Showing posts with label Clarence Valley. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clarence Valley. Show all posts
Sunday 24 March 2019
Big Bat & Wildlife Festival, Noon to Sunset, 30 March 2019 Showground, Maclean NSW
Cyclone Oma might have postponed the festival but the events organisers are ready to go again.
The new date is Saturday 30th March at the Maclean Showground.
It is the same day as the Yamba Gourmet Food festival - so the Clarence Valley can offer culture and conservation.
It is also Earth Hour on the 30th March.
At the Big Bat & Wildlife Festival Uncle Ron Heron will be giving a Welcome to Country; while Bill Walker will tell some yarns about Yaegl experiences with wildlife and explaining totems.
As for the singers in the community they are planning an 'all-together-now' performance of 'Sing for the Climate' lead by the Macleles Ukulele Band.
Labels:
Clarence Valley,
entertainment,
Maclean
Friday 22 March 2019
Police hunt for information in Lawrence and Sandy Beach about alleged perpetrator of NZ terrorist attack
The
New Daily, 18
March 2019:
Family members of the
Australian man charged with murdering Muslim worshippers at two mosques in New
Zealand are devastated one of their own could be involved in a massacre.
Brenton Tarrant’s
grandmother, Marie Fitzgerald, said the family was gobsmacked he’d been charged
over Friday’s shooting attacks on mosques in Christchurch.
“It’s just so much of
everything to take in that somebody in our family would do anything like this,”
the 81-year-old woman told Nine News in the NSW city of Grafton on Sunday.
“The media is saying he
has planned it for a long time so he is obviously not of sound mind.”
Tarrant went to Europe
after his father died of cancer in 2010 and came back a different man, Mrs
Fitzgerald said.
“It’s only since he travelled
overseas I think, that that boy has changed completely to the boy we knew,” she
said.
His uncle Terry
Fitzgerald apologised on behalf of the family for his nephew’s alleged
murderous act.
“We are so sorry for the
families over there, for the dead and the injured,” Terry Fitzgerald said.
“What he has done is
just not right.”
Tarrant spent most of
his time on computer games during his high school days, rather than chasing
girls, his grandmother added.
The family had dinner
with Tarrant in Grafton a year ago for his sister’s birthday.
His sister and mother
have been put under police protection after Friday’s attack, which has left 50
dead and others in a critical condition on hospital.
Meanwhile,
counter-terrorism police raided two homes on the NSW mid-north coast on Monday
as part of investigations into the shootings.
Officers from the NSW
Joint Counter Terrorism Team searched a property in Sandy Beach, near Coffs
Harbour, about 8.30am on Monday, before storming a second house at Lawrence,
near Maclean.
“The primary aim of the
activity is to formally obtain material that may assist New Zealand Police in
their ongoing investigation,” the Australian Federal Police and NSW Police said
in a joint statement.
“The community can be
assured that there is no information to suggest a current or impending threat
related to this search warrants.”
Tarrant was not on any
watchlist in Australia or New Zealand, despite online profiles linked to him
containing white supremacist material.
The 28-year-old posted a
74-page document online before the attack. A 17-minute video of the shootings
was also live-streamed.
The JCTT is made up of
officers from the AFP, NSW Police, as well as ASIO and the NSW Crime
Commission.
–AAP
Labels:
Clarence Valley,
Grafton,
terrorist attack
"Please don’t run away from this so fast we fail to learn anything by it. Call out racism. Call out bigotry. Then call it out again, and again."
The Daily Examiner, 20 March 2019, p.28:
The
Grafton community is in shock, left heartbroken after news that Friday’s terrorist attack
in New Zealand was perpetrated by a man who grew up here.
So
it’s understandable we want to try to distance ourselves from what is now one
of the worst mass killings in modern history.
We
feel for our city, we feel for the local family caught up in this, and we feel
for the people of New Zealand.
What
is apparent though is a lack of acknowledgement of the people who were
specifically targeted in this murderous rampage. Muslims. People, including
children as young as two, who were killed because of their faith and their
race.
