Tallwarra Power Station Contamination

Continuing her investigative work into potential contamination at Tallawarra Power Station, today Abigail successfully secured the release of any documents relating to said contamination and sale of land.

Ms ABIGAIL BOYD (10:50:36): I seek leave to amend private members' business item No. 685 outside the order of precedence for today of which I have given notice by omitting "21 days" and inserting instead "28 days".

Leave granted.

Ms ABIGAIL BOYD: Accordingly, I move:

That, under Standing Order 52, there be laid upon the table of the House within 28 days of the date of passing of this resolution the following documents in the possession, custody or control of the Treasurer, The Treasury, the Department of Premier and Cabinet, the Minister for Energy and Environment or the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment relating to Tallawarra Power Station:

(a)all documents relating to, and including, the contract for the sale or transfer of Tallawarra Power Station and associated land by the Electricity Commission of NSW, trading as Pacific Power, to TRUenergy, now EnergyAustralia;

(b)all baseline contamination studies and post-sale contamination reports referred to in the contracts for sale or transfer of the Tallawarra Power Station and associated land;

(c)all Stage I and II Environmental Site Assessment [ESA] reports relating to the Tallawarra Power Station, ash dams and associated lands;

(d)all documents created since the execution of the contracts for the sale or transfer of Tallawarra Power Station and associated land, which reference contamination at Tallawarra Power Station or associated land or any ongoing liability of the State under those contracts;

(e)all documents relating to the sale of land nearby Tallawarra Power Station by EnergyAustralia;

(f)all correspondence with Wollongong Council or the Bridgehill Group relating to contamination of land sold nearby Tallawarra Power Station by EnergyAustralia; and

(g)any legal or other advice regarding the scope or validity of this order of the House created as a result of this order of the House.

Motion agreed to.

TAX SUPERPROFITS TO PAY WORKERS MORE

NSW is missing out on tens of billions of dollars. By introducing a progressive coal royalty structure similar to the one in Queensland, we would have raised an extra $20 billion last year.

The NSW Government owns and controls, on behalf of the people of this state, the rights to the minerals and materials that naturally occur in NSW land.

Huge fossil fuel companies are only able to extract and sell these commodities with the consent of the State. It’s time they paid a fair price for that privilege.

The fossil fuel industry has made hundreds of billions of dollars out of their cosy relationship with governments. Granted permission to extract and sell coal, these large multinational fossil fuel corporations pay just over 7% in royalties back to the people of NSW – keeping the rest as mega-profits for themselves. These companies have a track record of taking more than their fair share and leaving communities suffering and stranded with poisoned groundwater, devastated landscapes and a stranded workforce when it suits their business models.

Globally, the hyper-inflation of fossil fuel prices driven by price-gouging opportunism and war profiteering from Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has delivered record windfall profits to these already obscenely wealthy corporations. In the last year, NSW coal exports totaled over $70 billion dollars, but the people of NSW will only see about 7 cents in every dollar, or about $6 billion dollars of that amount.

Rather than going toward schools, hospitals and public infrastructure, billions of dollars went into the pockets of multinational mining corporations. The Greens believe there should be more money for schools and hospitals and less for mining billionaires.

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Tallwarra Power Station Contamination

TAX SUPERPROFITS TO PAY WORKERS MORE

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