Retail giant Harvey Norman has come under fire for their timber sourcing habits, with the company using timber from native Australian old growth forests as well as Indonesian rainforest timber in their furniture. Elizabeth McArthur reports.

Native Australian old growth forests logged for commercial gain. Image: rodbot

The ongoing campaign driven by activist group Markets for Change came to a head when three protesters recently scaled the Sydney Opera House to unravel a banner reading “No Harvey No- stop selling Aussie forest destruction.”

Louise Morris, campaigns manager at Markets for Change said, “From floor surveys we have conducted in Harvey Norman an average of 70% of the wood products found in their stores were Australian native forest wood products.”

Miss Morris maintains that, “It is the responsibility of retailers to implement procurement policies that rule out selling high conservation value Australian native forest products- instead moving to plantation based products.

“Well managed plantations are a viable alternative to logging of native old growth forests.

“Mixed specie plantations grown in appropriate areas are the perfect way to supply our wood and paper needs, while leaving native forests to be carbon and biodiversity stores and to act as watersheds, which is what they do best.”

In response to the campaign Gerry Harvey said, on ABC radio, “You know, I’m trying my best to use recycled timber or timber from plantations and not old forests.

“But every now and again something will slip through and I’ll be caught using timber from old forests, but it well could be timber that the Government in fact has told saw millers that they can actually – they can take it. They’ve got a certificate to take it.

“So it’s a little bit dicey sometimes.”

However Mr. Harvey’s claims have been questioned by Get Up who recently posted on their website, “the reality is – Harvey Norman has contracts with loggers in Tasmania, NSW, Victoria and WA to source wood from our most precious native forests.

“Harvey Norman has started using industry spin and a dodgy industry certification scheme to try and deflect mounting public pressure and protests.”

Get Up is continuing to ask the public to sign a petition with the goal of Harvey Norman agreeing not to source timber for high conservation value forests.

They aim to circulate the petition to every Harvey Norman store in Australia, in the hope that franchise owners will take notice even if the larger company doesn’t change their policy.

Harvey Norman is not the only retailer who sources material from high conservation value forests; earlier this year envelopes from Kmart were found to contain Indonesian rainforest wood.

When asked why Harvey Norman was specifically targeted for the campaign Ms Morris said, “Harvey Norman was chosen as a campaign focus as they are Australia’s largest furniture and electrical retailer, with stores in other countries as well.

“The Harvey Norman campaign is an ongoing one whereby we are working to the aim of Harvey Norman implementing procurement policies that rule out the selling of native forests products in their stores.”

A small island in Denmark became CO₂ -neutral in less than ten years. Several bigger cities in Denmark now try to accomplish the same. Miriam Ønya reports.

A proposal by university professor Dr John Hadley to grant endangered animals property rights has caused a number of farmers groups and ecologists to react. Jamesina McLeod reports.

Some Australians are taking their commitment to the environment to the grave, opting for eco-friendly burials where headstones are replaced by GPS coordinates. Elizabeth Pratt reports.

Green burials where graves are marked by GPS coordinates instead of a headstone. Image: Susannah Singh.

Hidden in the bushland of Lismore is a piece of rough scrubland. It’s a serene spot surrounded by gum trees, where koalas are frequent visitors and the perfume of eucalyptus leaves drifts in the air.

But unlike other bushland parks in NSW, you’re not likely to find a family settling down for a picnic to spot the koalas. You’re more likely to see them walking around staring intently at a handheld GPS looking for a grave.

In the latest environmental trend, parks like this are becoming natural burial grounds where in place of a headstone, families use a device like a mobile phone to pinpoint the location where their loved one is buried.

“It’s the natural and original way that people got buried. They weren’t in a box, they weren’t in a concrete crypt, they didn’t have a big marker, they weren’t in a row; they were randomly placed in the earth.”

Zenith Virago is the founder of the Natural Death Centre, an organisation that has operated in Byron Bay for the past 15 years. The centre facilitates natural burials for those wishing to minimise their impact on the environment at the time of their death by following eco burial guidelines.

“You’re not using plastic in the coffin, you’re using a cardboard coffin…a recyclable substance, or you can be buried in a shroud with permission from the health department… all of that reduces the amount of waste you’re using,” Virago says.

