Monday 24 November 2014
OVERCOMING INDIGENOUS DISADVANTAGE 2014 report released 19 November 2014
Sunday 3 August 2014
The Abbott Code Explained - Part One
Monday 12 August 2013
So just how much is the O'Farrell Government taking from the wallets of public housing tenants when it takes one quarter of their Commonwealth Clean Energy Supplement?
In March 2013 the NSW Liberal Party stated that the cost to the State Budget of the carbon tax is expected to be $237 million. So 134,000 low income households will be paying an estimated 4.96%[2] of the O’Farrell Government’s total expected carbon tax bill for 2013-14.
Or to put it another way, about 5.42% of all 2.4 million NSW households (ABS National Regional Profile: New South Wales 2013) pay almost 5% of the NSW Government's total expected carbon tax bill.
[1] The $13.50 is a single person's fortnightly payment if they are receiving the aged, disability, widow's or wife's pension or receiving carers payment.
[2] A thank you to Clarrie Rivers for confirming the estimated percentage of public housing renters paying part of the state's expected carbon tax bill.
Thursday 2 May 2013
Ballina affordable housing stock grows by 120
Wednesday 1 August 2012
Are Clarence Coast homeowners becoming too greedy?
National Australia Bank (NAB) Quarterly Australian Residential Property Survey: June 2012:
"According to the survey, national house prices fell -2% in the June quarter, from -1.3% in Q1’12, with all states reporting price falls in the 3 months to June.
House price declines were most pronounced in Victoria, down -2.9% (-1.8% in Q1’12). Heavier falls were also seen in NSW (-2.3%), compared with -0.4% fall in Q1’12. Capital values held up best in WA, although they also fell -0.6% (-0.1% in Q1’12). Marginally slower price declines were recorded in Queensland (-1.7%) and SA/NT (-1.6%).
The housing sector is expected to remain under pressure in the next year, with property professionals expecting national prices to fall by -0.7% (-0.2% forecast in Q1’12). There is, however, wide variance between the states.
Prices are expected to continue falling in Victoria (-2.1%), NSW (-1.5%) and SA/NT (-0.5%), but grow in WA (1.6%) and Queensland (0.5%)."
ANZ Research is slightly more optimistic; "prices, capital values and property market confidence in NSW should edge gradually higher through the second half of 2012 in the absence of further deterioration in the global economy."
These reports might explain why First National Real Estate Yamba in its July 2012 property update flyer is stating “some vendors pricing does not reflect the current market” as contributing to the fact that only forty-five homes have been recorded as sold in Yamba in the last six months.
Apparently many of those million dollar plus waterfront ‘mansions’ are only worth a million dollars plus in the eyes of their owners at the moment. Which might explain why they have been very publicly languishing in online property listings representing around three hundred and twenty Yamba properties currently for sale.
Tuesday 19 June 2012
Barry O'Farrell robs around 1,400 pensioners living in the Page electorate
Wednesday 4 January 2012
Uncle Joe puckers up and blows the first dog whistle of the season
Well, knock me down with a roo’s tail feather!
A few street mutts might even scamper his way. This old mongrel won't be one of them.
I may hail from a long gone time where you actually knew your bank manager and it was the price of our schooners which concerned us all, but for the life of me I can’t see that consumers exercising choice is a problem for the country. Specially those consumers taking out a new mortgage.
Running dogs from http://www.halhigdon.com/
Dog cartoon from http://www.webweaver.nu/
Wednesday 26 October 2011
A question of housing priorities.....
With social housing being scarce as hens teeth in the Clarence Valley Maud Up the Street and her mate are a bit hot under the collar over the goings on at North Coast Community Housing Company.
Thursday 15 September 2011
O'Farrell Government to rob 68,000 NSW pensioners of millions every year
Since then those NSW pensioners renting social housing (who comprised less than 5 per cent of all public/community housing tenants in the state in 2010) have been fighting a rapacious state government which immediately saw this increase as a jam pot which it could dip into in order to improve its fiscal bottom line.
It would do this by taking 25% of the payment increase from the approximately 68,000 pensioners in NSW public housing, nearly one-third of whom are probably 65 years of age or older.
In September 2011 the O’Farrell Coalition Government announced in the budget papers that it intends to commence stealing these millions from elderly, disabled and widowed pensioners.
NSW Nationals MPs who dominate North Coast electorates are remarkably silent concerning this theft. Why should they care - after all they are sitting quite comfortably on a salary package of over $140,000 per year plus an electoral allowance.
