But expelling people from the party for their views on trans politics: now that threw me a very unexpected curved ball.

 I had blundered into unfamiliar territory. I'm grateful for the first aid that was administered as members of The Greens quickly leapt in to give me a rapid introduction about the TERF Wars!! Thanks to Evan, Jordanna, and Erin my eyes were firmly opened by the end of the day. 

TERF (/ˈtɜːrf/) is an acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminist. First recorded in 2008,^[1] the term originally applied to the minority^[2] of feminists espousing sentiments that other feminists considered transphobic, such as the rejection of the assertion that trans women are women, the exclusion of trans women from women's spaces, and opposition to transgender rights legislation. The meaning has since expanded to refer more broadly to people with trans-exclusionary views who may have no involvement with radical feminism. Wikipedia

Whilst dealing with extreme natural disasters in my community for the past three years I had missed that our trans people were suffering at the hands of an organised movement wanting to exclude them. 

Now that I have been educated into what a TERF really is - my answer would be unequivocally NO.  I wouldn't support racists, or homophobes, or disability discriminators to take away humans rights from minority groups. I would not support the suppression of trans rights in the Greens by anyone.

When we uphold human rights and support people, we will end up with a much better party.

Huskisson Church - A New Chapter?

 Today was a monumental milestone in the campaign to Save the Huskisson Church - today the developer formally withdrew their Planning Proposal! The happy sounds could be heard across the bay, from this small group of happy locals gathered at the site. Check out their joy! Congratulations to all - so many stalwarts that have turned up week in week out to keep the profile of this campaign in the communities hearts and minds.

The Huskisson Heritage Association has been campaigning long and hard for the preservation of the little Blackett Church at Huskisson. Alongside the Jerrinja Land Council have been battling to preserve Aboriginal Graves that have also been noted on the site including that of King Bud Billy.

Saving it from what? I hear some say, but seriously most people around here know the story of the take over of the church site by the local publican and the consortium who want to build a hotel and conference center on what is considered by the locals as a precious piece of land.

I'm not going to repeat the long story of the campaign you can find out more about that by following the links provided below.

With the change of Council there has been a majority change of attitude towards what should be done at this beautiful site and the Greens on Council certainly haven't supported the direction the developer was taking.

Earlier this year with our Labor Colleagues we Greens said no to scraping the ground for graves - we believe the stories of the elders and value the oral history of the Jerrinja people. We saw for our own eyes the scar on the tree, and we have read the shared history of the site.

Today the news that the developer has withdrawn the planning proposal is a relief and mostly closes the current chapter. It also leave us wonder what the future will be - who actually owns the land - and could it be bought by the Aboriginal Land and Sea Corporation?

That's the thing with chnaging chapters - there are more parts of the story yet to write - but for now this is a win for the community and hopefully a signal for good things to come.

More reading see these links.

Huskisson Heritage Association

Save Husky Church Facebook Page 

The New Bush Telegraph 

Shoalhaven Council Planning Proposal Page 

Jerrinja Land Council Facebook Page 

Meanwhile Use of Land - an interim step to assist with housing shortages?

 I have been pursuing the issue of affordable housing pretty much for the entire time I've been elected to Shoalhaven City Council ( 14 years at time of writing ) - every angle that I can think of!

A recent meeting with another group of NSW State Gov bureaucrat's and I still feel like a hamster on the wheel!

                                                                Photo by Silje Roseneng on Unsplash

The Victorian government introduced meanwhile use in their state - and I think it could be a game changer in NSW for the housing continuum. 

So meanwhile use looks at land or buildings held by government for a future reason to be used today for housing in a temporary way. The Shoalhaven land that came immediately to mind was that owned by Transport for NSW in road corridors. Land that already has buried infrastructure like water, power and communications and could quickly support portable homes that can be removed when its time for the land to be used for the purpose its been held for- like highway upgrades.

Meanwhile use gives us immediate access to land while we move to a longer term solution. One of the long term solutions I have been pushing for in the Shoalhaven is the redevelopment of our existing social housing stock. Like many places the housing stock owned by the NSW Gov is in poor condition. Many of the homes around Nowra are asbestos with no insulation, poor condition and on larger blocks of land that could be amalgamated into medium density sites. Medium density in the Shoalhaven looks more like 3//4/5 story small apartment blocks rather than larger towers that our city counterparts might experience. These older homes were built in the late 60's and early 70s- we also have a number of old style Defence Housing of a similar vintage.

