MEDIA RELEASE 3 March 2010

Minister for Environment and Conservation, the Honourable Jay Weatherill and the Conservation Council SA (Conservation SA) today launched the Green Hubs project at the Woodville Bowling Club.

MEDIA RELEASE 6TH MAY 2009

SA's peak environmental body, the Conservation Council of South Australia (CCSA), has called on the Federal Government to enact its election commitment of a national ban on lightweight checkout-style plastic bags.

“South Australia’s plastic bag ban has now come into force and the sky hasn’t fallen,” said CCSA campaigner Jamnes Danenberg.

“Instead we’ve seen the South Australian public backing the initiative, bringing their own reusable bags or using calico and ‘green’ bags provided by retailers.”

“With industry in Western Australia now calling for a bag ban, we believe it’s time for the Federal Government to take the lead and enforce this world’s best practice right across Australia,” Mr Danenberg said.

Members of the national alliance Voices for the Murray-Darling kicked off their fight-back against a dismal, draft Basin Plan in Adelaide today.

Farmer John Pettigrew from Shepparton, the Southern Fishermen's Association, the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), the Wilderness Society (TWS) and the Conservation Council SA are concerned that the draft plan fails the river, regional communities and our national interest.

"Groups will be holding public meetings and letter-boxing to highlight the gross inadequacies in the draft Plan and to urge Federal Water Minister Burke to send the plan back to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority to be strengthened", said ACF CEO Don Henry.

The CSIRO science review released this Monday showed that only 55 per cent of environmental targets are likely to be met by returning 2750 gigalitres of water.

Alliance members are calling on Minister Burke to instruct the MDBA to act on the science and model returning atleast 4000 gigalitres of water to the environment.

"The floods brought some relief to the environment near the mouth of the Murray, and right now the remaining businesses and communities are benefitting. But the river will continue to die from the mouth up if we do not act now" said SFA Executive Officer Neil MacDonald.

"The failure to end the over-use by big irrigation means the mouth of the Murray will continue to close, it won't remove the two million tonnes of salt that gets deposited every year, and it will destroy internationally recognised RAMSAR wetlands," said Peter Owen, The Wilderness Society's South Australian Campaign Manager.

"I am very concerned that the majority of socio-economic assessments have not taken into account the ability of farmers and irrigators to adapt to change.  We cannot operate in conflict with our rivers and we need to change the way we use water", said John Pettigrew from Shepparton.

"The CSIRO review shows that climate change was not factored into determining diversion limits. How can this draft be considered the 'best available science' required by the Water Act 2007 in establishing environmentally sustainable limits on water diversions when it fails to confront the reality of climate change and the greater extreme events that are likely, " asked Professor Diane Bell, Chair of the Water ESC, Conservation Council SA.

Alliance members want Minister Burke to direct the Authority to return more than 2750 gigalitres of water to the Murray-Darling and assess all the benefits of returning higher volumes.

Alliance information: www.lifeblood.org.au

Media contacts: Sara McMillan, ACF, 0400 834 130

Peter Owen, TWS, 0423550018

Professor Diane Bell, CCSA, 0427554194

The Conservation Council of South Australia (CCSA) SA's peak environmental body representing over 55 member groups, have today called for a consistent national approach to Container Deposit Legislation (CDL) modelled on the successful SA legislation.

The call came after the leaked release of an industry funded audit showed the National Packaging Council's (NPC) own estimates of the proportion of recyclable materials were seriously flawed and self-regulation had failed to stem the flood of recyclable materials from going to landfill.

MEDIA RELEASE 3RD APRIL 2009

The Conservation Council of South Australia, South Australias peak environmental body with over 55 member groups, is proud to be a part of Clean Up Australia Day this Sunday March 1st.

CCSAs award winning Reef Watch program, now in its 11th year, is again donning the rubber and heading to sea to see what they can see (and clean it up!)

Over one hundred divers will be joining in to make this years clean up the biggest yet! Participants will be snorkelling or SCUBA diving, helping pick up rubbish and monitoring the marine environment for feral marine species.

MEDIA RELEASE 28TH APRIL 2009

The Conservation Council of South Australia (CCSA), SA's peak environmental body representing over 55 member groups, has today re-iterated it's support for the SA's plastic bag ban. With the ban due to come in to force on May 4th CCSA is looking forward to the initiative delivering positive results along a triple bottom line.

This is another example of SA leading the way to a cleaner, healthier and greener society and environment said Julia Winefield, CCSA's Policy & Communications manager.

The Conservation Council of South Australia, South Australias peak environmental body representing tens of thousands of South Australians, has commended the decision by the State Government to increase the container deposit for recyclable containers from 5c to 10c.

SA can hold its head up nationally when it comes to our container deposit and recycling legislation. SA is already conspicuously cleaner than its interstate counterparts when it comes to the percentage of the waste stream composed of beverage containers said CCSA CEO Ms Julie Pettett.

Environment groups welcomed South Australias leadership in becoming the first State to ban plastic bags. South Australian Environment Minister, the Hon. Gail Gago MLC, yesterday announced that South Australia would push ahead with its own ban on plastic bags after the State and Federal Ministers Environment Protection & Heritage Council failed to come up with a way to implement its earlier promises to phase out plastic bags.

The South Australian Government was also successful in the first phase of its push to see the introduction of Container Deposits, with Ministers agreeing to undertake an urgent and detailed investigation into how they could solveAustralias growing packaging waste crisis.