The Australasian Cemeteries and Crematoria Association defines natural burials as “the act of returning the body as naturally as possible to the earth”. This is achieved without the use of cremation, which can generate up to 160kg of greenhouse gasses per corpse, and without the use of embalming liquids that often contain the carcinogenic chemical formaldehyde, that can leak into the soil once a body is buried.

Bodies buried within natural burial parks such as Lismore’s Bushland Cemetery are interred without the use of headstones or cement faces. This is to minimise the amount of fuel needed in the burial process and also to avoid disrupting the natural landscape. GPS navigation pinpoints the exact coordinates of the grave, made available to families so they can find the resting place of their deceased loved ones.

Few would argue that green burials aren’t a unique idea, with many believing they do have significant environmental benefits, but Greg Milgate, NSW Operations Manager of Gregory and Carr Funerals, isn’t too keen on the idea.

“You can’t say to someone ‘Dad’s laying just there’ if you haven’t got something that’s marked,” Milgate says.

“You’re going to have coordinates and you’re going to pace it out but how sure are you that you’re standing on the spot where your loved ones are buried? If I’ve got a head stone there I know it’s the head of the grave, I can be 100 per cent sure.”

Milgate has been in the funeral business for 20 years and has dealt with over 20,000 burials and cremations. Although not a strong advocate for Natural Burial Parks Milgate acknowledges the growing need within the funeral industry to preserve the environment.

“Everything we do we try and do so we don’t harm the environment,” he says, though is quick to admit green alternatives can often come with a hefty price tag.

“I will say to people ‘I can get you a cardboard coffin, but I can’t get you a cardboard coffin cheaper than a normal coffin’. If anything the cardboard is more expensive because it has to be treated to carry the weight.”

Milgate personally wishes to be cremated, a trend he has seen increase in the past decade; partially because people have less time, (and cremation is less time consuming), and partially because he thinks people are conscious of the rising costs of burial, with space becoming more of a problem.

“You get to a stage where you have so many millions of people in Australia and you have so many thousands dying every year, you’re going to run out of space to bury them eventually,” he says.

Using already existing bushland to combat this problem has become the next viable step.

“The reason we actually started this bushland cemetery was simply because we had land available that we couldn’t use for any other purpose,” says Kris Whitney, Coordinator of Lismore Bushland Cemetery.

The land within the cemetery is home to a species of koala that was recently put on the endangered species list. This meant the land couldn’t be developed into a traditional lawn cemetery, and would need to be left as it was. Whitney believes this rough scrub landscape is part of the appeal of natural burial at the site.

“You’re left with the grass understorey and a tall structure of eucalyptus above that, so it becomes a nice open cemetery environment if you like,” he says.

“The reason people want to be buried like that is because they want to be buried in nature, so they want the nature to be omnipresent, they just want it to be natural,” Virago says.

Australia has natural burial sites in Lismore, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia and most recently at Kemps Creek in Sydney. Although many in Australia are turning towards green alternatives, green burial is still considered an alternative funeral practice by many.

Jane Bravery of Lismore works in the funeral industry and is currently studying eco-cultural history. Since the Lismore Bushland Cemetery opened in 2008 Bravery says the response has been largely positive, but it is still considered alternative.

“It’s not a mainstream thing. It doesn’t appeal to everybody because not everybody would like having to walk through native bushland to find a plot.”

Bravery does believe that from an ecological perspective making use of land without harming the environment is a positive step forward.

“In observing the eco-burial guidelines it’s not destroying a piece of land. I think if we have to have cemeteries it’s a good alternative. It’s being able to use land that otherwise wouldn’t be able to be used, it saves claiming land and redeveloping land somewhere else,” she says.

Virago believes green burials not only have an appeal to those with an environmental conscience but also for people looking for a more personal, special experience for those who are left behind.

“People start to get dissatisfied with the experience and start to think, ‘there must be another way of doing this.’ So we slow it down, we build our own coffin, we drive it in our own car, we take the body home to spend some time with it, we have the ceremony in the park, we share food together and it is a very different experience, a very special way of saying goodbye to someone,” she says.

