****Happy Festive Season 2018 From North Coast Voices****

Wishing  you  all  a  Happy Festive Season

and thankyou to all our readers - those who come 

straight to this blog & those that read us on Twitter

North Coast Voices takes an annual break at this time and will be begin posting again on New Year's Day

A letter foreshadowing a politically unstable world in 2019

In the early hours of 20 December an increasingly unstable US President Donald J. Trump without consulting his own government tweeted; We have defeated ISIS in Syria, my only reason for being there during the Trump Presidency.

He followed that some some nine hours later with a series of tweets as a surprised world began to react.

Getting out of Syria was no surprise. I’ve been campaigning on it for years, and six months ago, when I very publicly wanted to do it, I agreed to stay longer. Russia, Iran, Syria & others are the local enemy of ISIS. We were doing there work. Time to come home & rebuild. #MAGA

Does the USA want to be the Policeman of the Middle East, getting NOTHING but spending precious lives and trillions of dollars protecting others who, in almost all cases, do not appreciate what we are doing? Do we want to be there forever? Time for others to finally fight.....

....Russia, Iran, Syria & many others are not happy about the U.S. leaving, despite what the Fake News says, because now they will have to fight ISIS and others, who they hate, without us. I am building by far the most powerful military in the world. ISIS hits us they are doomed!

Trump's own Secretary of Defense, former General commanding United States General Command James Norman Mattis, resigned within hours.......

Secretary of Defence

1000 Defense Pentagon

Washington, DC 20301.1000

December 20 2018

Dear Mr. President:

I have been privileged to serve as our country's 26th Secretary of Defense which has allowed me to serve alongside our men and women of the Department in defense of our citizens and our ideals.

I am proud of the progress that has been made over the past two years on some of the key goals articulated in our National Defense Strategy: putting the Department on a more sound budgetary footing, improving readiness and lethality in our forces, and reforming the Department's business practices for greater performance. Our troops continue to provide the capabilities needed to prevail in conflict and sustain strong U.S. global influence.

One core belief I have always held is that our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our unique and comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships. While the US remains the indispensable nation in the free world, we cannot protect our interests or serve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies. Like you, I have said from the beginning that the armed forces of the United States should not be the policeman of the world. Instead, we must use all tools of American power to provide for the common defense, including providing effective leadership to our alliances. NATO's 29 democracies demonstrated that strength in their commitment to fighting alongside us following the 9-11 attack on America. The Defeat-ISIS coalition of 74 nations is further proof.

Similarly, I believe we must be resolute and unambiguous in our approach to those countries whose strategic interests are increasingly in tension with ours. It is clear that China and Russia, for example, want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model - gaining veto authority over other nations' economic, diplomatic, and security decisions - to promote their own interests at the expense of their neighbors, America and our allies. That is why we must use all the tools of American power to provide for the common defense.

My views on treating allies with respect and also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitors are strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues. We must do everything possible to advance an international order that is most conducive to our security, prosperity and values, and we are strengthened in this effort by the solidarity of our alliances.

Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position. The end date for my tenure is February 28, 2019, a date that should allow sufficient time for a successor to be nominated and confirmed as well as to make sure the Department's interests are properly articulated and protected at upcoming events to include Congressional posture hearings and the NATO Defense Ministerial meeting in February. Further, that a full transition to a new Secretary of Defense occurs well in advance of the transition of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in September in order to ensure stability Within the Department.

I pledge my full effort to a smooth transition that ensures the needs and interests of the 2.15 million Service Members and 732,079 DoD civilians receive undistracted attention of the Department at all times so that they can fulfill their critical, round-the-clock mission to protect the American people.

I very much appreciate this opportunity to serve the nation and our men and women in uniform.

James N. Mattis

Two days later it was reported that Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL Brett H. McGurk had also resigned in protest.

Clarence Valley Council gets its just deserts - a $300,000 fine

Every member of council staff who signed off on the desecration of this scar tree should be demoted a pay grade.

The Daily Examiner, 22 December 2018:

The removal of an Aboriginal scar tree in Grafton has resulted in a $300,000 fine for Clarence Valley Council.