Saturday 20 August 2011
Northern Rivers Housing Forum 10am-2.30pm 14 September 2011 Lismore
The theme for this month’s Northern Rivers Housing Forum will be ‘New Approaches to Connecting People and Services’.
Friday 17 June 2011
Saffin invites Inquiry Into The Operation Of The Insurance Industry During Disaster Events to hear evidence on the NSW North Coast
Media release from the office of Janelle Saffin, Federal Labor MP for Page, on Thursday 16 June 2011:
PAGE MP Janelle Saffin has welcomed a new inquiry into how the insurance industry responds to natural disasters, including floods, storms and bushfires regularly experienced by Northern Rivers residents.
Ms Saffin has wasted no time in inviting the House of Representatives Standing Committee Chair, Graham Perrett MP, to hold public hearings in her electorate during the second half of this year.
“Our region is frequently affected by floods, storms and bushfires, sometimes several times a year, and there always is a mountain of paper work and phone calls for policy-holders to navigate,” she said.
“Some of my constituents have been less than satisfied with their insurance companies’ handling of claims or unacceptably long delays in having those claims assessed and finalised.
“This new inquiry will provide the insurance industry and consumers will an opportunity to make submissions on how the system can be streamlined or improved.”
The inquiry will examine the insurance industry in respect to extreme weather events, which due to Climate Change, are becoming more common.
It will consider:
· The information provided to consumers about claims processing arrangements.
· The timeliness of claims processing.
· The impact of third-party consultants on timeframes for claims processing, and
· External and internal dispute resolution processes.
Ms Saffin urged policy-holders who had made a disaster-related claim in the past five years to participate in the Committee’s on-line survey by visiting www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/spla/insurance/index.htm
Full terms of reference for the inquiry can also be found at this website. Individuals and organisations are invited to make submissions to the inquiry by Friday, July 15, 2011.
----------------------------
This Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs inquiry is also conducting an online survey:To gauge community concerns relating to this inquiry, the Committee is conducting an online survey. The survey is targeting members of the community who have made a disaster-related claim on their insurance policies in the last 5 years.
Tell us about your experience of dealing with insurance companies in relation to disaster-related claims here.
Friday 22 April 2011
So who is homeless in Oz? Will we ever find out?
As part of preparations for the August 2011 Census of Population and Housing, the Australian Bureau of Statistics is revisiting how it estimates the number of homeless people across the nation. It was fascinating to find that here in Oz we actually have a minimum community standard as to what constitutes a home of your own - a small rental flat with a bedroom, living room, kitchen, bathroom and an element of security of tenure.
Don’t have that or something very like and you don’t have a permanent home it seems.
Regardless of this definition, apparently our statisticians are running through a bit of a longstanding maze when it comes to calculating homelessness.
Undercounting and over counting are just as likely across different groups and it was no surprise to find that rural and regional areas were more of an accuracy challenge than cities and suburbs.
In 2006 there were 173,000 people in homeless services accommodation on census night and several thousand sleeping rough, but nobody really knows exactly how many don’t have a roof over their heads. Probably because rough sleepers often need to hide where they kip outdoors for the night to keep safe and indoor couch surfers don’t always like to admit how precarious is their situation.
Anyways ABS is trying to do something about the head count problem and is holding consultation nights at these venues in April and May.
I wish them luck but I’m not holding my breath when it comes to a head count of the homeless in the Northern Rivers - so many places to hide if you don't want to be noticed.
Sunday 20 March 2011
Land values fall - finally the penny is dropping on the Clarence Coast?
The Daily Examiner 24 November 2009
For literally decades now – with information and risk scenarios firming along with the science as the years pass – the NSW Northern Rivers generally and the Clarence Coast specifically have been aware that these regions will probably be on the front line of climate change impacts. Heatwaves, increased fire risk, more drought periods per decade, more extreme rainfall/wind/flash flooding events are predicted.
With parts of Yamba Hill likely to end up in the ocean when specific weather and seas conditions batter the cliff face, rising sea levels also likely to cause strong storm surges which will inundate streets within the town as far up as Lake Kolora, higher groundwater tables or sea water in the aquifers and, river flooding predicted to be less frequent but more destructive
So it has been a quiet wonder over these last ten years to find that house and land values had been holding firm or rising.
Not anymore though, as it appears that prospective buyers may now be more cautious when scoping out coastal property and are probably not as willing to shoulder the higher end of the coming financial risk:
Well, the warnings were there weren't they?
Climate change has potentially profound effects for the property and development industry. Stakeholders in the industry must begin to consider the various ways that climate change will impact upon property prices and valuation methodologies. [2010]
Tens of thousands of properties along the coast of New South Wales could be left uninsured to the threats of rising sea levels, Gabby Greyem reports.
