The remains of five Ancestors have been returned to the Yaegl people of the Clarence Valley, NSW

 

NSW Dept.of Planning and Environment, News & Media, 7 July 2023:

Honouring the Past, Healing the Present: Yaegl Ancestors Finally Rest on Country

7 July 2023

Yaegl Repatriation 
Credit: Jamie Williams Photography

The remains of 5 ancestors have been returned to the Yaegl people of northern New South Wales, with a significant cultural ceremony honouring their repatriation back to Country.

Yaegl Repatriation

The repatriation ceremony took place at the Yaegl Nature Reserve, just north of Grafton near Maclean, which was the designated burial site identified by the Yaegl community.

The repatriation follows the Australian Museum's decision to release 3 Ancestors to be returned to Yaegl country for a proper burial, along with 2 Ancestors who were voluntarily handed over to National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) by a local landowner who expressed the importance of ensuring their proper care.

The Yaegl Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation (registered Native Title Group and nominated representatives) led the repatriation of their Old Peoples remains to ensure the burial was in line with their traditions and cultural practices.

The Yaegl Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation worked closely with Heritage NSW, which provided assistance in the planning stages of returning the remains and coordinating the repatriation.

The repatriation is a significant occasion, marking a milestone in the ongoing reconciliation and healing process, and honouring the ancestral connection between the Yaegl people and their traditional lands.

Billy Walker, General Manager for Yaegl Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation on behalf of Yaegl Elders group:

"The Yaegl people witnessed the return and repatriation of our Ancestors. Our Ancestors are at eternal rest now they have been returned to their traditional lands."

Sam Kidman, Executive Director Heritage NSW:

"The repatriation of the Yaegl Ancestors stands as a testament to the importance of recognising the rights and aspirations of Indigenous peoples, their cultural heritage, and the fundamental connection between land, people, and spirit."

Laura McBride, Director, First Nations, Australian Museum:

"The Australian Museum is committed to be a cultural leader and advocate for First Nations history and peoples, and as part of this commitment has identified the repatriation of Ancestral Remains as a corporate strategic priority. We are honoured to have helped facilitate the return of Yaegl Ancestors and continue to support First Nations communities to get their Old People home."

GCB Constructions not out of the woods yet? Still no completion date for Uniting's seniors living development in Yamba.

 

Artist's rendition of planned Uniting retirement/seniors living complex

IMAGE: CVC/Clarence Valley Independent, 30 October 2019

In 2020 the Uniting Church announced the extension of its “Caroona” aged care residential facility in Yamba to include a co-located complex of 34 villas and 50 one, two and three-bedroom apartments with a recreational area.

The building contractor chosen GCB Constructions Pty Ltd (located in Brisbane, Gold Coast and Lismore). Presumably because Uniting was satisfied with the previous 12 bed hostel build.

Work ceased on the complex sometime in early 2023 as GCB’s financial difficulties became apparent.

By beginning June GCB was facing “facing multiple court actions from suppliers, including a wind-up action”, however a spokesperson stated “GCB Constructions maintains a solvent position despite cashflow restraints.” “... we expect to have the majority of our teams back on site over the next week or so”.

Nevertheless, it does not appear that GCB Constructions has returned to the Yamba site, as the yet to be fully completed build remains silent and absent of noticeable activity.

On 21 June the Clarence Valley Independent described the situation as Uniting Yamba Road development in limbo with an accompanying photograph of the 50 apartment section of this development.

IMAGE: Clarence Valley Independent, 21 June 2023.
Photo Rodney Stevens

 

NSW Nurses and Midwives Association, June 2023: between Grafton and Maclean Hospitals another 40 nurses are needed to provide adequate staffing levels

 

Grafton Base Hospital is a Level 3/4 rural community hospital with an est. 68 bed inpatient capacity which provides acute medical, surgical, orthopaedic, paediatric, anaesthetic, geriatric, obstetric and maternity, intensive and critical care, renal, oncology, palliative care, emergency, some specialist outpatient services and day surgery facilities. Maclean District Hospital is a Level 3 rural community hospital with an est. <43 inpatient bed capacity, an inpatient Rehabilitation Unit and a Day Surgery Unit.

Clarence Valley Independent, 14 June 2023:

Between Grafton and Maclean Hospitals another 40 nurses are needed to provide adequate staffing levels say the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association as the Local Health District tries to fill 180 nursing vacancies across the region.

NSW Nurses and Midwives Association Clarence Valley branch secretary Thea Koval said without agency nursing staff being called in, who are paid significantly more than NSW Health nurses, Maclean and Grafton hospitals would struggle to operate.

