messages from the secretary idea brisbane friday 15-17 ... · pdf fileidea brisbane friday...
TRANSCRIPT
Dear Member
Source: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/annual/aus/
Messages from the Secretary
2015 the hottest year on record and what you and I can do
iDEA Brisbane Friday 15-17 April
See attachment
iDEA Brisbane Friday 15 April; All-day RACGP-accredited workshop
Details and topics to be covered
iDEA Brisbane Friday 15 April; All day General Workshop
Details and topics to be covered
Air pollution and the National Clean Air Agreement
What we agree and don’t agree with in the agreement
Where do we go from here?
SA air quality legislation and submission
New DEA initiative for 2016 on Political Engagement with the Coalition
Members needed to join visiting teams
Please give thought to this- and do you know your members position on climate change?
DEA Student News
Preparation for iDEA
Request for participants in student contributions
Thank You to Sallie Forrest
Biodiversity Update
Human value of biodiversity, forest destruction, childhood nature experiences
New members for the Biodiversity Committee?
iDEA Renewable Hospitals”? Renewable Energy within Australian Hospitals
An important new DEA initiative to be announced and detailed at iDEA by Forbes McGain
State reports
Northern territory
Tasmania
Petition on Lapoinya, PLEASE SIGN
South Australia
NSW (Hunter)
DEA's Climate Change Subcommittee: Call for new members
Important media notice for DEA members
Unconventional gas and coal news
Senate Enquiry into unconvential gas, submissions due mid-March- Members particularly those in QLD
are asked to help
DEA action of Acland coal mine expansion and on proposed Adani mine
Reports and articles
Laugh or Cry column
Events
Messages from the Secretary
Source: http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/current/annual/aus/
Do I need to say more?-2015 the hottest year on record- again
- In 2015 Global CO2 emissions appear to have dropped for the first time during a period of economic
growth.
- In 2015, Australia’s greenhouse emissions rose by 2.0 per cent. See report by RepuTex today.
- In 2015 Australia’s rate of development of renewable energy was at a standstill and falling more
and more behind competing nations.
- In 2015, the Coalition took issue with small subsidies for renewable energy, yet they will spend
$45B subsidising fossil fuels over the next 4 years.
In 2016 I believe that all of us, you and me, need to try to do more as individuals to
bring change.
This newsletter will foreshadow two complex ways of helping this year, our initiative to bolster
climate change commitment in the middle ground of the Coalition, and a small segment of our
forthcoming greening hospital initiative to be detailed at iDEA.
The simple ways; I encourage you to come to iDEA and/or the Workshops in Brisbane, recruit a new
members for us- we need more members and funds, change your energy provider-(write to us for
help), look at the energy efficiency in your home, add more solar to your system. All these are
important. There must be one member who is venturing into battery storage and can relate their
experience…….?
iDEA Brisbane Friday 15-17 April
Please ensure this is in your diary. The program will be available within two weeks and as on previous
years, it will be an event not to be missed, a friendly time to meet colleagues and plan activities.
Please refer to the attachment for further information.
iDEA Brisbane Friday 15 April: All-day RACGP-accredited workshop
40 cat. 1 point ALM applied for
Theme: Global Developments Affect our Patients' Health
How can we Work Smarter in General Practice for our Patients and our Planet?
Topics to be covered:
Climate Change and Implications for Health and General Practice (Dr David King)
Ethical Dilemmas Associated with Population Growth - Global Responsibility in the Doctor-
Patient-Relationship? (Dr Jane O'Sullivan PhD)
Environmental Exposures in Early Life and Long-term Disease Risk (Prof Peter Sly)
Sustainability in Practice Design and Organisation (Dr Paul Angel)
Communication Tools for CHANGE ACTION - Effective Communication for Misconceptions and
Myths (John Cook, Psychologist, UQ Climate Communication Fellow)
Registrants - General Practitioners
iDEA Brisbane Friday 15 April: All day General Workshop
Workshops on health and climate change, with a focus on advocacy and leadership skills, media
communication and communication with climate change deniers.
Registrants - all medical professionals and students
David Chang is in charge: [email protected]
Air pollution and the National Clean Air Agreement
On December 15th a long awaited meeting of state environment ministers occurred to review national
air quality.
