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Life flows here at Yarrah
Stage 1 land now selling
Debate over proposed Tarago waste-to-energy facility reaches Senate
Max O'Driscoll1 December 2021
An artist's impression of the proposed Advanced Energy Recovery Centre in Tarago. Image: Veolia.
The debate regarding whether the controversial Tarago waste-to-energy facility should go ahead has officially reached the federal level of government.
Duty Senator for Hume Deborah O'Neill has called out the would-be constructors and operators of the facility, Veolia, and pressured Federal Member for Hume Angus Taylor to support his constituents and publicly oppose the project.
Veolia's proposed $600 million Advanced Energy Recovery Centre in Tarago has been met with strong opposition from the local community.
Goulburn Mulwaree Council, Yass Valley Council and Member for Goulburn Wendy Tuckerman have all spoken out against the project as well.
Presenting to the Senate on Wednesday, 24 November, Senator O'Neill declared she is supporting the local community, which does not want to see the "toxic project" go ahead. She used examples of prior failings in Tarago as an example of why the project would be a "disaster for the local community".
READ ALSO: 'New direction' for NSW Police as Boorowa's Karen Webb named Police Commissioner
"[The site of the proposed project] is only 5km away from Tarago Public School, a school which is already suffering from an epidemic of lead pollution and contaminated drinking water," she said.
"Currently in that town, there is no reticulated water and all water is collected from rainwater. Could you imagine the effects on water of a waste incinerator belching fumes into the air in the drinking water of that community?"
Senator O'Neill then directed her words specifically towards Veolia and the company's withdrawal of funding from Goulburn Mulwaree Council, which she believes was in direct response to council announcing its opposition to the waste-to-energy project.
"Veolia is not on the community's side, and in a petulant reaction to a council motion opposing the incinerator, Veolia decided to withdraw its previously promised $2.5 million grant for the local performing arts centre," she said.
"They are absolutely not dealing in good faith with the community. Not only imposing their will without adequate protection for the health of the community, but using their power to destabilise the local economy and walking away from a commitment that was to support the benefit of those who are interested in performing arts.
"This is a type of appalling corporate citizenship and just a sign of how little this company regards the local community."
READ ALSO: Denzil Sturgiss reflects on 22 years as a Goulburn Mulwaree councillor
Senator O'Neill finished by taking a parting swipe at Federal Member for Hume and Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor by saying she wishes the Tarago community had a local member who stood up for them.
A Veolia spokesperson responded to Senator O'Neill's assertion that they are not on the side of the local community, and in particular the comments made linking the withdrawal of funding from the Goulburn Performing Arts Centre project to council's announcement of opposition towards the waste-to-energy facility.
"The allegations made are untrue," said the spokesperson. "Veolia is, and always has been, on the community's side.
"Since 2004, Veolia has generously contributed more than $18 million to the community through its operational host fees and the Veolia Mulwaree Trust. We're proud of this positive impact, and as good corporate citizens are committed to providing ongoing support to community initiatives.
"Veolia has agreed to allocate $9 million of its host fees to the Goulburn Performing Arts Centre – which we think is a marvellous project – to pay for council's borrowings.
"We are proposing the Advanced Energy Recovery Centre because it is globally proven as safe, is significantly more sustainable than landfilling for non-recyclable waste, and will deliver an economic boost of more than $600 million to the region.
"This proposed project is completely unrelated to the Performing Arts Centre and is subject to the highest legal, regulatory and planning scrutiny."
Mr Taylor has not recently made public comments on the waste-to-energy project. Privately, he has pointed to the matter as a NSW Government issue and not one he'd like to get involved in.
The Communities Against the Tarago Incinerator group has become increasingly frustrated with their local member, who they say should meet with them to hear their concerns.
2 Responses to Debate over proposed Tarago waste-to-energy facility reaches Senate
Showing only Website comments
Jane Bremmer 5:44 pm 01 Dec 21
This deliberate and willful misinformation campaign by Veolia must stop. Waste incineration has not been "globally proven as safe". In fact the most recent, global, independent, peer reviewed and published meta analysis and systemic review of the science on the health impacts of waste incineration undertaken by the Public Health Association of Australia states otherwise. This study concluded, "While the results were not consistent across the literature, based on a precautionary principle there is insufficient evidence to conclude that any incinerator is safe. There is some suggestion that newer incinerator technologies with robust maintenance schedules may be less harmful, but diseases from exposures tend to manifest only after many years of cumulative exposure, so it is premature to conclude that these newer technologies improve safety.
Incineration for waste management, including waste-to-energy options, is likely to remain an alternative that governments will consider. However, the financial and ecological costs of waste to energy are comparably high. Building reliance on a waste stream for energy counters the need to reduce waste overall. This review suggests that incineration is not without problems and so it is an option that needs to be pursued carefully with close monitoring. Local community groups have a basis for legitimate concern and so siting of incineration facilities needs to take these concerns into account. Early transparent consultation with communities about these facilities is essential." Its time for the media to expose this and for the federal and state governments to uphold our independent health experts ahead of paid industry lobbyists.
