Well, you did open that particular door Mr. Editor.....

This is what happens when an editor opens his mouth about a subject about which he knows very little……

The Daily Examiner, letter to the editor, p. 9:

Diverse communities of interest

Your reference in your editorial (9/9), "The divisions and jealousies between the different area's - particularly the up river/down river divide have to be dealt with decisively" by the new Council, is dripping with hypocrisy.

Many people may have been justified in believing there was a "division" when the DEX received the CVC's block advertising at the expense of the Independent.

You may find it "stunning" that rates balance between different area's still lingers after a dozen years, but it demonstrates profound ignorance of the diverse economies and different communities of interests that exist within the shire that demand contrasting services and facilities.

The driver of the lower Clarence Airport Shuttle will tell you the services to the Ballina Airport are far greater than to Grafton Airport. The market therefore suggests the lower Clarence is paying for a Grafton Airport it does not require.

In fact the Grafton Airport was in the Ulmarra Shire and it too saw no need for it. It was Grafton and its business economy that needed it, so it took over its costs. However, since amalgamation, it has been able to offload these costs onto communities that have no need for it.

Similar arguments can be put for the expensive services provided by the Grafton Regional Gallery and Library from which Grafton enjoys the direct benefit. Are our kids really expected to skateboard down the Pacific Highway, enjoy these services and then ride back for tea?

The then State Government forced four councils of rural, urban and coastal communities, each with their differing economies and communities of interests, into one council to cover a massive 10,440sqm, under the delusion there would be tremendous savings from economies of scale. In fact the only one that gained savings was the State Government in its allocation of Financial Assistant Grants.

Having spent a day at a Yamba polling booth, I experienced first hand the white hot anger directed at the CVC and it's up river centric governance. And they have every right to be angry. The Maclean Shire Council lived modestly within its means, paying rates 200% lower than the "City" of Grafton which had no bridges and only 180km of roads to maintain in its tiny 80sqkm area. For the past decade this rate burden has progressively been transferred down river to pay for questionable services it does not need.

With great respect, these services are not "jealousies" as you refer to them, they are economical facts.

As is the fact that the DEX received the CVC's lucrative block advertising at the expense of the Independent, suggesting the DEX is no more than an instrument of CVC propaganda to influence public opinion.

Ray Hunt

Yamba

Memo for Kevin Hogan (The Nationals) Member for Page

Yesterday, Thursday 19 May, a regular at the table of knowledge at the local watering hole reported on a visit to the city of Grafton, which is in the federal electorate of Page that's currently held by the National Party's Kevin Hogan.

A short walk along the western side of the main block of Grafton's main street (Prince Street) between Fitzroy and Pound Streets at 10.30am, revealed six vacant business premises. A sad sign indeed! And the eastern side wasn't much better.

And if that wasn't bad enough, our mate decided to visit the premises occupied by the local federal Member for Page, which is also located in that same, sad western section of Prince Street, to express concerns about the state-of-play in the economy of the southern end of the electorate of Page. However, that wasn't possible as the MP's office was closed until 12.30pm. That, according to our mate, said it all. 

Our mate couldn't help but notice a plethora of signs featuring the National Party member's face plastered on fences and walls around the Jacaranda city with the vast majority of them on vacant blocks and premises. What does that say!?Is the incumbent Member for Page specialising in empty spaces?

Footnote: our mate also reported seeing a sign outside a Grafton business informing potential customers of its "speicals" [sic].

The riotous history of Lismore, New South Wales

Papers Past:

Snake! Snake! Snake!

The Daily Examiner 22 March 2013:

EIGHTY-seven-year-old bingo enthusiast Una Walters responded to the cry of "snake" faster than she could say "house" at South Grafton Ex-Servicemen's club last week.

A red-bellied black snake interrupted the weekly meat raffle on Friday by crawling up a lady's leg.

As the club's secretary manager Col Green panicked and scrambled for a handbag to capture the metre-long intruder, one of his most loyal customers leapt into action.

"I turn around, and here's Una standing there with the snake in one hand," Mr Green said.

"I'm not scared of the bastard!" Una shouted as she held the snake near its head.

