Ryde Labor

10/09/2026

Great news for our GKNP!

A win for our Koalas.

In the senate today, the Nationals moved a disallowance motion in an attempt to overturn an approval for the Improved Native Forest Management method.

The INFM method was designed to use Australian Carbon Credits to help deliver the great Koala National Park, new jobs and hopefully provide protection/repair for native forests elsewhere into the future.

Thanks to so many dedicated people across the environment sector, who convinced the majority of Greens senators and cross benchers to support the method and reject the disallowance. It was rejected by 34 votes to 27.

The disallowance was supported by 27 Nationals, Liberals, One Nation (and a few Greens)

LEAN Australia thanks our Labor senators, David Pocock, Jacquie Lambie, Lidia Thorpe, the Greens senators and others who voted to protect the INFM.

Big thanks to Nature NSW, Ken Henry, Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation , Andrew Macintosh, David Lindenmayer, Tim Flannery, National Parks Association of NSW, Greenpeace Australia, WWF-Australia, North East Forest Alliance NEFA Sefr Southeast Forest Rescue, the North Coast Environment Council and GKNP panel Indigenous leaders, LEAN NSW and all our branches across Australia, Environment Victoria, South East Forest Alliance and of course the NSW Greens who helped convince their federal representatives to look closely at the facts.

Also Big thanks to all those other activists and journalists who mobilised to get everyones attention on how important this vote was today. Of course it goes without saying how much we appreciate the hard work of so many in developing the INFM and finding a way to protect our forests as well as look after those communities who will need help adjusting to changes due to the park's development. Thank you Chris Minns, Penny Sharpe MLC, Murray Watt, Josh Wilson MP and the multitude of others who have fought over the years to find a way to make this work.

A big win for forests and our precious Koalas!

LEAN NSW - Labor Environment Action NetworkLEAN Qld - Labor Environment Action NetworkLEAN Capital Region - Labor Environment Action NetworkLEAN North CoastLEAN Central CoastLEAN Townsville - Labor Environment Action NetworkLabor Environment Action Network SA LEAN NSW South CoastLEAN Tasmania - Labor Environment Action NetworkLEAN South West TasmaniaHunter LEAN

07/09/2026

Lets hope the senators are listening to their colleagues in NSW!

Renew Economy:
'The call will add to pressure of the 11 Greens senators to vote down a disallowance motion put forward by the Nationals and the forest industry for a vote in federal parliament on September 15th.

The motion aims to strike down the Improved Native Forest Management (INFM) carbon method, proposed by the NSW Minns Labor government and approved by the federal government.

“NSW Greens MPs do not support the Nationals disallowance motion and we have communicated this to our Federal Greens colleagues,” Sue Higginson, the NSW Green’s spokesperson for climate change and the environment, told Renew Economy.

The state party stressed that it rejected the generation of carbon credits from forests, per se, and supported the protection of forests for their natural climate mitigation and biodiversity values.

However, “if the Nationals and the timber industry get their way, and this method is tanked, it will mean that carbon credits will be generated from our forests and logging will be locked in for years and years,” Higginson said. “We refuse to be part of that.”

Contact the Greens senators in Canberra and implore them to look closely at the facts and not vote with the Nats. It could be our last chance to save native forests in NSW. Lets work together and get this done.

LEAN NSW - Labor Environment Action Network LEAN North CoastLEAN NSW South CoastLEAN South West TasmaniaLEAN Qld - Labor Environment Action NetworkLEAN Capital Region - Labor Environment Action NetworkLEAN Central CoastLEAN Tasmania - Labor Environment Action NetworkLEAN - Sunshine Coast & Wide BayLEAN Tasmania - Labor Environment Action Network Labor Environment Action Network SA LEAN NT - Labor Environment Action Network Hunter LEAN The

16/04/2026

Great announcement!

Guardian: ‘Electric bus, train and light rail services in New South Wales will run on fully renewable energy from next year under a new $1.9bn deal, the state government says.

The Minns government on Friday announced it had signed a contract with Snowy Energy to bring all public transport operations in the state under a single renewable energy agreement for the first time. The seven-year deal comes into effect from July 2027 and will last until 2034.

The NSW minister for transport, John Graham, said it would reduce costs at a time when fuel uncertainty was seeing more Australians cut back on driving in favour of public transport.’

“Cost of living pressures are real for household and government budgets,” he said.

“This contract reduces costs and moves us towards better environmental outcomes while we deliver a reliable public transport network.”

John Graham Penny Sharpe MLCChris MinnsChris Bowen MP LEAN Australia - Labor Environment Action Network LEAN North CoastHunter LEANLEAN NSW South CoastLEAN Central CoastLEAN Capital Region - Labor Environment Action Network

25/03/2026

'The federal environment minister, Murray Watt, has pledged to put an extra half a million square kilometres of Australia’s ocean out of reach of fishers and drillers in a step conservationists hope will “right the wrongs” of an Abbott-era downgrade of marine protection.

Watt confirmed last year Australia would put 30% of its ocean estate under a high level of protection that bans extractive industries as part of an international agreement to protect 30% of the planet’s oceans.