Matt Ford 2:47 pm 01 Dec 21
Australia's absymal performance dealing with "rubbish", swinging mostly between: burying, burning or offshoring, is a disgrace on our parliamentary representatives.
No we don't just have keep-cup inner city residents up in arms here but ordinary Australians.
In fact you may find farmers are into keep-cups, because Australians everywhere, despite the neo-liberal hands off, business will find a convenient solution, smoke screen – see the waste of energy plant – are not, just like people all around the world, enthusiastic about being poisoned by pathetic grandfathered schemes.
Appalling schemes allowed to slip through environmental protections by some overpaid & apathetic politicians and bureaucrats.
You need look no further than one of our largest economic partners, Japan, to see waste happily sorted into 45 different categories by willing residents and employees throughout the entire economy.
What is needed is waste sorting leadership and infrastructure here in Australia and none to soon.
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Women Have Come Far but Only 80% of the Way to Equal Pay
By Ellen Sirull
June 18, 2018 • 5 min read
April 10 is Equal Pay Day, representing the extra days that women have to work into the new year to make the same amount of money that men made in the previous year. In a world where many advancements toward gender equality have been made, #EqualPayDay reminds us we still have a lot of work to do.
Based on U.S. Census Bureau data, the 2018 wage gap between women and men is 80 cents. "The gap is far wider for women of color as compared to White, non-Hispanic men, and moms as compared to dads," according to the Equal Pay Day website. Latina women make 53 cents, Black women make 63 cents for every dollar, and Asian women make 87 cents for every dollar a White, non-Hispanic man makes.
Women Face Challenges Beyond the Bottom Line
The pay gap means that single women or women who are single parents face additional struggles when trying to save money for an emergency fund, send a child to college, and save for retirement.
But the challenges women face stretch beyond finance. Many working women (especially working moms) feel added pressure and guilt to continue taking on the same tasks at home. A study by Welch's in 2017 found that the average working mom clocks in a 98 hour work week with all her various tasks, and only get one hour and seven minutes to herself each day.
Jaime Stepic, the owner of Gingham and Eyelet, a studio in Norcross, Ga. that offers sewing classes, workshops, and camps, explains the personal challenge she faces, which will likely sound familiar to many working moms.
"Trying to keep my overhead down often means bringing my kids with me to work. I then risk looking unprofessional," Stepic says. "It's a judgment call every time. If I get childcare for them and customers cancel, it throws off my budget significantly. Balance is another challenge, especially now that I'm returning to working after a long absence."
And while some moms feel guilty for working, research from Harvard Business School shows it can actually be beneficial to kids to have moms working outside the home.
"While being raised by a working mother had no apparent effect on men's relative wages, women raised by working moms had higher incomes than women whose moms stayed at home full time," the study found. In addition, "men whose moms ever worked outside the home were more likely to contribute to household chores and spent more time caring for family members."
Leveraging resources and mentors to learn about programs, grants, and support are important for women to succeed financially. Some resources for women include:
Financial Aid for Female Students
The Women's Center: a non-profit celebrating 40 years of helping women; offers free financial and legal consulting sessions to women as well as monthly workshops
WealthySingleMommy.com: a website and podcast resource for working single moms; Emma Johnson who runs the site also has a book—The Kickass Single Mom
The Office of Women's Business Ownership: offers support for women entrepreneurs
Female Small Business Owners Have Come a Long Way
Women-owned businesses total 11.6 million in America and employ nearly 9 million people while generating more than $1.7 trillion in revenue, according to the 2017 State of Women-Owned Businesses Report commissioned by American Express.
Unfortunately, women-owned firms still struggle with access to capital, but there is evidence they are having more success than men using new and alternative funding vehicles such as crowdsourcing. Read more here about how women entrepreneurs are using crowdsourcing platforms to build their businesses.
Advancements Throughout History
Here are some areas where progress has been made:
<iframe src="https://e.infogram.com/6a14f64f-d39d-4251-92b3-cea36e39f37f?src=embed" title="Women in Finance and Credit Throughout History" width="550" height="847" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none;" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
1903: First Female-Owned Bank Opens
Maggie Walker became the first female to own a bank when she founded the St. Luke Penny Savings Bank. According to the National Women's History Museum, "the bank was a powerful representation of black self-help in the segregated South. The Penny Savings Bank not only attracted adults but Walker worked to appeal to children by passing out banks which encouraged them to save their money."
1963: Equal Pay Act
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibits employers from paying lower wages based on sex. There are exemptions and based on today's statistics, there is still work to be done in this area.
