Be honest. Would you vote for this man?

NSW Labor Oppositon Leader John Robertson MP
- no hair, no loyalty, no nous.

These are some of the comments concerning the Member for Blacktown:

"Come on - this destroyer of the Labor Party would not have even known where Blacktown was if he was not dumped into it a few weeks ago. I was one of the many who deserted Labor and voted Lib.... all because of the likes of Robertson and Roosendaal. Now Sussex St has shown us what they really think of us by oozing this grub into the leadership, it will probably be decades before they get my vote again." {'Glenn' online comment in Blacktown Advocate online 31st March 2011}

“John Robertson is very much part of the Labor Party’s problematic past." {Former NSW Premier Morris Iemma in Blacktown Advocate 29th March 2011}

"Let me tell you, if the Labor Party stocks ever get so low as to require your services in its parliamentary leadership, it will itself have no future" {Paul Keating in a 2008 letter to John Robertson according to SBS World News 28th March 2011}

"if the Government goes down the lethal tally of men and women who lose their seats will be to your account" {Paul Keating in a 2008 letter to John Robertson according to Laurie Oakes on Weekend Today program 27th March 2011}

"John Robertson makes the village idiot look like an intellectual." {Gordon Thomas of Hurstville in The Sydney Morning Herald online 2nd April 2011}

no_filter_Yamba: Robbo as next (or next to next) NSW Premier? Has anyone with a shaved head ever led a government in Australia? #auspol {Twitter 3rd April 2011}

Oi, Bazza! What you gonna do about this bluidy mess?

Well Bazza, you told everyone who would listen during the NSW election campaign that you'll fight putting a price on carbon and so many wanted K-K-Keneally & Labor gone that they deliberately ignored your blind ignorance. But it's time to get serious - so what are you going to do about the fact that New South Wales continues to live above its income when it comes to energy consumption? Last week the state continued to tread water at 22% above the only credible baseline when it comes to greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power generation, gas and petroleum. You reckon you’re not a climate change denier – prove it! Remember if all you do as Premier is flannel former Labor voters they will walk straight back to the ALP in four years time, because they firmly believe in climate change and most are still right behind carbon pricing. So the party may turn into a fizzer. Oh, and Bazza - don't think that here on the NSW North Coast we haven't noticed that your Contract With NSW is so-o-o metrocentric.

The Climate Group NSW report card for 18^th to 24^th March:

• Total emissions grew by 0.2% or about 4,000 tonnes.
• Emissions from coal-fired generation, which accounted for 91% of electricity generation, grew by 0.4% or about 5,000.
• Emissions from gas grew by 2.6% or about 4,000 tonnes.
• Emissions from petroleum fell by 0.6% or about 4,000 tonnes.
• Electricity demand fell by 1.7%.


• NSW imported 5.9% of its electricity demand from other states, compared to 7.3% the previous week.

Last year:

• This week’s indicator is 1.7% higher than the same week in 2010


• Total emissions to this stage of 2011 were 0.7% lower than the similar stage last year

Baselines:

• 1990: 22% above
• 2000: 4.3% above

So, what happened to Perle Pty Limited and why is it suddenly on the political radar?

Snapshot of Perle Pty Ltd website

Here is a corporation (apparently owned by one Norman Herfurth and Graham Keeping through their own individual companies) which has been in existence since 1997, was expecting an annual turnover in 2010 of approximately $35 million, had ongoing contracts to build social housing for the NSW Government and private schools for the Catholic Church and boasted this substantial client list on its own website:

AMP Capital, Australian Museum, Australia Post, BNP Paribas, Bovis Lend Lease, City of Sydney, CMC Markets, Collex / Veolia Water, Incorp Interior Designs, Jones Lang LaSalle, Macquarie University, Memo Corporation, Mintel International, Racing NSW, Railcorp, Reserve Hotels, Rice Daubney, Roads & Traffic Authority (RTA), Roberts Weaver Group, Savills, Sydney Ferries Corporation, Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority, Sydney Opera House Trust, TransGrid, University of Technology, University of Western Sydney, Virgin Mobile and Visa International

So why did Perle Pty Limited operating as Perle Construction Management suddenly go into voluntary liquidation with a list of around 500 creditors (some on the NSW North Coast) and, why is Federal Nationals Luke Hartsuyker attempting to link the Federal Government’s Stimulus Package with the downfall of this company and subcontractors current financial problems when elsewhere creditors appear more stoic?