In the January newsletter we reported that the Ministers agreed to establish an annual average
standard for PM10 particles of 25μg/m3. Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory will set, and South
Australia will consider setting, a more stringent annual average PM10 standard of 20μg/m3. DEA
supports the latter and are disappointed with the agreement on PM10.
The new national air pollution standards for fine particles (PM2.5) were an annual average concentration
of 8 micrograms per cubic metre (g/m3) and a 24 hour average of 25g/m3. We congratulate the
government on introducing a reporting standard for PM2.5.
To attempt to elicit more facts around these decisions, DEA SA has been in contact with Minister
Hunter’s office and has met with the EPA SA. In particular we wished to know why SA did not officially
support Victoria and ACT; the reason appears to be with their concentration on improving PM2.5 it did
not seem important to add SA to minority support for PM10 improvement.
DEA intends to continue discussions with state EPAs to improve PM10 and to reduce the frequency of
reviews and to press for monitoring on a size of population basis as well as risk.
Environment Protection Authority Legislation Information Sheet Draft Environment Protection (Air
Quality) Policy 2016 and Explanatory Report.
DEA SA has made a submission in response to this draft and to additional air quality issues raised with
the EPA SA.
New DEA initiative for 2016 on Political Engagement with the Coalition
DEA will soon proceed with a visiting program on health and climate change to selected Coalition
members. This will use our well trusted formula of a defined briefing paper and small visiting groups.
The Coalition is inhibited from any new climate change action by a conservative wing with many
deniers. Our view is that there is no point in visiting these Members and Senators as we are not going
to change them. We will aim to engage the middle ground whose resolve needs strengthened.
A briefing paper has been prepared specifically for these individuals.
Visits will be on a state by state basis organised by an experienced member of DEA.
Victoria is usually first off the mark and members should contact John Iser [email protected] if they
would like to visit their local Federal MP on DEA’s behalf (with a Vic DEA Committee member).
DEA Student News
DEA students have held our first meeting for 2016 and we are excited about the year ahead. First on
our agenda is holding events, stalls or talks at our universities to coincide with medical school O
Weeks. We are looking forward to meeting many new student members. Once finalised, DEA students
will be promoting an exciting competition for new student members. Any student members who join
between February 8 and March 17 will go into the draw to win flights, accommodation and free
registration to iDEA16! Three lucky runners-up will receive free registration to iDEA16, a DEA tee-shirt
and a DEA keep cup. This is a fantastic opportunity for four lucky students to attend our wonderful
conference. We hope this will also encourage many other students to find out about DEA and join our
organisation.
iDEA16 is only 2.5 months away and the anticipation is building. Beau Frigault, iDEA16 convenor, and
his team are doing a great job of putting together an inspiring, educational and enjoyable conference.
DEA students are always keen to hear from any student members who are interested in getting more
involved with the organisation. There’s plenty to be done and it’s often a lot of fun too! If you have any
questions or would like to get involved, please contact us at [email protected]
Thank You to Sallie Forrest
DEA was fortunate to have Dr Sallie Forrest employed in the position of Policy & Advocacy Officer in
2015. The position was accredited by the Royal Australasian College of Physicians for advanced training
in public health medicine.
Her contribution was significant, as exampled in her report ‘Children’s Health & Climate Change,’ which
you can view here.
Dr Forrest has left DEA in an employed capacity to continue her advanced training as a public health
physician with the West Australian Health Department. However she remains a committed DEA
member and will continue her association in a volunteer capacity.
DEA wishes to thank Dr Forrest for her contribution and will undoubtedly continue to benefit from her
expertise and passion in the future.
Biodiversity Update
DEA’s Ken Winkel had an interesting article published in the Conversation as part of their Deadly
Australia series. This article and the series underscore the immense value biodiversity has provided
and will continue to provide our field of medicine remembering that over half of all medicines have
been derived from natural sources.
Of course, indigenous Australians have immense knowledge of plants and their medicinal application
as this article on the ABC website explains.
It is therefore disturbing to see the destruction of our forests and other ecosystems when we are really
just scratching the surface of understanding what they hold. The plight of the world’s forests is outlined
in another couple of articles in Conversation, see here and here.