“Without agency nursing staff our hospitals would not be able to be run with the nurses employed only by NSW Health,” she said.

“Without that external agency support we would be completely drowning, there just would not be enough staff.”

Ms Koval said both Grafton and Maclean hospitals are continuing to experience increasing numbers of patients presenting to the emergency department ED, which leads to increasing wait times until they are treated.

This combined with the lack of nursing staff, Ms Koval said is leading to a decline in patient care.

“We are constantly and have been for the last 10 years saying that the amount of staff we have is not enough to provide the care we are expected to our patients,” she said.

“That can range anywhere from not being able to provide a shower, so there’s patients going without showers on the wards, to people waiting excessive amounts of time in ED to be seen by a nurse, or once they’re seen by a nurse waiting for pain relief, waiting to be helped to the toilet or delays in getting antibiotics.”

Ms Koval said the frustrating lack of staff led to nurses striking four times last year.

“We raise the issue through to our managers, we try and raise it with the Ministry of Health and so far, nothing has changed,” she said.

“This new government has promised to introduce the ratio system, which they termed ‘safe staffing’ but that hasn’t happened yet.”

Ms Koval said the planned ratios are one nurse to three patients in ED, with a dedicated resuscitation nurse, a dedicated triage nurse and a dedicated team leader on all shifts.

“That would make a massive difference to Grafton and Maclean Hospitals, particularly on our night shifts when our staffing drops from seven nurses to three nurses, and more often than not these days the ED is full of patients,” she said.

As Queensland Health have implemented nurse to patient ratios, where nurses experience better conditions and earn $10 an hour more than in NSW, Ms Koval said a number of local nurses have left to work over the border.

As a result, the Northern NSW Local Health District has confirmed there are 180 full time equivalent nursing vacancies across the region.

“Grafton and Maclean hospitals have approximately 40 of those vacancies,” Ms Koval said.

“That is just to make it back up to what the government currently considers as reasonable staffing levels…and when this new ‘safe staffing’ comes in as promised, that level of vacancies will increase.”

Ms Koval said staff shortages extend to the number of local doctors, as two surgeons have recently left Grafton hospital without being replaced and locums are regularly called in to fill positions in Grafton and Maclean hospitals.

“It’s a very large expense (for locums) but it’s what you have to do otherwise you don’t have medical coverage,” she said……

Read the full article here.

Did you feel the earth move early Thursday morning in the Clarence Valley on 8 June 2023?

 

An earthquake was recorded in the Pillar Valley in the Clarence Valley local government area in the early hours of the morning on Thursday, 8 June 2023.

Here are the details.

Geoscience Australia, Earthquakes@GA:

Earthquake Details

Grafton, NSW

Origin (UTC): 07/06/2023 16:09:18

Epicentral Time: 08/06/2023 02:09:18

Longitude: 153.05 Latitude: -29.64

Magnitude: 3.0 (ML) Depth: 10 km

Event Id: ga2023ldldlp 

Felt Reports: 30

The quake was felt at intensity levels:

Pillar Valley and Grafton  2; 

Yamba 2.7;

Brooms Head 2.3; 

Sandon 4.1;

Minnie Water and surrounding area 3.2m, 3.7 & 3.8;

Wooli & the Lower Wooli River 3.3 & 4.3.

ABC News, 8 June 2023:

Kelly Whitehouse from Minnie Water, east of Grafton, said she felt the quake when she woke to let her dog out of the house.

"The dog just started going nuts and then I could feel it through the floor and everything was rattling a bit," she said.

"The sound was so loud you could feel the vibration through the floor.

"It wasn't comfortable, I could not go back to sleep after that. It was pretty daunting."

The earthquake was also felt in Coffs Harbour City local government area in six areas at intensity levels ranging from 2 to 3.4 and, inland at Armidale at 2.7.

DROUGHT: and so it begins.....

 

The green map of New South Wales is changing colour as soil moisture begins to fall.

Thus far drought affected land is confined to the north-east and north-west of the state, with 10.9% of land on the North Coast affected.

 An est. 35 parishes are drought affected in the Clarence Valley, 13 parishes in the Richmond Valley and 3 border parishes in Tweed Shire.

The Dept. of Primary Industry seasonal update considers that "Drought Affected Land" status is intensifying in the Clarence Valley. Currently that status appears to cover an area roughly from just south of Lawrence following the river to land up past Dumbudgery and, from the Yulgilbar district in the north to the Elland district in the south.