It was about 6.45pm last Friday and the meat draw was well under way when someone from a table in the centre of the room yelled: "Snake! Snake! Snake!"

Commotion ensued and people scattered from their chairs as the red-bellied black slithered its way between the feet of scurrying patrons and club staff.

"He (the snake) had crawled up a woman's leg and tried to curl around it," Mr Green said.

"I grabbed a lady's handbag, hoping to get the snake in there so we could send him on his way."

The perpetrator evaded being caught for some time until Una intervened.

"I turn around and here's Una standing there with the snake in one hand," Mr Green said…..

Glenugie Coal Seam Gas Protesters in Grafton Court

Eighteen persons charged with offences associated with the protest against Coal Seam Gas at the Glenugie site to the south of Grafton appeared in Grafton Local Court today. Pleas of not guilty were entered in relation to the vast majority of the charges.

Protester Benny Zable

It was somewhat ironic that an over-full court house necessitated about a dozen of the accused persons to be seated in the jury box. Supporters of the protesters packed the court room to the rafters; both the ground floor and upper level public galleries were chock-a-block with a crowd estimated to be about 100.

Magistrate David Heilpern ordered the prosecution to prepare briefs of evidence in relation to the accused persons by Monday 4th March and adjourned the matters until Monday 11th March at the Grafton Court when they will be listed for mention. The Magistrate excused those with legal representation from appearing in person on March 11th.

Most of the defendants' court appearances were relatively brief. However, two had somewhat lengthier appearances. 

John Wyborn, who appeared in custody as a consequence of refusing to sign bail forms, was released after Magistrate Heilpern acknowledged the protest site at Glenugie was no longer active and revised Wyborn's bail conditions.

Another protester Benny Zable, who represented himself, told the court the charges were lies and distortions and he had DVD evidence to support his claims. He told the court that he is a performance artist with performances existing on the world stage and the charges were damaging his work.

Magistrate Heilpern explained to Zable how he (Zable) could make representation to the police to have the charges against him dropped. However, Magistrate Heilpern advised Zable to obtain legal advice about taking that course of action and providing the DVD evidence to the prosecution because it could impact detrimentally on other matters associated with the protesters that are before the court.

Sadly, some things never change

Letter to the Editor,
The Daily Examiner,
Grafton

This is a letter that asks a stark, grim question and is addressed, in part, to whoever left two little kittens on the street on New Year's Eve. Why did you dump two little kittens, just putting them in a box and leaving them in the street, not caring if they had shelter or food? There's a skinny dog that prowls by the garbage bins and around the park seats and if he finds a bone or a crust he is having a lucky day. If you are worthy to own a dog, it is your decent duty to feed him and give him the best you can.

Mrs D Rowlands,
RSPCA

Source: The Daily Examiner, 6/2/1963

(reprinted in " Backward Glances: From The Daily Examiner, Fifty Years Ago",

compiled by Chris Nield, 6/2/2013)

Clarence Valley less than impressed by Stoner's jobs announcement

The NSW Nats just can’t take a trick since they failed to support an electorate which made the mistake of voting for one of their candidates.

The Daily Examiner Editor Jenna Cairney on the 21^st July 2012:

"YESTERDAY'S news of supposed new jobs was greeted with a wave of valid criticism from readers.

In the next seven weeks (one week is already up) I predict we'll be faced with a wave of creative accounting, press releases, spin and nonsense as the NSW Government tries to silence the courageous and dissatisfied people of the Clarence Valley.

Apart from the fact it seems the 30 jobs were already planned as part of the Pacific Hwy upgrade, the fact is the temporary positions do little for the long term and even less for the families of the jail workers.”

In June 2012 the NSW unemployment rate was 5.1%. Because Clarence Valley’s unemployment rate is usually 1 to 2% higher than the state rate, depending on where in the valley you live (youth unemployment is much higher and in double digits), many locals were also less than impressed with this jobs announcement.

Here are just a few quotes from the online comments:

"A state government listening to us"? These thirty jobs have not changed my view of how O'Farrell & Stoner handled the Grafton gaol affair. The 30 jobs on offer are in the thimble and pea group, that are there for a while and then just disappear.”

