ISSUES

ENVIRONMENT

Global warming

Carbon dioxide reduction

I will seek incentives to encourage all Australians to plant or to sponsor planting at least 2 trees per year. Sites for such plantings will include disused mine sites and other degraded lands to improve the soil over time and near water ways to assist in retaining ground moisture during dry spells.

Carbon Tax

I will seek to repeal this tax now it only waits for assent to become law

This tax cannot reduce carbon dioxide emissions but will cause a dangerous shift in funds from one sector to another. there will be cost of living increases and losses of jobs in some industries.

It is strange to introduce this tax and to increase the out put of coal for export as the using of coal is a large source of human production of carbon dioxide.

Protection of food producing land

I will seek to identify and to protect all good food producing land from:

1. Sale to overseas interests
2. Housing development
3. Mining
4. Industrial development
5. Drought and floods

Mining Tax

I will seek to repeal this tax if it becomes law

Ownership of land

I will seek to amend the land ownership act so that:

1. Private land in Australia will be owned by Australian citizens
2. Commercial property may be owned by a company who shareholders are not Australian citizens but at least 65% of the shares will need to be owned by Australian citizens
3. Private and commercial property may be leased by overseas interests or by non Australian citizens

Coal Seam Gas Extraction 

At the moment I am not satisfied that Coal seam gas extraction is safe to ground ground water and will not contaminate food producing land and so I cannot support coal seam gas extraction until safer methods are discovered.

A company in Israel is looking to harvest from shale both oil and gas but will not be using fracking as they believe there is a safer method. We will seek to explore this method of extraction as to its viability to Australian situations.