Sh*t happens....

We finally decided to upgrade the old pit toilet on the farm.

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.

It was time to get the ditch dingo working, since the base section has to be buried over one metre into the soil.

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

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.

Today is the start of Anti-Poverty Week 2009 in Australia and still Rudd, Swan & Macklin haven't acted against September pension increase grab by the states

This week across Australia people and organisations are observing Anti-Poverty Week 2009 which has as its main aims:

• Strengthen public understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty and hardship around the world and in Australia;
  
• Encourage research, discussion and action to address these problems, including action by individuals, communities, organisations and governments.

Over 100,000 Australian single pensioners (National Seniors statement to Courier Mail) will begin this week still worried that the Rudd Government has yet to make any concrete move to protect their recent $30 per week pension increase from the greedy grasp of state governments and community housing companies.

According to 2007 FAHCSIA data the majority of the 714,156 Disability Support Pension (DSP) recipients across Australia are single and don't own a home, so one would expect that these pensioners are significantly represented among single pensions who will lose 25% of the 2009 pension increase in late 2010.

DSP recipients are most heavily clustered in New South Wales which makes the Rees Government pension grab all the more distasteful - a fact these pensioners will possibly remember at the next election.

Etching from CAP Art Blog

Oi, Swanee! You've huffed and you've puffed - when are you going to blow the states' pension grab out of the water?

Just a small reminder to Australian Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan that it's 8 days since he promised to stop state governments from taking a bite out of the one-off pension boost which came into effect in late September.
Since then there's been barely a peep on the subject from the Rudd Government.
Waddaya doin' mate? Don't drag the chain!

Casino and Grafton winners in house price growth according to ANZ September 2009 rural & regional quarterly report

Snapshot from ANZ Rural and Regional Quarterly 23 September 2009

According to the ANZ Rural and Regional Quarterly 23 September 2009 non-residential and residential building approvals are weak across the NSW North Coast and are falling back towards 2001 levels. Existing dwelling slae prices have also fallen in Coffs Harbour and Byron Bay.

However, the median house price in Casino and Grafton has risen by 5-6% in the last twelve months. In part due to the fact there appears to be more housing stock on the market under $350,000 potentially attracting buyers eligible for the First Home Buyers Grant.

Australia - what's wrong with this picture?

Map fromwww.geographicguide.net

Australia has an estimated land area of 7,686,650 square kilometres.
It has a growing population which currently stands at about 21.9 million people.
The majority of Australians live within 100 kilometres of the coastline and, in that narrow strip more people live in major cities and surrounding suburbs than live in smaller towns and villages.
Only around ten per cent of Australia's land mass is arable land suitable for crops or grazing and most of that is in the same coastal fringe. The majority of this arable land is in private hands.

By 2049 it has been estimated that Australia's population will reach 35 million people.
This means that in fifty years time there will be one person for every 0.21 square kilometres of the Australian continent, but most of these people will probably want to live within a total area of less than 1 million square kilometres.

Coincidentally by 2050 the predicted negative impacts of climate change (including prolonged water scarcity and coastal sea water inundation) should be pronounced in this country.

The maths are not looking good and all levels of government are only paying lip service to sustainable planning.

What are you doing to stop your local council and state government from allowing the coast to be developed to death?

How many people won the James Hardie environmental health trifecta?

In the 1950s I grew up in the outer suburbs of Sydney in a house where the outside eaves, internal kitchen walls, all of the laundry additions and garage cum playroom were made of asbestos-based building material.

Later on I purchased a family home which had ceiling insulation made from asbestos and hessian carpet underlay which I learned last week may also been contaminated by this dangerous James Hardie product.

Thankfully I did not work directly with asbestos, but I'm not sure that the acoustic ceiling tiles above my head in the first office job I had did not contain this substance.

I feel as though my family has - without our consent - been made to run in a very dodgy three horse race so that a big international company could grow rich.

Hanging is too good for James Hardie directors - past and present - who knew and said nothing.

Mark
Tweed Heads

Homeless fact sheet for the Richmond-Tweed area on the NSW North Coast

Living as we do on the NSW North Coast in a physically beautiful coastal environment with a constantly shifting sea of tourists in our midst, it is often easy to overlook some of the less palatable facts of life such as the level of homelessness some areas experience and the impact that has on the individuals and families involved.

Excerpt from Mid-July 2009 Northern Rivers Social Developmental Council newsletter:

The Richmond-Tweed Region has a total of 1765 people [1638 non Indigenous and 127 Indigenous] experiencing homelessness.

Much homelessness in the region is hidden, as 50% of the recorded homeless population in the Richmond-Tweed Region are living temporarily with friends and relatives.

10% are living in specialist homelessness services.

29% of the homeless population in the Richmond-Tweed Region of NSW are living in improvised dwellings and on the streets.

Within the Richmond-Tweed Region, Tweed Heads has a rate of 66 per 10,000 non Indigenous people and 81 per 10,000 Indigenous people facing homelessness every night.

Lismore has 64 per 10,000 non Indigenous people and 401 per 10,000 Indigenous people facing homelessness every night.

An additional 85 per 10,000 non Indigenous people and 135 per 10,000 Indigenous people within the remaining Richmond-Tweed statistical division are facing homelessness every night.