And
don’t for one minute think it’s not about race, it’s a package deal for white
supremacists, and the 28-year-old who grew up here is one of those.
So
why do Clarence Valley spokespeople gloss over such details like they are
trivial facts in this horrendous story?
If
a Middle Eastern gunman of Muslim faith walked into a Catholic church in
Australia and open fired on white Christian families there would be no such
leniencies extended to the perpetrator or his ilk in the conversations that
follow.
But
here we are in protection mode. This isn’t our Grafton. This isn’t our
Australia.
This isn’t us. Which is correct if we judge the perpetrator only on
his actions on Friday.
But
we have to come to terms with the fact these things don’t happen overnight.
There is an innate beginning to a journey that takes you to a place where you
are capable of planning an attack of this level of calculation and carnage,
write an extensive manifesto to showcase the act, film it and broadcast it
live, and, after being captured, smirk to the media as you face the first of
the many legal consequences of your actions.
So
if it’s not us, who is it? Pakistan, Finland, any other country? Is it the internet
or social media? Computer games? Is it the moment he left Grafton? The moment
he was ‘radicalised’?
Ultimate
responsibility lies with our society and the attitudes we foster. The
conversations we have and behaviours we encourage and allow.
Everything
contributes to this. What we hear from governments, what we hear from the
media, what we hear from our family and friends. What we are exposed to growing
up, what we talk about when we are old, the messages we share in pubs and on
social media.
So
in the Clarence, our Muslim-free narrative is very telling. So, too, the
idealistic version we create of ourselves.
Please
stop telling me how wonderful this place is. I already know it is; as long as
you look like me, you go OK.
But
describing the Clarence Valley and Grafton as a diverse and multicultural
region that prides itself on being inclusive, while it makes a great sound bite
or quote in a news story there is plenty to fault in these broad overviews with
little evidence to back them up.
About
80 per cent of Grafton is made up of white people and more than 70 per cent
identify as Christian (national averages are 65 per cent and 52 per cent
respectively).
Our demographic is made up of Australians, English, Irish,
Scottish and Germans predominantly. Our indigenous population falls under the
Australian component and makes up 7.4per cent of that, representing the major
group as far as our cultural diversity goes. It is more than double the state
average at 2.9per cent. Our representation of other people of colour is
negligible by comparison.*
So
to call us a culturally diverse place is a stretch. Inclusiveness is easy when
we all look the same and have the same beliefs.
Our
indigenous locals may have a different take on what that looks like.
When
it comes to sport and the arts, sure we champion inclusiveness with First
Nations people, but when we are really tested, like we were with the Coutts
Crossing name debate, we demonstrate a low tolerance. Same with national issues
like changing the date of Australia Day.
When
our Citizen of the Year expressed her support of that in her acceptance speech
she received random boos from an audience that also included members of our
indigenous community.
Every
October when we are – to quote someone well known for her lack of regard for
other races – “swamped with Asians”, our lack of tolerance for the influx of
visitors eager to photograph our beautiful trees is demonstrated with the
barrage of abuse they receive from passing motorists.
But
it’s not about race, they’re just idiots standing in the way, right? Like the
booing of Adam Goodes wasn’t because he was an Aborigine, he was just a bad
sport.
What
if the Muslim community came en masse to Grafton to mourn their slain? What if
they came to a town where they don’t exist?
It’s
impossible to have all those other conversations about our wonderful town
without having this one.
As
difficult as it is, not mentioning the war as we wait for things to blow over
isn’t an option. It’s no longer Grafton’s story to tell, or its agenda to set.
The city will forever wear a horrific international act of terrorism as part of
its story and in its history books.
Interest
will follow us for a long time as the world learns who the perpetrator was,
what kind of place he grew up in and how he ended up committing an act of
hatred so obscene it stopped the world.
Like
all the official spokespeople out there, I too love the Clarence Valley, but
I’m not blindsided by that affection so much I believe we are incapable of
being a breeding ground for racism. We aren’t the only Australian town to have
this potential, but we are the town caught up in this mess.
