A Blueprint for Sustainable Development

“The Greens see climate change as the major concern for the city of Lake Macquarie. Not just low lying areas threatened with inundation by lake/sea rise, but every household will bear the brunt of climate change unless drastic measures are taken immediately” said mayoral & West Ward candidate Suzanne Pritchard.

“It’s essential for Council to further develop and put into practice a Climate Change Strategy/ Adaptation Response for Lake Macquarie. The Greens’ Climate Change Policy demonstrates how Council and the community working together can deal with the impact of climate change” said Suzanne Pritchard.

“Greens on Council will work with other councillors who share our commitment to tackling the problem of climate change, to further develop and implement a climate change strategy. It’s essential that Newcastle and Lake Macquarie work together to tackle the problem”.

Essential points in our policy include:

• A jobs- intensive renewable-energy industry, building on our strength and skills in energy production
• Protecting our green corridors, expanding regional parks, increasing support for Landcare
• Establishing community consultation at the concept design stage for developments with a significant impact on the community
• Expanding the cycleway network to link suburbs / villages round the lake
• Strongly lobbying State Government for funding and immediate construction of the Glendale Regional Transport Interchange, decent public transport, expanding childcare, increasing cultural, recreational and sporting activities and facilities, and establishing hospital services in the Morisset area,
• Consult with the Indigenous communities to ascertain their needs

“WE SAY NO TO:

Energy privatisation, subdivisions without services, urban sprawl, mega marinas which pollute and essentially privatise the lake, and Sartor’s un-democratic and compromised approach to planning as shown by his approval of the Catherine Bay development. We’ll join with councils all over the state seeking to have them repealed”.

“Our team has developed a full range of policies on the environment, economic development, transport, social equity and transport which will steer our path on Council” said Suzanne Pritchard.

“We have proactively tackled the under representation of women on Council. We have the youngest candidate standing for election in the Hunter. Hannah Gissane, aged 19. All our lead candidates are women,” said Suzanne Pritchard.

“The Green team brings a wealth of experience and much-needed diversity of perspective to Council”

Confession #2 Green is more than a colour

The world has changed a lot since our parents voted for the major parties; green was still a colour then.

But now it’s a way of life. Green bags, say we’re thinking about the environment when we make our purchases, green power is a way of fuelling our energy needs sustainably, we even put out green waste to reduce landfill, and not too long ago a greenie was a ‘tree-hugger’ now they are environmental activists.

Being a Greens candidate is about providing people with a choice to have representatives that care about the long-term impact of our everyday choices.

The Greens aren’t afraid to stand up and say it’s time to change the way we do things. We’ve been saying it for a while, only now a lot more people agree. We’ve spent a lot of time developing policies too, and costing policies and we know that there is a way to have a future that we can live with.

There is the potential within this region to maintain the energy production focus without destroying our environment in the process. The Greens are about creating an alternative relationship between the State and its energy objectives. Greens believe in a jobs rich future driven by renewable energy technologies, their production and distribution throughout the country and the world.

The Greens already have people in the State Government who know how governments work. Governments can work by having Green issues on the agenda and by encouraging green policies that offer different way to think about our future. Our Upper House representatives Lee Rhiannon, Ian Cohen, Sylvia Hale have been putting out a different viewpoint and it makes a difference to what gets discussed, new thoughts, about a better future.

If you want to know the detail have a look at our policies, they are a great read because when you read them you sense there is hope. It’s a different paradigm, a different way of thinking about how we do things. It reminds me of the wisdom my 94 year old friend, tread lightly, use what you need, respect each other and don’t take what we have for granted.

We’ve taken water for granted for far too long, strange really when we live on the driest continent on earth. For a long time we thought about water as just coming out of a tap, now it can come out of a tank too. We need water, reliable and reusable. Tanks for toilets should be a priority. The Greens aim to support personal actions that make a difference.

In this election people might feel they’re a little green around the edges, a bit inexperienced in understanding the way Greens think. But this is an opportunity to learn about different policies that can affect the future in terms of more than election cycles.