Once the meanwhile use has occurred it drives the urgency to solve the future of those living in the zone. 

I recall a conversation with then Minister for Water, Property and Housing Melinda Pavey who found the prospect of meanwhile use so abhorrent that I was taken aback with the vehemence of her verbal response which of course was followed up with a thanks,  no thanks letter!

In 2021 I though we were making some headway on meanwhile use as the NSW Government had considered Wollongong as a pilot place and were looking to write up a position paper on guidelines. Of course the whole thing was shelved with a change in premier and its back to badgering for some redevelopment of the housing stock.

The recalcitrance of the State Gov to deal with improved social housing conditions for the Shoalhaven is just appalling - it such a win on so many levels - but most importantly it would be a win for our people. 

A modest 10 year plan would make a huge difference for our people - it could reduce the costs to run the households, improve the residents health and wellbeing outcomes and reduce carbon pollution by integrating renewable energy. As we start to move into another election period we need to keep the heat on for housing investment for the Shoalhaven and beyond.

More Reading:

Unlocking public assets will help meet housing needs 

Repairing Australia's Affordable Housing Crisis 

Finding community amidst NSW climate and housing emergencies.

The Libs just hate being called out !

This week the IPCC released their current reports - that's a whole other post also - the release of the report has been rightfully overshadowed by the current climate change driven catastrophe that has been unfolding in SE Qld and NSW with a slow moving storm front that has been causing havoc with some of the worst recorded floods in Northern NSW.

Meanwhile in the Shoalhaven preparations are under way for  when the slow moving storm hit's the coast. Getting storm prepared is one of those things we do on a regular basis in the Shoalhaven as we have a number of really low lying communities that experience flooding. 

Shoalhaven Heads is one such community at the mouth of the Shoalhaven River, where an intermittently opening and closing barrier dune system exists. Over many decades the community, State Government Agencies and Council have developed an Entrance Management Plan. These plans are created with science as the basis of good decision making as opening an entrance is a fraught process. Open too early and a place could be inundated with ocean water, or there might not be the perfect confluence of outgoing tide and flood waters to move the maximum amount of sand. The State Government are the ultimate responsibility, council has a role to play being the agent on the ground and the level of government closest to the people.

Flood times create a lot of anxiety and the role of civic leaders is to help our community through the hard times - not to super pump anxiety and make them feel like flood planning isn't happening as it should.

Enter one of our local members, who seemed to think the exact opposite. What's even more disappointing about this members actions, is that he used to be on Council and knows exactly the parameters of the entrance management plans - so there is zero excuse for these nonsense actions at a time when our community need us.

The local member then proceeded to try and use a narrative that has been used against his Federal Leader, that somehow I was missing in action, not doing what was supposed to , he declares to the world that I need to 'get a grip', I think sir the opposite is true, you need to get a grip on what leadership is meant to do during times of crisis and not just run unhelpful political interference.

The irony isn't lost on me for the leaders that have been missing in action are the currently elected Liberal Party.

*Missing in action on climate change ( they say they are acting but its just not enough)

*Missing in action for real leadership on how our state will manage the impacts we are now seeing from a changing climate

*Missing in action on managing coastal communities with sea level rise and increased storm ferociousness

*Missing in action with funding to assist Council's to deal with the aftermath of deadly storms

Oh and the so called letter of request - missing from my inbox - written, posted on line for political purposes, never received in my inbox, yet a whole bunch of 'reply all' with more misinformation that Shoalhaven Heads will benefit from a permanent opening.

The never received letter

Just another day at the office for local member rubbishing people -

A Green Mayor for the Shoalhaven – WHY NOT!

Kaye Gartner, Nina Cheyne, Greens MLC David Shoebridge, Amanda Findley and John Levett

Six months ago I was ready to stand down from Council and move on with my life and career as a teacher. I graduated late 2014 and really feel that teaching is in my DNA.

Sick of watching the fighting between the Liberals on Council namely Guile and Gash, I really questioned if my impact was worth the dross. I really was feeling over it. So with my decision made I started to tell people at various community groups that I wouldn’t be standing unless something radical happened to make me change my mind.

Something happened alright and that started with an amazing bunch of people putting their hand up to get into the trenches of council. The lead candidates Nina Cheyne, John Levett and Kaye Gartner would have to be the most formidable combination of minds that have graced the ballot boxes in a long time, they really are the perfect team. Behind them are 9 other wonderful people who have lent their names and energy to the campaign to get the lead ones elected.