“This announcement is cheap government propaganda... the decimation of the public service in regional NSW is not over yet... don't forget Sydney is the centre of the universe and all services need to be within a comfortable 2 hours of this mecca. Bring on the election!”

“The Nationals scrambling to save face and trying to disprove the idea that a vote for the Nationals is a wasted vote. Not convinced.”

“These future jobs with the RMS are all very well to be bandied around with such spin; they probably were already in the pipeline pre the prison job cutbacks. However, how many displaced prison employees can fill the criteria for being a project manager, surveillance officer or engineer?”

“This piece of news from Stoner really is an insult to the intelligence of all those who call the Clarence Valley home.”

Moving Grafton Town

I may have a cunning plan to save Grafton before the NSW Government closes us down altogether; it came to me while watching an old episode of Monster Moves.

Why don’t we pack up the city and move it into Kuring-Gai National Park (on the northern border of Sydney).

This has many advantages:

·    Coalition politicians may know where this is, therefore they may visit and listen to us;

·    when the rest of the services in Grafton are shut down (public hospital etc.) we will already be living near alternative facilities;

·    when more jobs leave the town, we will all be closer to new sources of employment;

·    the state government saves money by not having to build a new bridge across the Clarence River, if in fact they ever were;

·    moving into such a centrally positioned park will create a great place for a new call centre or gaol to replace the latest jobs lost;

·    it opens the current site of Grafton for coal seam gas production, and as more and more people left the Clarence Valley there would be no-one to object to heavy metal contamination from antimony mining;

·    those now unemployed Grafton Gaol warders could collect bush tucker and hunt feral animals for food;

·     we would be in the electorate of the Premier of NSW Hon. Barry Robert O’Farrell and therefore(unlike our current member Mr Chris Gulaptis) it would be impossible for him to say that he didn’t know what was happening to us;

AND the very best thing

·    we could then vote Mr. O’Farrell out of office if he refused to notice our concerns.

Grafton punters want to know where they collect their "winnings"

A sub-editor at The Daily Examiner provided a bit more than a ripple of laughter at the table of knowledge at the local watering hole today. The feature event at the Grafton races yesterday, the Ramornie Handicap, was taken out by the favourite Howmuchdoyouloveme, so why did the Examiner print the photo, with its accompanying caption, below?

For the record, Prost ran  second, so perhaps the Examiner can point punters who backed it in the direction of a benevolent bookmaker who'll pay out on it.

Credit: The Daily Examiner, 12/7/12, page 29

The reason Nats Chris Gulaptis MP was not at Grafton Gaol when prison transfer vans arrived - he expected manufactured confrontation!

The Clarence Valley at its best in defence of community....

Robertson at the Grafton Gaol picket line 10-11 July 2012

The Daily Examiner’s Debrah Novak films Opposition Leader John Roberstson

at the Grafton Gaol picket line 10-11 July 2012

 

 

"The mass sackings announced at Grafton Gaol today is a huge broken promise from the O'Farrell Stoner Government......During the Clarence by-election, Mr O'Farrell, Mr Stoner and Clarence MP Chris Gulaptis promised there would be no cuts or closure of Grafton Gaol. Now, we are seeing massive job losses that will quite simply devastate the local community." [NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson,29 June 2012]

ssssssSnake MP

Lower than a Snakes Belly

This is the Member for Clarence, Chris Would I Lie To You? Gulaptis.

Posturing in a protest T-shirt after signing a petition he knew was going nowhere.

A day later and he‘s offering a Northern Rivers Jobs Plan to replace the 107 people he and his mates in Macquarie Street just sacked at Grafton Gaol.

But under this plan they won’t be giving money to farmers, cane growers, cattlemen, trawler owners, timber mills, quarry operators, car yards, supermarkets, local retailers, publicans, accountants, real estate agents, security firms or companies under 2 years old to create new employment opportunities in these businesses.

You know, just the sort of places where jobs might be created in a region like the Clarence Valley.

Swinging Voter No More

South Grafton

* GuestSpeak is a feature of North Coast Voices allowing Northern Rivers residents to make satirical or serious comment on issues that concern them. Posts of 250-300 words or less can be submitted to ncvguestspeak AT gmail.com.au for consideration.