Ultimately, those in the funeral industry, whether operating from a traditional or eco-friendly stand point, are in agreement that any burial process that fulfils the desire of the deceased to return to the earth in the most natural of ways, can only be a positive thing.

“We’re here to provide people with what they want,” Milgate says. As a funeral director he believes his role is to assist in disposing of the mortal remains in a way that would have been favoured by the deceased.

“It [the grave] is the tent that houses the soul. The soul has gone on to the next life; to heaven, to hell, whatever you believe. The tent that houses the soul is all you reverently dispose of. And that’s what we say we do, we are reverently disposing of the mortal remains,” he says.

At face value it is extremely hard to believe that buried beneath the gum trees and wild grasses of Lismore Bushland cemetery are 33 graves. But in talking to those who have ever come across the site, it is apparent that its natural, unruly appearance is part of its appeal in bringing beauty to an otherwise sad time.

“It’s satisfying to assist people at that time to create something that’s beautiful, that makes a difference, that transforms the sadness into a way of celebrating their relationship with someone,” Virago says.

“When you look back, you think about them being buried, laying under that tree…and that’s better than being under a bit of concrete in a row. It’s not rocket science.”

Thousands of people gathered in Sydney’s Prince Alfred Park Sunday morning to show their support for the federal government’s proposed carbon tax. Rashida Yosufzai reports.

Mums, dads, kids and climate activists made up the crowd of an estimated 8000 urging the government to put a price on emissions and invest in renewable energy, as part of a nationwide campaign organised by community action groups.

Some held politically-charged banners and placards with slogans criticising the opposition and calling for a policy shift from investments in coal to clean energy.

Simon Sheikh from activist group Getup and one of the campaign organisers, said it was time for the government to act on climate change.

“We say yes to a price on pollution and yes to clean energy investment,” he said.

“Right now our politicians are negotiating a carbon price. We say to them to make it ambitious, make sure it invests in clean energy and energy efficiency. “

Rallies were held in cities across the nation to coincide with each other as part of the ‘Say Yes’ campaign, which kicked off last Monday with a TV advertisement featuring actress Cate Blanchett. The controversial ad generated a media storm after the actress was criticised by parts of the media for being out of touch with families who are struggling with the costs of living, especially those in Sydney’s west.

But Parramatta resident Ramya Krishnan, from the Australian Youth Climate Coalition, told crowds that residents in her community were just as concerned about climate change as the rest of Sydney.

“The shock jocks don’t speak for western Sydney, neither does Tony Abbott,” Krishnan said.

“The mothers and fathers in western Sydney have big dreams. These are families who are struggling just like everyone else, but who want to lead a better world for their children and future generations,” she added.

Phil Bradley of the Parramatta Climate Action Network, which represents a group of 150 members, said western Sydney householders have genuine fears about the impact of the carbon tax, but much of it comes down to a lack of information being sent across.

“We’ve been on door-knocking campaigns and found some people were so pressed financially they were using solar lamps [instead] of lights at night, and sometimes not even having the refrigerator going because of the costs of energy,” he said.

“It’s pretty sad when some of them are saying they’ve heard prices are going up, and thinking that’s the fault of the carbon tax, which hasn’t even been introduced yet . They’re unaware that there is a compensation package part of this, that in fact makes some people better off,” he added.

There is a silent killer taking over Sydney’s harbour. Jessica Hynes writes about the spread of Caulerpa taxifolia and how it affects biodiversity in our harbour.

Caulerpa Taxifolia is spreading across Sydney's harbour. Image: Wiki Commons

Dave Thomas fears an invasion is upon us. He isn’t talking about the type of dooms-day, war-like invasion Australians feared would happen with the Japanese in WWII. But like the soldiers who sat and waited, watching for Japanese submarines entering our beloved harbour, Thomas looks out over Sydney, anxiously awaiting his enemy: the toxic marine alga Caulerpa taxifolia.

The battle began on the coast of Monaco in 1984 where a small plot was discovered in the Mediterranean Sea. Because Caulerpa is a tropical species, it was thought the aquarium strain alga would not survive the cool waters of the Mediterranean. But it did.