NSW Dept. of Primary Industries, Combined Drought Indicator, mapping as of 3 June 2023

NSW GOVERNMENT 'NORTHERN RIVERS RESILIENT LAND STRATEGY' STATE OF PLAY 2023: in its current form not worth the paper it is printed on

 

Northern Rivers Resilient Lands Strategy –Summary Report: Helping provide a safer, more sustainable and more resilient Northern Rivers, 1 June 2023:

The Northern Rivers Resilient Lands Strategy is part of the Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation (NRRC)’s $100 million Resilient Lands Program.

The Resilient Lands Program is part of a suite of measures the NRRC is coordinating to deliver a sustainable supply of land and housing for flood

impacted residents in high risk areas in the Ballina, Byron, Clarence Valley, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Tweed Local Government Areas.

The Resilient Lands Program has been designed to complement, not replace, business-as-usual land release and housing development in the region. The Resilient Land Strategy identifies land that will be accelerated for delivery with funding support provided under the Program.

The Resilient Lands Program is being delivered in conjunction with the NRRC’s $700 million Resilient Homes Program that focuses on raising, retrofitting and voluntary purchase of homes impacted by the 2022 floods.

After the Acknowledgement Of Country the aforementioned four short paragraphs are the NSW Government, Dept. of Regional NSW & Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation (NRRC)’s introduction to its long awaited draft resilient lands strategy.

It goes on in the Foreword to state:

The Strategy identifies 22 sites that could support

climate resilient residential development across each

of the Northern Rivers Local Government Areas. Fifteen

sites have been earmarked for immediate on-ground

investigations, to enable flood impacted residents to

move out of areas severely impacted by the 2022 floods.

The Strategy also identifies a further seven sites of

strategic significance for long-term resilience. These

sites that are identified as potentially suitable for

development in the longer term may help reduce the

need to undertake a similar region-wide land suitability

assessment should future natural disasters occur in

the Northern Rivers.

The authors of this draft document end the eight paragraph Foreword with a nausea inducing bout of self-congratulation:

The Resilient Lands Expert Panel, who has assisted in

the preparation of the document, is thankful that our

skills and professional expertise have been able to

contribute to the recovery initiative but humbled by the

experience of people who lived through the flood event,

many of whom remain impacted. We hope that this

document will assist in ensuring that safe and secure

accommodation can be made available for all affected

going forward.

That last paragraph on Page 5 completed setting the tone for what is essentially a twenty-four page collection of pious wishes, vaguely-worded ‘plans’ and the carefully worded announcement of a funding feeding frenzy by land speculators and both private & corporate property developers.

Given the political influence of the development & construction industry lobbies, it is easy to suspect that ‘affordable housing’ will be taking a back seat in the NSW Minns Labor Government’s specific plans for north-east New South Wales – albeit these plans were inherited from the Berejiklian-Perrottet Coalition Government which preceded it.

At Pages 7 & 8 the draft document states:

Land identified in the Strategy was also reviewed by the Resilient Lands Expert Panel (the Panel), an independent panel of experts with backgrounds in urban planning, environmental management, community development, Indigenous knowledge and climate resilience.

The Panel’s recommendations identified 22 short, medium and long-term development sites across the seven Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Ballina, Byron, Clarence Valley, Kyogle, Lismore, Richmond Valley and Tweed with potential capacity for up to 10,300 dwellings.

Work has now commenced on the planning and delivery of the 15 short-term sites identified within the Strategy. This will ensure residents impacted by the 2022 floods can relocate to new housing as soon as possible.

The Strategy also identifies a further seven medium and long-term sites for broader regional planning efforts to support longer term community resilience.

What does the Resilient Lands Strategy mean for

residents impacted by the floods?

The Strategy identifies a total of 22 potential development sites across the Northern Rivers on both private and public land. Fifteen sites are for immediate investigation for flood impacted residents with capacity for approximately 7,800 dwellings. Seven further sites with capacity for approximately 2,500 dwellings have been identified as sites of strategic significance for longer term resilience…..

Why doesn’t the NRRC just acquire and develop land?

In some instances, acquisition and development of land by government will have a role to play under the Program. However, using a range of approaches that aim to remove barriers and encourage the delivery of land and housing by the development sector and government will maximise housing supply outcomes across the region.

For example, using the entire $100 million available under the Resilient Lands Program to acquire land and develop housing could be expected to deliver approximately 200–300 dwellings to the market over the next three to four years.

On the other hand, a modest, up-front investment by government to deliver important water and sewer infrastructure upgrades that are preventing the release of land can unlock significant housing supply and better support the feasibility and delivery of residential development areas.

Taking an approach that is tailored to the characteristics of each individual site will ensure the Program delivers the most housing in the right locations as possible.

Where any financial support is provided to the development sector through the Resilient Lands Program, it will be conditional on prioritising access to any new housing for flood affected residents.