Perhaps the answer to the first part of this question lies in the fact that this company appears to be more experienced in refurbishing/refitting existing structures rather than building from-the-ground-up, may have been over-ambitious in applying for new construction contracts as well as having a penchant for luxury cars and allegedly pretending all was well in order to receive progress payments from the NSW Dept of Housing and, the second part is easily explained by the Federal Opposition’s desire to use everything and anything it can to beat the Gillard Government about the head and the willingness of local tradies to be used as political tools by the deeply cynical Member for Cowper.

If any one government is to blame for this debacle the finger should be firmly pointing towards the NSW Keneally Government which lurches from one mismanagement disaster to another and a state public service which has been out to lunch for years.

While the real losers in this matter are creditors both large and small, as well as those on the North Coast sometimes desperately waiting for affordable rental accommodation.

What Keneally's promise to help with electricity charges means to the average worker, pensioner or independent retiree on the NSW North Coast

This is what the NSW Government Industry and Investment website had to say about the Energy Rebate on 5 February 2011:

The Energy Rebate was increased from $130 a year to $145 per year on 1 July 2010. The Rebate will be further increased to $161 from 1 July 2011. These increases reflect the average rise in regulated electricity prices. Also from 1 July 2010, eligibility for the Energy Rebate was expanded to include all customers who hold Health Care Cards.

Am I eligible for the Energy Rebate?

The Energy Rebate is now available to all electricity account holders who hold either a:

· Pensioner Concession Card issued by either Centrelink or the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA)

· Gold Card issued by the Department of Veterans' Affairs marked with either:
-War Widow or War Widower Pension
-Totally and Permanently Incapacitated (TPI)
-Disability Pension

· Health care card issued by Centrelink as a result of receiving one of a number of income support payments from the Commonwealth.

If you hold an eligible card and have not yet registered for the Energy Rebate you should contact your retailer.

Any customer receiving the Energy Rebate prior to 1 July 2010 will continue to receive the Rebate and will automatically receive the increased amount, if they continue to hold a valid and eligible card.

How do I obtain the rebate?

If you think you are eligible for the rebate or would like to ask some more questions, contact your electricity supplier or your local electricity distributor. Contact phone numbers can be found on your electricity bill.

This is what the Keneally Government announced on 6 February 2011 as part of an opening salvo in its re-election campaign:

The Energy Rebate will be increased from $161 to $250 from July 1, while eligibility for the rebate will be extended to households with a combined income of under $150,000.

What this means is that if you have a Health Care Card or equivalent and your quarterly electricity charges came to a frugal $200 in any energy bill received after 1 July 2011, then the new Energy Rebate would reduce your actual payment (with GST added) to around $153 instead of the $181 or so you would pay now.

Families without the Heath Care Card but with a combined income of under $150,000 will be eligible for the Energy Rebate on 1 July 2012.

The worrying issue is the NSW Labor statement that this new scale will mean that families save $1000 in electricity bills over the life of the plan - which indicates that the annual $250 rebate may only be guaranteed for the next four financial years.

Keneally's launch of Fairness for Families can be found here.

Not amused, Premier

So Premier Kristina Keneally wants to shore up flagging support for NSW Labor by getting a close to free pass on the national flood levy for a good many Sydney-ites. We all know she’s an American by birth and outlook, but I guess few of us thought of her as a Liberal Party acolyte with only the merest passing pretence of Christian charity.

Disgusted
James Creek

* Guest Speak is a North Coast Voices segment allowing serious or satirical comment from NSW Northern Rivers residents. Email ncvguestpeak at gmail dot com to submit comment for consideration.

Keneally bombs in NSW floods leadership stakes

In NSW Premier Kristina Keneally only rated 13 per cent in the good leadership stakes re floods according to Essential Report 110124 24th January 2011.

