Independent candidate for Clancence, Debrah Novak, tells The Echo what her position is on mining in the Clarance catchment and the proposed Casino thermal waste incinerator.
To see Ms Novak’s response on short-term holiday letting and floodplain development click here.
Do you support the Clarence Catchment Alliance anti-mining pledge?
Yes I do
What action will you take if elected to achieve a ban on mineral mining in the Clarence catchment?
If elected I will be sitting on the crossbench and will lobby the new government to have the current 35 licenses bought back as they did with the CSG.
Do you or your party support the NSW Government Policy and Protection of the Environment Operations (General) Amendment (Thermal Energy from Waste) Regulation 2022 which allows a thermal waste incinerator to be built in the Richmond Valley Job Precinct Casino? Yes/No
No
If yes, what is your personal or party policy on thermal waste incineration?
If no, what is your personal or party policy on waste management?
Begin with education around personal responsibility at home with shopping and recycling. Bring local eco-manufacturing opportunities with a focus on the region’s back. We should be subsidising these industries, not the banks.
combined fishing fleet in NSW. Photo supplied
What is your position and policies on the climate emergency and what they are planning to do for mitigation and adaptation in our region?
We should be holding large foreign-owned companies to account for their contribution. We should have state-owned energy infrastructure and a coal reservation scheme. There should be no mining in any water catchment/food bowl. Mental Health resources and training needs greater funding as a result of the trauma communities are feeling on the back of natural disasters. There should be emergency disaster training for everyone and a regional centre that can act as a triage point for the distribution of food and shelter for human and livestock welfare.
Also, do they have policies and strategies to transition to regenerative agriculture models to ensure young farmers can establish themselves on the land and implement farming techniques that are ecologically beneficial?
I think the issue is deeper than the regenerative agriculture model. This model, while it repairs the land, is still for a European food system which does not have the cellular structure to draw up local soil nutrients. There are 24,000 native plant species in Australia. Only 16 have been researched and commercialised. There are 3000 introduced species we pander to. Farmers are already front line custodians of their land and should look to develop co-operative models and leases to bring the next generation through.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
