Despite the recommendation from President of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, Justice Downes who suggested that a scuttling date should not be set before a Sea Dumping Permit is issued, the State Government have decided to do just that.
Only four days from leaving office Minister Kelly announced that the Adelaide will be scuttled on April 13 and yet the work being undertaken to fulfill the new permit conditions has not yet been completed and NSAG have serious concerns that the State Government have no intention of fully complying with the AAT's orders.
Justice Downes suggested in his summing up after the initial stay was granted that this situation should not happen in future as it caused many problems when the scuttling was challenged and the process was halted.
Have the State Government jumped the gun again and put the inevitably elected Liberal Government in the hot seat if the scuttling is challenged and delayed?
Time is getting tighter by the second. We have just under four weeks - 27 days - to go until the Government's planned scuttling date of April 13.
Terrigal State Liberal MP Chris Hartcher issued a statement which effectively said if the three conditions handed down by the AAT were met with, his party had no objection to the scuttling. Mr Hartcher's carefully chosen words were: "On the basis that the court orders are strictly complied with, the NSW Coalition has no objection to the sinking of the vessel".
This is good news: we have evidence suggesting these three conditions have not been met. But we need to get back to court. Hence we are furiously fund-raising.
Nearly 20 of us went down to the ship at Glebe Island and projected clear messages onto the huge side of the warship ex-HMAS Adelaide last Wednesday. See below.
In this newsletter:
Don't Be Fooled, This Ship Ain't Cool - No Ship April Fools Trivia Night
Stop the Sea Dumping: please donate and ACT NOW
Night projection on the ship in Sydney
Manly Daily: page 3 ship could sink enroute
Lead Group comes on board
It's compelling: www.adelaidestory.com
A dark period in NSW politics
No Ship outrage drives two new election candidates
Thinkers Not Sinkers - No Ship Trivia Night - April 1
Come along to No Ship April Fools Trivia Night for a night of fun and entertainment at Avoca Beach Surf Club - email avoca@noship.com.au for tickets or phone 0414966811. Tickets $10 - or book a table of 10.
4. Print out the written petition here, sign and post back to P.O. Box 212, Avoca Beach, NSW, 2251
5. Click here to send this form letter
to State, Local and Federal Politicans to register your objections to this sinking madness orl write your own and send to the addresses on the Letters link on home page of www.noship.com.au
6. Forward this email to your family and friends, chat with your neighbours and spread the word.
WE went to Sydney with a night projection action on Wednesday last week. Nearly 20 Avoca Beach residents, No Shippers and Wilderness Society members took to the harbour in two craft, near the Anzac Bridge and Glebe Island where ex-HMAS Adelaide is moored. The water police dropped in - and not only listened to our rousing song (see lyrics below) - but watched us project messages onto the ship.
Residents in units around Pyrmont and Balmain watched the show on their balconies.
Here are No Ship lyrics, sung to the tune of WWI anthem It's a Long Way to Tipperary:
Down to mighty Sydney
Came Avoca Beach one day.
This ship's full of toxins
Keep her out of our bay
She should be recycled
Or taken to the tip
We would like to say now:
Avoca Takes No Ship
It's a long way to Avoca
A long way to commute
It's a long way to Avoca
She might just sink enroute!
Goodbye, Adelaide
Farewell, old toxic tip
It's a long, long way to Avoca
Recycle this ship!
OPPONENTS of the scuttling of the former HMAS Adelaide off the Central Coast claim the vessel could break up and sink off the northern beaches while being towed north from Sydney.
This is compelling viewing. With our fragile global environment bearing the brunt of ongoing natural disasters it is essential we call on the precautionary principle.
Scuttling ex-warship off Avoca Beach makes no sense and may not be legal: The Lead Group
MEDIA RELEASE FROM THE LEAD GROUP – Thursday 10th March 2011
The planned sinking of the decommissioned frigate, ex-HMAS Adelaide off Avoca Beach by the NSW Government, should not go ahead on April 13, or at all, says Elizabeth O’Brien, President of the LEAD (Lead Education & Abatement Design) Group Inc.
“As far as my organisation is aware, there have not been adequate studies on the impact of lead on marine life or the fate of lead in the marine environment,” she said.
“Paint flakes falling off the ship over time could be washed ashore and become part of the beach sand becoming hazardous to people particularly young children who may eat beach sand. This also creates a hazard for wildlife, especially birds and bottom-feeding marine life.”
Ms O’Brien stated that “Australia is a signatory to the 1996 Protocol to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter 1972, which codified the "precautionary principle". Being a party to the convention, means that a body wishing to dump certain wastes at sea requires a permit. And permits for wastes such as vessels and bulky items including iron, steel and similar materials are limited to those circumstances where such wastes are generated at locations with no land-disposal alternatives.