Caulerpa has now conquered thousands of hectares of the world’s seafloor, including 14 waterways in New South Wales.

The alga is native to tropical Queensland, but the same cannot be said for NSW. It was first discovered in NSW waters outside its natural range, at Port Hacking in April 2000.

There is no definitive answer as to how the alga made its way into our waters, although scientists deem human intervention, the dumping of aquaria containing Caulerpa, the most likely reason.

Once at Port Hacking, discoveries were soon made at Lake Conjola, Pittwater and Botany Bay. And with a rapid reproductive process of fragmentation accelerated by anchoring boats that cut up the weed and relocate it to other areas, more populations quickly appeared up and down the NSW coast.

Since 2002, Industry & Investment NSW (I&I) has undertaken a continuous research and control program involving the treatment of over six hectares of Caulerpa with 1500 tonnes of salt in hope of its eradication. Yet 14 of the state’s estuaries remain infected.

According to marine ecologist Dr Paul Gribben, salt has been able to permanently eradicate an entire population of Caulerpa at Lake Macquarie but it has not yet been achieved elsewhere.

Dr Gribben, a research fellow at the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), said: “There have been no wholesale efforts to remove Caulerpa from very large areas. It just can’t be done. There’s just too much of it. Too much Caulerpa and it costs too much money.

“The responsibility falls with the Industry & Investment department but they can only do what they have the funds to do. They are concerned but because they lack government funding they are restricted.”

Because of its aggressive reproduction process, Gribben argues there is no reason why it will not continue spreading.

Thomas is concerned that, because of its ability to grow rapidly, Caulerpa could eventually out-compete the luscious populations of native sea grass that occupy Manly’s Cabbage Tree Bay.

He said: “The sea grasses act as nursery grounds for many species. They are places where little juvenile fish can recruit, seek refuge from predation and have a source of food.

“Caulerpa will take over the areas populated by sea grass and this will impact on all aspects of animal life up and down the chain.”

Gribben, who has collaborated with I&I NSW on many research projects, believes the spread of Caulerpa is enhanced by deteriorating beds of sea grass and the situation is not a case of one species ‘out-competing’ the other.

“The sea grass is stressed by urbanisation, nutrients and sewerage,” he said.

“They get gaps in them or they start retreating and that opens up space for Caulerpa to come in. That doesn’t mean Caulerpa is out-competing sea grasses, it just means that it is taking advantage of the space.”

World-wide studies, including those held by Gribben at UTS, show that the composition of fish communities and invertebrates change when Caulerpa is introduced, notably because of its production of toxic substances that deter many species.

Dr Gribben said: “Fish don’t like to forage in it, they don’t like to eat it and they don’t like to go near it. What we may eventually see is a loss of herbivorous fish because they will move away.”

In Manly Cove and North Harbour, years of heavy anchoring activity has wiped out a lot of the native sea grass, which has made it particularly vulnerable to Caulerpa.

With sites including Little Manly Beach, Clontarf, Forty Baskets and Quarantine Beach infested, Cabbage Tree Bay is one of the only areas in the Manly region where there is currently no Caulerpa.

Thomas believes the weed would be catastrophic and provoke precious invertebrates and species of rays or octopuses to disappear.

He said: “It [Caulerpa] won’t support the number of species that sea grass will so you’ll loose fish species and this will impact diving and snorkeling, which are significant to the tourist activity and culture of Manly.”

According to I&I NSW, permanent eradication of Caulerpa in NSW waters is unfeasible due to the large size of existing Caulerpa beds. And that’s why its focus is on smaller populations.

But Thomas believes that I&I needs to be more assertive in protecting valuable areas that are at high risk of becoming infested, such as Cabbage Tree Bay.

He said: “There has to be a proactive way of coming in and enforcing rules. A zero tolerance ‘no anchoring’ policy would be appropriate but I think they’re just too scared to do it.”

Fishing has been illegal in the bay since it was declared an aquatic reserve in 2002 but boats have been able to continue anchoring, causing continuous damage to the sea grass.

Thomas said: “The anchors just rip at the sea grass. The chain mows the bottom, destroying anything it its path, and a lot of the boaties don’t realise what they’re doing. There are no visible signs around.”

