Archive for August, 2006

Media Release: Greens leadership on water shines through in Chatsworth since by-election

Friday, August 25th, 2006

Greens candidate for Chatsworth again pushes the importance of a better housing sustainability code a year later, highlighting that Greens were leaders in pre-empting Queensland�s water crisis.

Ms Jenkins � who also ran in last year�s by-election � said that during the by-election the State Government had just released a new housing policy.

�At the time I commented that it did nothing to inspire the innovative design of new sustainable homes and failed to look at the benefits of harvesting rainwater.

�I highlighted that Environment Minister Desley Boyle had missed a great opportunity to solve any future water crisis by mandating rainwater tanks for new housing developments.

�Well now the crisis that The Greens anticipated is upon us and Queensland is no closer to finding appropriate solutions to adequate water supplies.

�As a result, the State Government announced two new dams which is not only uprooting homes and families but compromising the future of exceptionally important native flora and fauna.

�It�s essential we provide adequate water supplies to Queenslanders. What is not essential is building dams as a band-aid solution until an independent inquiry reports on the State�s urban needs.

�That�s why I am asking State Government to reconsider the development of dams and to embrace water recycling as a matter of urgency.

�The Greens were leaders in promoting strict water conservation and water solutions.

�The people of Chatsworth should vote 1 Greens and demand leadership in Queensland Parliament to ensure there�s someone advocating long-term social and environmental solutions.

�I�d really hate to see suburbs like Gumdale, Burbank and Chandler turn into big ugly residential pockets full of badly-designed homes.
Ms Jenkins said the Labor state government had a long history of non-action.
�Badly managed urban sprawl in the Chatsworth electorate is clearly a direct result of flawed state government practice.

�The South-East Queensland Regional Plan contains environmental black spots and highlight�s the State Government�s short sightedness.

Elissa Jenkins said Caltabiano, who was clearly in the pockets of the developers, was a loose canon and shouldn�t be trusted.

�Caltabiano and the Liberal party have an appalling track record of considering the environment and the community�s future wellbeing when making decisions.

�The Liberals are even more hopeless than Labor at looking to the future.

�I am asking the people of Chatsworth to demand no more dams and immediate water recycling � and to demand that from both Bombolas and Caltabiano.

�The way to do that is for Chatsworth electors vote one Greens to ensure they elect someone who is going to provide their own community and all communities throughout Queensland a healthy, safe environment in which to live, work and play,� she said.

For election and policy details visit www.qld.greens.org.au.

To view Elissa’s political web log visit www.elissa.info.

For more information, interview or photo opportunities call Elissa Jenkins on
0418 786 986 or e-mail chatsworth@qld.greens.org.au.

*Written and authorised by Elissa Jenkins, 26 Horan Street, West End, QLD 4101

Posted in Environment | No Comments »

Vote 1 Elissa Jenkins The Greens

Thursday, August 17th, 2006

Elissa Jenkins

I am honoured to provide the Chatsworth community with the opportunity to elect a state representative who is enthusiastic about seeing social and environmental transformation begin at the local level.

Employed full-time as a public relations and fundraising executive for a prominent charity and part-time as a university tutor, I am an ambitious, yet compassionate professional woman who plays an active role in the community.

I have run twice for public office in the last two years – including the Chatsworth by-election – and have now been selected by The Greens to again contest the influential, high-profile seat of Chatsworth.

I feel it is my role to help make a difference and to ensure the voice of those with a social, economic and environmental conscience is being heard.

Too often, o�nly those with money and power are given a voice in Queensland. Voting for a representative with emotional intelligence, strong family values and who has been actively engaged in the community provides an ideal opportunity for oft-ignored voices to be heard. To send a message to both major parties, be courageous and vote 1 Greens.

Vote 1 Greens in Chatsworth to:

1. Experience compassionate yet confident leadership that provides real community consultation to local residents and the business community to encourage participation, foster community spirit and produce the best, most authentic results for those from all walks of life.

2. Halt unsustainable development and move the community�s current housing stock toward sustainability, encourage the innovative design of new sustainable homes, and advocate the widespread use of rainwater tanks and other water-saving devices.

3. Create an effective transport system locally and throughout Queensland that focuses more on providing efficient, effective public transport options for commuters and focuses less on the car.

Aged 30, I am a single woman who juggles personal, professional and political commitments. I enjoy spending time with my wide circle of friends, my close, supportive family and my beloved dog and cat.

