Greens MP and transport spokesperson Cate Faehrmann says today’s NSW Auditor General’s report on transport and ports is a dire warning about the ability of the state’s transport system to meet future needs.

“The Auditor General’s findings should be taken as a dire warning to the NSW Government – invest in public transport now or the future economy will suffer dearly,” said Ms Faehrmann.

“It’s also clear that current management systems and planning leave a lot to be desired. The O’Farrell government must set and meet ambitious targets for shifting more goods and people by rail. This is about having the political will to shift investment priorities.

“One rail project and a few dual carriageway upgrades simply aren’t going to cut it in terms of fixing transport in NSW. We need a commitment to overhaul the public transport and freight networks within a decade or the consequences will be severe.

“Crowding on trains, slower travel speeds, passengers left stranded and successive infrastructure delays and failures – these are all frustrating but will be of no surprise to Sydney commuters.

“What’s coming down the line for transport in NSW is bleak. The NSW Government has no plan for oil depletion and still favours toll roads over rail.

“Commuters don’t want to hear governments crying poor. You don’t have to be an economist to know that the longer we wait the more expensive it will be to fix the system,” said Ms Faehrmann.

Media contact: Peter Stahel 0433 005 727

This week I put forward a motion for the Parliament to call on the State and Commonwealth Governments to purchase a huge swathe of bushland at Maddens Plains in the Illawarra that is currently up for sale. The sale is being touted by the real estate agent as an opportunity for biobanking. My motion calls for a much better idea – for the Government to purchase the land for conservation in perpetuity.

The area for sale is so important. It forms part of a chain of conservation reserves which extend from Royal National Park down to the south coast. It is also part of an east west corridor of catchments and NPWS reserves that extend from the Illawarra coast to the Blue Mountains.

In fact Wollongong City Council (WCC) was unanimous in its motion calling on Council to urgently work with the State and Federal Governments to purchase the Maddens Plains land. The Councillors have said the land should be brought into public ownership and become part of the Illawarra Escarpment State Conservation Area.

The bushland for sale is currently zoned for both Environmental Management and for Conservation. The area that is zoned as Environmental Management can be developed. This sale is a rare opportunity for the NSW Government to ensure all of this high conservation land is brought into the public ownership and reserved for conservation and future generations to enjoy in perpetuity.

The text of the motion is below.

That this House notes that:

1. Almost 6 million square metres of high conservation value land, comprising the majority of Maddens Plains, is currently for sale.
2. The sale is being touted as an opportunity for biobanking.
3. The land is currently zoned E2 Environmental Conservation which is not to be built on and E3 Environmental Management which will allow for development.
4. That the land forms part of a chain of conservation reserves which extend from the Royal National Park down to the south coast and that is is also part of an east west corridor of catchments and NPWS reserves that extend from the Illawarra coast to the Blue Mountains.
5. That Wollongong City Councillors (WCC) resolved unanimously to support a motion that Council urgently work with the State and Federal Governments to purchase the Maddens Plains land.
6. That Wollongong City Councillors have said the land ought to be brought into public ownership and become part of the Illawarra Escarpment State Conservation Area.

That this House calls on the government to:

Move to immediately purchase the entire Maddens Plain land that is for sale and to reserve it in perpetuity for conservation.

Greens MP and environment spokesperson Cate Faehrmann has moved a successful motion in the NSW Parliament to pay tribute to the life work of Sir David Attenborough and congratulate him for his significant contributions to nature conservation and education globally.

“Sir David is one of my heros. He has inspired environmentalism and conservation in generations of people in Australia and around the world.

“Sir David still has many more years left to continue his great work I know, but I wanted to move this motion to demonstrate the appreciation of all his fans and admirers in NSW,” said Ms Faehrmann.

