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Submissions into extending Vales Point pollution licence close this week

November 09, 2021

Public submissions to the Environment Protection Authority’s review of Vales Point Power Station’s nitrogen dioxide emissions close at 5pm this Wednesday, November 10. [1] Hundreds of people have added their name to a joint online submission by the NSW Nature Conservation Council. Central Coast...

Address To The Nature Conservation Council of NSW Annual Conference

November 06, 2021

Delegates, ladies and gentleman. I’ve travelled here this morning from Bidegal country in Sydney’s south, on the northern banks of the George’s River. And I speak to you now from Gadigal land, here in Chippendale. I pay my respects to ancestors and elders of all...

Legislating emissions targets would be a step forward for NSW

November 06, 2021

The Nature Conservation Council urges the NSW Government to support the ALP’s proposal make emissions targets legally binding by enshrining them in law. [1] The NSW Government has committed to reach net zero emissions by 2050 and halve them by 2030. “We have applauded...

Rylstone should have been spared the trauma of the NSW Government’s coal obsession

November 03, 2021

Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive, Chris Gambian said: “It is great news that the threat of coal mining, which has hung for almost a year over the heads of the Rylstone community, has now been lifted. “They should never have been subjected to...

Land clearing in NSW must end for Australia to meet its new COP26 deforestation pledge

November 03, 2021

The Nature Conservation Council calls on the NSW Government to urgently develop strategies to halt and reverse deforestation in NSW in line with the international agreement signed by Australia yesterday at the COP26 climate conference. [1] Australia was one of more than 100 countries...

Want to save Sydney’s koalas, Minister? Here’s our top tips

October 27, 2021

Environment Minister Matt Kean doesn’t have to wait for the Chief Scientist’s advice before acting to save the state’s only chlamydia-free koala colony. Environment Minister Matt Kean told a Budget Estimates hearing yesterday he was awaiting advice from the Chief Scientist before deciding how to save the koalas of southwest...

Corruption inquiries, internal reviews underscore fundamental flaws in NSW biodiversity offsetting regime

October 27, 2021

The Nature Conservation Council welcomes Environment Minister Matt Kean’s frank admission during a Budget Estimates hearing yesterday that the state’s biodiversity offsetting scheme needs “root-and-branch reform”. “We totally agree with the Minister on the need to overhaul this deeply flawed system,” Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Chris Gambian said. “These reviews must be fully transparent and recommendations subject to public review if the government truly wants to restore public...

Far West parks additions provide much-needed protections for arid zone ecosystems

October 26, 2021

The conservation movement welcomes the addition of 167,000 hectares of arid-zone ecosystems to the state’s national parks estate. [1] Environment Minister Matt Kean announced today the government had bought two properties in the state’s Far West: Avenel/Mt Westwood Station (121,390ha) near Broken Hill and Koonaburra Station...

Public get a chance to have their say on Vales Point’s emissions of asthma-causing pollution

October 26, 2021

The Nature Conservation Council is encouraging everyone concerned about the respiratory health of Central Coast children to make a submission to the review of Vales Point coal-fired power station’s exemption to the NSW Clean Air laws. Vales Point’s special exemption lets it emit toxic NO2 gas at twice the rate set out in the NSW clean air laws, which is due to expire. Last December, the company applied...

Fast-tracking water engineering projects a grave danger for the environment

October 22, 2021

The Nature Conservation Council has expressed grave concerns over the fast-tracking of water engineering projects in the Southern Murray Darling Basin, warning that more interventions in the system will result in less water for the environment overall and authorities picking winners and losers. “The poor track record...