The judgment was passed down on yesterday in the Land and Environment Court of NSW, prosecuting the council for the destruction of the registered culturally modified tree that stood on the corner of Breimba and Dovedale Streets, Grafton.

The offences occurred in two increments, in 2013 with a severe lopping that “exacerbated the decline in the health of the tree” and the complete removal of the remaining trunk in 2016.

The council potentially faced fines up to $1million for its actions.

The news provoked a backlash against the council on social media.

Ratepayers were disgusted at the thought their money would be used to pay the fine and court costs.

Many wanted the individuals who made the decisions that led to the tree’s removal to take on some of the costs of paying the legal bill.

The Daily Examiner will present more on the scar tree findings and reactions from Clarence Valley Council and the Aboriginal Lands Council in a special report next week.

Japanese Government to withdraw from International Whaling Commission and recommence commercial whaling?

The Sydney Morning Herald, 20 December 2018:

Japan is to withdraw from International Whaling Commission by the end of the year, giving it the freedom to resume commercial whaling, Japanese news agency Kyodo has reported.

Kyodo quotes a government source as saying that Japan is unlikely to catch whales in the Antarctic Ocean after its withdrawal.

The government is considering allowing commercial whaling only in seas near Japan as well as the country's exclusive economic zone, the source said.

The decision will be announced by the end of this year, Kyodo said.

Humane Society International (HSI) said in a statement that, if the reports were confirmed, they would mark a welcome end to whaling in the Southern Ocean.

However, Nicola Beynon, from HSI in Australia, believes that Tokyo's decision to leave the rules-based order of the IWC would place Japans' North Pacific whaling program completely outside the bounds of international law.

She also fears that Japan may recruit other pro-whaling nations to leave the IWC, "leading to a new chapter of widespread and unauthorised killing of whales for profit".

"This is the path of a pirate whaling nation, with a troubling disregard for international rule. We're going to continue to press the international community to bring an end to the unjustified persecution of whales for commercial profit wherever it occurs," she said.

The IWC was established in 1948 under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling. Japan joined the organisation in 1951.

Kyoda News, 20 December 2018:

The following is a chronology of events related to Japan's whaling.

1948 - The International Whaling Commission is established under the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling.

1951 - Japan joins the IWC.

1982 - The IWC adopts a moratorium on commercial whaling.

1987 - Japan starts hunting whales in the Antarctic Ocean for what it calls "scientific research" purposes.

1988 - Japan halts commercial whaling.

1994 - Japan launches research whaling in the Northwest Pacific.

2005 - Anti-whaling Sea Shepherd starts obstructing Japan's research whaling in the Antarctic.

2014 - The International Court of Justice issues an order to halt Japan's research whaling in the Antarctic.

2015 - Japan resumes research whaling in the Antarctic by reducing the number of whales it hunts.

September 2018 - The IWC rejects Japan's proposal to resume commercial whaling at an annual meeting in Brazil.

Dec. 20 - Japan's plan to withdraw from the IWC comes to light.

Japan has until 1 January 2019 to notify the International Whaling Commission of its intention to withdraw.

How the Turnbull & Morrison Coalition Governments suspended legal principle and stooped to extortion in order to pursue vulnerable welfare recipients

In July 2016 the Department of Human Services (DHS) - Centrelink launched a new online compliance intervention (OCI) system for raising and recovering debts.

Its aim was to raise up to $1 billion dollars allegedly owed by welfare recipients.

This compliance intervention became known colloquially as robo-debt.

Current Australian Prime Minister and Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison was federal treasurer for the first two years of the ongoing robo-debt scheme.

During this time the suicide of welfare recipients being pursued for so-called debt recovery began to be reported.

Since 2016 only a small number of welfare recipients have brought their robo-debts before the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for adjudication. It has reportedly set aside 34 per cent of these robo-debts (or one in every three) and varied another 2,4 per cent.

Most welfare recipients don't have the resources to fight these alleged debts.

The Guardian, 18 December 2018:

Centrelink’s “robo-debt” system is a form of illegal extortion allowed by failings across a “plethora” of democratic and legal institutions, according to a former member of the administrative appeals tribunal.