“If the NSW Government has a permit under this Convention, then I would have to wonder how they obtained it, considering that there are up to 2.5 tonnes of lead in the 23,000 square metres of lead paint on the ship and Garden Island in Sydney Harbour sits ready and able to recycle the ship safely. Would anyone else be able to obtain a permit to dump 2.5 tonnes of lead waste at sea? Non-toxic artificial reef materials are also available, so that no one need be disappointed if the ship is not scuttled.
RECENT years of decision-making by Labor has left a stain over this period in NSW history. Unhappy community groups have erupted the State over. At Calga sand mines are threatening our aquifer (and therefore Central Coast water supply), the Australia Walkabout Park and sacred Aboriginal sites. At Empire Bay a substation is being ploughed into a protected and bushfire-prone bushland wildlife corridor. A law called Section 3a has become a byword for a bureaucratic bulldozer.
With Barangaroo Minister Kelly changed a law on the fly. The case was heard before the Land and Environment Court with the Environmental Defenders Office, the legal team which also represented us.
Across the State, community groups are outraged at the actions taken by this Government and the long term impacts these will have on their communities, families and environments long after Minister Kelly has left office.
Again, the State Government has set a scuttling date before the ship is ready and the Sea Dumping permit is approved. How do we know they have removed all the toxic items and that it will now adhere to the Tribunal's three conditions? We don't.
Our community raised more than $70,000 to get the State to admit this ship has lead paint and PCBs on it among other things.
Remember the porky pies Tony Kelly told about lead paint and PCBs on ABC TV Stateline in March last year - watch them again here. Twenty-six seconds of "she'll be right" spin:
He was proved wrong in court. There is 23 000 sq metres of lead paint on board and it will not be removed prior to scuttling. There are PCBs on board. After the Tribunal, we learnt that a sister ship's paint tested positive for PCBs. The Adelaide's paint must be tested for PCBs however State Govt are not answering our calls for this to be done. Why not?
Approximately 1 tonne of plastics will still be on the ship if it is sunk.
No Ship outrage drives two new election candidates
We're hurtling towards the NSW State election on March 26.
Our outrage at our Government's handling of the ex-HMAS Adelaide debacle has driven two Avoca Beach and North Avoca residents to challenge the system.
This NSW State political system does not work. Our concerns have not been addressed. We should not be forced to protect our beaches from our own Government. The spin and untruths from our Government has been outrageous. More on that below.
Vote for Independent Michelle Meares in the seat of Terrigal and Independent Ben Smith for the Legislative Council to show our Government you are not happy with what they have done at Avoca Beach. Their profiles and political platforms follow:
Visit United We Stand for more details.
"I have watched with increasing concern the choices our State Government is making. As a mother, I want to act to protect the future for our children.
If we want to change the way things are in our communities and State, then we need to stand up and get more involved.
Look around the Central Coast right now, and we are surrounded by beautiful beaches and bushland. But these are under serious threat. We can not afford to be complacent and expect our Government to take proper action to protect these natural assets. We can not trust them to do this, sadly.
We love our land, we love our beaches and we love our oceans – and we understand them – which is I am taking a stand to protect them."
"This is a critical time in the history of NSW. 15 years of gross mismanagement, fiscal abuse and incompetence have brought this once great state to its knees. I want our children to have a bright future and it is up to us right here and right now to set the correct course for recovery. Our actions now at this critical junction will determine the viability of this state for the next 50 years. I may not have all the answers but I have plenty of ideas and I promise the people of NSW this: If I am elected, I will work with all my determination to see this state returned to its proper position as the Premier State in Australia.”
Short letters are best. Just use your passion and jot down a few points. If you know a good reason why this ship should not be dumped off Avoca Beach, tell them.
All profits go towards the campaign to stop HMAS Adelaide getting dumped at Avoca.
Price : all tshirts $15
Email avoca@noship.com.au to purchase a shirt -adults and kids sizes available in regular or ladies style - get in fast as they are almost sold out.
Comparing the anticipated 3200 dives in the first year to the 50,000 annual visitors and users of Avoca and North Avoca Beach puts it all into perspective.
We would like to thank the supporters of No Ship Action Group for assisting us to stop this sea dumping including: Dr Tony Adams, former Chief Medical Officer of Australia, Dr Mariann Lloyd-Smith, National Toxics Network, The Lead Education and Abatement Design Group, US-based Basel Action Network, Ian Cohen NSW Greens MLC, Surfrider Foundation Australia and all those who have assisted us legally including the Environmental Defenders Office.
"I have watched with increasing concern the choices our State Government is making. As a mother, I want to act to protect the future for our children.