Sea level rise could cost Australians $150 billion in uninsured real estate, according to Insurance Australia Group.
As a result of global warming sea levels are predicted to rise up to 40 cm by 2050 and 90 cm by 2100. 46,000 properties between Newcastle and Wollongong are less than three metres above sea level and are uninsured for coastal erosion or landslip.
Director of Lonergan Edwards & Associates, Tony Coleman, said most insurance policies cover the house and contents, but not the land value, and often the land is a significant part of a waterfront property’s overall value.
“Even half a metre within 50 years is a lot of extra sea to keep out if you’re trying to stop waves.
“A lot of people are going to lose their property and they won’t be insured,” he said.
Mr Coleman believes there is a growing realisation about the costs of sea level rise, but it is being overshadowed by the high focus on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. [2009]
One general insurer has estimated that the value of coastal property in Australia at risk to rising sea levels and erosion is between $50 billion and $150 billion.
In a submission to a Federal Government inquiry, the insurer even suggests an insurance fund into which owners of low-lying land would pay a regular levy for compensation when sea levels cause their land to become permanently unusable. [2008]
Climate change has the potential to impact heavily both society at large and the global economy. It is also increasingly being understood as a business risk.
Issues of energy and environment have, for some time, been of key interest and relevance to the actuarial profession on a number of fronts. In particular, the effect of climate change on insurance and the contribution of electricity markets to greenhouse gas emissions.
Such concern on the part of the actuarial community is hardly surprising, given that they are experts at understanding and assessing the financial impact of future uncertain events. There can be no set of complex problems more amenable to, and more in need of, application of the actuarial skill set than those generated by climate change.
Weather and climate are "core business" for the insurance industry. At its most basic, insurers underwrite weather-related catastrophes by calculating, pricing and spreading the risk and then meeting claims when they arise. A changing, less predictable climate has the potential to reduce the capacity of insurers to calculate, price and spread this weather-related risk. Policyholders, shareholders and the community at large all have a stake. [2007]
Implications for property values & insurance in risky areas [2006]
Friday 18 February 2011
So, what happened to Perle Pty Limited and why is it suddenly on the political radar?
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.
Wednesday 22 September 2010
K-K-Keneally is just too cute for words
In 2009 Wayne Swan said that the Rudd Government wouldn't tolerate the NSW Government clawing back a big hunk of the base-rate pension increase for single pensioners in increased rental payments for those in public or community housing.
The Rees Government temporarily placed a stay on implementing the rent increase until September 2010.
This month the Gillard Government has requested the Keneally Government not to claw back this same increase and again the NSW government has temporarily stayed its hand.
Presumably for only a short period after last Monday's indexed pension rise because the last state budget deliberately didn't quarantine that 2009 base-rate increase.
Premier K-K-Keneally is being just a little too cute if she thinks that wiping $18 dollars from the payment in hand received by public housing tenants on single pensions won't be noticed if it doesn't quite coincide with this month's $15 pension increase.
They'll notice Kristina and they're bound to remember on polling day in 2011.
This is the Member for Tweed in June this year in the NSW Parliament:
"But the New South Wales Labor Government is clawing back $7.50 per week from those people who can least afford it. Approximately 28 per cent of the Tweed electorate's population is aged over 65 years. In fact, for this age group the Tweed ranks second in the State, behind Port Macquarie. Aged pensioners have worked hard all their lives and have given a great deal to this great State, if not this great nation, of ours. Yet their pension increase is being clawed back. Some people may say that $7.50 is not a large amount, but it will buy several loaves of bread or other essentials. Many aged pensioners budget down to their last dollar every week. Last year electricity costs increased by 20 per cent and over the next two years they are expected to increase by another 40 per cent. Many pensioners have told me that their bills will increase by $300, $400 or $500 a year, yet all the Government says is that they can get the pensioner rebate to offset the increase. The pensioner rebate is $140, so they will not save anything. In fact, they will be worse off.
Aged pensioners in the Tweed have told me that they take cold showers every second day because they cannot afford to run the electric heater for their hot water systems, and time and again they turn off appliances. In other words, their lifestyle and comforts of living are being eroded. No longer can they afford the things for which they worked hard all their life. I don't normally agree with much that Geoff Provest has to say, but in this case his words bear repeating.