Ward 1                                      Ward 2                                       Ward 3

Nina Cheyne                                 John Levett                                 Kaye Garnter

Terry Barratt                                  Julie Danser                                        Kiah Findley

Rosie Ward                                  Judy Kowalski                            Michael Hibberd

Jennifer Parkyn                           Kim Stephenson                          Gail Wild

These people all energise and every one of them has the right stuff to be a councillor.

People are getting sick of the old party politics in the Shoalhaven, for too long all three levels of government have been tied up with conservative outlooks that have a mantra that is a growth at any cost position. No matter what the result is on election day, I know that over the coming weeks of the election campaign The Greens in Shoalhaven, have a positive message of inclusivity and community based solutions which we can start to deliver over the next 4 years. With your help we can make it a reality not a dream ~ A Green Mayor the question isn’t why but why not. 

Snubbing the Governments Expression of Interest for the job I was democratically elected to do!

Shoalhaven Greens councillor snubs State Government expression of interest.

Shoalhaven Greens councillor Amanda Findley is calling on fellow Shoalhaven Councillors to not respond to the Baird government’s forced council amalgamation Expression of Interest process but instead to submit to the Minister a Notice of Democratic Mandate.

“Councillors should not support moves by the Baird government to sack democratically elected councillors in areas targeted for forced council amalgamations,” said Shoalhaven Greens Councillor Amanda Findley. 

“I have altered the Expressions of Interest form sent by Minister Toole to councillors listed for possible forced mergers ‘who wish to be considered for a role in shaping the new council’, so that it now reads Notice of Democratic Mandate,” said Shoalhaven Greens Councillor Amanda Findley.

“The EOI form has a red line through all the Minister’s selection criteria and I am urging other councillors to highlight that they were ‘elected by the people of Shoalhaven to serve them until the September 2016 election’ and insist on their democratic right to continue to serve their local communities,” said Cr Findley.

  “I along with the other current Councillors have been elected by the people of Shoalhaven to make decisions that are in the best long-term interests of the broader community, not to act as a tool for the Baird government’s agenda,” said Cr Findley.

‘This whole process has been rushed, displaying incompetence which is even reflected in the Expression of Interest which lists the wrong email address for the lodgement of the form’.

Expressions of Interest were due on 15 April, but I urge all Councillors who have not submitted to send a Notice of Democratic Mandate in a show of solidarity against the proposed merger. I also call on Shoalhaven Councillors to reveal to the public if they have capitulated to the State Governments pressure and sent in an EOI.

You can check out a copy of the Democratic pledge by clicking here.

Maquarie University Young Scientist Survey Huskisson

Macquarie Uni young scientists gather to present the findings of their week long intensive applied research methodologies 

On Friday 15 April, I had the great pleasure to attend a presentation at Huskisson Community Center.

Five teams of post graduate scientist have been very busy during this last week in Huskisson looking at a variety of Environmental issues affecting our coast. The five topics were Social perspectives, water quality, aquatic ecology, coastal geomorphology, terrestrial ecology.

The 5 groups presented the findings from their research during the week. With about 40 young scientist in the room I was prepared to be way out of my comfort zone and perhaps lost in scientific talk, but of the presentations I was able to attend, the data presented was very easy to access and interesting. All students had involvement in each topic as the objective of the week was to reinforce the application of research methodologies.

Fortunately for Shoalhaven City Council, Macquarie University has agreed to share this information with Council staff as it is mostly relevant to the work that Council does.

The first presentation is most close to my own area of expertise Social Science. A survey had been developed to gather information about how people felt towards Jervis Bay, the Marine Park and towards litter in the area.

The hot topic of the day at Council is Dune management along Collingwood Beach so the responses in respect to dune management were of high interest to me. In the Shoalhaven the discussion on dune vegetation has become so polarized it is extremely difficult to find any common ground on management strategies. That polarization stems around some (not all) beach front property owners wanting Council to clear the vegetation on the dunes to preserve views. Along the Collingwood Beach dune there is evidence of illegal clearing and vegetation damage due to poisoning.

Over the week the Scientist were able to survey a statistically significant group of 348 people who demographically were closely aligned to our census data and equally importantly were a pretty good split of 52/48 in percentage of residents to visitors.

