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On
21st
March 2007
the State
Government released the Supplementary Environment Effects Statement
into the
proposed deepening of the shipping channels and the entrance to Port
Phillip Bay
and the Yarra
River. The estimated cost is now $763 million, which
is well in excess of the $200 million that was quoted as the likely
cost some
eight years ago. There is little change to the original proposal except
that
the PoMC now are saying that only 22 million cubic metres of spoil will
be
removed in the capital dredge, rather than the earlier figure of 32
million
cubic metres. Presumably the missing 10
million
cubic metres will be added to the maintenance dredge component of the
project. This project, if it goes ahead,
will be costing billions of dollars when the cost of the extension of
Swanson
Dock, relocation of Footscray
Road
and the
relocation of the fruit and vegetable markets are considered.
We must all work to defeat this unacceptable
attack on the environs of Port
Phillip Bay. This is the largest and probably the most
destructive proposal facing the Bay since the formation of PPCC in
1970, and I
put it to this meeting that a substantial amount of our financial
reserves will
need to be spent to help defeat this proposal. Our
Secretary, in her capacity as President of Blue Wedges Coalition, is
once again organizing a multi-faceted campaign that was so successful
in exposing
the fallacious arguments that were put to the public in the original
Environment Effects Statement in 2004. That
successful campaign cost the Blue Wedges Coalition
thousands of
dollars and I would recommend to this meeting that some of PPCC Inc.
financial
reserves could be given to the Blue Wedges Coalition to assist their
campaign
to defeat the project this time. We are
up against the PoMC, who have now spent in excess of
$100 million of taxpayers’ money in a futile attempt to justify an
unjustifiable proposal.
Ansett
and Norman
Lodge Land
PPCC
Inc. Policy Statement No. 12 was timely in relation to permanent
retention of
the remaining open-space land abutting Port
Phillip Bay.
With the
sale last year of part of the Ansett Estate at Mount
Eliza
have come pressures
for subdivision of that and the adjoining Norman Lodge Estate.
Fortunately, a
group of Mount
Eliza
residents
has become very active in defending their piece of open space and have
formed a
new group under the name of Mount Eliza Action Group (MEAG). At a
meeting in
February called by the Ward Councillor I as president of PPCC Inc. was
successful in moving the following motion.
That
this meeting request Council to reject the application for the proposed
boundary realignments of the Norman Lodge and Ansett Estates
Further,
that this meeting request Council to initiate action to bring both
estates into
public ownership for the purpose of creating a Coastal
Park. This motion was carried with one opposer out
of an attendance of 250 people.
I
also was part of a delegation to meet with the CEO of Trust for Nature,
Michael
Gooey. Though Mr Gooey stated he would meet with the owner, Council and
Government,
we have not yet heard further from him. MEAG also held a rally on a
Saturday
morning through the shopping centre.
Referendum
Members
will recall two years ago that we carried a motion requesting the State
Government to hold a referendum to determine whether the people of Victoria
approved of
channel deepening. The Government’s response was that existing
legislation
didn’t provide for binding referendums. However, on 27th
February 2007
the Victorian Government has changed their
opposition to the use of referendums to determine contentious issues. A
Bill
was introduced to amend the Nuclear
Activities (Prohibition) Act 1983
to
facilitate the holding of plebiscites in Victoria
in the event
that the Commonwealth Government takes action to support or allow the
construction of a prohibited nuclear facility in Victoria.
In
moving the Bill it is of note what the Minister for Energy and
Resources (Mr
Batchelor) relied on to support the Bill. Section
18(1) of the Charter
of Human Rights and
Responsibilities Act
provides that every person in Victoria
has the
right, and is to have the opportunity, without discrimination to
participate in
the conduct of public affairs, directly or through freely chosen
representatives. The United Nations Human Rights Committee considers
voting in
an election or referendum to be an example of this right. I suggest all
members
write to Mr Bracks congratulating him on the Bill, and again demand our
right
to have a referendum to determine if the people of Victoria
approve of
the proposed channel deepening in Port
Phillip Bay.
Len
Warfe, President
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