Prof Terry Carney, a long-serving member of the AAT, has penned an extraordinary attack on the institutional failings that allowed the robo-debt program.

It’s the second time Carney, who helped oversee the writing of Australia’s social security laws, has used academic journals to condemn the system as illegal this year.

Carney’s last paper said robo-debt involved the enforcement of “illegal” debts that in some cases were inflated or nonexistent, an allegation that was forcefully rejected by the Department of Human Services. Hank Jongen, the department’s spokesman, said at the time that the department “strongly refutes any claims that it has conducted its compliance activities in a manner which is inconsistent with the legislation”.

This time, Carney used a piece in the Alternative Law Journal to map out the numerous shortcomings that allowed the system to come into being and operate for 18 months without challenge.

 “The pivot for this article is not so much that Centrelink lacks legal authority for raising virtually all debts based on a robo-debt ‘reverse onus’ methodology rather than use its own information gathering powers – for this remains essentially uncontested,” he wrote. “Rather it is extraordinary that this went unpublicised and uncorrected for over two years.”

Centrelink has long used a system of automated data-matching to detect discrepancies in income reported by welfare recipients, to detect and claw back overpayments. But it introduced significant changes from July 2016, reducing human oversight and expanding the system considerably in a bid to recover more debts and improve the budget. The new system effectively shifted the onus onto the welfare recipient to prove they owed no debt to the government.

The system spat out letters to individual welfare recipients as soon a discrepancy was detected in their reported income to Centrelink and records held by other agencies, like the tax office.

A flawed process was used to calculate their debt if they did not respond or could not produce evidence of their previous pay, which involved averaging out their yearly income across all 26 of Centrelink’s fortnightly reporting periods. The process often led to the false assumption that a welfare recipient had worked across an entire year and was ineligible for social security, thereby creating a debt.

Carney argues the rushed design of what he described as a “machine-learning budget ‘savings measure’” trumped good design standards. He says inquiries by the auditor general and the commonwealth ombudsman into the system had failed to consider whether it was raising debts on a lawful basis.

Carney also argues that Centrelink, by pursuing debts raised through the controversial “income averaging” technique, has failed to adhere to ethical administration. He says Centrelink has continued to use this method, despite knowing AAT rulings that it is invalid…….

The privacy safeguards in the first tier of the AAT mean that most legal challenges against welfare debts are not publicised, he writes. That means that “rulings overturning Centrelink reasoning remain hidden from the public”…..

TERRY CARNEY AO, Emeritus Professor, University of Sydney, Centre for Health Governance, Law and Ethics, 2018:

* Alternative Law Journal, Robo-debt illegality: The seven veils of failed guarantees of the rule of law?

* Australian Public Law, Robo-Debt Illegality: A Failure of Rule of Law Protections?

* UNSW Law Journal Forum, The New Digital Future For Welfare: Debts Without Legal Proofs Or Moral Authority?

* University of New South Wales Law Journal, Vulnerability: False Hope For Vulnerable Social Security Clients?

Castillo Copper Limited operations suspended on exploration leases in the Clarence Valley NSW

Clarence Environment Centre brings welcome news as 2018 ends.

Castillo Copper Limited operations at Cangai, in the Mann River Catchment, Clarence Valley NSW have been suspended on the grouns that there is: a lack of sediment and erosion controls; poor management of drill cuttings/waste materials; clearing and excavation works undertaken outside of approved limits; the drilling of five bore holes without approval; and a failure to progressively rehabilitate in approved time frames.

Castillo Copper Limited Ope... by on Scribd

https://www.scribd.com/document/396200281/Castillo-Copper-Limited-Operations-Suspended-at-Cangai-NSW-21-December-2018

Australia 2018: State of the Climate

Australian Bureau of Meteorology, State of the Climate 2018, December 2018:

“Australia's weather and climate are changing in response to a warming global climate. Australia has warmed just over 1 °C since 1910, with most warming since 1950. This warming has seen an increase in the frequency of extreme heat events and increased the severity of drought conditions during periods of below-average rainfall. Eight of Australia’s top ten warmest years on record have occurred since 2005.