What was very clear from the survey results was more that 88%+ of the people surveyed valued the area for its natural beauty and scenic environment and that walking and swimming were the most popular activities undertaken. The survey respondents had a high knowledge of the existence of the marine park, they also considered that litter in the area was most likely generated by the human activity rather than from marine debris- this was further qualified and quantified by the litter group.

In respect to dune management 25% of respondents had a lower level of understanding what dune management was about, but they did understand why dunes were important.

When reporting back to the collective the scientist were genuinely surprised that 90% of respondents thought that the dunes should be ‘managed for stability and ecological purposes’ and that they either holidayed or settled in the area for the natural aesthetic – the scenic environment and natural beauty. These respondents also understood that illegal clearing was one of the top methods of damaging dunes.

The options given to the respondents were

Should the dunes be…

Maintained for views

Maintained for stability

Maintained for bird and animal habitat (ecological purposes)

Maintained for recreation

These findings need to be taken into consideration as Shoalhaven City Council go about setting its future direction for dune vegetation management, the findings are not insignificant and with some further analysis would closely align to the attitude that Council encountered in its early rounds of consultation in respect to the current  draft dune management plan which set about to try and find some common ground and compromise around illegal clearing, views, maintaining vegetation and dune stability.

With the attitude of tourists similarly aligned to the residents in respect to managing dunes for stability and ecological purpose, Council needs to value the opinions of the variety of tourists who visit our coast and see our vegetated dunes as part of our delight. Managing for stability and ecological purpose will also help protect the tourism ‘product’ that has be parleyed into the #unspoilt #Shoalhaven tourism campaign.

Litter.

The second presentation looked at mapping litter in and around Jervis Bay beaches with some control beaches just outside the area. The teams gathered litter that they found in different beach area’s and also measured the quantity of micro plastics within the sand by passing it through a 2mm sieve. They quickly realised that marine debris is currently not a huge issue in and around Jervis Bay. However the human debris was a different issue with the cigarette butt being a huge problem for Collingwood and Sanctuary Point Beaches which were the worst of those surveyed. The group offered suggestions from butt bins, to multilingual education signs and increased ranger presence. Overall though the beaches within the Bay were very clean on a global standard.

Aquatic Ecology was the last presentation I was able to attend. They scientists looked at marine biodiversity on rocky reefs and shores- in a nutshell their brief survey showed that in marine sanctuary zones biodiversity was improving- this backs up the ongoing data that is being collected by the Marine Park authority through a number of scientific sources.

Water ways at risk as Watson seeks to water down policy

Bomaderry Creek Landcare picture courtesy of
http://www.shoalhavenlandcare.org.au/uploads/2/0/2/9/20294267/7746484_orig.jpg

Water ways at risk

Greens Councillor Amanda Findley has warned fellow Councillors that potential changes to Council’s local environment plan put water ways at risk after Council supported a move away from Staff recommendations at development Committee (5/4/2016).

Staff recommended to Council that any rural boundary changes to create new rural lots should “not affect connectivity of riparian and vegetation corridors”. Councillor’s Watson and Guile declared the amendment as anti-development and were supported by all Councillors in removing the clause in the current round of policy amendments.

Councillor Findley however maintains that the changes should be made. Findley said “In removing this clause we are basically thumbing our nose at a number of State and Locally driven projects that have aimed to re vegetate creek banks and water ways and improving water quality.”

“ In allowing boundaries to run through creeks and water ways we in effect allow clearing to happen, as other policies exist that allow for boundary clearing for fencing purposes switching of Native Vegetation Laws that encourage conservation for water quality purposes”.

“It’s typical of Clr Watson who routinely aims to water down any policy that may protect the environment no matter how small a change it may be.”

“All over the Shoalhaven- Landcare projects have been funded by Local Land Services and Southern Rivers Catchment management authority to fence water ways, keep cattle from destroying creek banks and improving the vital vegetation that filters contaminants from entering the water. Shoalhaven City Council should reinforce the direction that the community is taking and follow best practice and encourage rural boundary changes to not affect these important parts of our landscape especially if it is unnecessary. “

“I am disappointed but not surprised that all the other Councillor’s followed the lead of Clr Watson and his development at any cost attitude.”

“Kiama in their submission in respect to amalgamations pointed out that Shoalhaven’s Planning is completely incompatible with theirs and this is another example of the narrow minded approach taken by the majority on Shoalhaven City Council.