Floods - Leadership

Q. Thinking about the recent floods across Australia, how would you rate each of the following for providing leadership in dealing with the floods?

	Total good	Total poor	Very good	Good	Average	Poor	Very poor	Don't know
Prime Minister Julia Gillard	42%	23%	15%	27%	28%	10%	13%	7%
Opposition leader Tony Abbott	19%	32%	4%	15%	36%	19%	13%	13%
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh	77%	6%	52%	25%	11%	3%	3%	6%
Queensland Premier Anna Bligh (Qld)	71%	9%	48%	23%	17%	2%	7%	3%
Brisbane Mayor Campbell Newman	61%	4%	28%	33%	16%	2%	2%	19%
Brisbane Mayor Campbell Newman (Qld)	75%	7%	46%	29%	14%	2%	5%	4%
Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu	34%	8%	8%	26%	26%	4%	4%	32%
Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu (Victoria)	47%	12%	10%	37%	27%	6%	6%	14%
NSW Premier Kristina Keneally	21%	23%	4%	17%	28%	11%	12%	29%
NSW Premier Kristina Keneally (NSW)	13%	40%	4%	9%	30%	18%	22%	18%

Nationally, 42% think the Prime Minister Julia Gillard provided good leadership and 23% poor – while the Opposition leader Tony Abbott was rated good by 19% and poor by 32%. In Queensland Julia Gillard rated 42% good/26% poor.

Nationally the Queensland Premier Anna Bligh was rated 77% good/6% poor and in Queensland 71% good/9% poor. The Mayor of Brisbane Campbell Newman was rated a little lower nationally (61%/4%) but slightly higher in Queensland (75%/7%).

In Victoria, the Premier Ted Bailieu was rated 47% good/12% poor and in NSW, Premier Kristina Keneally was rated 13% good/40% poor

NSW Electricity - Christ on A Bike!

Christ on a bike! Now The NSW Upper House inquiry into the Keneally Government fire sale of electricity assets has been told that taxpayers will probably come out of the deal with next to nothing!

Now the Keneally-Roozendaal "gen-trader" model in which retailers and generation trading rights have been sold might yield just $2-3 billion.

The Government's sales team admitted yesterday that billions could be ripped from the proceeds because of a web of contract deals.

The Government will spend $1.3 billion building the Cobbora coal mine from the proceeds, which it promised to private sector bidders to supply power stations. It will subsidise the price of coal coming from that mine to the tune of up to $1 billion.

But it also risked losing hundreds of millions out of the $1.3 billion it has been paid by Origin Energy and Tru Energy for the rights to trade power generation.

Former Labor minister Kim Yeadon told the parliamentary power inquiry that, under the bizarre "gen-trader" deal, should power stations fail, some of that money will have to be handed back.

The hundreds of millions it cost to put together the sale will also be deducted.

A senior Government source confirmed there may be "not much money" available to pay for roads and rail.

Seeing Red & Voting Green
Yamba

* Guest Speak is a North Coast Voices segment allowing serious or satirical comment from NSW Northern Rivers residents. Email ncvguestpeak at gmail dot com to submit comment for consideration.

Jules tongue-in-cheek scores a Keneally bullseye

After a year of ignoring NSW North Coast invitations to inspect problems on the Pacific Highway, NSW Premier Krisitina Keneally quickly hops up by helicopter for a photo opportunity during the recent flooding, and...............the locals noticed!

The Daily Examiner political cartoon on 15 January 2011

Polling Keneally in the dying days of her government

NSW Premier Kristina Keneally continues to add to her disasterous reputation

This is one politician who, first as planning minister and then as premier, has shown herself photogenic but inadequate in a position of power.

One cannot help but feel that she would have been better to have stuck to organising happy-clappy 'happenings' for the Catholic Church.

Although online newspaper polls cannot be considered statistically reliable, this 6.30am 3 December 2011 snapshot probably does reflect the majority view of domestic and small business power consumers across the state after the questionable one minute to midnight sale of state assests.