The year-to-year changes in Australia’s climate are mostly associated with natural climate variability such as El Niño and La Niña in the tropical Pacific Ocean and phases of the Indian Ocean Dipole in the Indian Ocean. This natural variability now occurs on top of the warming trend, which can modify the impact of these natural drivers on the Australian climate.

Increases in temperature are observed across Australia in all seasons with both day and night-time temperatures showing warming. The shift to a warmer climate in Australia is accompanied by more extreme daily heat events. Record-warm monthly and seasonal temperatures have been observed in recent years, made more likely by climate change.”

DOWNLOAD FULL REPORT (PDF 7.16 MB)

Report at a glance

The Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO play an important role in monitoring, analysing and communicating observed changes in Australia's climate.

This fifth, biennial State of the Climate report draws on the latest monitoring, science and projection information to describe variability and changes in Australia’s climate. Observations and climate modelling paint a consistent picture of ongoing, long term climate change interacting with underlying natural variability.

These changes affect many Australians, particularly the changes associated with increases in the frequency or intensity of heat events, fire weather and drought. Australia will need to plan for and adapt to some level of climate change. This report is a synthesis of the science informing our understanding of climate in Australia and includes new information about Australia’s climate of the past, present and future. The science underpinning this report will help inform a range of economic, environmental and social decision-making and local vulnerability assessments, by government, industry and communities.

Key points

Australia

·         Australia's climate has warmed just over 1 °C since 1910 leading to an increase in the frequency of extreme heat events.

·         Oceans around Australia have warmed by around 1 °C since 1910, contributing to longer and more frequent marine heatwaves.

·         Sea levels are rising around Australia, increasing the risk of inundation.

·         The oceans around Australia are acidifying (the pH is decreasing).

·         April to October rainfall has decreased in the southwest of Australia. Across the same region May–July rainfall has seen the largest decrease, by around 20 per cent since 1970.

·         There has been a decline of around 11 per cent in April–October rainfall in the southeast of Australia since the late 1990s.

·         Rainfall has increased across parts of northern Australia since the 1970s.

·         Streamflow has decreased across southern Australia. Streamflow has increased in northern Australia where rainfall has increased.

·         There has been a long-term increase in extreme fire weather, and in the length of the fire season, across large parts of Australia.

Global

·         Concentrations of all the major long-lived greenhouse gases in the atmosphere continue to increase, with carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations rising above 400 ppm since 2016 and the CO₂ equivalent (CO₂-e) of all gases reaching 500 ppm for the first time in at least 800,000 years.

·         Emissions from fossil fuels continue to increase and are the main contributor to the observed growth in atmospheric CO₂.

·         The world’s oceans, especially in the southern hemisphere, are taking up more than 90 per cent of the extra energy stored by the planet as a result of enhanced greenhouse gas concentrations.

·         Global sea level has risen by over 20 cm since 1880, and the rate has been accelerating in recent decades.

·         Globally averaged air temperature has warmed by over 1 °C since records began in 1850, and each of the last four decades has been warmer than the previous one.

Future

Australia is projected to experience:

·         Further increases in sea and air temperatures, with more hot days and marine heatwaves, and fewer cool extremes.

·         Further sea level rise and ocean acidification.

·         Decreases in rainfall across southern Australia with more time in drought, but an increase in intense heavy rainfall throughout Australia.

US President Donald Trump ends 2018 as he began it....

Still under investgation by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, still misusing family 'charities', still tweeting his venom and spite and still on a semi-permanent golfing holiday while his administration falls into chaos.

HuffPost, 18 December 2018:

WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump, clad in a golf shirt and golf hat under a warm South Florida sun, hitting a drive off the tee while Secret Service agents protecting him are forced to work without paychecks, possibly for weeks, because Congress wouldn’t pay for Trump’s “Great Wall.”

Such is the nightmare public relations scenario facing the White House less than a week before the Department of Homeland Security and other key government agencies run out of money at midnight Friday while Trump is scheduled to fly that day to his Mar-a-Lago resort for a 16-day vacation.

The U.S. Secret Service is among the half-dozen agencies in the quarter-million-employee DHS, which also includes the U.S. Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration. Other major agencies facing a shutdown include the departments of state, treasury and interior. Many of the affected employees would be deemed essential and be forced to work anyway. None would be paid during the shutdown and would have to get by on savings or short-term loans.