REF: Page 38 Development Committee  5 April 2016, Shoalhaven City Council.

http://doc.shoalhaven.nsw.gov.au/displaydoc.aspx?record=D16/91294

Shoalhaven : Kiama merger a financial disaster

map from http://www.fitforthefuture.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/Regional%20and%20Sydney%20Merger%20-%20Fact%20Sheets.pdf
 

Kiama / Shoalhaven Amalgamation :

Baird’s Bad Economics don’t add up and cost us democracy and local input.

“What is now absolutely clear to me is that Mikes math makes no sense” said Findley after the meeting of Shoalhaven Council on Monday night.

 “The State Government is like a python, squeezing Council services to death with this year’s proposed rate increase of 1.3% which doesn’t even cover wage increases, running Shoalhaven Council down and then forcing amalgamation on us regardless”.

 “ I asked the General Manager what the Shoalhaven expected to raise from its planned rate rises over the coming 4 years  and was advised that it was expected to net $21 million on current rates.”

“ At the current level of Council operations - Shoalhaven City Council needs to raise $21million to offer the current level of services and infrastructure.” 

“That $21million will not be raised under the State Governments amalgamation plan as they will freeze rates and give Councils $10million as compensation.”

 “Shoalhaven will be effectively in deficit $11million after the amalgamation and Kiama is expected to have similar projections.”

“This amalgamation isn’t about saving the ratepayer money; it’s about centralising power with the Liberal party, making the Liberal party look good because it transferred rate rises to future generations and removing representation from the community”

“With fewer Councillors in the way, we can expect unsustainable development over agricultural land and becoming another suburb of Shellharbour and corporate developers will be championed.”

 “The NSW State Liberal party are looking to get a better return on their Princes Highway investment and this is how they will achieve it – by throwing out Council’s and the respective Councillors that get in their way and developers way.”

“The State Government wants Shoalhaven and Kiama to amalgamate by 2016 /2017 and have promised no rate increases. To achieve no increases the State Government propose a rate freeze. When the freeze is finished we will have fewer services, less infrastructure, more debt and require higher rates than ever before”.

 “If anyone should be sacked it should be the State Government for grossly misleading the community into thinking that its amalgamation plan will save money in the long run when clearly it won’t!”

“The Shoalhaven was declared Fit for the Future on scale and capacity meaning we are already large enough. People already feel like they don’t get effective representation and that will get worse under an amalgamated Council.”

“Kiama ratepayers pay much more than the Shoalhaven and we do not want the rate burden from these ratepayers transferred to our towns and villages that already struggle.”

“The State Government has left the North Coast alone. The North Coast has recently dumped the Liberal party over Coal Seam Gas issue’s and elected The Greens, seems they are concerned about further alienating themselves. ”

“The Shoalhaven is traditionally a strong Liberal area and the State Government is taking this support for granted and expect little kick back from our community keeping their big corporate mates happy.”

"If our community fail to have their say-then Mayor Gash will most likely get behind the proposal as she has not ruled it out".

Support for Bluescope needed to keep high skilled manufacturing jobs in the Illawarra

Shoalhaven Greens call on State and Federal Government to support Bluescope Steel.

The Shoalhaven Greens are calling on the NSW State and The Federal Government to get behind the Green Jobs Illawarra Plan and enact this plan which could save Bluescope’s blast furnace number 2.

Greens Councillor Amanda Findley said “Bluescope are well placed to be at the forefront of renewable energy in Australia with their manufacture of high quality Australian Steel and we have the associated highly skilled work forced to get the plan moving”.

Meanwhile the Prime Minister will roll back investment in the renewable energy sector with his direction to the Clean Energy Fund to cease funding wind and solar and the reduction in renewable energy targets. The Abbott Government’s backward attitude to renewables condemns the Green Jobs Illawarra Plan”

The Green Jobs Illawarra Plan presented to the NSW Premier in 2009 has a strong focus on renewable energy – in particular wind turbine manufacture. The action plan also focused on skilling up our work force to be part of the renewable energy revolution.

“The Baird Government needs to get on board and campaign for the Illawarra with his Federal party colleagues to make them see the economic sense of the Greens Jobs Illawarra Action plan”.

“It will be a major setback for the local economy and manufacturing if the blast furnace closes. We should be manufacturing multi-million dollar wind turbines in Wollongong and exporting across the country and the world not importing them.

Past Federal Governments in Australia have taken aggressive positions in respect to infrastructure and now is a great time to invest heavily in renewables, re-energise our country, our manufacturing and especially the Illawarra.