“It only takes one fragment and by the time the weed becomes obvious, it will be too late to do anything,” he said. “It will be rife just like it is everywhere else.”

Environmental activists like Thomas and Manly Greens Councillor Cathy Griffin are in support of moves by the NSW Parks and Wildlife Service, who control the reserve, to ban boats from the bay entirely.

But they face fierce competition from the boating community who believe their right to enjoy public space will be infringed.

Michael Chapman, President of the Boat Owner’s Association of NSW, said: “We recognise that the sea grass is precious and that Caulerpa is a threat to Cabbage Tree Bay but with the installation of some sea grass friendly public moorings and clear signage boats should be able o co-exist with the environment.”

“Boats have been anchoring here for years, it’s a safe-haven from southerly winds, and there’s still no Caulerpa. Completely banning boats would be way too extreme.”

In 2002, Caulerpa was also discovered in South Australia’s Port River and its state government imposed an anchoring ban on all vessels.

Although Caulerpa is still present in the river, the ban was lifted in March 2011 and is now classed as a ‘containment area’, with Biosecurity SA pleading boat users to continue being vigilant to ensure the weed does not spread beyond these new boundaries.

This raises the question: Are anchoring bans effective?

One Adelaide fisherman commented on an online fishing forum Strike & Hook: “The no anchoring thing wasn’t taken seriously at all and never policed. The weed is still in the system so figure that one out. Bloody waste of time and many people missed out on fishing in there that whole time.”

Gribben argues that sea grasses, which are damaged by anchoring, are vital to the prevention of Caulerpa invasion so a ‘no anchoring’ policy in a site like Cabbage Tree Bay would be valuable.

He said: “Most of the research shows that if sea grasses are healthy Caulerpa can’t get a foothold and for this reason it’s essential we care for areas where sea grass exists.”

But it’s not just the sea grasses that need protecting, said Gribben, it’s the bare sand too.

“They have really high biodiversity of bivalves, clams, mussels and worms and, although they don’t sound exciting, they’re really important to how our estuaries function and their health.”

According to Gribben, Caulerpa is an ecosystem engineer and while other invasive species eat and compete with other organisms, Caulerpa transforms and engineers the environment.

He said: “It’s the environmental change that affects other species, it’s not Caulerpa per se. Caulerpa affects the environment and the environment affects the animals.

“The Caulerpa sucks all the oxygen out of the sediment, makes the habitat toxic and most of the animals that cannot adapt to that environment will die. It’s likely we will see localised extinctions of some species.””

Caulerpa is also rife in the waters of Pittwater, with beds at The Basin, Bayview, the western side of the Barrenjoey Peninsula and surrounding Scotland Island.

It is one of only two Caulerpa affected estuaries where commercial net fishing is still allowed.

Most of the areas in Pittwater that were commercially hauled in the past have a Section 8 Caulerpa netting closure but other Caulerpa infested areas in the region remain open to commercial net fishing.

At the present, I&I NSW is considering further closures in Pittwater to protect beds of native sea grass and, if these are implemented, the Caulerpa closure in Pittwater will be revoked.

Dr Jonathan King, Greens candidate for Pittwater, believes this would be a viable option for Pittwater.

“Given that there is a clear lack of funding that makes the prospect of eradicating Caulerpa in our area improbable, the idea of closing off areas where native sea grass exists would be effective in securing their protection.

“Although a removal program would be ideal, this would be affordable for the state government and certainly cost-efficient.”

The proposal at Pittwater would be suitable for Cabbage Tree Bay, Thomas said.

“If it can be done there, if sea grass beds could be closed to anchors and boats, then why can’t it be done here? All we need is a ‘no anchoring’ zone really!

“This really is a battle worth winning. And while it may be too late in some places, there is still a chance [for] victory here.”

Whatever it is, King is adamant something needs to be done.

“Caulerpa beds are as bad as cane toads. They’re like submarine cane toads.”

And no one likes submarines in our harbour.

In the midst of a debt crisis the people of Greece are still giving back. Bella Papadopolous Dobrowolska and Morgan Pettersson report.