Last week I had an article highlighting the benefits of providing children with the time and space to be
in nature for their wellbeing published on parenting website bubhub- this site has some 35,000
subscribers and so here’s hoping the parents reading it will be inspired to make the time to get their
families outside into nature, learn to love it and work to protect it. See link.
If you are interested in joining our Biodiversity Subcommittee, we’d love to hear from you, so please
email me at: [email protected]
For news and action on the Lapoinya forest destruction see News from Tasmania.
Dimity Williams, Convenor
“Renewable Hospitals”? Renewable Energy within Australian Hospitals
Hospitals are prodigious users of electricity and make a significant contribution to the
national carbon footprint to the detriment of the health of every other citizen of the world.
Surely our hospitals, with our help, should be an example in clean, healthy consumption?
There are large opportunities for energy efficiencies within hospitals that are being seized upon by
some, though actions appear ad hoc and more dependent upon agitation by local hospital staff rather
than concerted action at a state or national level.
Furthermore, there are opportunities for renewable energy generation particularly in some
geographical regions and it could be that the difficulty in reaching the renewable energy target (RET)
could actually encourage medium to large scale solar for hospitals.
There is much in favour of action. Renewable energy generation will have to increase if Australia is to
seriously address its climate change mitigation. The resilience of future electricity supplies will improve
with diversity of sources and also supply those off grid and dependent on diesel. High end add on costs
for electricity in hot climates are cheaply reduced by solar panels. Commitments can be made to
Australian manufacturers, the only one at present being Tindo Solar.
The impediments are considerable; we have to overcome staff and administrative apathy often in the
face of cheap deals (often using coal generation as in Victoria). Prolonged collaboration between a
hospital ‘sustainability group’ is required with finance and engineering and this may require several
years. Do DEA members have the resilience??
Dr Forbes McGain, DEA’s expert on this issue will be speaking at iDEA Brisbane. He will share his
thoughts and provide detail about the Western Health’s Hospital Board (Victoria) planned provision of
several hundred kilowatts of rooftop PVs in Melbourne. The talk and discussion afterwards will assess if
there are DEA members who are prepared to be tenaciously involved over a period of several years to
achieve an installation at their hospital. Don’t miss it.
State reports
News from the Frontier “State” (not yet a State) Northern Territory
The NT government is currently led by Adam Giles of the Country Liberal Party. This government has
a shocking record as far as environmental review and community consultation. In May 2015, a deep
sea port appeared on Melville Island, an internationally significant wildlife area, with no approval
process at all. In October 2015 Giles leased Darwin Harbour to a Chinese company for 99 years. This
caught Prime Minister Turnbull by surprise as he met Obama.
NT ALP can be quite strongly opposed to inappropriate developments when they are not in power.
However they have been strongly pro-development when in power. ALP people are active and vocal
opponents of unconventional gas development, so the difference between the party in power and the
party that we know is explicit.
NT to pipe unconventional gas to the East
Despite Australia signing the agreement in Paris to limit greenhouse gas emissions, our nation is
now vacuuming up gas to power Asia. Since Queensland and NSW gas is for export, NT has defined its
future role as supplier for the domestic gas market via a gas pipeline. The pipeline development is at
the stage of preparation of their Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). We look forward to expressing
our concerns to the EIS. Any fossil fuel development is a threat to the global environment, irrespective
of the company’s local environmental protection statement.
Construction of large scale infrastructure such as a proposed gas pipeline can have unexpected
consequences, as demonstrated when the Alice Springs to Darwin railway was completed in 2003
(after nearly a century of procrastination). The Aedes aegyptae mosquito, primary vector for Dengue,
was imported to Tennant Creek around this time. The mosquito in Tennant Creek was genetically
linked to a population from Cairns, and timing suggested that it was introduced during construction of
the railway. There was a major Aedes mosquito eradication campaign, to which the Commonwealth
contributed $1m, to prevent further spread of the vector to Darwin. The possibility of invasive species
and disease vector spread are impacts of major infrastructure developments and should be considered
during the EIS.
The threats of climate change to health are daunting. However other factors also determine disease
risk. While Aedes mosquitoes have now been eradicated from Tennant Creek, the mosquitoes’ previous
distribution down the east coast as far as Gosford, and on the west coast as far south as
Bussleton shows that climate is only one determinant of mosquito distribution. It is not clear exactly
why the distribution of Aedes mosquitoes has retracted over the past century. Disease and insect
surveillance are important aspects of climate change adaptation.