The Green Jobs Illawarra Action plan was a bi-partisan plan that was broadly accepted by our diverse community.

https://www.nswbusinesschamber.com.au/NSWBC/media/Ilawarra/Advocacy/2009-Green-Jobs-Illawarra-Action-Plan.pdf

Federal Pre-selection and the NSW Greens - my speech full text.

Amanda Findley at the Ashfield Town Hall pre-selection forum 19 June 2015

Following is the full text of the speech I delivered at Ashfield Town Hall on 19 June 2015 as part of the meet the candidates forum for the NSW Greens pre-selection. The prepared speech was delivered, followed by a 3 min speech chosen from a random topic and a half hour preparation time. The fifteen mins. of questioning afterwards was an intense and broad ranging flurry of topics. Even though I was nervous going into the session,  I enjoyed the rigor of the session. If you are a Greens member reading this and you have watched the You Tubes from the session you will see that I didn't quite finish what I prepared and the text is slightly different as I adlibed through my own content.

Just for context here is the scenario I was given for the second short speech

Renewable energy and war

You are elected a Greens senator and become a leading advocate for a new form of highly cost-effective solar technology that is pricing out both coal and gas from the Australian energy market.

You are hosting a 'half way there' party to celebrate the first year in which more than half of the electrical energy used in Australia was generated from renewable sources. Much of the success has been because of the new solar technology.

The mineral tantalum is a critical feedstock for the production of the new solar technology.

The day before your party, a United Nations report is released showing that mining for tantalum in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been responsible for escalating a war that has already killed 100,000 people and is likely to get much worse as the demand for the mineral increases.  Other countries can produce tantalum but at very much greater price, with consequences for the cost-competitiveness of the new solar technology.

Speech for Greens pre-selection.               

I want to pay my respects to Aboriginal elders past present and future and to acknowledge that the land on which we meet was is and will always be Aboriginal land.

I have spent the last 8 years enjoying my  apprenticeship within the party, which started with a bang when I threw myself in the deep end and contested the 2007 State election. I haven’t looked back in fact I think my life has sped up considerably since making that initial decision. 

I keenly felt the defeat of Kerry Nettle during that election and found it difficult to reconcile why NSW voters couldn’t see what we Greens could see. The planet needed protecting from climate change, that asylum seekers had a right to seek asylum and that our fragile environment needed all the help we could give it.

Part of my apprenticeship had been served on Shoalhaven City Council – I was elected for two consecutive terms and I am currently considering my future in local government.

The 2015 state election really brought home to many the importance of local campaigns, conversations, strong local groups and critical issues. We Greens didn’t   need to move to a more conservative position within the political spectrum but our dedication to environmental protection and standing up for the vulnerable shone through. Even though we achieved electoral success our average vote remained virtually unchanged,  more than ever a plan to tap into the fertile ground of Western Sydney were millions of potential voters reside is needed.

We have fantastic local groups working in Western Sydney building The Greens profile, but imagine what we could do by strategically focusing annually on a geographical area and making a concerted effort with the local groups. Working with NGO’s and community groups to provide interesting and interactive forums that inform our policy work, mass doorknocking  events,  the holding of a number of our SDC’s in the chosen region. Many of you have experienced working in small groups, how draining it is just to work through election cycles. What a difference a pledge of one day per member Could make in, promoting a Green’s inspired future,  the hope we could generate for those who feel like there is little.  I remember as a young person living in Campbelltown that there was so little hope it was easier to look for opportunities to obliterate yourself than it was to look for allies who seemed invisible.  We have to be there for people and they don’t need to look hard to find us, especially when concerns about housing and basic needs are high priority.

Part of building our narrative of hope is to refocus on tackling climate change. Some in this room grew up with cold war threats of nuclear war, some of us enjoyed the relative calm of the interwar years, but we need to offer hope for Generation Z and beyond, who are growing up in a world threatened by climate change.  The next election cycle offers us great opportunity to differentiate ourselves once again by promoting a national campaign similar to the NSW 100% Renewables. With iron ore and coal prices declining, and our PM declaring war on wind energy and  wind as a blight on the landscape we need to capitalize swiftly and continuously on the benefits of a renewable energy future, possible, affordable and essential, should be the three words on the lips of all. The economic benefits are not hard to sell and we can recruit those householders who have great home solar stories to tell to help us in imagining a renewable future. I have had some involvement in the home and remote solar industry and many of our  clients didn't identify as ‘being Green’ but when we spend  time talking to them about that you can see a shift in thinking taking place. The technological revolution continues apace and we are the only party that embraces science over corporate greed. We need more open communication and build our allies with the scientific community.