Cartoon found at The Sydney Morning Herald

Finally! ICAC publicly states something everyone already knows - Kristina Keneally 'wrong'

In The Australian on 14 December 2010:

NSW Premier Kristina Keneally was wrong to water down independent planning controls introduced by her main rival, Frank Sartor.

The state's corruption watchdog, the Independent Commission Against Corruption, yesterday called for the powers of the independent Planning Assessment Commission to be widened, along the lines originally projected by Mr Sartor when he was planning minister between 2005 and 2008.

ICAC media release on 13 December 2010 concerning its report on the exercise of discretion under provisions of two NSW planning acts: EXERCISE O) CISE OF

Monday 13 December 2010

The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) recommends that the NSW Minister for Planning refer private sector applications under Part 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, which exceed development standards by more than 25%, to an independent quasi-judicial body for determination.

The Commission recommends that this role be assumed by the Planning Assessment Commission (PAC). In view of the important functions the PAC would assume, the Commission makes recommendations to strengthen its independence and to ensure that it is composed of appropriate persons, on a full-time basis but with a limited tenure.

The Commission's report, The exercise of discretion under Part 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and the State Environmental Planning Policy (Major Development) 2005, released today, makes altogether 20 recommendations to more effectively manage and mitigate potential corruption risks in the Part 3A process.

Commencing in 2005, Part 3A consolidates the different assessment and approval regimes for "major" projects in NSW determined by the Minister for Planning. The State Environmental Planning Policy (Major Development) 2005 (the MD SEPP) identifies several classes of Part 3A projects including significant private developments (for example, residential flats and commercial developments), and public sector infrastructure projects (for example, desalination plants and pipelines).

The ICAC recognises that it is appropriate that in many of these classes the Part 3A discretion should continue to be vested in the Minister. Nevertheless, in other situations there is a risk that perception may arise of corrupt influences playing a part in the Part 3A decision-making process. The key issue is the adequacy of safeguards when such Part 3A discretions are exercised. The need for adequacy of safeguards applies to elected or unelected officials at every level of government.

"The Part 3A system is characterised by a lack of published, objective criteria," the report says. "There are also various elements of Part 3A that are discretionary, particularly as regards residential and commercial development, which are prohibited or exceed existing development standards. The existence of a wide discretion to approve projects that are contrary to local plans and do not necessarily conform to state strategic plans has the potential to deliver sizable windfall gains to particular applicants. This creates a corruption risk and a community perception of a lack of appropriate boundaries."

While there are no established examples of the corrupt use or manipulation of discretion under Part 3A there is, nonetheless, considerable discretion built into Part 3A. Similar kinds of discretion have been the subject of several Commission investigations and investigations in other jurisdictions and beyond.

Under the current system, the Minister has the discretion to declare a project to be a Part 3A project by Ministerial Order. It is the loose criteria and the broad discretion that potentially give rise to perceptions of undue influence. The risk of this occurring is heightened by the Minister not being bound by the provisions of local environmental plans (and SEPPs generally, in the case of critical infrastructure projects).

To limit discretion and improve safeguards, the ICAC recommends that the NSW Government amend the EP&A Act to limit the application of Part 3A to projects that are permissible under existing planning instruments. The Commission also recommends that the PAC perform a gateway role, by way of independent scrutiny, in reviewing proposals to call in private sector projects via specific Ministerial Order.

The Commission and the NSW Department of Planning established a joint task force this year to examine whether there were corruption risks attached to Part 3A and to develop measures to address any of the identified risks. The Commission acknowledges the valuable assistance provided by the Department in participating in the task force.

However, the report has been prepared in its entirety by the Commission, and consequently its recommendations are those of the ICAC.

Full Report

Premier's Department gets down and dirty as the NSW March 2011 election draws nearer?

At 12am on 12 November 2010 Andrew Clennell of The Daily Telegraph reported online:

BARRY O'Farrell lobbied the State Government in defence of an alleged Serbian war criminal accused of torturing and murdering civilians and prisoners of war.

A letter from the Opposition Leader to Corrective Services Minister Phil Costa, leaked to The Daily Telegraph, lists complaints about the treatment of Dragan Vasiljkovic in Silverwater jail.