Rick Tyler, a former aide to the man who engineered the last extended government shutdown in 2013, Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, said that Trump will cave in the days to come.

“The only leverage in shutting down the government is who gets the blame for it. And he’s already taken the blame for it,” Tyler said, predicting that Trump will approve whatever Congress gives him.......

HEADLINES OF THE WEEK

“Weighed down by sex and sleaze, the Coalition ends the year the way it started”  [The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 December 2018]

“365 days of failure: how Australia’s elites failed us in 2018”  [Crikey, 21 December 2018]

Still no hope of a genuine national energy policy as crew on the sinking liner SS Liberal Party brawl on deck

Financial Review, 19 December 2018:

NSW Climate and Energy Minister Don Harwin vowed to push on with his crusade to "end the Canberra climate wars" after federal minister Angus Taylor derailed his proposal to plot a national pathway to net zero emissions by 2050 at an acrimonious Council of Australian Governments' meeting.

Tempers flared at the meeting of energy ministers in Adelaide after Mr Taylor used an obscure procedural rule to block Mr Harwin's motion for a net zero emissions pathway. A furious Mr Harwin said that if Mr Taylor was going to use obscure procedural rules to block a motion supported by most state and territory energy ministers "be it on your own head".

The bitter split between the NSW and federal coalition governments comes as Gladys Berejiklian's NSW Coalition government faces a March 23 election in which climate policy looms large after voters sharply rejected the Morrison government's climate change agnostic energy policies at the Wentworth byelection in October and the Victorian state election in November.

Mr Harwin said in a statement after the meeting: "I am very disappointed by the actions of the federal government at COAG Energy Council in Adelaide today.

"The refusal, on procedural grounds, to let the vital matter of restoring an emissions obligation into national energy policy be discussed is extraordinary. NSW will continue to pursue this critical matter with COAG Energy Council."

…..the NSW-federal government stoush dominated the aftermath of the meeting as Mr Harwin told reporters he was furious that "the Commonwealth used the rule book to try and shutdown a discussion on emissions".

"As a sign of how out of touch they are, they wouldn't let us have the discussion," Mr Harwin said. "NSW is not giving up on this. It's absolutely imperative that we end the Canberra climate wars. "

Pet care in the home at during the festive season

https://www.123rf.com

The Daily Examiner, 18 December 2018, p.7:

We’d like to make sure your pet stays happy and healthy this silly season. Here’s a list of potential pet hazards to watch out for:

1. Christmas dinner and leftovers are too rich for our pets and can cause nasty tummy upsets and even pancreatitis. Stick to “pet approved” treats.

2. Macadamia nuts are popular at Christmas and can be toxic for dogs, leading to muscle weakness, vomiting and tremors.

3. Sultanas and raisins can cause kidney failure in dogs.

4. Barbecue skewers can be catastrophic for pets so take care to ensure your pet doesn’t accidentally ingest a skewer (which falls on the ground for example) and never feed your pet cooked bones - both can lead to the need for emergency intestinal surgery.

5. Chocolate – dogs can’t metabolise the theobromine in chocolate, and ingestion can lead to an increased heart rate, tremors, seizures and even death. The darker the chocolate the more toxic and the size of the dog and amount ingested also plays a part in the severity of the symptoms.

6. Decorations such as tinsel and fairy lights are very attractive to pets but can lead to a gastric obstruction if eaten.

7. Ribbons from presents are super attractive to cats and if ingested can lead to a nasty gastric obstruction requiring emergency surgery.

8. The Christmas tree might be an attractive indoor “pee tree” but can also be a falling hazard.

9. Lots of guests can cause your pet to become stressed and even lead to them trying to escape – make sure they have a safe and quiet place to retreat to.

10. Christmas lilies can cause kidney failure in cats. The stamen, leaves and stems are all potentially toxic as is the water they are stored in, so it’s best not to have them in the first place.

11. Snakes are out and about and will be all summer so take care in long grass, around water or areas where there are rodents (grain sheds and chook pens).