Our environment is continually under threat, State Governments continue to undermine decades of progress that put some protection into a development system that was tipped so far in favour of the developer. If campaigns are the life blood of The Greens then it is surely our responsibility to roar loud and often about the Federal Governments current legislation that seeks to hand the administration of Commonwealth threatened species protection over to the states. In the last month the EDO have made it clear that such an act will see a massive decline in environmental standards. Environment Victoria seem to be the only group making a concerted campaign effort in this space and we need to take a more prominent position- main stream media might not find it ‘worthy’ but our friends in the 5^th estate can ensure that the message and its importance isn’t lost.

New Loo something to be proud of

Its not often you can be proud of a toilet, but Shoalhaven City Council on a recommendation from the Access Advisory Committee has committed to building a Changing Places Bathroom at the soon to be completed leisure centre.

I have been a member of and chaired the Access Advisory Committee for six years and it is one of the most satisfying roles I have had on Shoalhaven City Council. The committee recommends changes to Council in respect to accessibility.

I recently put to Council a motion to require Council to review its Tourism Master Plan to make sure that it included Inclusive Tourism for at present it barely mentions  accessibility.

The Access Advisory group are a wonderful group of dedicated people  who bring forward issues relating to amenity for the visually impaired, hearing impaired and for those with physical ability issues.

Here is how the register reported our first win for the year - we won't be the first - but there are only about 5 across NSW.

Check out TravAbility for more on advocacy for inclusive travel

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Sailability sailing program for all

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Seven Principles of Universal Design  

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Changing Places campaign            

Nowra first in NSW with special change room

By SIMON BROWN

Jan. 20, 2015, 4:43 p.m.

SUCCESS: Annette Pham, with son Adam, outside the construction site that will become the Nowra Aquatic Centre, the first place in NSW to have an accredited Changing Place toilet for people with a profound disability.

A LOCAL mother is helping bring about a quiet revolution in NSW.
Annette Pham from Vincentia, the mother of Liam, 12, who suffers from a profound disability, is championing the introduction of accredited Changing Places fully accessible toilets, not just in the Shoalhaven but nationwide.
Ms Pham said that as soon as Shoalhaven Mayor Joanna Gash and council became aware of the plight of children suffering a profound disability and their carers when it came to a lack of change facilities, they were determined to do something about it.
As a result, such a facility will now be built inside the Nowra Aquatic Centre currently being constructed.
“Shoalhaven City Council is now the first local council in NSW to have such a facility put in place. We should be very proud of our council and council staff,” Ms Pham said.
Changing Place toilets cater to the needs of adults and children with severe and profound disabilities requiring special equipment, such as an adult-sized changing table and a ceiling hoist to use in the bathroom.
“There are currently 200,000 people suffering from a profound disability in Australia,” Ms Pham said.
“And until the Nowra Aquatic Centre is completed, there will only be six Changing Place toilets in Australia, and five of those are in Brisbane.”
She said championing the cause of Changing Place toilets was easier than she first thought it would be.

“The reaction of Jo Gash and the council is what you see most of the time when you explain to people what the difficulties are.
“Knowing that if you are the carer and you go out you may not be able to change a person with a profound disability at all, or have to use the floor of a public toilet or a park bench, can influence you to stay at home.
“Many carers in this position suffer depression, and when they try to do something by themselves may injure their back.
“The cause is being spearheaded by the Association of Children with a Disability. The association really wants to make things happen.”
Ms Pham said other places also installing or considering installing a Changing Place include the new Noah’s Ark building in Nowra, the new public toilet block at Burrill Lake, the about-to-be constructed Woolworths in Vincentia, and possibly a modified Changing Place at Stockland Nowra.
In the near future Ms Pham will help formulate a new standard for disabled toilets.
“The plan is to make it easier for the NSW government to change building standards so than in future any large building with public access, such as a cinema or aquatic centre or shopping centre, will have to include a Changing Place toilet.”
Cr Gash said Annette Pham was good at hassling councillors and ministers at both the state and national level.
“Which of course is what makes change happen,” Mayor Gash said.
“All members of the council were very supportive of the changes. The need was always there, but we were unaware of it.
“We’re very proud to be the first local council in NSW to set up a Changing