NSW Nats Steve Cansdell receives report card from one voter ahead of 2011-12 NSW Budget

From an online comments segment of The Daily Examiner, Grafton NSW:

By steve2473 from Evans Head on 6/9/2011 at 7:44AM

Promise: Grafton bridge to be built
Promise: Pacific H/Way completed by 2016
Promise: More Police on North Coast.
Promise: Dredging Clarence River
Fact: Liar Liar pants on fire!

UPDATE:

So how did NSW Nationals MP for Clarence Steve Cansdell's election promises (as described above above) compare with the realities of the first O'Farrell Government?

It would appear that:

• There is no commitment to building a new bridge for Grafton City in the Clarence Valley.

• There is a Pacific Highway allocation of $1 billion allocated in 2011-12 for various upgrades to increase length of dual carriageway, part of the current joint funded program with the Australian Government to improve travel times, road safety freight efficiency and traffic conditions on the Pacific Highway. With another $2.6 billion promised over the next four years.

• Infrastructure investment in the public order and safety policy area in 2011-12 is estimated at $440 million which is $46 million below or 9.5 per cent below the 2010-11 Budget. A total of 550 more police officers promised over the next four years, with no specific NSW North Coast commitment.

• No mention of dreging the mouth of the Clarence River or any of the smaller regional ports.

So on steve2473's scale, Cansdell probably scores 1 to 1.5 out of 4. With most of that courtesy of Federal Government funding programs.

Not an impressive performance for one who told voters that getting him into government would change the funding outlook for the Clarence electorate.

NSWhere.

Is the Member for Clarence a ning-nong, or what?

Steve Cansdell, the Member for Clarence, has shown yet again that he knows less than nothing.

Today's Daily Examiner reports:

Member for Clarence Steve Cansdell has revealed the NSW government can't appeal the ruling by Magistrate John Andrews to acquit 10 Adults over their part in the Yamba Riot.

Mr Cansdell said as part of the judicial process the government has to remain separate from the police, who prosecuted the case.

Revealed???
Truly, what does the bloke know about anything?

Clarence MP performs somersault

The Member for Clarence Steve Cansdell has had to eat his words. Today's Daily Examiner reports on its front page that Cansdell has been forced to make a public apology in relation to comments he made about people acquitted  in the Yamba "riot" trial.

Source: The Daily Examiner, 1/6/2011

Perhaps Clarence MP should change his sources

The gauntlet has been thrown down in the direction of Steve Cansdell, the Member for Clarence.

Last week Cansdell was reported to have said, "As I'm told, the magistrate said these guys dodged a bullet."
(The Daily Examiner, 17/5/11)

Cansdell made that remark when he said he wasn't surprised that charges against juveniles who were alleged to have participated in the Yamba "riot" were dropped after the adults charged were found not guilty.

Solicitor Mark Spagnolo, who advised barristers representing two acquitted adults and three acquitted juveniles charged over their part in the incident, said Mr Cansdell’s comments were ill-informed and relied on hearsay. (The Daily Examiner, 23/5/11)

Mr Spagnolo said comments made by Mr Cansdell in the story about the youths’ riot charges dropped (The Daily Examiner, May 17), that he was told the magistrate said the accused dodged a bullet, were completely false.

“The statement made by Mr Cansdell was not said by the magistrate at any time,” he said

“Mr Cansdell should check the facts before making inflammatory comments as they do not assist the community.”

NCV has been very reliably informed that a reading of the trial's transcript will show it was the police prosecutor who said something about "escaping a bullet" and it was made in relation to one (singular) of the defendants, not the group collectively.

Sources: The Daily Examiner, 17/5/11 and 23/5/11

Memo to all Clarence Valley Shire Councillors: Effin' Bloody Fools!

According to The Northern Rivers Echo on 14th May 2011:
"there appear to be large reserves of conventional or natural as well as CSG (both composed largely of methane) in the Clarence Moreton Basin, which runs from south of Grafton up to the border and joins the Surat Basin in Queensland. There are currently three companies operating on the North Coast". (see map showing gas exploration in the Clarence Basin, a mid-Triassic to early Cretaceous basin)

On Friday 13th May 2011 The Daily Examiner ran an article which reported that:
“CLARENCE Valley Council is taking a “wait and see approach” to joining the chorus of Northern Rivers councils calling for a moratorium on coal seam gas mining.
Mayor Richie Williamson said coal seam gas mining was primarily a State Government issue.
“The state policies would come into consideration if and when there was an application for coal seam gas mining in the Clarence council local government area,” he said.
“I am aware that other councils are calling on the State Government for a moratorium, but it really is a State Government decision.
“The council hasn’t considered joining those other councils in calling for a moratorium as yet.”
Cr Williamson said the idea of fracking was a new issue for council.”