I think that the Labor MLA for Lismore Janelle Saffin put it best when she told ABC News on Friday, 2 May 2023:

Ms Saffin said the corporation's communication skills left many questions unanswered.

"We are desperate for detail, our community that has been physically and psychologically battered, and this doesn't give us any more detail about when, time frames, how, who," Ms Saffin said.

"I've been a very vocal critic of the NRRC's inability to communicate and this release just highlights it even more."….

"We've all watched the series Utopia [and] the idea of comms management is not to do anything," Ms Saffin said.

While Greens MLA For Ballina Tamara Smith was quoted in The Guardian on the same day:

The MP for Ballina, Tamara Smith, called on the government to release better maps that provide more detail.

“How can we as a community make informed submissions about what will be huge new residential developments when we don’t actually know where they are?” she said.

“Our community deserves utter transparency and I am disappointed that we are not getting more information in order to make meaningful submissions to the draft.”

In another section of that article these succinct quotes also mirrored the feelings of more than a few locals:

A mayor who spoke to Guardian Australia on condition of anonymity said they believed the government was being “very optimistic” with its goals, calling the lack of detail so far provided to councils and the community “really crap”.

This is an example of mapping used in the draft document at Pages 15 to 22:

It would appear that the state government and its agencies are determined to play those land strategy cards close to their chest and at the same time minimise whatever negative media reports may emerge.

It is doing this by treating the entire Northern Rivers regional population of est. 312,747 men, women and children (.idcommunity, 2022) as so many mushrooms which need to be kept in the dark. At the same time holding a media briefing in which the Draft Resilient Lands Strategy was explained in some detail (accompanied by visual aids) and all journalists questions answered—under a total ban on dissemination of said information by said journalists.

This Northern Rivers resident’s assessment of the state of play in June 2023?

The NSW Government, Dept. of Regional NSW and Northern Rivers Reconstruction Corporation have provided local government and communities with:

1. no genuine time frame;

2. broad statements but no real details;

3. an incorrect assessment of some land being shovel ready for development in 2024;

4. maps so ill-defined that they are all but useless in identifying which land is to be developed;

5. no outline of the type/number/provisional costings of tenders that might be required for land preparation and supporting infrastructure or tenders which have already been approved; and

6. an unrealistic expectation that this particular Resilient Lands Strategy can deliver what has been promised to the people of the Northern Rivers region.

PHOTOVOICE: Clarence Valley people with disability are invited to take part in a photography project, designed to capture their experience of the world and give others more understanding of living with disability

 

Clarence Valley Independent, 29 May 2023:

Artist’s Statement “Gaslit” You’re being too sensitive… Get over it… C’mon its not that bad… Harden up… The world doesn’t revolve around you… Some things are not as obvious as a ramp or cane. I suffer in silence and sit in shame. Noises razor sharp and I struggle to breathe. Someone just listen to me please.

Clarence Valley people with disability are invited to take part in a photography project, designed to capture their experience of the world and give others more understanding of living with disability.

Photovoice is a five-week photography workshop-project led by not-for-profit organisation, Social Futures – an NDIS partner in the community.

Social Futures Capacity Building and Engagement Manager Lynda Hope describes Photovoice as a form of photographic storytelling.

“Photovoice explores the concept of ‘disability pride’ and each week participants take a photo connected to a theme that helps them express how they feel. The topics the group will discuss include ‘I love being me because…’, ‘inclusion’, ‘courage’ and ‘pride’,” Ms Hope said.

“Photovoice will be run online, so all participants need is a smart phone or a camera, and the Zoom video chat app….

You can learn more about Photovoice by watching this video on the Social Futures website: https://socialfutures.org.au/service/photovoice-share-the-world-through-your-eyes/....

If you are aged 18 years or older and interested in being part of Photovoice – Disability Pride groups with Social Futures, call 1800 522 679 or email lac@socialfutures.org.au

So this Australian Winter was expected to be drier and warmer than the median mark, but now it seems twice as likely a rainfall suppressing El Niño event will also start this year

During the multi-year Millennium Drought from 1997 to 2010, south east Australia experienced its lowest 13-year rainfall record since 1865 over the years 2006 to 2010.

Temperatures were also much hotter than in previous droughts and temperature extremes peaked during the heatwave and bushfires in early 2009. This culminated in the loss of 374 lives in Victoria and many more over the larger southeast in the heatwave leading up to Black Saturday. There were 173 lives lost in the fires.

The years 2015 to 2016 saw El Niño combined with a positive Indian Ocean Dipole in the second half of 2015 further suppressing rainfall, so that rainfall was the equal fourth-lowest on record for Australia during September, Tasmania had its driest Spring on record and mean temperatures were also highest on record for October to December 2015. This El Niño also contributed to an early start to the 2015-16 southern fire season.