Jockey ducks and weaves

Jockey Matt Dacos certainly earned his riding fee in race 6 at the Grafon races on Thursday. Dacos was aboard Cee Jay Clang near the 1200m mark when he was struck in the face by a low flying duck. Dacos overcame that obstacle, continued to ride his mount and eventually finished in second place.   

NSW jockeys earn the princely sum of $162 whether their mount wins or loses. If their mount wins or runs a place they also pick up a standard 5% of the prize money, which is sometimes accompanied by a "sling" from grateful connections.

                                                Does anyone know how the duck fared?

                                                               Image credit: dailyexaminer.com.au



Public sector job cuts in the Clarence Valley - community forum to be held in Grafton

Do as I say, not as I do

The Daily Examiner 6 February 2012

Where should Clarence Valley tourism funding go?

One Lower Clarence ratepayer objects to Clarence Valley Council's attempts to reposition Grafton as a tourist hub - a ‘River City’ destination.

Clarence Valley Review, 1 February 2012
Click on image to enlarge

Ochre Health's Grafton GP Super Clinic raises questions about equity and access

Here is a thumbnail sketch of general practioner medical services in Australia:

Australian Government expenditure on general practitioners in Australia was $6.4 billion, or $287 per person, in 2010-11. Australian Government expenditure on the PBS was around $7.3 billion, or $326 per person, in 2010-11. Total expenditure by all governments on community and public health was around $7.9 billion in 2009-10. [http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/114847/11-government-services-2012-factsheet-chapter11.pdf]

Nationally, there were around 2.1 million GP-type presentations to public hospital emergency departments in 2010-11…..

GP-type presentations to emergency departments are presentations for conditions that could be appropriately managed in the primary and community health sector

(Van Konkelenberg, Esterman and Van Konkelenberg 2003). One of several factors contributing to GP-type presentations at emergency departments is perceived or actual lack of access to GP services……

GP visits that are bulk billed do not require patients to pay part of the cost of the visit, while GP visits that are not bulk billed do…..

Reduced competition for patients can also reduce bulk billing rates……

Deferring or not visiting a GP can result in poorer health. Nationally, in 2010, 8.7 per cent of respondents reported that they delayed or did not visit a GP in the previous 12 months because of cost. [Australian Productivity Commission, Report on Government Services 2012]

Here is one example of how it is working on the NSW North Coast:

The Grafton GP Super Clinic will offer the community a compliment of general practitioners, practice nurses, physiotherapy, audiology, podiatry, chronic disease care managers and dietitians. The GP Super Clinic will also bring together visiting specialists and other allied health professionals to meet the needs of the local community.

With a specific focus on chronic and complex disease management, our team uses a single shared electronic medical record system and takes a team-based approach to healthcare. The GP Super Clinic aims to develop a health partnership with each and every patient, ensuring that we work in a preventative mode to reduce the chance of patients developing complex or chronic preventable illness. [Ochre Health website]

Grafton Super Clinic stated over the telephone on 2 February 2012 that bulk billing is not the norm for the clinic.

Ochre Health needs to respond to the questions raised in the letter below and, explain why it should continue to charge low-income individuals/families for basic consultations on everything from earache to influenza - given that the federal government paid in excess of $5 million to build this particular super clinic and set up the private medical practice in order to offer bulk billed services for concession card holders, children under 16 and patients with chronic conditions and complex care needs under Enhanced Primary Care Medicare item numbers, with a view to taking the burden of non-urgent free health care delivery off the sholders of public hospital Accident and Emergency departments.

GP Super Clinic

I WOULD like to see the Examiner do a story on the GP Super Clinic in Grafton.
The super clinic was built and paid for by the government to reduce the strain on the public hospital system by giving patients somewhere else to go.
However, due to the greedy nature of doctors in Grafton, of course, this is the only GP Super Clinic that does not bulk bill its patients.
Thus, the people still go and sit in the waiting room at the hospital for up to three and four hours at a time just to see a doctor.
You can go and see a doctor and be bulk-billed by Medicare in any other city in Australia, except Grafton.
This is what is known as price fixing and it is illegal in Australia. Yet, no-one seems to want to do anything about it.
The money promised to the City of Grafton by the Australian Government was to build a GP Super Clinic for all the people of the area to use and alleviate the pressure on the over-strained hospital system.
However, the greed of doctors in this area has ruined what should have been a great thing for Grafton. We should shame these doctors into running our super clinic properly and to bulk bill patients, like every other super clinic in Australia.