1968: Fair Housing Act
The Fair Housing Act of 1968 prohibits discrimination by any landlord, real estate company, mortgage broker or lender, and homeowner insurer on the basis of race, sex, religion, national origin, family status or disability. Prior to this, women not only faced a higher likelihood of being denied credit but also faced sexual harassment from landlords (particularly when they made a lower income).
Now, single women represent 18% of homebuyers whereas single men represent only 7%, according to the National Association of Realtors.
1974: Equal Credit Opportunity Act
Before this, it was sometimes hard for a woman to get a credit card or loan on her own. The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) was passed and changed the way credit card and loan issuers decided on lending based on various factors, including gender.
Women often faced challenges when attempting to get credit in their own name. Along with the ECOA, there were additional regulations put in place that defined in more detail what the creditor could and could not ask when making a decision to grant credit.
One specific detail includes addressing household income; this resulted in consumers being able to include the income of his or her spouse when applying for credit individually. "This further opened the door for married women, whether working or not, to obtain credit in their own name," according to the National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC).
The ECOA prohibits credit discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, marital status, age or because you get public assistance. Creditors may ask for this information in some situations, but they can't use it to decide whether or not to extend credit to you. Things creditors can consider to determine creditworthiness include income, expenses, debt, and credit history.
1993: Family and Medical Leave Act
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) allows eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons with continuation of group health insurance coverage under the same terms and conditions as if the employee had not taken leave. This was primarily targeted at working mothers after having or adopting a baby but extends to other circumstances such as caring for a sick parent or child.
Today, many large employers are expanding their maternity and paternity leave benefits to support working parents after the birth or adoption of a child.
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Home › International Events › ICYMI………………March 28, 1854
ICYMI………………March 28, 1854
By on March 28, 2022 • ( 0 )
One hundred sixty-eight years ago today, France and Britain declared war on Russia, a conflict waged on the Crimean peninsula for three years. The causes of the war reflect a rapidly changing set of empires across eastern Europe, especially the decline and fall of the Ottoman Empire, exacerbated by struggles among competing religions.
In the 13th century, Genghis Khan and his Mongolian armies, called the Golden Horde, swept through Asia and into parts of eastern Europe, establishing a thriving empire. About 1400, Crimean Tatars defeated the Golden Horde to establish the Crimean Khanate (khan meaning ruler or chief) as a vassal state of the Ottoman empire. The reign lasted from 1441 to 1783, when Russia annexed the territory following a war with Turkey.
Over time, European nations had established new maritime trade routes that avoided the virtual monopoly exercised by Ottoman. The slow degradation of the Ottoman empire created a vacuum in the region, which Russia sought to fill. Increased Russian expansionism threatened the balance of power interest Britain and France relied upon and made more fragile by the loss of Ottoman buffer zones in eastern Europe.
The tenuous balance of power was supported and enforced by the Holy Alliance, a coalition of powers among Austria, Prussia, and Russia created after the defeat of Napoleon and signed into effect in 1815. Britain and France viewed Russian expansionism with alarm. As the Ottoman rule continued its slide, the size of the vacuum increased and by 1854, their patience and restraint had been exhausted.
Russian ground forces and its navy were vanquished in the three year conflict as they were poorly trained and supplied for what passed as modern warfare at the time. Under the Treaty of Paris (1856), Russia agreed to refrain from deploying warships in the Black Sea. Now, the setbacks to the Russian empire created fears that it would lose further territorial advantages and decided to sell Alaska to the US in 1867.
Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, Crimea became an autonomous republic within the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). It was later downgraded to the Crimean Oblast (region) when its entire Tatar population was deported to Siberia, an act designated as genocide by Ukraine and three other nations. In 1954, under Nikita Khrushchev, Crimea was transferred to the Ukraine SSR.
When the USSR dissolved in 1991, Ukraine declared itself independent. Throughout the long, tortured relationship that existed between Russia and Europe, it had always focused upon securing a warm water port on the Black Sea. To this end and with collateral claims of ethnographic identity, Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. In February of this year, Russia invaded Ukraine, offering similar rationales updated to allege that Ukraine was under the control of neo-Nazis.
In December 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan to prop up its communist government against the Muslim mujahedeen as a southern border buffer state and gateway to India. Ten years later, Russia withdrew in failure of its objectives.
The outcome in Ukraine is not as yet settled.
‹ E Pluribus Unum Religion
The Road to November and Beyond ›
Categories: International Events, international trade, Issues
Tags: crimea annexation, crimean tatars, holy alliance, russian empire, ukraine cossacks