By 2017 Australia was again in the grips of a multi-year drought. Very dry conditions in the cool season were followed by only a limited recovery in the October–December period in 2017 and 2018. This meant record-low rainfalls over various multi-year periods.

By June 2018 more than 99% of NSW was declared as affected by drought. The most extreme rainfall deficiencies over multi-year periods occurring in the northern half of New South Wales.

In June-July 2019 New South Wales began a trial by mega bushfires, as did other east coast states, that lasted through to January 2020.

Widespread drought was not an issue for the remainder of 2020 through to the present day, given La Niña visited three times in three years bringing high rainfall events and record floods in the eastern states.

However, the Australian Dept. of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (ABARE) is now drawing attention to this:

All but one international climate model surveyed by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology suggest sea-surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific will exceed El Niño thresholds in June. [ABARES Weekly Australian Climate, Water and Agricultural Update, 25 May 2023] 

[ABARES, 25 May 2023] Click on image to enlarge

Suggesting in its climate update that there is now twice the risk of an El Niño event this year, with a likelihood of it making itself felt sometime between August and October.

The overall outlook for this Australian Winter continues to be below median rainfall and warmer median temperatures. 

The main urban centres in the Clarence Valley have a chance of unusually warm temperatures over the winter months of between est. 55-60% (Maclean-Yamba-Iluka) and 59-65% (Grafton). While elsewhere in the Northern Rivers region unusually warm temperatures are expected in Lismore with est. 58-59% chance, Tweed Heads est. 59-62% chance, with Byron Bay & Ballina at est. 60-61% chance. [BOM, Climate outlooks—weeks, months and seasons, June-September 2023]

How this developing scenario affects agricultural growing seasons over the next twelve months is anyone's guess.

In New South Wales only the parishes of Newbold and Braylesford in the Clarence Valley are showing Combined Drought Indicator (CDI) at “Drought Affected”. 

Nevertheless, root-zone soil moisture has been falling across north-east NSW so that by end of April 2023 it was very much below average in from the coast. 

Remembering that drought 'safety net' Shannon Creek Dam, which supplies urban town water to both Coffs Harbour City and Clarence Valley resident populations (total 134,538 persons, June 2022) is currently at 92.6% capacity or 27,677 megalitres, perhaps we may see increased water restrictions by the next Christmas-New Year period. Given the tourist-driven seasonal population rise increases water consumption and that 80% dam capacity is the increased restrictions trigger.

It doesn't take a genius to suspect that should a drought develop, the 2024 and 2025 bush fire seasons might also be highly problematic for rural and regional areas across Australia.

MEMO TO CURRENT & FUTURE AUSTRALIAN & NSW GOVERNMENTS: The Clarence Valley Was Declared A Nuclear-Free Zone On 23 May 2023

 

It was brief, to the point and supported by Clarence Valley Council’s Climate Change Advisory Committee and Council in the Chamber.

Ordinary Monthly Meeting of Clarence Valley Council held on 23 May 2023, Minutes, p.16:

ITEM 07.23.070 NUCLEAR FREE ZONE

SUMMARY

This report forwards a recommendation of the Clarence Valley Climate Change Advisory Committee

requesting that Council consider declaring the Clarence Valley a nuclear free zone.

OFFICER RECOMMENDATION

That Council support the Climate Change Advisory Committee recommendation and declare the Clarence

Valley local government area as a nuclear free zone.

COUNCIL RESOLUTION - 07.23.070

Pickering/Clancy

That Council support the Climate Change Advisory Committee recommendation and declare the

Clarence Valley local government area as a nuclear free zone.

Voting recorded as follows

For: Clancy, Day, Pickering, Smith, Tiley

Against: Johnstone, Novak, Toms, Whaites

CARRIED

NOTE:

Heartfelt thanks to members of the Climate Change Advisory Committee for mirroring the aesthetic, social, cultural, environmental and economic values of our Valley communities and, for the work put in to achieve this outcome: Cr Greg Clancy (Chair), Judith McNeill, Leonie Blain, Helen Granleese, Stephen Fletcher, Nicholas Reeve, Phillip Hocking, Janet Cavanagh, Geoff Little, Robert Mylchreest, Clair Purvis, Ian Gaillard, Lynette Eggins, Richard Roper (CVC Staff), Ken Wilson (CVC Staff), Scott Lenton (CVC Staff), Ben Ellis (CVC Staff), Suzanne Lynch (CVC Staff), Adam Cameron (Director CVC).