Towns ‘moved’ from Nepean to Hastings
The Sybils want to knock out gas
Picture: Gary Sissons Keith Platt keith@mpnews.com.au ONCE free of lockdown and allowed out to gather as a group, the Sybil Disobedients wasted no time in arranging a performance to emphasise their belief that Australia needs a “properly articulated” plan to cope with the “climate crisis”. Dressed in their signature hooped dresses, hats and signs, the troupe walked slowly along a section of The Pines beach at Shoreham last Tuesday morning (26 October) before assembling in front of a sign in the sand marked Code Red - Climate Crisis. More specifically, the Sybils were calling for an end to gas exploration in Bass Strait. “We are forced to do this as we just feel that there is no acknowledgment by our government
about the global issue, our part in it and, most importantly, the urgency to do something meaningful now,” Jamie Edgerton said. The Sybil Disobedients are members of Extinction Rebellion Westernport, and say they represent “thousands of ordinary people living on the Mornington Peninsula and regional Victoria who feel their voices are not being heard”. “We want our federal government to state that we are in a climate emergency. Rather than squabbling about party policy, we want our federal government to commit to doing something meaningful about the climate crisis,” Mr Edgerton said. “By allowing new gas exploration leases in Bass Strait, our federal government and [Flinders MP] Greg Hunt are escalating the climate crisis,” Mr Edgerton said.
“Life is hanging by a thread; we need to address the climate crisis now.” He said the federal government was only listening to the powerful gas and oil lobby, rather than acting on the findings in the recent [United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] report that says we must move away from any new gas, oil and coal extraction”. “We must end our addiction to fossil fuels and support clean, green renewable energy.” “We are running out of time to make the right decisions about acting on the climate crisis. We need to join our global partners and commit to stop fuelling the climate crisis by not exploring for new gas in Bass Strait and processing it in Hastings,” he said.v“There are so many opportunities with renewable energy for all but doing nothing now will risk everything.”
VOTERS in four Mornington Peninsula towns have been moved from one state electoral district to another. The Electoral Boundaries Commission last week released a map showing that Merricks Beach, Balnarring, Balnarring Breach and Somers from the next state election will be included in the Hastings district, now held by Liberal MP Neale Burgess. The four towns are now in Nepean, held my Labor’s Chris Brayne. Cranbourne South, Devon Meadows Pearcedale, Canons Creek and Warneet in the northern section of the Hastings district have been moved into Bass. Boundaries for the seat of Mornington held by Liberal David Morris are unchanged. With the next election due in November next year, voting patterns from the previous state election give Labor a small winning margin in Hastings and Nepean (“Labor ‘wins’ with boundary changes” The News 5/7/21). However, the changes have clipped the winning margins in Hastings and Nepean, with Mr Burgess losing his lead altogether and Mr Brayne seeing his reduced from 0.9 per cent to 0.6 per cent. Mr Morris won the last election by 5 per cent. “Redivisions are a key part of Victoria’s electoral system, as they ensure fair representation and an equal voice for all voters in state elections,” electoral commissioner Warwick Gately said. “The EBC released proposed boundaries on Wednesday 30 June 2021 and invited public comment. After considering the written suggestions and objections and holding two public hearings, the EBC has amended the proposed boundaries in 38 areas, transferring 127,425 electors to different electoral districts.” The EBC’s report and an interactive map of the new state electoral boundaries are at ebc.vic. gov.au
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3 November 2021
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