Please
don’t run away from this so fast we fail to learn anything by it. Call out
racism. Call out bigotry. Then call it out again, and again.
*2016
ABS Census
LESLEY APPS
Labels:
Australian society,
bigotry,
Clarence Valley,
racism,
xenophobia
Sunday 3 February 2019
Offensive odour leads to EPA inspection & pollution fine for Clarrich Farms piggery in northern NSW
Clarrich Farms Pty Ltd, a company registered in Queensland since
April 2015, also operates a 2 site
(Breeder-Grower), 1000 sow operation in Northern NSW region of Australia.
One of those piggery sites is on Jacksons Flat
Road, Jacksons Flat near Tabulam in the Clarence Valley.
NSW EPA, media
release, 23 January 2019:
EPA fines Clarrich Farms
$15,000 for failure to manage waste
The NSW Environment
Protection Authority (EPA) has fined Clarrich Farms Pty Ltd $15,000 for
allegedly mismanaging piggery waste at its Tabulam property.
EPA Regional Director
North Adam Gilligan said Clarrich Farms piggery had failed to properly manage
piggery effluent and other waste materials at the premises, posing a risk of
pollution to the nearby Clarence River and breaching their Environment
Protection Licence.
“The EPA carried out an
inspection of Clarrich Farms in July 2018 in response to a complaint about
offensive odours from the piggery. The inspection identified a large area on
the premises that had been smothered by a thick blanket of effluent sludge,” Mr
Gilligan said.
“Our investigations
found that the previous day the licensee had pumped sludge and liquid effluent
from a treatment dam onto the ground to manage odours emitted from the piggery.
“Analysis of sludge
samples returned highly elevated nutrient and faecal contamination levels.
Phosphorus levels were particularly high.
“During the inspection
EPA officers found the sludge and effluent flowing towards the Clarence River,
ultimately covering approximately 7.25 hectares of ground.”
The EPA required
Clarrich Farms to immediately clean up the sludge, and implement ongoing
measures to contain and reduce the elevated phosphorus levels of the impacted
area of land.
The EPA is also liaising
with Clarrich Farms on the broader environmental management of the facility
including increased environmental monitoring requirements.
The EPA investigates all
reports of suspected pollution and encourages anyone with a concern, or
knowledge of environmental harm to contact the 24-hour EPA Environment Line on
131 555.
Penalty notices are one
of a number of tools the EPA can use to achieve environmental compliance,
including formal warnings, official cautions, licence conditions, notices and
directions and prosecutions. For more information about the EPA’s regulatory
tools, see the EPA Compliance Policy at
www.epa.nsw.gov.au/legislation/prosguid.htm
Labels:
Clarence Valley,
EPA,
pollution
Wednesday 9 January 2019
The bad news for NSW North Coast regional communities just never ends
According to
the Berejiklian Coalition Government’s Transport
for NSW website: The
Community Transport Program (CTP) assists individuals who are transport
disadvantaged owing to physical, social, cultural and / or geographic
factors. Individuals who do not qualify for other support programs may be
eligible for community transport. CTP is funded by the NSW
Government and aims to address transport disadvantage at the local level via
community transport organisations.
In the
Clarence Valley medical specialist services are rather thin on the ground and
residents are frequently referred to medical practices and hospital clinics
hundreds of miles away.
For
communities in the Lower Clarence where a high percentage of the population are
elderly people on low incomes this can frequently present a transport problem,
as often there is no family member living close by to assist or the person’s peer
friendship group doesn’t include anyone capable of driving long distances.
Community
transport has been the only option for a good many people.
Until now…..
The Daily Examiner, 8 January 2019, p.3:
The thought of paying
$200 for a trip to see her specialist about her medical condition made Yamba
pensioner Gloria George glad she was sitting down when she made the call.
The 80-year-old said
when she contacted Clarence Community Transport and was told the price to be
taken by car to the Gold Coast for a Wednesday appointment, it could have
brought on a heart attack.