NT is due for an election by August 2016. We’re going to need your help.
News from Tasmania
The last fortnight has tragically seen significant areas of Tasmania's World Heritage wilderness
consumed by bushfires, and much of the state shrouded in a smoky haze. While, thankfully, no lives
have been lost, many clinicians have seen increased presentations of exacerbations of chronic airways
disease in our communities and in our hospitals.
Alarmingly, tracts of the Tarkine in Tasmania's north-west are still burning, and with Tasmania's fire
service already over-stretched, this unique and biodiverse landscape is under severe threat. Many DEA
members in Tasmania have already written to Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt, requesting
urgent assistance to defend the Tarkine from fire - and we ask other DEA members to also support this
call by contacting Minister Hunt.
With climate change making such events more frequent and more severe, DEA is working on a
submission in response to the Tasmanian Government's latest climate change action plan. Assistance
from Tasmanian DEA members in analysing and responding to this paper is sought - please contact
Rohan Church via email at [email protected].
In the midst of devastating bushfires, Forestry Tasmania has commenced works to begin the clear
felling of the Lapoinya Forest Reserve. This reserve is only a short distance from the Tarkine in
Tasmania's north-west and is an important habitat for the endangered fresh water lobster. DEA
members can follow and support the campaign at https://www.communityrun.org/petitions/lapoinya-
clear-felling and www.pozible.com/project/203471. Bob Brown has recently drawn attention to the
issue by being arrested there.
South Australia
A number of DEA SA Committee members led by Graeme McLeay have completed work on a
submission on Air Quality Policy (SA) 2016 (see above). As there are an increasing number of
environmental issues reaching Adelaide’s media, John Willoughby is organising for a panel of local DEA
spokespersons to be prepared on specific issues, to facilitate prompt responsiveness to media
requests.
The DEA SA Committee meets for the first time this year on February 10. There are a number of new
and continuing issues on our agenda with priority for recruitment of student representatives. Hubertus
Jersmann and Ingo Weber will again address Flinders medical students during the Climate Change and
Health session, first presented last year. Their presentation was a work of art - scientific, engaging and
delivered with humour. The students were captivated, so we hope for interest in DEA from students
again this year.
DEA in SA has continued advocacy for renewable energy for Port Augusta. We have also learnt that
while the new (and very expensive) Royal Adelaide Hospital has been designed to include a number of
energy-saving initiatives, there are NO solar panels planned for the whole complex! The response to
our enquiries, led by Hubertus Jersmann, is that the additional energy generated from solar panels is
so small in relation to the other energy-saving devices that solar power has not been included! Those
designing this building seem to have overlooked or ignored the important symbolic value in having
highly visible solar panels on the complex, in contrast to the other “hidden” energy saving devices.
NSW (Hunter) news
The Hunter remains the focus of DEA action on air quality in NSW. DEA members organised doctors
from the Hunter to wear face masks and stand in front of one of the coal loading terminals in
Newcastle (which are only 500 metres from residential areas) for publicity in the SMH website as well
as the Newcastle Herald and a local paper, The Star.
Opposition to UG development in the Pilliga is heating up with a camp currently active there. It would
be great if people could visit there to express support- or give it on line to do so. After the success in
the Northern Rivers where Santos was stopped at Bentley due to the efforts of the community, the
question arises if CSG development can be stopped in the Pilliga. It is becoming known as “The Bentley
effect”. Apparently work has started on dams in preparation for approval. However, approval has not
been given, so current work should not continue. The worry of course is that the company will say that
it is too late to stop work or approvals because they have already invested time and money!
Other activity of the DEA doctors revolves around recruiting many of the interested doctors in the
region and talks with the operations manager of the John Hunter Hospital about hospital waste.
DEA's Climate Change Subcommittee: Call for new members
The Climate Change Subcommittee is keen to hear from any members interested in joining this
committee and able to commit to contributing on average 1-2 hours per week. We meet roughly six
weekly throughout the year. Our work includes creating resources, media comment and advocacy
projects. It would be particularly beneficial if you have existing expertise in climate change and health,
advocacy or media, or if you're just passionate to help!