The Australian High Court recently decided there was a case for Vasiljkovic, otherwise known as Daniel Snedden, to be extradited to face war crime charges.

No prize for guessing the ‘leaker’ when, less than twelve hours before the article was published, a computer in the NSW Premier’s Department was clocked on the Internet doing a Google search using the search term “dragan vasiljkovic nsw liberals”.

Presumably this eager beaver was looking for additional material to feed the Premier and perhaps the media.

Those who have followed the Vasiljkovic story will remember that he was apprehended earlier this year at Harwood in the Clarence Valley on the NSW North Coast.

The NSW Government's response to coastal erosion and land recession - create a fee and deny responsibility

With climate change impacts beginning to knock at the door of coastal communities, the policy and legislative response of the NSW State Government has been astonishing to say the least.

It continues to green light urban expansion in regional coastal zones and vulnerable estuaries, while progressing amendments to the Coastal Protection Act 1979 in a pretence at action in relation to predicted changes in the nature and/or degree of coastal hazards due to climate change.

Creating a seven member Coastal Panel as a response to predicted climate change impacts and risk. In effect putting in place a smoke screen for continuing ministerial endorsement of urban expansion in the coastal zone.

The coastal zone encompasses the interface between land and sea. It is a zone of interaction between terrestrial and marine systems and processes. Within this zone there is a wide variety of landscapes and habitats, including beaches, headlands, rock platforms, dunes, foreshores, estuaries and marine waters. For the purposes of this guideline, the NSW coastal zone is defined in the Coastal Protection Act 1979 [Draft Guidelines for preparing Coastal Zone Management Plans, August 2010]

Further the NSW Government encourages local government coastal management plans which will inevitably be skewed in favour of the expressed wishes of beach/riverfront landowners, allows councils to levy an annual fee on residential/commercial lots (subject to possible sea water intrusion/storm surge damage and erosion) many of which should never have been granted development consent in the first place and, gives a green light to the ad hoc creation of emergency fortifications as well as the establishment of permanent sea walls it obviously fully expects will lead to further erosion elsewhere.

In a bid to protect the interests of influential developers the NSW Government apparently intends to don the mantle of Canute and pursue a risible policy of encouraging never-ending beach nourishment as a way of holding back the relentless effect of wave action and increased tidal pull. The cost of which will inevitably be borne by local councils and ratepayers.

This is what the Keneally Government admits to, without the political will to bite the bullet and stop further urban expansion in vulnerable areas:

Sea level rise will exacerbate the impact of coastal hazards. It will affect each of the coastal hazards in a different way as identified below:

Beach erosion – climate change is expected to alter storminess which will in turn alter beach erosion. Scientific understanding of the projected changes to storminess is still developing, and there is insufficient evidence to provide direct advice on how to consider changes in storminess at the present time.

Shoreline recession – sea level rise will result in higher water levels on the open coastline. This will correspond with an increased rate of shoreline recession.

Coastal lake or watercourse entrance instability – sea level rise will result in changes to dynamics of berm heights and break-out conditions.

Coastal (oceanic) inundation – sea level rise will result in increased still water levels. In most instances, dunal systems are sufficiently elevated that the episodic threat from oceanic inundation due to wave run-up and overtopping of coastal dunes or barriers is negligible. Notwithstanding, the threat of oceanic inundation along the open coast in the vicinity of low-crested dunal barriers (less than 5 m AHD) should be considered where this is relevant. Coastal (estuarine) inundation – around lower-lying estuarine foreshores, the threat from tidal inundation will be significantly exacerbated with a projected rise in mean sea level. The interaction between this issue and catchment flooding is particularly important for coastal councils and has been considered in the Flood Risk Management Guide –Incorporating sea level rise benchmarks in flood risk assessments (DECCW 2010b).

Coastal cliff and slope instability – in many cases the base of coastal cliffs are protected from direct wave action by rock platforms. However, under sea level rise projections, these rock platforms may be submerged on a permanent or temporary basis resulting in direct wave action on the base of cliffs. This in turn will have the effect of undermining cliff stability, depending on the relative strength of the geology of the cliff.

