Greens make final pitch to Hunter voters ahead of election weekend

BY DAKOTA TAIT

The Greens have made a last-minute pitch to Hunter voters, just days out from the Federal Election.

It's considered a real possibility the minor party could hold the balance of power from the crossbench, offering confidence and supply to the next Government in the case of a hung parliament.

The party's promising to address local issues including housing affordability, for dental to be included in medicare coverage, climate action, and a 10-year job-for-job guarantee scheme for coal workers through the energy transition.

Senate Candidate David Shoebridge says mining jobs won't stick around, and the major parties need to prepare today.

"It's remarkable that both other major parties seem to think that coal's future will go on indefinitely," Mr Shoebridge said.

"We know that's not true, and we need politics to be honest about this, but also ensure that coal-dependent communities and coal-dependent economies have not just a lifeline, but a prosperous post-coal future."

The party's pushing a six percent wealth tax on billionaires, as well as a crackdown on tax avoidance and subsidies for corporations, to help fund the policies.

Greens Senate Candidate David Shoebridge and Newcastle Candidate Charlotte McCabe.

Coalition commits $2.7 million for Hunter Regional Livestock Exchange upgrade

BY DAKOTA TAIT

The Federal Government has committed $2.7 million for an upgrade of the Hunter Regional Livestock Exchange, as part of efforts to bolster the region's beef industry.

The project will see holding yards and cattle feeding areas expanded, new carpark facilities, and improved gates, flooring, and water storage.

It's also hoped to make it easier to load and unload cattle.

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce says it's important for the Government to get behind local industry.

“The Hunter is an important area for beef production and investing in the infrastructure we need to maximise efficiencies will put more food on the table for Australians as well as bringing in export dollars,” Mr Joyce said.

 “The beef industry is very important to supporting employment in the Hunter and this funding will enable the Hunter saleyards to operate at a higher capacity to support the agriculture industry and create jobs in the region.”

Image credit: Hunter Regional Livestock Exchange

Hunter plays host to international space radar project

BY DAKOTA TAIT

The Hunter is set to play host to a joint Australia-US project to manufacture and install ground-based radars to track space junk and keep satellites safe.

The Australian arm of US-based LeoLabs and local engineering group Ampcontrol are teaming up to lead the Australian Space Radar Project.

It's hoped the project could position Australia as a leader in space surveillance. 

LeoLabs Australia Managing Director Terry van Haren says space offers a bright future for industry. 

"We're delivering really important systems for space situation awareness, for the civil side of space, space industry, but we're also delivering systems that are important for defense, in terms of what we call space domain awareness, the mapping of the threats in orbits around the earth," Mr van Haren said.

"These radars map space, they provide a source of that data to tell us what's going on in low earth orbit and then in deep space."

Prime Minister Scott Morrison visited Ampcontrol earlier this week, stirring hopes the project will win another $80 million dollars in Federal funding, on top of $160 million already promised in private investment.

At least 200 jobs are also expected to be created across New South Wales and Victoria.

Mr van Haren says the collaboration with Ampcontrol is an exciting opportunity for the Hunter Region.

"Ampcontrol will do the final assembly of the radar modules for us, and also do the tests and electrical work that goes on, to then take them to the site, set them up, and make them functional," Mr van Haren said.

"A new economy is being formed in what is being called space 2.0, or the second space race in low earth orbit, we're getting lots of services there every day, timing for all our systems, navigation systems that people drive around on."

LeoLabs 1D phased array space radar.

Hunter's Coal Industry Soul-Searching After United Nations Climate Change Report

BY DAKOTA TAIT

The Hunter's coal industry has been forced to do some serious soul-searching this week, after the release of a United Nations report calling for the end of fossil fuel usage amidst a "code red for humanity".

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) found that billions of people would soon be at risk due to greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, and a prospective global temperature increase of 1.5 degrees by 2040.

Despite the findings, the Federal Government have maintained they will continue to support the fossil fuel sector to meet a rising coal demand in coming decades.

Shortland MP and Shadow Minister Assisting for Climate Change Pat Conroy says the report should be a "wake-up call". 

"It's very sober reading, it's depressing quite frankly," Mr Conroy said.

"But the good news is that the report makes it very clear that it's not too late for humans to arrest this global warming, and arrest and avoid the worst impacts of climate change."

"There is still hope, but it needs the world to take a concerted action to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions."

The Opposition has faced its own internal strife about climate change policy, with Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon playing down the country's contributions to global emissions, and Paterson MP Meryl Swanson calling for a measured approach to preserve local jobs.

But Mr Conroy says the lack of action isn't just bad for the environment, but a poor business decision too. 

"We're missing out on these huge economic opportunities of the new industries that are being created to help decarbonise the world," Mr Conroy said.

"We're missing out on electric vehicle manufacturing, battery manufacturing on a significant scale, and all the other industries."

"There's a huge economic opportunity if we take action on climate change, and a huge cost if we don't."

Draft Strategy Released to Clean Up Air Across the Hunter

BY DAKOTA TAIT

The NSW Government has proposed a new draft plan which hopes to turn air pollution in the Hunter around for good.

The Draft Clean Air Strategy, released on Thursday, addresses a number of key areas in air quality policy, including cleaning up industry, making fuel and transport greener, and being better prepared for pollution events.

Environment Minister Matt Kean says last year's bushfires highlighted the fact there was work to be done in the area.

“Our Draft Clean Air Strategy sets out five key action areas to mitigate community exposure to poor air quality, both during extreme events and on a day-to-day basis," Mr Kean said.

“We’re asking everyone with an interest in air quality in NSW to help us shape the final Strategy by sharing your knowledge and providing your feedback."

The draft plan draws on previous public consultation and a number of other Government policies.

But while Singleton GP Dr Robert Vickers says the Government's new proposal is exciting, there were fatal flaws still not addressed by the current version of the plan.

"We know the problem with the load-based licensing scheme is that mines are exempt," Dr Vickers said.

"The idea of load-based licensing is that your license fees, that you pay to the EPA, are dependent on how much total pollution you emit. When you're responsible for 90% of the coarse pollution in your area, it's a bit ineffective to be exempt from that scheme."

Community groups are also calling for stricter regulations on local power stations to bring emissions in line with global standards.

Dr Vickers says he's hoping the Government takes this community consultation on board. 

"We've done the work for them," Dr Vickers said. "It goes into the detail of what needs to be done, it's evidence-based."

"It's great to see Minister Kean commit to releasing this plan, I have no doubt that he's probably going to cop a lot of flak from it from some of the industry, and we fully support him implementing a plan, but we want to make sure that it's evidence-based and it's going to be effective."

Members of the public can provide feedback on the plan at http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/clean-air-strategy.