KEN HINTON

Grafton

[Letter to the editor in The Daily Examiner Feb 2012]

A win on the board for Labor's Peter Ellem and local nurses regarding O'Farrell Government's health funding offer

It is highly likely that people in the Clarence Valley would still be waiting and, Grafton Base Hospital still be without sufficient staffing levels to open its new orthopaedic beds in 2011-12 if Labor’s candidate in the 19 November Clarence by-election Peter Ellem (with the help of local nurses) had not managed to make it an election issue.

In The Casino Times online on 24 October 2011:

COUNTRY Labor candidate for the Clarence by-election, Peter Ellem today joined Opposition Leader John Robertson and local nurses to demand State funding for orthopaedic surgery and equipment at Grafton Base Hospital.
"The O'Farrell Stoner Government must fund orthopaedic surgery and equipment to complement the new federally-funded operating theatres at Grafton Base Hospital," Mr Ellem said.
"The Commonwealth-funded theatres are a massive boost for Grafton Base, but the O'Farrell-Stoner Government down in Sydney needs to back this up with State-funded orthopaedic surgery and equipment.
"The National Party has been far too timid in their approach to Grafton Base Hospital – I am demanding the immediate funding of orthopaedic surgery for the hospital."

From a NSW Health Minister media release on 14 November 2011:

The NSW Government has allocated $1.7 million of recurrent funding to support the establishment of an Orthopaedic Surgery Service at Grafton Base Hospital, the Minister for Health and Minister for Medical Research, Jillian Skinner, announced today…..

“This funding will allow additional nursing staff, a physiotherapist and an occupational therapist to be recruited to treat orthopaedic surgery patients,” Mrs Skinner said……

This $1.7 million allocation will complement the redevelopment of the Grafton Base Hospital operating theatres and the establishment of dedicated orthopaedic surgery beds, which have been jointly funded by the Federal and State Governments.

Although, given how the O'Farrell Government and its candidate Chris Gulaptis fudged their earlier health announcements, one may have to wait and see if this claimed new funding isn't actually Federal Government money being announced by the NSW Coalition as its own.

Clarence Valley Council - matured or over ripe?

The Daily Examiner letter to the editor 3 November 2011:

A mature council

THE Clarence Valley Council's recently appointed GM, Scott Greensill, reportedly claimed "the council was now maturing past amalgamation" (DEX, October 27). Well, just how much has our forced amalgamated council matured?
At the council's general meeting on September 13, the staff's recommendation to councillors seeking federal funding for a $7m extension to the Grafton Gallery was prepared (in part) by none other than the Grafton Gallery's director, Jude McBean (item 12.167/11). That privilege included "waiving development assessment and construction fees" of $40,692 as well as "identifying a potential $4.13m which could accrue from developer (contributions) over the next 20 years". But no mention was made that the developer's contributions plan showed Grafton's projected population growth to 2021 was only 494 and zero to 2031, thereby contributing little S94 revenues.
In contrast, at the same meeting, council staff recommended to councillors the "waiving of hire fees of $150 for the cost of council's events trailer" for Iluka's Family Festival to raise money to build a sports shed for Iluka (item 12-168/11). Yet the developer's contributions plan shows Iluka's projected population growth of 642 to 2021 and 627 to 2031, thereby generating far more S94 funds than Grafton, as well as experiencing significant pressures on its existing infrastructures.
It must be a niggle in the guts for Iluka's volunteers to work their butts off to raise community funds, but not be given the privileged opportunity to prepare their own recommendations to a mature forced amalgamated Clarence Valley Council.

RAY HUNT
Yamba.

Best question of the week

"How can he keep getting away with it?" one worker said. "Why can't they freeze his assets and his racehorses and everything?"

A question posed in The Daily Examiner on 25^th October 2011 and one asked by many in the Clarence Valley.