12. Heatstroke – never leave your pet in the car during the warmer weather. Even on a mild day the temperature inside a car can reach a dangerous level in minutes. Leaving a window down will not help either, so don’t risk it! If you have any questions about the health/safety of your pet, we are always here to put your mind at ease.

CREDIT: Riverbank Animal Hospital

State of Play December 2018: Adani Group and the proposed Carmichael Mine in Queensland

Financial Review, 20 December 2018:

Ten of the world's top insurance companies, including Australian groups Suncorp and QBE and global insurer AXA, say they won't insure Indian energy group Adani's controversial $2 billion Carmichael coal mine in Queensland, an activist group says.

Market Forces, an anti-fossil fuel activist group backed by Friends of the Earth, also said AXA had indicated it would not renew its current insurance covering the Carmichael rail line when it comes up in March 2020.

Market Forces executive director Julien Vincent said the Paris-based global insurer had said in response to inquiries that: "Regarding the Carmichael mine, we confirm that: 'We do not currently cover the Carmichael mine's assets, neither directly nor through packages, and we do not intend to do so in the future; We currently have a multi-year policy to partly cover the railway asset which will lapse in 2020 and which we shall not renew.'"

AXA also said Adani's Carmichael project "is a banned investment both for our equity and fixed income holdings"…..

Market Forces asked global insurers about their attitude to the Carmichael project, after a successful campaign to dissuade Australian and global banks from backing the mine resulted in it being shrunk to a fraction of its original $16.5 billion size and self-financed by Adani.

Other companies that explicitly refused to insure the mine or previously pledged not to provide cover for new coal projects include the world's biggest insurers and reinsurers, Allianz, AXA, Swiss Re and Munich Re; the first major US insurer to take action on coal, FM Global; and major European insurers Generali, Zurich and SCOR.

Other major insurers have not ruled out insuring the project, including many American insurers, so Adani will still likely be able to secure insurance. These include Hannover Re, Berkshire Hathaway and AIG......

ABC News, 18 December 2018:

The CSIRO has found serious flaws in Adani's key water management plan to protect an ancient springs complex near its proposed Carmichael coal mine, threatening to further delay the controversial project.

The ABC can reveal Australia's peak scientific body has raised concerns about Adani's Groundwater Dependent Ecosystem Management Plan (GDEMP), which is designed to minimise impacts on ecosystems including the nationally important Doongmabulla Springs.

The Federal Department of Environment and Energy asked the CSIRO and Geoscience Australia for an independent scientific review of Adani's GDEMP.

The ABC understands one of the CSIROS's key concerns is the level of groundwater draw-down that could be caused at the springs by the mine's operations.

Conservationists and some scientists warn the springs could permanently dry up under Adani's plan to drain billions of litres of groundwater a year for its proposed mine.

The source of the ancient springs remains in doubt…..

Other concerns include the possible groundwater impacts from Adani's water bores at the mine site.

The CSIRO also found that some of the data used by Adani in its plan was not verified.

The CSIRO has told the federal environment department that Adani needs to do more work on its GDEMP and to verify its data.

The ABC understands Queensland's Department of Environment and Science (DES) wrote to Adani last week saying it will not look at the company's GDEMP again until the concerns raised by the CSIRO are resolved.

In August the ABC revealed the mining giant's most recent draft plan to protect the Doongmabulla Spring failed to address regulator demands to protect the oasis.

"The GDEMP needs to identify the source aquifer of the Doongmabulla Spring Complex and mitigation measures to protect the springs," the DES told the ABC in statement.

"Preliminary advice from CSIRO requires Adani to update the plan.

"Two environmental plans still need to be approved before significant disturbance can commence at the Carmichael Coal Mine.

"These plans are the Groundwater Dependent Ecosystem Management Plan and a Black Throated Finch Management Plan.

"The Queensland Government has been clear that the [mine] project must stack up on its own merits, both financially and environmentally."

Last month Adani announced construction would begin on the Carmichael mine, with company chief executive Lucas Dow saying the project would be "100 per cent financed" from within the Adani conglomerate.

But the mine would be significantly scaled back, with production expected to peak at 28 million tonnes compared to the projected 60 million tonnes under the original plan.