The motion read:

1. That this House notes the outstanding lifelong contribution Sir David Attenborough OM, CH,
CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS, FSA has made to wildlife documentary making, nature appreciation and
nature conservation.
2. That this House notes that:
(a) Sir David Attenborough is a Trustee of the British Museum and the Royal Botanic
Gardens, Kew; an Honorary Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge; a Fellow of the Royal
Society and was knighted in 1985,
(b) for decades, Sir David has captivated all when bringing the natural world into living
rooms with landmark television series and books including Life on Earth, The Living
Planet, The Trials of Life, The Private Life of Plants, The Life of Birds, The Life of
Mammals and Life in the Undergrowth, Life in the Freezer and Life in Cold Blood,
Frozen Planet and Blue Planet,
(c) Sir David’s career as a naturalist and broadcaster has spanned nearly five decades and
there are very few places on the globe that he has not visited, and
(d) without Sir David’s outstanding contributions our understanding of this wondrous planet
would not be what it is today.
3. That this House:
(a) sincerely congratulates and thanks Sir David for his lifelong work, and
(b) requests that the President write to Sir David on behalf of the Legislative Council to
convey the terms of this resolution.

I draw the attention of members to the plight of the people of West Papua, a people who live a mere 250 kilometres from our northern shore. During the 1950s, with assistance from its Dutch colonial Government and the Australian Government, West Papua was moving towards independence. By 1961 the colony had its own flag, the Morning Star, and Papuan government officials. However, in 1962 conflict erupted over West Papua between the Netherlands and Indonesia, and a United Nations agreement gave control of the colony to Indonesia for six years. This was to be followed by a referendum to determine the views of the population.

But in 1969 the so-called Act of Free Choice, in which the Indonesian Government used the procedure of musyawarah—where only elders selected by the Government were allowed to vote—returned West Papua to Indonesia. Given that only about 1,000 out of one million were selected as elders, it was no surprise that they voted to remain under Indonesian control. A briefing by Free West Papua Campaign (United Kingdom) to the International Parliamentarians for West Papua stated that since 1963 at least 100,000 West Papuans have died at the hands of the Indonesian occupying forces, representing approximately 10 per cent of the population. Countless others have been tortured, raped, intimidated and imprisoned.

A military build-up in West Papua has continued under Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, and a government ban on journalists travelling to West Papua severely limits the international community’s ability to monitor the scale and impact of human rights abuses. This attack on the human rights of West Papuans reached an appalling low in October this year. The Papuan People’s Congress, the third in 50 years, was held at Jayapura in an isolated province. Its aim was to discuss human rights and the Papuans’ struggle for independence. It attracted several thousand people from some 200 tribes. It also attracted 5,000 armed personnel from the Indonesian police and army. According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, the announcement of independence at the conclusion of the congress was met with gunfire from the security forces. A reported six people were killed and dozens wounded. The newly elected President and Prime Minister were arrested, along with a few hundred more activists who were taken into custody.

Internationally, at least lawyers and others are watching. The International Lawyers for West Papua was launched in Guyana on 3 April 2009 and in the United Kingdom in October this year, bringing together Papuan independent leaders, lawyers, parliamentarians and non-government organisations to assist in the West Papuans’ fight for self-determination. Parliamentarians from around the world are watching. International Parliamentarians for West Papua was launched at the Houses of Parliament in London on 15 October 2008. The organisation was established by exiled West Papuan independence advocate Benny Wenda, and is chaired by British Labour MP Andrew Smith and Lord Harries. The International Parliamentarians for West Papua’s declaration states:

WE the undersigned recognise the inalienable right of the indigenous people of West Papua to self-determination, which was violated in the 1969 “Act of Free Choice”, AND call upon our governments through the United Nations to put in place arrangements for the free exercise of that right SO that the indigenous people of West Papua can decide democratically their own future in accordance with international standards of human rights, the principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations.

I recently joined the International Parliamentarians for West Papua. The Australian Government funds and trains the Indonesian counter-terrorism squad known as Densus 88, reportedly part of the contingent of troops who opened fire on the independence congress. I support calls by my Federal colleague Senator Richard di Natale for the Australian Government to immediately suspend all support to the Indonesian military and to send a fact-finding mission to the region. The Australian Government cannot sit on its hands any longer on this issue. The importance of the notorious Freeport mine—the most valuable mining operation in the world—cannot be underestimated in all of this. Jim Elmslie wrote for New Matilda today that the mine was imposed on the Arnungme people against their will and has been dominant in the political economy of West Papua ever since.

