I’ve decided to set up a new academic blog for me to ruminate on the big questions I grapple with in my studies and, in the future, my work.
I chose the title ‘Blergh’ from one of my favourite TV shows, 30 Rock. For a blog that will mesh my interests in academia, pop culture, digital media, government, democracy, politics, participatory culture and more, I think this is the perfect title.
You can access the new site at www.blergh.org or follow it on Twitter @BlerghOrg.
As you read this post, please bear in mind that I am certainly not a Greens supporter. If you want to read about my political convictions, check out this post.
I am fundamentally disturbed at suggestions the Federal Government may have authorised or participated in the covert surveillance on a member of the Federal Parliament. Scott Ludlam, a Greens Senator from Western Australia and the Greens spokesperson on Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy, has said his phone might have been hacked during his recent time with cyberpunk Jacob Appelbaum.
Appelbaum is variously described as a hacker and an ‘independent’ security researcher. He has been associated with Wikileaks and is perhaps best known for regularly being stopped by US authorities when entering that country. He was in Australia to speak at a conference called War on the Internet, alongside Crikey writer Bernard Keane and Ludlam.
Crikey‘s Andrew Crook and Ludlam take up the story:
“I was Jacob’s chaperone back from Ballarat to Melbourne for the forum … and I discovered first thing in the morning that the battery was being chewed through freakishly quickly,” Ludlam told Crikey. ”I needed to put another other charge on it by about 10 or 10.30 in the morning. So it was being eaten up two or three times faster than normal.”
Appelbaum explained his phone may have been “off”, in the language of the intelligence services.
“That’s one symptom if the transmitter’s been switched on remotely so it’s basically broadcasting whatever it’s hearing … that would be one reason the battery was being chewed up,” Ludlam said. ”I wouldn’t have thought much about it, except for the fact that I’ve been spending quite a bit of time recently around people that who are actually surveilled.”
If the Government decide they need to keep tabs on Appelbaum while he’s in Australia, fine. I am most concerned that they did it by tracking an elected government member. If Ludlam was tracked, it is a severe slap in the face to any vestige of free and representative government and it is an insult to democracy. Various academics and others have suggested our democracy is corrupt in any number of ways, not least because of the interference of lobbyists, but this type of action is rarely discussed. The main reason for that lack of discussion is probably that, if it occurs, it is well-covered.
Ludlam doesn’t appear to be worried about the possible consequences of speaking to Crikey, and the Fairfax press has since picked up on the story as well. That, at least, is positive. If this type of behaviour is discussed in public, we have a better chance of eradicating it.
Tell me what you think. Is it likely Ludlam was surveilled by our government? If so, do you think this has serious consequences for Australian democracy?
This was written for a journalism assignment:
DRAMATIC footage of a foamy discharge from a coal seam gas well in south western Sydney has added to concerns around the controversial industry. The video, filmed by a Greens member of the New South Wales parliament, appears to show an unidentified foamy chemical mix being forcefully expelled from the well. Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham, who filmed the video expressed concern about the location of nearby housing and water facilities and called on the NSW Government to investigate the incident.
The incident came amongst growing opposition in Australia to the controversial industry, which uses a broad mix of chemicals to force gas up from within underground coal seams. For Buckingham and others concerned about the environmental impacts, especially of pollutants, from the coal seam gas industry, the discharge provides further impetus to question existing practices.
In parliament, Buckingham’s questions to Duncan Gay, who represents the Energy and Resources Minister in the Upper House, were met with obfustication. Gay responded to Buckingham’s request for a government inquiry into the industry by stating: “the Government provides a number of attractive incentives to encourage exploration, development and utilisation of the coal seam gas industry” and promised to refer to “refer the question to the relevant Minister.”
Community groups in areas such as the NSW Southern Highlands have embarked on vocal campaigns opposing coal seam gas extraction. Hume Coal, a joint venture between Korean steel-maker POSCO and Australian-owned Cockatoo Coal, is conducting exploratory activities around the Southern Highlands town of Sutton Forest.
Hume’s activities are being closely monitored and scrutinised by the Southern Highlands Coal Action Group (SCAG’s), whose “Shoo Cockatoo” campaign has crystalised local opposition to the project. SCAG’s activities are also being closely monitored – by Hume Coal. The company noted strong community opposition in their Review of Environmental (REF) factors prepared for the NSW Government as part of the exploration application. They gave an account of SCAG’s history, and noted the group’s primary concern related to future mining activities, not to exploration. The REF says community concerns “subsidence damage, dust and noise from surface facilities, damage to the aquifers and water supply catchment, changes in the character of the area and property values.”
Coal seam gas mining is not the only source of anxiety. As the Hume Coal REF notes, objections to the Sutton Forest activities “largely revolve around future mining”. Such mining is likely to include long wall extraction of hard coking coal for export. The community’s fears are not unfounded. A 2008 NSW Government inquiry into the impact of mining on natural features of the Southern Coalfield found there is every likelihood of surface damage when mining occurs. The report notes, “With few exceptions, at depths of cover greater than about 200m coal cannot be mined economically by any mining method without causing some degree of surface subsidence”. Hume Coal’s REF shows the Wongawilli Coal Seam lies at a depth of almost 200 metres, indicating a strong probability of effects such as surface subsidence. The report also states “non-conventional subsidence effects (including valley closure, upsidence and regional far-field horizontal displacement) regularly occur” in the Southern Coalfield.
In the Illawarra region, which also has a long history of coal mining activities, an estimated 3000 people recently participated in a beach-side protest against coal seam gas proposals. That protest was sparked by plans by mining company Apex Energy to drill 15 exploratory boreholes in their search for coal seam gas. Apex’s preliminary environmental assessment, prepared for the NSW Government in 2007, shows an exploratory lease covering most of the Illawarra region north of Lake Illawarra. Community group Stop CSG Illawarra has expressed concern on the impact of these wells, and resultant mining operations, on the quality of water, food and amenity in their region.
The group also suggest significant environmental impacts of coal seam mining, a contention supported by a determination of the NSW Scientific Committee, which is established by the Threatened Species Conservation Act. In recommending protection for Coastal Upland Swamp environments, which are abundant throughout the Illawarra (and the Apex Energy licence area), the committee notes coal seam gas mining is likely to have “significant environmental impacts on hydrological and ecological functions of Coastal Upland Swamp”. The recently-elected NSW Coalition Government has imposed a 60-day moratorium on new exploration licences for coal seam gas, which started on May 21. The moratorium was imposed to allow the Government to develop a new strategic land-use policy.
However, the freeze has no effect on existing licences, as residents in the Southern Highlands discovered when Hume Coal began their exploration hours before the moratorium was announced.
The New South Wales Youth Advisory Council (YAC) was established in 1989 under the Youth Advisory Council Act, to ensure that young people participate in the development of Government policies and programs which concern them.
The Youth Advisory Council advises the NSW Government through the Minister responsible for Youth Affairs on:
I became a member of the Council in 2009, and was invited by then-Minister Peter Primrose to serve as Chair in 2010.
In my time on the Council, I came learn more about the way government operates, and made connections with a variety of talented young people. I also contributed to reports on young driver licensing, the environment and more.