Pimp My Kid in Thessaloniki. Image: Bella Papadopolous Dobrowolska

It was all about giving style and giving back in Greece’s second largest city Thessaloniki at the Pimp My Kid, fundraiser event (for the charity Amimoni); the local community were having fun, getting styled and giving back through children participating in creative activities.

“The kids are given an opportunity to be creative, and through this we can raise money for a good cause,” said event organiser Maria Alexiadou.

The two-day festival was held last week in the centre of Thessaloniki and the kids could participate in activities such as jewelery making, rock climbing, dance lessons and having their style ’pimped’ through face painting and crazy hair styles.

All the proceeds from the event are being donated to Amimoni, a Greek organisation which fights for equal rights and education for disabled children as well as providing psychological support.

The CEO of Amimoni, Sotiria Alexopulou said she was happy to see so many people attending the event.

“All proceeds are going to go towards building a new school,” she said.

The debt crisis has slowed the Greek economy but Councillor for Volunteers and Youth, Maria Paschalidou, believes charity events such as Pimp My Kid are most successful when times are tough.

”Times like these, when the crisis is weighing everyone down, it is the best time to volunteer so everyone wakes up and acts,” she said.

Pimp My Kid organiser Maria Alexandriou agrees.

Creativity in action at Pimp My Kid. Image: Bella Papadopolous Dobrowolska

”I personally think that in periods of crisis this is the time when we need to do this. People are disappointed and depressed, events like Pimp My Kid pimps your mood,” she said.

The volunteer coordinator for the event, Marisa Krystallakou was surprised about how many people expressed an interest in volunteering.

”I was glad to see that so many people wanted to help by volunteering; through this event people have a chance to play and spend time with their child,” she said.

Radio producer Nikolas Chatzis was happy he could give back to the community by volunteering, especially while the economic situation is bleak.

“I feel very good to be volunteering for a good cause like this. Everyone should be volunteering in the time of the debt crisis. To help someone is free,” he said.

The event chose to not print flyers or posters but instead used social media to promote the weekend. In doing so the organisers minimised the environmental impact and kick-started the community spirit during the tough economic climate.

Four Australian guys are driving across the globe attempting to ‘fill-up’ only on biofuel. Jamesina McLeod reports.

Four Australian guys are attempting to drive across the globe the green way. Image: thegreenwayup.com

Burgers and Friday afternoon fries – the next solution to our environmental energy crisis?

According to the boys from The Green Way Up, it could be a possibility. The Green Way Up team consisting of Justin, Oscar, Bob and Chuck, are recycling all the plant and animal fats they can beg, borrow or steal from restaurants and street stalls to drive, sail and moped their way from Tasmania to Belgium.

Using biofuel to make their way across multiple continents, their aim is to never have to fill up at a petrol station.

Harnessing their respective DJ-ing, marketing, engineering and welding talents, Justin, Oscar, Bob and Chuck have been planning the six-month trip for two years. Most of this time was spent designing and building the portable biofuel converter and aluminium boat they are using on their trip. When finished, they will be donated to a tsunami-affected community.

Starting with a big idea but with no money, the team was stunned by the generosity of supporters who heard about them through their Facebook and Twitter pages.

The Green Way Up interview with Justin

“Fundraising has been really good at the moment, we’ve been getting support from all over the world,” said Justin, who was surprised by the number of anonymous donations after word spread about the project online. The $20, 000 needed to microfinance their boat was raised in three weeks through online donations.

Apart from carving donators’ names onto their boat, the boys will continue to thank their supporters through an interactive googlemaps page allowing people to track their progress and comment on their journey on thegreenwayup.com.

Their trip is being made into a documentary to be released later this year.

Read the transcript below.

Jamesina: So Justin, it’s yourself, Bob, Chuck and Oscar setting off on this epic expedition. How did this all start?

Justin: You know initially when we started the idea we didn’t have an idea of what the benefit would be apart from just engaging our friends and followers as we got on the road and for us that was an attractive idea simply because it was going to inform what we saw along the road, where we went and what was cool and interesting to do.

Jamesina: And how does the Green Way Up concept campaign fit in?