Additionally, the NSW Government in addressing risk assessment allows the possibility of infrastructure/property damage or loss, fatalities, injuries and population displacement as consequences of erosion or land recession. However in the past it has been careful to assert that it is exempt from any legal responsibility and now wants to increase exemptions to liability on the part of state government departments/agencies and local government.

On a scale of 1 to 10 the Keneally Government gets -5 for its policy and legislative response to predicted climate change impacts. But then from the time Keneally became NSW Planning Minister planning instruments began to contain so much wriggle room that developers and commercial interests could almost do as they willed in certain coastal LGAs or bypass them completely in pursuit of their aims. It is worth noting that in the past developers' pockets have proven to be deep when it comes to political donations and the Election Funding And Disclosures Amendment (Property Developers Prohibition) Act 2009 was quietly repealed on or about 15 December 2009 - twelve days after Keneally ousted Rees as NSW Premier.

Coastal Protection Service Charge Guidelines
These statutory Minister's guidelines will describe how a council should calculate the coastal protection service charge to be levied on land under the Local Government Act. It will include how councils should calculate the reasonable costs of providing a coastal protection service and how these costs should be apportioned between the various parcels of land subject to the charge. It will be similar in concept to the Stormwater Management Service Charge Guidelines published by the (then) Department of Local Government in 2006. Draft guidelines will be released for comment by councils and other stakeholders in September before they are approved and issued by the Minister.

This month DECCW will also release Guidelines for assessing and managing the impacts of seawalls.

Keneally for Canberra? Bite your tongue!

Crikey was peddling a rumour last Wednesday, which if true might see NSW Premier K-K-Keneally neutralised on the Canberra back bench or holding a federal ministry if one unnamed electorate was silly enough to fall in behind her.....
"I have heard a rumour that Kristina Keneally has been promised a federal seat if she can do a "good enough" job at the next election..."
Just what the country needs. Yet another über-ambitious pollie down in Canberra who mistakes media bites and PR spin for actual policy creation.
The ethnocentric Keneally would be a disaster on the national stage.

Now it's K-K-Keneally the Art Critic

What is it with pollies? As soon as they get into positions of power or prominence the barely qualified little tossers decide that they are art critics come morals police.

Now we have NSW Premier Kristina K. Keneally telling us not to inhale as we pass one of the portraits entered into Archibald prize competition.

K-K-Keneally trills; "I don't think this was a painting we needed to see...."I certainly won't be going to view it."

Ms Keneally said she would be happy to view the rest of the paintings in the competition.

The NSW North Coast would be much better served if this premier turned her mind from moralising about art towards the very real parlous state of the Pacific Highway.

She still hasn't come north at the invitation of Northern Rivers mayors (or sent anyone in her stead) and as of last Friday, Ms Keneally had not officially replied to the invitation sent 28 days ago.

What a poor showing!

Hard to get the Premier's attention? Well life's like that in regional New South Wales

On 5 February 2010 The Daily Examiner proudly announced:

TODAY four North Coast mayors and the region's three main newspapers start a combined campaign to get much-needed improvements to the Pacific Highway accelerated. Clarence Valley Mayor Richie Williamson, Coffs Harbour Mayor Keith Rhoades, Richmond Valley Mayor Col Sullivan and Ballina Mayor Phil Silver yesterday sent letters to the NSW Premier Kristina Keneally and Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell inviting them on a highway road trip between Coffs Harbour and Ballina - a road most of us travel regularly.
It is the first step in what is likely to be an ongoing campaign to get the government to rethink its highway priorities and it is a campaign that has the strong support of this newspaper, the Coffs Harbour-based Coffs Coast Advocate and the Lismore-based Northern Star.
It is rare - most likely unprecedented - that four mayors and three daily newspapers have banded together to support a single issue and illustrates the level of concern in the region about preventable highway deaths.
Late last year the NSW Government told us there were no major upgrades planned for the area between just north of Coffs Harbour and just south of Ballina for at least the next five years because it was focusing on areas with higher traffic volumes and where pre-planning work had been done.