Mrs George said CCT told
her there was a bus service to the Gold Coast that ran on Monday, Wednesday and
Friday for $70.
“My appointment was on
Tuesday and the clinic I was booked into was not available on the other days,”
she said.
“They said they had made
cutbacks and the price to be driven to the appointment was $200.
“I’ve got a bad heart
problem and I nearly fell over when they told me.
“Who can afford $200 to
go to an appointment?”
Mrs George said she
still has a licence, but would not feel safe driving to her appointment.
“I think I’ll be able to
get a friend to drive me there and take me home again. I hope so,” she said.
The manager of CCT,
Warwick Foster, said the price rise for services had come in when the government
cut $250,000 from CCT’s funding when the NDIS came in last year.
“We could no longer
afford to operate the bus five days a week,” he said. “And we can’t afford to
drive people to appointments for the same fee we charge for the bus service.”
Mr Foster said the
government subsidy for transport of $31 a trip created a juggling act for CCT
to afford its services.
“Each trip, no matter
the distance, is subsidised at $31,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter if
the trip is across town or to Brisbane, the subsidy is the same....
Monday 24 December 2018
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.
Sunday 23 December 2018
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
Labels:
Clarence Valley,
environmental vandalism,
mining,
water wars
Thursday 20 December 2018
PEOPLE POWER: Grafton Loop of the Knitting Nannas six years old and still going strong
The Grafton Loop of the Knitting Nannas Against Gas was officially launched six years ago on 19 October 2012.
The local nannas first began knitting in peaceful opposition to coal seam gas exploration and mining in the early days of the Glenugie blockade of a Metgasgo CSG test drill site in the Clarence Valley.
As part of the wider NSW Northern Rivers movement they helped keep the north-east "Gasfield Free!"
The Grafton Loop continues to be active on environmental issues and regularly hold knit-ins outside local state and federal MPs electoral offices.
This is the Grafton Loop on 13 December 2018 outside Nationals MP for Page Kevin Hogan's office, accompanied by "Nanna Kerry", a mascot veteran of mining protests in south-east Queensland.
This letter was sent to Kevin Hogan on the same day.....
Letter to Nationals MP for Page Kevin Hogan from Grafton Loop of the Knitting Nannas Against Gas, NSW Austr... by clarencegirl on Scribd
https://www.scribd.com/document/395886572/Letter-to-Nationals-MP-for-Page-Kevin-Hogan-from-Grafton-Loop-of-the-Knitting-Nannas-Against-Gas-NSW-AustraliaWay to go, Nannas!
Labels:
activists,
Clarence Valley,
coal,
Coal Seam Gas,
people power
Thursday 6 December 2018
Moving the Aboriginal Legal Service to Coffs Harbour will have adverse effects
The Daily Examiner, 3 December 2018:
A Grafton solicitor says
the decision to move the Aboriginal Legal Service to Coffs Harbour will have
adverse effects.
“As a lawyer who has
worked with the Aboriginal community over many decades I was very surprised and
concerned by your report in (Friday’s) Examiner that the Aboriginal Legal
Service is closing its Grafton office and moving to Coffs Harbour.
If this move goes ahead
it will have a significant and immediate adverse effect on the Grafton and
Clarence Valley Aboriginal community that I feel the “ALS decision makers” in
Sydney have not taken into account.
The Grafton building
that ALS now works from is shared with a number of Aboriginal service providers
and is a community hub that is safe, welcoming and holistically culturally
appropriate for the services provided.
These services include
tenancy advice, youth empowerment and support, addiction support, family
violence support, mental health, homelessness – all of whom draw on ALS legal
services for client support.
The reality is that the
presence of the ALS in this group of service providers is the magnet that draws
the community together. This original service hub is unique and should be
maintained at all costs.
The logic as expressed
by ALS Sydney for moving to Coffs Harbour appears to be short-sighted, rushed
and vexing given the role now played by the Grafton ALS office within the
Aboriginal community in the Clarence Valley.