Please contact [email protected] for more information.
Important media notice for DEA members
DEA’s 2015 media exposure has been hugely successful and we hope you are all taking time to browse
the media reports now accompanying the monthly newsletter. This increased exposure and
relationship building with editors, writers and reporters reflects the significant dedication of DEA’s
Media and Communications officer Carmela Ferraro as well as the wide range of DEA members who
take time to write for and engage with the media on DEA’s behalf – this is greatly appreciated as we
know how time consuming media preparation and articles can sometimes be.
There are publications already in the planning for 2016 and DEA would be delighted if a member who
has perhaps not written for DEA previously in the medical or general media wanted to explore possible
topics and opportunities by contacting Carmela- [email protected]. Editorial guidance is
provided and we are looking for members from all specialities, though specifically GPs to contribute to
DEA’s Medical Observer articles.
Unconventional gas and coal news
DEA is making a submission to the most recent Senate enquiry on UG (“Bender enquiry” named after
the farmer who committed suicide). For “Comment” see the Guardian.
We have heard from reliable sources that it will be important for doctors and students to make brief
submissions in their own names voicing their specific concerns. See link for further information. Some
might find this daunting. Please intimate if you will do this and contact us for any help needed.
The process of assessment of UG proposals remains lamentable with little progress on the assessment
of the safety of chemicals used. We first raised this in a Senate submission in 2011 when we said;-
“Furthermore, only two of the 23 most commonly used fracking chemicals said to be used in Australia
have been assessed by the National Industrial Chemical Notification and Assessment Scheme
(NICNAS), and neither of these has been specifically assessed for use in fracking. This leaves the
population vulnerable to a range of potential health threats”.
In 5 years there has been little progress.
In January DEA has continued to provide what input it can on the Queensland coal mine developments.
A DEA member is acting as expert witness in the hearings against the expansion of the Acland mine
and David King and Michael Williams have extensive quotes in the SMH about the health aspects of the
Adani mine.
Reports and articles
Climate Council ‘The Hottest Year on Record (Again)’
Sustainable Development Goals: Will the World Stick to Its New Year’s Resolutions?
Why is the Guardian letting Shell fill its pages with dubious spin?
Laugh or Cry column
Hunt under pressure as Australia loses climate cred, gains carbon risk
Events
'Merchants of Doubt' (Oreskes/Conway)
.. shifted the most influential and educated (Yale PhD) climate change skeptic in my family. I read this
book in increasing fits of frustration as I came to understand how doubt was manufactured about the
health consequences from smoking and how both the same tactics and the same scientists (ex-WWII)
were recruited to this and subsequent issues including undermining the public's understanding about
climate change. Therefore I'm delighted that one of the co-authors, Harvard professor Naomi Oreskes
will be visiting Australia in March for several talks. See details below.
Melbourne 7th March
Sydney 8th March
Adelaide 14th March
Brisbane 9 February
Professor Emeritus Robert H. Socolow speaks
On behalf of the UQ Energy Initiative, the UQ Global Change Institute, and Grattan Institute we are
delighted to welcome Professor Emeritus Socolow to The University of Queensland to present the
keynote address at our next Energy Express Seminar.
Professor Emeritus Socolow (Co-Director, The Carbon Mitigation Initiative and Princeton Environmental
Institute, Princeton University) will share his views on:
"Truths we must tell ourselves if we are to manage climate change".
The seminar will be followed by light refreshments. We would be delighted if you were able to attend
the presentation on the evening of Tuesday 9 February, and encourage you to forward details to others
you feel may be interested in attending.
Admission is complimentary, but seats are limited. Please RSVP and indicate any dietary requirements
by Friday 5 February 2016.
Register now for this event in Brisbane
Date: Tuesday 9 February 2016
Time: 6:00 - 7:00pm followed by light refreshments until 8pm
Venue: The University of Queensland, Advanced Engineering Building (Building 49) GHD Auditorium
(Room 200) Staff House Road, St Lucia, Brisbane
Thank you to the many members who contribute so much; please let us have any possible
contributions to the newsletters so your colleagues can learn from your experiences.
David Shearman
Hon Secretary