The mine is currently crippled and weakened by violent strikes, where tribesmen have now joined the strikers and successfully fought back police attempts to break through. The tribesmen were drawn in by the strike and, armed with spears and arrows, have been expressing their own grievances over land rights, pollution and lack of compensation from the mine. Herman Wainggai is a Papuan who lives in Australia as a political refugee; he has a key role in the West Papuan National Authority that acts as a transitional government. He puts his faith in the West Papuan National Authority to end 50 years of repression and violence at the hands of the Indonesians. He likens the West Papuan National Authority to a canoe carrying different tribes united by nationalism to be one people, one soul and one nation. He looks to countries like Australia to hear the Papuan cry for help. I look to my fellow members of Parliament from all political backgrounds to come together to show that we hear those cries and that our backs are not turned on our nearest neighbours. I ask members to support the formation of a West Papua Parliamentary Friendship Group, which will first meet when Parliament resumes next year.

Motion by the Hon. Cate Faehrmann agreed to:

1. That this House notes the outstanding lifelong contribution Sir David Attenborough, OM, CH, CVO, CBE, FRS, FZS, FSA, has made to wildlife documentary-making, nature appreciation and nature conservation.

2. That this House notes that:

(a) Sir David Attenborough is a Trustee of the British Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; an Honorary Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge; a Fellow of the Royal Society and was knighted in 1985,

(b) for decades, Sir David has captivated all when bringing the natural world into living rooms with landmark television series and books including Life on Earth, The Living Planet, The Trials of Life, The Private Life of Plants, The Life of Birds, The Life of Mammals and Life in the Undergrowth, Life in the Freezer and Life in Cold Blood, Frozen Planet and Blue Planet,

(c) Sir David’s career as a naturalist and broadcaster has spanned nearly five decades and there are very few places on the globe that he has not visited, and

(d) without Sir David’s outstanding contributions our understanding of this wondrous planet would not be what it is today.

3. That this House:

(a) sincerely congratulates and thanks Sir David on his lifelong work, and

(b) requests that the President write to Sir David on behalf of the Legislative Council to convey the terms of this resolution.

Cate with former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory Marshall Perron

This article was originally published at OpenForum.com.au here.  

At a recent forum I hosted at NSW Parliament, an unprecedented line up of high profile Australians threw their support behind voluntary euthanasia law reform and the rights of the terminally ill.  

Speakers included the former Chief Minister of the Northern Territory Marshall Perron, former NSW Direction of Public Prosecutions Nicholas Cowdrey, media personalities Richard Ackland, Mike Bowers and Jane Caro as well as the head of the national alliance of Dying with Dignity organisations, Neil Francis.  

This stellar line up is unsurprising, especially when you consider that public support for voluntary euthanasia legislation is at around 85 percent. Why then, you ask, has there been no reform in this area? It is difficult to think of other illegal things with such high levels of approval.  

Unfortunately, many of our politicians are seriously out of touch on this issue. Part of the answer lies in the misinformation that is spread by opponents of dying with dignity legislation, and the moralising of those who are unsure.  

Horror stories about voluntary euthanasia legislation in other jurisdictions are revealed as either straight out fabrications, or gross exaggeration. And schemes in Oregon, the Netherlands, Belgium and elsewhere have proven extremely successful. In the end, most opposition boils down to differing personal beliefs about right and wrong, not objective evidence.  

The Greens’ Rights of the Terminally Ill Bill would allow terminally ill patients, of sound mind and whose pain and suffering has become unbearable, to voluntarily request and receive assistance from a doctor to end their own lives.  

The bill is all about personal choice. Huge advancements in palliative care have meant that at the end of life most can be comfortable. But unfortunately, around five percent of terminally ill patients suffer excruciating pain that cannot be alleviated. Surely these people should be provided the choice to die with dignity and end their suffering if that is their wish.  

It’s no secret that voluntary euthanasia is already in practice. With the help of sympathetic families and doctors, patients regularly hasten death in order to reduce suffering, putting those they care about and medical professionals at danger of prosecution. It is far better to regulate with stringent safeguards than to leave this practice open to abuse.  

Ultimately, voluntary euthanasia is about empowering the terminally ill to make decisions about their end of life. These are personal decisions: personal choices at an intensely difficult and sacred time. That personal choice should not be impinged upon by those with differing religious and ethical beliefs.