Justin: The Green Way Up concept was exactly that it, it was to make the whole movement palatable, to show what was good and interesting and to not associate environmentalism with guilt and negative emotions. Not to ram a message down anyone’s throat or run a hard line with a particular sort of perspective on the environment but we just wanted to create conversation around what was happening in every aspect of sustainability.

And that’s what we’ve done with our website – greenwayup.com – it’s a commentary on what was cool and interesting, innovative and just fantastic in the world of green design, green technology, green art, all of the above.

Jamesina: How important has social media been for you guys?

Justin: We knew the best way to spread the message was through a medium that our generation was familiar with and community participation, social media participation has been critical. That’s one of our main tools for engaging as we go. No one had seemed to have done that facebook-twitter-googlemaps mashup before, enabling one to geographically find and follow our route.

Jamesina: You’re on the road for 6 months and almost as many continents – what are you looking forward to most?

Justin: Once the website really gets up and rolling, when we start getting a lot of comments on the [interactive google]map, I’m really looking forward to actually meeting the people who are engaging with us through our facebook and twitter and maps and saying “come visit us here and here and here!” I think that’s going to create a really nice organic element to the whole trip.

The four of us haven’t really contemplated what to expect once we hit the road because it’s been “go-go-go!” working on the boat, the biofuel processor, the trailer. It’s pretty intense at the moment and most of us haven’t had time to look forward to what it’s going to be like on the road. But it’s going to be a hell of an adventure.

In a bid to counter the anti-carbon tax rally that happened in Canberra this month, Get Up (a community activism organisation) and environmental unions turned up in force at The Climate Action Rally to support the proposed carbon tax. Sara Vincent reports.

The carbon tax debate has drawn thousands to rally sites in Sydney and Belmore Park. Image: Sara Vincent.

According to Get Up’s national director Simon Sheikh, as many as 8,000 environmentalists flocked to Belmore Park, while 2,000 anti-carbon tax campaigners gathered at Hyde Park in the Sydney CBD.

In Belmore Park, many hoped the big turn-out would send a message of support to the government and the carbon tax.

“I think we’ve got to speak strongly in favour of the environment.

“I think it’s really about global warming not climate change at all, and I don’t really think it’s a carbon tax [but] a penalty for polluters,” carbon tax supporter, David Falcon, said.

For attendees of The Climate Action Rally the carbon tax is a small price to pay to reduce pollution and environmental degradation.

Gemma Borgom-Carrati, spokesperson for the Australian Youth Climate Coalition said the rally was the beginning of a long fight against climate change skeptics.

“We know that a sustainable and clean economy is possible in this country.

“This is why we must continue to fight to show that Sydney supports a price on pollution,” Borgom-Carrati said.

In Hyde Park, anti-carbon tax campaigners gathered with a petition signed by 25,000 people opposing the carbon tax. The petition was presented by Opposition Leader in the Senate, Eric Abetz.

Senator Abetz said climate change in Australia was ‘human-induced’, and “a result of this carbon tax.”

Anti-carbon tax campaigners were generally concerned with the rise in the cost of living for Australian families.

Peter Stanton was at Hyde Park and calls himself a ‘real Greeny’ who wants to see the best done for the environment. But he said before applying a tax on citizens, the government should invest in planting trees to absorb carbon dioxide.

“Climate change has been around since the Big Bang.

“Otherwise we would be on hot lava, wouldn’t we? Climate change is a daily occurrence, it’s not something that humans can affect…” Stanton said.

Former One Nation party leader Pauline Hanson was at Hyde Park in support of the anti-carbon tax movement. Hanson said “greed” was behind the carbon tax.

“I totally disagree with the carbon tax.

“It’s a tax on people that can’t afford [it], but it’s also, I believe, a tax for the multinationals to make money out of people.”

“I think it’s going to turn into big business. So, people will make a lot of money out of it. I see greed behind it,” Hanson said.

In an address to protesters, Sheikh said the next six months will be crucial for believers of climate change.

“[In the next six months] we must achieve a price on pollution and we must achieve substantial investment in renewable energy.”

Get Up has organised a second Climate Action Rally to take place in Brisbane on April 9.