I'm sure a resounding cheer went up at breafast tables all over the North Coast that morning.

Five days later Premier Keneally had passed the ball to one of her ministers and the editor was reporting:

THIS is a transcript of part of a conversation yesterday between a Daily Examiner journalist and a representative of the NSW Minister for State and Regional Development, Ian Macdonald.
The representative was responding to an invitation the mayors of Coffs Harbour, Clarence Valley, Richmond Valley and Ballina sent to the Premier, Kristina Keneally, to travel the Pacific Highway between Coffs Harbour and Ballina to see its condition for themselves.
Mr Macdonald was responding on behalf of the premier.
Reporter: "And he'll do the tour?"
Spokesperson: "He'll be doing that with the mayors, wouldn't he?"
Reporter: "Yeah, they're doing a drive from Coffs to Ballina. That's the idea, to highlight the problem areas."
Spokesperson: "Coffs to Ballina, that's, what, 18km?"
Reporter: "No, it's a reasonable drive ... about two-and-a-half hours. That was the thrust of the invitation, so they (the leaders) can see for themselves how bad it is."
Spokesperson: "Oh, it's a drive."
We don't want to crucify this spokesperson; they were trying to do their best to answer our inquiries. They may have just moved from interstate with little knowledge of the region.
Certainly the minister has a better understanding of the geography of the area after being here a number of times
But the exchange helps illustrate how difficult it can be to get the message across to political leaders about what is needed on the highway.
And it also illustrates why it is so important to get ministers and the premier here first hand to see the highway's condition and not rely on the advice of staffers.
'Coffs to Ballina, that's, what, 18km?'

According to yet another article it appears that the NSW Leader of the Opposition is overseas at present - what is your excuse for staying away Ms. Keneally?

K-K-Keneally, what are you doing?

Now let me get this straight.
Kristina Kerscher Keneally becomes Premier of NSW and takes over the Twitter account of the abruptly ousted Nathan Rees.
In swift order she deletes all his tweets and begins what has to be a very desultory approach to digital communication using this account.
Two months later she decides to combine PremierofNSW with another languishing account under her own name, thereby completing the final act in extinguishing specific ownership by the premier and asserting personal control over the new KKeneally account so that the next NSW premier cannot do unto her what she did unto....
Go it right did I?
However, having abandoned the name PremierofNSW, K-K-Keneally put her foot in it and now a parody site is up and running under that title.
This parody site is probably more prolific than the artificial Keneally herself.

Fair dinkum, you're a bit of a political b*tch aren't you Kristina!

With something of a carefully stage-managed publicity blitz Kristina Keneally launched herself as NSW Premier late last year.
She faced the meeja on taking office and promised a government focus on five main issues - one of which was the "most vulnerable members of the community".
Now it didn't take long to see that this touchy-feely sentiment was going to be a load of hot air.
You can't get much more vulnerable than those Aussies living on or below the poverty line but I didn't see the new premier rushing to roll back the former Rees Government decision to take a big bite out of the Federal Government's one-off basic payment increase for quite a few single pensioners later this year, and this week the state government she heads is defending its Solar Bonus Scheme levy which will see those families on very low incomes and pensioners without assets subsidizing the cheaper power supplied to people rich enough to be able to install solar power throughout their houses.
"Effectively, the costs of the feed-in tariff paid to a customer with a solar PV system will be spread across all customers on the network."
This on top of the fact that the NSW Government is about to give the nod to yet another hefty increase in electricity pricing (after a plump increase in 2009) so as to cover the black hole it allowed to develop in power supply infrastructure which needs to be quickly papered over if government wants to sell-off state energy assets.
Yeah, Kristina - that's really governing for the vulnerable that is!
I don't care how small the buyback levy may or may not be for the average family - it's the bl**dy principle.
Why should the interests of silvertails still rule in New South Wales and a hypocritical blow-in premier dare to act as if that's a really bonza state of affairs.

Pic from KKK's scrap book of media images

Political hypocrisy wears a skirt in New South Wales...