I am:
- Deputy Convenor of the Queensland Greens.
- Convenor of the Queensland Greens Human Rights Working Group.
- Member of Refugee Action Collective Queensland.
- Member of Australian Marine Conservation Society.
- Member of a new organising committee that has been established to develop an environmental centre at Manly to educate the public about our beautiful Moreton Bay.

*Written and authorised by Elissa Jenkins, 26 Horan Street, West End, QLD 4101

Posted in Campaigning | No Comments »

Hiroshima Day

Sunday, August 6th, 2006

Today I set up a Greens stall at a Hiroshima Day remembrance rally held at Queen’s Park in the City. It was a good day and I met lots of fabulous people.

One speaker in particular that captured my attention was Daniele Viliunas who is the Queensland Co-ordinator for Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW). She spoke of the need for anti-nuclear activists to continue to work together as the debate is revisited and to respect those with differing views – that their humanity is just as important (but she said it much more eloquently and profoundly!).

The day also gave me the opportunity to hand out about 100 No Dams postcards. The postcards were well-received and the opinions of the people will hopefully land on the desks of politicians shortly. It’s great to give people an easy way to get their voices heard.

From Wikipedia:

On August 6, 1945 the nuclear weapon Little Boy was dropped on Hiroshima by Enola Gay, a U.S. Air Force B-29 bomber which was altered specifically to hold the bomb, killing an estimated 200,000 people and heavily damaging 80% of the city. In the following months, an estimated 60,000 more people died from injuries or radiation poisoning. Since 1945, several thousand more hibakusha have died of illnesses caused by the bomb. Hiroshima’s government continues to advocate the abolition of nuclear weapons, and has advocated more broadly for world peace. They have written a letter of protest every time a nuclear weapon has been detonated anywhere in the world since 1968. From “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima”>Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshima

Posted in Peace & Non-Violence | No Comments »

Shock: I agree with John Howard!! Yay!!

Wednesday, August 2nd, 2006

A little too late, but you’ve gotta give the guy some credit this time.

Did I just say that?

Oh my god!

Thanks Mr Howard. Please also encourage Beattie NOT to build those dams. Thanks. And keep listening to The Greens. Thanks.

Interview excerpt below. I’m sorry, I do not know the source of the interview but happy to attribute should someone let me know. However, an article link is as follows: http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,19994133-5005961,00.html

JOURNALIST:

Mr Howard do you support the State Government�s idea of a referendum on water in 2008, or should they act now?

PRIME MINISTER:

Well I think the whole debate will have moved on and it should have moved on before 2008. This country has to face the need to change its attitude and its habits in relation to water. I think state governments have been too slow to build new dams and that is not only here in Queensland, but around Australia. I think we have to face the need to recycle water in big cities like Sydney and also to capture the run off when there are storms. We have to completely alter our approach to the use of water and I think younger people understand this and I think growing numbers of people understand it. If you run a referendum in a particular part of the country, it is always easy to whip up concern, but I would have thought by 2008, if governments around Australia are doing their job, the whole debate will have moved on. If we are still arguing in 2008 about the desirability of recycling, then we have a big problem.

JOURNALIST:

Do you support recycled sewerage for drinking water?

PRIME MINISTER:

I support recycling full stop.

JOURNALIST:

So, you would have supported the referendum?

PRIME MINISTER:

If I had been a resident, if I had been a resident of Toowoomba and it is a beautiful city, one of the most beautiful inland cities in Australia, I would have voted yes.

JOURNALIST:

You were also talking there about a referendum in one part of the country, yet it was your Government which insisted on that referendum being held in that place. Was that a mistake to insist on that referendum being held?

PRIME MINISTER:

No I think what it tells us though is that it is very easy to run a fear campaign, that�s what it tells us.

JOURNALIST:

But shouldn�t you have seen that when you ordered the referendum?

PRIME MINISTER:

Well I think we all learn by experience.

JOURNALIST:

So you�re not going to be doing it again?

PRIME MINISTER:

I think the whole country needs to have a big debate on water recycling and I intend to be a big part of it and I think it is long past the time when we should understand what a big problem water is in this country and that includes recycling, it includes dams, it includes a completely new approach, but most importantly of all, a
fundamental understanding of how hard the problem is.

Posted in Environment | 1 Comment »