Government drawback means solar is growing up, Benjamin Vozzo reports.

The solar energy industry has received little government support so far. Image: Daniel Figueroa.

A decision by the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency to phase out Solar Credits a year earlier is being flagged as a win for the solar energy industry.

The decision means that average government support for a 1.5 kilowatt system in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth or Adelaide would be reduced from about $6,200 to about $5,000.

Mark Twidell, the executive director of the Australian Solar Institute, says that the recent announcement by Minister Greg Combet shows that the industry is beginning to support itself without government help.

“The technology costs are coming down. The industry, as it continues to expand, is able to lower prices and the result is that generally governments around the world are reducing the level of
subsidy support, which is a good thing,” he says.

“If you were to think of solar energy as you might think of a human being, we’re probably just entering our teen years. We’re yet to leave home. I think leaving home is when you can start to look after yourself.”

Twidell believes the government has an important part to play in helping the solar industry to gain independence and compete in the energy market.

“Every market around the world is in some ways the result of government policy. Those policies manifest themselves in subsidies and incentives to help build the market for solar power so
that more investment can come in, which lowers the cost,” he says.

But not everybody believes governments have helped the industry get on its feet. Recent amendments to state and territory feed in tariff systems created a level of uncertainty for businesses in the sector, and caused confusion to the consumer.

The NSW State Government recently decided to slash the household feed in tariff for solar panels from 60 cents to 20 cents per kilowatt an hour.

Not all states are following this pattern. In August, South Australian Premier Mike Rann announced that he would be increasing the feed in tariff by 10 cents to 54 cents per kilowatt an hour.

Not only do the rates vary from state to state, but so too do the duration of subsidies.

Matthew Wright, the executive director of the non-profit, volunteer organisation Beyond Zero Emissions says that the recent changes by state and federal governments have not helped the industry to achieve its full potential.

“The main issue around it is the stop-start nature of policy, which basically means that industry can’t really scale and ramp in an orderly way, or follow thorough with the quality that is needed,” Wright says.

“So perhaps [the] market was a bit more heated in ramping faster than it needed to, but that didn’t mean that you pump it and dump it.”

Wright believes that a uniform feed in tariff would reward production and ensure consumers seek out better quality panels and installations.

“What we really need is a national approach, it should all be based around a feed in tariff . . . and renewable energy certificates should be eliminated as upfront subsidies because they don’t reward production,” he says.

Max Sylvester, general manager of Innovation at renewable energy company Energy Matters, says that the recent announcement by Mr Combet does have an impact on the stability of the industry, but also shows that solar energy is on the way up.

“It’s kind of bad for the industry, but it proves that the industry actually works and that people are producing meaningful amounts of power,” he says.

“I think it will play a huge role in the future . . . once the panel is produced, there’s no emissions from the energy that’s created from the panels. So it really is an emissions-free technology.”

Sylvester also believes that the industry is being unfairly blamed for rising electricity prices.

“It’s really the ageing infrastructure. There’s billions of dollars that needs to be invested into electricity infrastructure, but it’s nothing to do with solar. Nobody has spent any money on it in the last 30 years,” he says.

Sylvester points out that solar is the cheaper long term alternative for consumers, as coal-generated electricity prices continue to rise.

“If you work it out over 25 years, you’re paying probably 10 cents per kilowatt an hour, or maybe less because of the current rebates that we have [for solar]. Whereas you’re currently paying probably 15 to 20 cents per kilowatt an hour for electricity you’re using around the house. And that’s only increasing every year.”

Like any developing sector, there are many research projects underway to increase the presence of solar energy in Australia.

The Australian Solar Institute is funding 27 projects valued at $200 million across Australia. Twidell says that one such project is looking into the benefits and development of solar thermals.

“Solar thermal technology uses mirrors to focus the sun’s light in the same way that you might do with a magnifying glass. These projects offer the advantage of being able to store heat and generate electricity after dark, and one of the challenges of solar is that we like our electricity when we’re at home at night,” says Twidell.

“I would say that the future for solar energy is absolutely bright. The industry is doubling in size almost every year around the world . . . it’s certainly the world’s fastest growing energy industry.”