A bit of background Fair dinkum, you're a bit of a political b*tch aren't you Kristina and Australian pensions increase effective 20 September 2009 and other changes
Saturday 28 August 2010
What NSW Northern Rivers social priorities are in 2010 for local community services
From Northern Rivers Social Priorities 2010 Report:
In early 2010 Northern Rivers Social Development Council (NRSDC) conducted a survey amongst the regions’ community service providers to gauge their views on social priorities. The results from the survey will be used to inform NRSDC in its advocacy role. It will also stand as a resource for other community services to gain an insight into the key social issues faced by the Northern Rivers community and community service system.
Since 2001, initially the Northern Rivers Interagency and now NRSDC have conducted research, consultations and surveys with service providers. The aim has been to identify common social priorities across the region, flag new issues as they arise and monitor the state of those priorities.
Responses from community services of the Northern Rivers to the 2010 Social Priorities survey has revealed that the region’s social priorities, as identified in 2002 and revisited in 2006 remain hot issues in the community.
Data from the survey may be considered in different ways. An indication of what responding services had the strongest feelings about can be found by looking at which issues had the most respondents rating them as 9 out of 9 ie the highest level of concern.
Ranking of the social priorities is as follows on a scale of 1 to 9:
- Youth 7.72
- Complex needs 7.64
- Transport 7.58
- Housing 7.08
- Ageing 6.92
- Community based management 6.52
Tuesday 9 March 2010
Rats in the rooves
All the media exposure about shoddy work and greedy spivs has masked another emerging problem - that of other types of roofing work contracted for by local affordable housing providers.
Seems at least one provider is canvassing its tenants to find out if one particular company has left a trail of leaking or unsafe roofs in its wake after sub-contracting work to non-tilers.
Whatever happened to company ethics or pride in a bloke's workmanship?
Wednesday 3 February 2010
Is this the view from your Northern Beaches unit? Mapping predicted seal level rise (6)
Is this the view from your brand new Northern Beaches unit?
Is your considerable financial investment safe?
This posts displays a current photograph and Google Earth mapping showing the effects of a 1 metre sea level rise on a residential area of the New South Wales coast, which would see the beach eroded and sea water possibly reaching some of the residential back boundaries during storm surges.The 2009 Federal Government report Climate Change Risks to Australia's Coasts contains a 'worst case' scenario involving a 1.1 metre sea level rise along the NSW coast sometime within the next 90 years.
Apology - due to a clumsy cut and past the wrong information initially appeared below the images. It has now been corrected.
Monday 11 January 2010
Sh*t happens....
It was a hard decision since it was agreed that a septic system would use too much flushed water and the potential to cause problems with the ecological balance of a swamp near the house was too great.
Not that toilet water would have been a problem in this year of five local floods, but dry years do occur.
We finally decided that a composting system would be the best in our situation.
It was then we had a great stroke of luck, the son-in-law was at an auction and there, large as life, was a brand new unused state of the art composting toilet.
The fact that he was over 1,000 kilometres away from the farm did not cause him to hesitate - at the fall of the gravel he was the proud owner of a massive virgin crapper at a bargain basement price.
So this Christmas he loads the dunny on the back of a trailer behind the family car and heads north to the farm, turning heads all the way up the Pacific Highway.
On the family's arrival at the farm we wander around the house yard, beers in hand, working out where the new toilet should be sited.
It had to be conveniently placed near the house, yet have a good view and not interfere with other aspects of the house yard design. A few beers later we agreed on the best site for the new toilet.
About 800cm into the dig we struck solid clay - the heavy solid sticky type. It was useless to continue digging as this type of clay will expand quickly when wet. So the decision was made to build up the soil around the compost unit instead.
The new toilet now nick-named The FARTUS (apologies to Dr Who) was in place and waiting for the actual building of the toilet hut section. One of the cousins who had been in the Navy said he thought that the new installation looked like a submarine conning tower.
That night it rained and stormed, then it rained again.
The misty morning light revealed the sight of the composting toilet bobbing incontinently in a muddy sea. We now had a Collins-type sub.
So later that day we downed a few more beers (I had switched to rum and coke by this stage) and decided that this was a sign from Huey. The whole toilet situation had to be re-thought.
Graphic from My Little Family's Genealogy
Monday 30 November 2009
Is this your house? Mapping predicted sea level rise (2)
Before and after a 1 metre sea level rise affecting one of the coastal rural areas within Clarence Valley local government area. Latest official 'worst case' predictions are for a 1.1 metre sea level rise in NSW coastal zones, occurring from
2009 onwards and peaking anytime up to 2100.
Click on images to enlarge.
Google Earth now has a sidebar function which allows the plotting of predicted sea levels rises due to climate change.This is a chance to get a visual appreciation of just how your home may be affected in light of the Rudd Government's recent report Climate Change Risks to Australia's Coasts.