On Tuesday, Watt met conservationists, fishers and representatives from tourism, oil and gas and offshore wind to kickstart a review of management plans across 44 national marine parks.

Large blue wave with perfect curl breaking in the open ocean over a shallow reef bombora off the south-west coast of Australia
Australian government to declare almost a third of its oceans ‘highly protected’ in the next five years
Read more
Watt told Guardian Australia the process was a “major priority for our government this term” and said he wanted to avoid the “culture wars” ignited by the Abbott government before marine park maps were redrawn in 2018.'

Josh Wilson MPSally Sitou MP Fiona Phillips MPJosh Wilson MPLEAN North Coast LEAN NSW South Coast Liza Butler MPDr Michael Holland MP - Member for Bega Wendy Backhous - Labor for PageLEAN WA - Labor Environment Action NetworkLEAN Qld - Labor Environment Action NetworkLEAN VictoriaLEAN Tasmania - Labor Environment Action NetworkLEAN Townsville - Labor Environment Action Network Labor Environment Action Network SALEAN NSW - Labor Environment Action Network

04/02/2026

Minister Penny Sharpe said: "These six big batteries mean we’re on track to smash our storage targets, harvesting the sun and the wind, so we can power NSW around the clock and put downward pressure on prices."

“We’re not stopping here – NSW will support more projects, so we’re ready for a grid powered by renewable energy, supported by gas.”

The Minns Labor Government is backing the largest rollout of big batteries in NSW history. The NSW Government has awarded contracts for six new long‑duration battery projects to strengthen the state’s energy grid.

These batteries will ensure that NSW is on track to exceed its energy storage targets for the future. The batteries will help keep the lights on and provide enough low-cost renewable energy, being so powerful they can run one third of Sydney’s households for a day.

NSW has the most battery projects in Australia with over 200 projects either under construction or in the planning pipeline.

The projects are:

Great Western Battery in Wallerawang, near Lithgow (Neoen Australia) storing 3,500 megawatt hours (MWh)
Bannaby Battery Energy Storage System, in the Southern Tablelands (BW ESS) storing 2,676 MWh
Bowmans Creek Battery Energy Storage System, in the Upper Hunter (Ark Energy) storing 2,414 MWh
Armidale East Battery Energy Storage System (FRV Services Australia) storing 1,440 MWh
Kingswood Battery Energy Storage System, near Tamworth (Iberdrola Australia) storing 1,080 MWh
Ebor Battery Energy Storage System, near Armidale (Bridge Energy) storing 870 MWh
The big batteries are due to be completed by 2030.

As part of the Renewable Energy Rollout, the projects have been awarded contracts that provide a revenue underwriting, accelerating new energy infrastructure while protecting consumers. This means that the Government is supporting the project by providing investment confidence.

This tender was run by ASL, the independent Consumer Trustee. It is the state’s largest tender for long-duration storage to date, both in terms of total storage capacity and the number of contracts.

These projects are subject to the relevant planning approvals.

Penny Sharpe MLC LEAN Australia - Labor Environment Action Network Hunter LEAN LEAN Central Coast Hunter Jobs Alliance

29/01/2026

Full story: https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/landmark-moment-renewables-record-surge-sends-power-prices-tumbling-20260128-p5nxmf.html

SMH 29/1:

'Figures from the energy market operator, to be released on Thursday, confirm renewables and batteries powered more than 50 per cent of the grid in the December quarter for the first time in history, crunching coal to its lowest-ever seasonal share of the mix, and gas to its lowest since 2000.'
Wholesale power prices – what retailers pay generators for electricity before selling it to customers – tumbled to $50 megawatt-hour, a 44 per cent decline from the same time a year earlier.
Violette Mouchaileh, the Australian Energy Market Operator’s head of policy, said the lower average prices across the quarter were the result of years of sustained investment in clean energy and storage projects. It proved that adding more wind, solar and battery capacity into the grid reduced the need to burn higher-cost coal and gas for electricity, putting “downward pressure” on prices, she said.'

27/11/2025

09/11/2025

Wonderful news!

LEAN has long called on the NSW Labor party to go further and finish the job of banning single use plastic ... now they move to go even further than any other state! Well done Penny Sharpe MLC and the Minns Labor Government!

Yahoo: 'NSW has launched a plan to go further than any other state in banning some of the world’s most damaging plastic items. Incredibly, the hit list includes ALL plastic bags with handles, tomato sauce sachets, soy sauce fish, and single-use umbrella sleeves. And new regulations will force many takeaway containers to be redesigned, and coffee shops to change their practices.

Environment Minister Penny Sharpe explained the government’s decision is driven by a need to protect human health and the environment. “Microplastics are entering our bodies and plastic is polluting our environment and oceans, killing our wildlife,” she said. “This plan moves NSW another step closer to phasing out these problematic items.”

Only 16 per cent of plastic waste is recycled in NSW, and the government has warned the state is facing a “waste crisis”. Greater Sydney will run out of landfill space in just five years if nothing is done to combat our use of cheap, single-use items.'

LEAN North Coast LEAN Australia - Labor Environment Action NetworkLEAN Central CoastHunter LEAN LEAN NSW South Coast LEAN Free Discussion Group