On Thursday 14th April 2011 a Duke University study (using analyzed groundwater from 68 private water wells) was approved for publication in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on 9th May:
“Directional drilling and hydraulic-fracturing technologies are dramatically increasing natural-gas extraction. In aquifers overlying the Marcellus and Utica shale formations of northeastern Pennsylvania and upstate New York, we document systematic evidence for methane contamination of drinking water associated with shalegas extraction. In active gas-extraction areas (one or more gas wells within 1 km), average and maximum methane concentrations in drinking-water wells increased with proximity to the nearest gas well and were 19.2 and 64 mg CH4 L-1 (n 1/4 26), a potential explosion hazard; in contrast, dissolved methane samples in neighboring nonextraction sites (no gas wells within 1 km) within similar geologic formations and hydrogeologic regimes averaged only 1.1 mg L-1 (P < 0.05; n 1/4 34)…….
Our results show evidence for methane contamination of shallow drinking-water systems in at least three areas of the region and suggest important environmental risks accompanying shale-gas exploration worldwide.”

This isn’t the first science-based warning about fracking and many other councils on the NSW North Coast (Ballina, Lismore, Kyogle and Tweed) have taken note of the problems created by this type of mining - along with a growing number of areas worldwide in which fracking is banned. But the arrogant nongs currently infesting local government in the Clarence Valley are an ignorant breed apart.

Of course Clarence Valley councillors are not alone in their folly as this email from the equally foolish NSW Nationals MP for Clarence (who obviously considers himself a lobbyist for Metgasco, Santos, Petronas, Total, Shell, PetroChina & Kogas) shows:
Date: Fri, 29 Apr 2011 14:55:57+1000
From: ElectorateOffice.Clarence@parliament.nsw.gov.au
To: mikemizzi@hotmail.com
Subject: Re: gas in the Clarence
Dear Michael,
Thank you for your email indicating your concerns regarding coal seam gas mining in all regions of Australia.
I support coal seam gas exploration being undertaken in our area. I think the industry can deliver a lot of benefits to our community in terms of employment and economic opportunities. At the same time it is important for the industry to operate in an environmentally responsible manner and to respect the interests of landowners. As you may know we released a Strategic Land Use Policy before the election which aims to strike a balance between the interests of the different groups. A copy of the policy is attached for your interest.
Exploration licenses have been held on the Mid North Coast for decades and extensive gas exploration has been undertaken in that time with little concern from the community. Community issues seem to have only come up since the movie Gaslands has been shown in the area. You should be aware that this movie is about the Shale Gas industry in the US and has little relevance to Australian gas industry practice. The movie is not a realistic portrayal of the gas industry in Australia as both the operational activities and regulatory environments are quite different. I have attached an information factsheet about the Gaslands movie that addresses some of the inaccuracies.
The coal seam gas industry is regulated by the Department of Industry and Investment in the exploration stage of operations when notices are placed in local papers notifying the intention to grant an exploration licence. Prior to any development being undertaken an environmental assessment is undertaken and must be approved by the Department of Planning, who co-ordinates the input from all relevant NSW Government agencies, including environmental agencies. At this stage there is an extensive community consultation process. Government agencies review an extensive list of environmental factors and specifically address any impact on underground aquifers and existing or future land uses. An example of these studies can be found at: http://www.glng.com.au/Content.aspx?p=90.
The coal seam gas industry is regulated by NSW State regulation. The National Industrial Chemicals Notifications and Assessment Scheme (NICNAS) is a Commonwealth authority and therefore is not a relevant agency for the purposes of regulating the industry. Several independent studies have examined the potential for water contamination due to hydraulic fracturing practices and found that the practice does not pose a threat to underground sources of drinking water. You can download the study at: http://water.epa.gov/type/groundwater/uic/
class/hydraulicfracturing/wells_coalbedmethanestudy.cfm.
Coal seam gas currently supplies over 90% of Queensland’s gas supply and is likely to become an increasingly important source of energy in NSW as well. I do believe that the industry can be developed in an environmentally acceptable manner.
Regards
Steve
Steve Cansdell, MP
Member for Clarence

"Emails between department staff (Department of Industry and Investment) and Metgasco show that testing for coal seam gas using fracking can go ahead without approval being sought or required from the Environment Department.
The practice of fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, involves injecting a mix of water, sand and chemicals underground to force gas to the surface."