Also, with the new
Grafton jail soon to be opened, it is logical that a full time operating ALS
office in Grafton would be of significant support to the courts and police and
such support would be significantly diminished if the ALS moves to Coffs
Harbour.
Jeff McLaren,
Jeffrey McLaren
Solicitors
It comes as no surprise that Coffs Harbour City seeks to drain services from the Clarence Valley.
For years the NSW state government and elements on Clarence Valley Council have sought to draw Clarence Valley local government area into Coffs Harbour City Council's ambit - first as an outright merger push and later bundled together as a faux community of interest.
This is part of the inevitable outcome. Clarence Valley communities will have to get used to this state of affairs or vigorously fight it.
Labels:
Clarence Valley,
legal services
Thursday 22 November 2018
Update on attempt by water raiders from the Murray-Darling Basin to get NSW Government agreement to dam and divert water from the Clarence River system
The NSW Legislative Council Industry and Transport Committee Inquiry report would not go so far as to recommend damming and diverting water from the Clarence River catchment and, the Berejiklian Government would only go as far as "noting' the fallback position held by the water raiders from the Murray-Darling Basin.
NSW LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, Portfolio
Committee No. 5 – Industry and Transport Augmentation of water supply for rural
and regional New South Wales,
14 May 2018:
Recommendation 40
That the NSW Government
consider establishing a stormwater and/or flood harvesting pilot program for
flood mitigation in the Northern Rivers.
6.89 The committee heard
evidence from some inquiry participants that there may be potential benefits of
diverting the Clarence River to the west. These inquiry participants were of
the view that there is merit to any strategy that seeks to mitigate floods and
flood damage in the Clarence Valley and provide additional water for
agriculture in the Barwon region. The committee acknowledges that stakeholders
were divided on the issue of water diversion. However, some inquiry
participants held strong views against diverting waters from the Clarence River
to the west.
6.90 We also acknowledge the work of local
councils in undertaking repair work for public assets and infrastructure and
the strain that such labour has on council resources, finances and staff. The
committee acknowledges that stakeholders called for the National Disaster
Relief and Recovery Arrangements to undergo a review in order to compensate for
council resources and staff, the committee supports this idea and recommends
the NSW Government pursue this through the Council of Australian Governments.
Government Response - Water Augmentation, 14 November 2018:
Wednesday 21 November 2018
Ulmarra community puts a win on the board concerning Pacific Highway blackspot
The
Daily Examiner, January 2018: "Coffs/Clarence Local Area Command duty
officer Acting Inspector Darren Williams said the collision was between two
Queensland registered B Double trucks at 10.15pm Tuesday night when the
northbound heavy vehicle collided with the other heavy vehicle heading south
while attempting a left-hand bend near the beginning of the 50kmh speed zone."
|
Ulmarra is a picturesque Clarence Valley village which was established in 1857 and which served as a river port in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of its buildings are heritage-listed.
Unfortunately
for the folk who live there the busy Pacific Highway runs through one section
of this village and the lives of residents in that section are dominated by the
movement of heavy road transport vehicles – and will continue to be so since it was revealed that the Ulmarra Bypass (due for completion in 2020) will not remove B-Double trucks and 'semis' from what will then be the old Pacific Highway.
This year
the village successfully campaigned for an extension of the lowest speed limit and a speed camera to slow these big trucks down….
The Daily Examiner, 17 November 2018, p.4:
January 3
Two trucks collide on
the southern end of Ulmarra the night before. From a visit to where one of the
trucks has come to rest within metres of a home, it’s clear how lucky a young
family are to be alive. That afternoon, The Daily Examiner team
decides to launch the Let’s Not Wait campaign.
January 5
Ulmarra residents meet
with The Daily Examiner at the latest crash site to share years of
horror stories from living beside the Pacific Highway. The Daily Examiner Let’s
Not Wait campaign is officially launched.