Aromas of red and blue fruits, ripe plums, morello cherries, and notes of exotic florals and stone-fruits. Rich, lush and juicy wild berry and satsuma plum flavours, with a hint of anise and kirsch. The texture is juicy and lush with layers of velvety tannins and great length.


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Q: Adding version number to image path? Is it possible? I know it's possible to set stylesheet like this so I can refresh the cache:
    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="style.css?v=12345678" />

But is it possible to do the same thing with an image so I refresh the cache when image is changed but has the same name?

I ultimately want to use image version with meta og:image tag, because Facebook Debugger doesn't want to scrape the new image when it's changed.

A: You Can Give Div Tag And Add Background Image Instead of Using Image Tag.
And Set Background image in the external CSS file.
And Give CSS Versioning Dynamically to : css/style.css
Style.css
.test {
     background-image: url("paper.gif");
     background-color: #cccccc;
     height:200px;
     width:200px;
     margin:10px;
     padding:10px;
}

Html File: demo.html

The background-image Property

Hello World!

My Another solution is to add in httpd-boilerplate.conf these lines:
<IfModule rewrite_module>
   RewriteEngine On
   RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} !(.*)/media/(.*)$ [NC]
   RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
   RewriteRule ^(.+)\.(\d+)\.(js|css|png|jpg|gif|ico)$ $1.$3 [NC,L]
</IfModule>

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