UPDATE: I noticed that Steve Cansdell’s email contained a reference to an U.S. study rather than an Australian one. I suspected that Steve chose to ignore studies closer to home because they were not as favourable to his support of fracking on the NSW North Coast.
An investigation into the anticipated impacts of mining proposed in the Clarence-Moreton Basin communities: The Felton Project Report from the University of Queensland stable shows Valley locals may not be quite as enthusiastic as the Clarence MP expects:

Major anticipated environmental impacts which are negative are:
 contaminated groundwater and damaged aquifers
 capacity to successfully rehabilitate soil
 reduced air quality
o Significant anticipated environmental concerns are also negative: the potential for ecosystem damage and the cumulative impact and perceived limited capacity for environmental regulation.
o Major anticipated social impacts are negative:
 community tensions between mine and non-mine populations
 the social dislocation of farming families
 loss of visual amenity
 infrastructure, particularly roads

And Steve along with Clarence Valley Council ignores the fact that the large amount of waste water produced by fracking has to go somewhere and the cheapest option available to mining companies is to have the untreated contaminated water injected into natural underground aquifers or spread across the environemnt in other ways. It’s a sure bet the NSW O’Farrell Government would allow this without so much as a solitary moment of hesitation.

Why did Cansdell get a gig as a parliamentary secretary?

After reading a piece in Saturday's Sydney Morning Herald I'm left scratching my head and asking, "Why did Cansdell get a gig?"

Sean Nicolls gave an account of why backbenchers in the NSW government were awarded consolation prizes and given appointments as parliamentary secretaries.

However, no where in the piece did Clarence MP Steve Cansdell get a mention.

So, if it wasn't a consolation prize (because from my reading Cansdell doesn't fit any of the reasons Nicolls provided), what was it?


Lists, like polls, are often dismissed by politicians as of interest only to the media. In the case of opinion polls, our political leaders assure us they never read them. As for lists, they insist nothing should be read into them.

It's garbage, of course. Politicians live and die by the polls. And the best lists can tell you what's really going on behind the scenes.

One such list was released this week. It detailed which backbenchers have been rewarded with the title of parliamentary secretary.

A kind of consolation prize for missing out on the ministry, these roles are designed to take some pressure off ministers whose workload is expected to be particularly heavy.

They are also widely regarded as both a sign an MP is being groomed for bigger things (an apprenticeship of sorts), an opportunity to share the spoils of government among the factions and in some cases a means of raising an MP's profile to shore up a seat.

Barry O'Farrell has appointed 13 such secretaries. The list makes for fascinating reading.

The most striking detail is the Premier's use of the positions to mollify the Liberal Party faction which threatens to cause him the most trouble: the ''hard'' or religious right.

Hard-right powerbrokers, the upper house MPs David Clarke and Marie Ficarra, are the two most notable inclusions. Clarke will serve as parliamentary secretary for justice, aiding his factional ally, the Attorney-General, Greg Smith. Ficarra will serve as parliamentary secretary to the Premier.

From the same faction, the upper house MP Matthew Mason-Cox has been rewarded as with the prestige Treasury and Finance portfolios.

The appointments are widely regarded as some consolation for O'Farrell resisting their push for cabinet positions.

The next biggest winners are positions specially created by the O'Farrell government.

The appointment of the Dubbo MP, Troy Grant, (natural resources) and the Bathurst MP, Paul Toole, (Deputy Premier and Asia-Pacific trade), can be seen as a nod to the Nationals and a reward for stealing back independent-held seats. The choice of the Vaucluse MP, Gabrielle Upton, (Tertiary Education and Skills), a prominent member of the moderate faction, signals recognition for her talent and passion for higher education.

A former pro-chancellor of the University of NSW, Upton is well known for her plans to modernise the university research sector.

Her fellow moderate, Rob Stokes, has been made parliamentary secretary for renewable energy. This signals Stokes, an environmental lawyer with his eyes on bigger things, is destined for a cabinet post at the next opportunity.

Among the other winners are the Nationals MLC Melinda Pavey, the new parliamentary secretary for regional health. Along with the Coalition's former environment spokeswoman, Catherine Cusack, Pavey was a surprise exclusion from the cabinet.

The other appointments are MLC John Ajaka (transport and roads), the Riverstone MP Ray Williams (Western Sydney) and the Port Stephens MP Craig Baumann (regional planning).

The most significant omissions are Cusack, the Nationals MLC Trevor Khan and two Liberal rising stars - the barrister and Cronulla MP Mark Speakman of the moderates and the Baulkham Hills MP, David Elliott, of the ''soft'' right. Their omission may illustrate one of O'Farrell's biggest problems - how to reward everyone who is deserving in such an enormous party room. [Source: smh, 7/4/11]

BTW, Upper House Member Charlie Lynn also failed to get a mention.

Late development: Nationals Steve Cansdell leans even further to the right

The camera doesn't lie.

Nationals MP Steve Cansdell has a paid-for how-to-vote in the free (throw-away) local paper the Clarence Valley Review that indicates he's bending over backwards to keep extreme right wingers onside.

Here's a pic of the ad:

Source: Clarence Valley Review, 32/3/11, page 5