January 10
Clarence MP Chris
Gulaptis comes out in support of Ulmarra residents and begins discussions with
the Minister for Roads and Maritime Services Melinda Pavey.
January 23
A front-page photo of
Ulmarra resident Ryan Brown holding up a speed radar gun gets the attention of
national media and the campaign is thrust into the national spotlight when
Channel Nine’s Today show visits the village.
January 26
Following increased media
attention, Mr Gulaptis and Roads and Maritime Services representatives meet
with Ulmarra residents to discuss long and short-term solutions.
January 30
A tirade of threats and
vulgarity is directed at Ulmarra residents through both online bullying and rogue
truck drivers intentionally sounding their horns while passing through the
village at night.
February 21
Coffs/Clarence Highway
Patrol increase their patrols in and around the township to keep driver
behaviour in check.
May 14
Clarence MP Chris Gulatpis
announces the extension of the 50km/h speed limit zones following a review
conducted by Roads and Maritime Services.
June 18
Another truck crashes at
the notorious black spot. This time the accident comes within metres of the
Brown family home and causes a power outage from Brushgrove, to Tucabia and
South Grafton.
June 19
Clarence candidate Steve
Cansdell calls on the NSW Government to do more to protect residents and
motorists at the notorious black spot.
June 22
More members of the
Clarence Valley community rally behind Ulmarra, including former ambulance
officer Wade Walker who calls out RMS for failing in their duty of care to the
Brown family.
July 23
Ulmarra resident John
Leask accuses RMS of gross negligence in its handling of the Ulmarra black spot
in a scathing email sent to various government officials.
Another collision occurs
the same day, with two cars and a truck involved, near the southern end. No one
is injured.
July 25
Coffs/Clarence Highway
Patrol stop another potential crash when they find a fatigued driver after
pulling over a southbound truck reported as swerving along the road.
August 17
Residents capture CCTV
footage of a truck driver deliberately sounding their horn while travelling
from one end of the village to the other and this reignites online debate over
who is to blame for the behaviour.
September 5
Two truck drivers are
caught by Highway Patrol, one for speeding, and the other for sounding their
horn for a sustained period of time.
October 5
The truck driver
captured on CCTV footage in August deliberately sounding the truck’s horn while
travelling from one end of the village to the other is identified and charged
by police.
November 16
The speed camera is
switched on by residents of the Ulmarra community.
Labels:
Clarence Valley,
Pacific Highway,
people power,
Ulmarra
Friday 21 September 2018
Two koalas return to their home range in the Clarence
Clarence Valley Council, Media Release, 18 September 2018:
Mayor: Jim Simmons LOCKED BAG 23
GRAFTON NSW 2460
General Manager: Ashley Lindsay
Telephone: (02) 6643 0200
Fax: (02) 6642 7647
Miss Starry in the fork of a tree and Ashby David is a little reluctant to go from his washing basket transport.
Coming home to the
Clarence
Clarence Valley Council
natural resource management project officer, Caragh Heenan, said Miss Starry was picked up by a WIRES
carer and assessed by a local vet, then sent to Australia Zoo’s Wildlife Hospital
where she was also treated for chlamydia – a serious and potentially fatal
infection that causes blindness and internal infections if not treated.
Ms Heenan said her last
few weeks were at the Friends of Koala Nursery in Lismore where she had been
regaining strength for her release.
Another koala was
released the same day; ‘Ashby David’ was found on the ground in Ashby and was sent
to Currumbin Wildlife Hospital for treatment for chlamydia.
Ms Heenan said Clarence
koalas were under threat from fire, cars, dogs and disease.
“WIRES carers play a big
role in caring for injured animals, and koalas need your help too,” she said.
“With funding from the
NSW Environmental Trust, council is running a project to support our koalas.
“Register where you’ve
seen a koala at http://www.clarenceconversations.com.au
and help us plan for Clarence koalas into the future.
“With the public’s help
we can help koalas remain safe and healthy for the long term.”
Release ends.
Labels:
Clarence Valley,
flora and fauna,
Koala
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