Kristina Keneally is NSW Premier as of late yesterday I see. HHMMM.......what a difference a few weeks make.

iPrime Woollongong 16/11/2009 11:58 AM
NSW Planning Minister Kristina Keneally has rejected suggestions that Premier Nathan Rees will suffer retribution over the dumping of Joe Tripodi from the ministry.
Ms Keneally praised her friend Mr Tripodi on Monday as a "hard working, loyal minister" who had demonstrated his loyalty by resigning when he asked by Mr Rees on Sunday.
She said Mr Tripodi's axing as finance and ports minister was unexpected, but she denied there would be any payback over the axing of the Right faction powerbroker.
"That's a ridiculous claim," Ms Keneally said when asked about possible retribution.
"There is no plan for that at all."
PM Thursday, August 27, 2009 18:38:00
"We have one Premier of New South Wales, his name is Nathan Rees and I want him to be the Premier that takes us to the March 2011 election."

Crikey's publication of pop quiz on NSW Labor raises a smile

Crikey gave us a glimpse of the inner working of NSW Labor when it published Andrew Crook's article which contained a link to this email (accusing the NSW ALP of being one of the last surviving Stalinist regimes) which apparently was doing the rounds in the lead-up the state conference which saw Premier Nathan Rees finally take control of his government - even if this may only be a temporary victory on the rocky path to next polling day.

The email also contained this pop quiz and one gets the general impression that the original author has Graham Richardson in his or her sights:

Who said that?

1 "I had learned the true value of forgiveness in politics: nil."

2 "Gratitude is a sickness suffered by dogs."

3 "Any time spent worrying about the cruelty of executing such a nice fellow is time wasted."

4 "To choose one's victims, to prepare one's plans minutely, and then go to bed. There is nothing sweeter in the world."

5 "Power had been pursued and captured: it would not be given up without a fight."

6 "The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything."

7 "Never refuse to do the little things, from the little things are built the big."

8 "Knowing your place, even if it is not the top rung on the ladder, is not being humble or putting yourself down. It's just being smart."

9 "A ruling party inevitably attracts careerists."

Answers

1 Graham Richardson, General Secretary, NSW ALP

2 Joseph Stalin, General Secretary, CPSU

3 Richardson

4 Stalin

5 Richardson

6 Stalin

7 Stalin

8 Richardson

9 Lenin

Cartoonist Bill Leak's study of Graham Richardson from Google Images

And to think that some people think he's premier material. They have to be joking.

NSW Minister for Health John Della Bosca just doesn't get it.

Della Bosca visited Lismore on Thursday and announced 11 new positions for the North Coast Area Health Service (NCAHS). Yes, that's right, e-l-e-v-e-n, 11 positions. No, he hasn't been misreported.

What a hide the bloke has! He has more hide than Jessie the elephant.

Sorry, John, but northern NSW doesn't need any more sick attempts at comedy by persons supposedly responsible for at least maintaining if not improving public health services in that neck of the woods.

Only nine months ago, and under the stewardship of the NSW Ministry of Health, the NCAHS embarked on a program to slash 400 full time equivalent positions from the region's health services.

Ironically, NSW Health has just released a media statement titled Caring Together for Lismore Base Hospital to announce that recruitment is under way for the clinical support officers and pharmacists at Lismore Base Hospital.

And who is the Health Department's first lieutenant on the ground in northern NSW? It's none other than Chris Crawford (pictured below).


Crawford, NCAHS's CEO, has wielded a big stick as he has gone about the demolition job that's being done on local health services. Truly, listening to the bloke on local radio as he goes about attempting to defend the cuts to health services is enough to make you sick.

And where is the NSW Opposition? What does it have to say about what's going on in relation to this sorry saga involving north coast health services?

Sadly, the Opposition is AWOL - there's not a bleep on the radar to indicate that lot is in tune with public sentiment that's running red-hot on this important issue.

It's not as if the Opposition isn't at least faintly aware of the fiasco. One of its front benchers probably hears a bit about it over the breakfast table.

The shadow minister for climate change and environmental sustainability, Catherine Cusack (pictured below), is married to Crawford.

Perhaps Ms Cusack and the current shadow minister for health Jillian Skinner should swap jobs.