In NSW as a whole, 27,374 people are homeless tonight.

Of these 6% are living in the Richmond-Tweed Region of NSW.

The Richmond-Tweed has l3% of the State's population.

Even in paradise housing is a problem

Whenever visitors to the NSW North Coast talk about their holidays here they speak of how lucky we are to live in all this scenic diversity and of course we are.

However, the beautiful settings often hide from view realities that we share with other parts of New South Wales.

Although homelessness is relatively low compared to the metropolitan centres, by December 2008 rents were between $195-$285 per week for a 2 bedroom flat and between $300-$370 for a 3 bedroom house, with Richmond-Tweed separate house rents being the highest in the state outside of Sydney and Northern Rivers vacancy rates being comparable with Sydney.

Housing stress continues to be an issue according to the Northern Rivers Social Development Council, with around 40,000 people in the Page and Richmond electorates having disposable household incomes below the NSW median point.










Northern Rivers Social Development Council Dec 08 regional housing data
Click on graph to enlarge

Housing affordability is a big issue for many North Coast pensioners and the rising number of unemployed.
One has to hope that in Tuesday's federal budget, the Treasurer has taken note of concerns that any increase in the pension base rate may be eaten up by immediate rent increases.

The NSW Office of the Premier corresponds with a cat?

When North Coast Voices was set up a side blog was established for Clarencegirl's cat and, in a fit of absurdity, he was given a hotmail account.

Since then Boy the Wonder Cat has received almost every psihing email known to man or beast, become the recipient of begging letters from then presidential candidate Barack Obama, and now it appears he is on a 'reply to' list for an email he swears he never sent to the NSW Premier.

EA1382161 - new community housing rent policy‏

From:	thepremier (www.nsw.gov.au@mail.cabinet.nsw.gov.au)
Sent:	Friday, 9 January 2009 2:00:19 PM
To:	catlives9@hotmail.com

EA1382161 - CMU

To whom it may concern

The Premier has received your recent email concerning the new community housing rent policy.

As the matter you have raised primarily concerns the administration of the Minister for Housing, and Minister for Western Sydney, the Hon D L Borger, MP, the Premier has arranged to bring your approach to the Minister's attention.

You may be sure that your comments will receive close consideration.

Yours sincerely



Vanessa Karkousi
Office of the Premier

Now I'll apologise in advance in case a third party has used Boy's email address, but it does rather look as though someone at the Premier's office has seen a North Coast Voices post on the subject and is responding to that.

Mr. Rees, there is a comments button below those posts on the topic of your new community housing rental policy.
Might I suggest that you use it?

Caveat emptor lives!

Which iconic unit in Yamba is being advertised for sale at $1.45 million, even though it is in an area with an estimated statistical 1 in 1,000 chance of sliding towards the ocean in adverse weather conditions?
I'm sure the owners would have experienced at least one subsidence alert during the last three years, so it is passing strange that this unit is thought to be worth so much.
Would you pay over a million for the slide of a lifetime?

Further delays for the Big Billabong

Tourists waiting to flock to the Clarence Valley's newest tourist attraction have been told to be patient.

The word around the traps was that Angourie's Big Billabong, which was estimated to be costing its proprietor about $10million to construct, would open for day trippers' viewing early in 2009.

However, the latest goss is that the owner Gordon Merchant won't be moving into his Angourie premises anytime soon. Furthermore, the cost of the project is now said to be close to the $16million mark.

The Gold Coast Bulletin reports that plans for the massive beach shack were lodged with the Clarence Valley Council in 2002 and when The Bulletin first visited the building site in October, 2007, it had already been under construction for three years.

At that time a builder on the site said the house would be finished in three to six months.

Well, those deadlines have come and gone and as our latest pictures show, there is still plenty of work to be done.

A member of the nearby Yamba Rugby Club, who wished to remain anonymous, said there were rumours the cost had blown out from $10 million or $12 million to $16 million.

"It's taken a long time generally because if he (Mr Merchant) is not happy with something he just gets it changed as it goes along," he said.

"It's taken a while, so everyone is looking forward to being invited to the opening party."

Mr Merchant can afford to be picky.

The man who founded the international clothing and accessories company Billabong on the Gold Coast in 1973 is worth an estimated $805 million.

He has long been a fan of Angourie, 5km south of Yamba in northern NSW, which boasts some of the best waves in Australia.

Another Angourie local said Mr Merchant was often seen about town.

"I was surfing the other day prior to Christmas and he was in this perfect Billabong wetsuit," he said.

"Their family is often seen around town. The house is taking a long time because he includes nothing but the best.

"The local tradies aren't complaining."

The mansion has totem poles sitting in gardens, five garages and a pool that spills over as a fountain between the garage doors.

It is built on four house-blocks and will be one of the biggest homes in Australia.

The mansion has a copper roof, which already has a tinge of green due to exposure to the elements, and is built from sandstone.

Besides the mansion at Angourie, Mr Merchant is believed to be investing heavily in and around Yamba.

His helicopter is often heard flying the divorced father of four into the town.

Mr Merchant recently won approval to build a helipad at the house to transport his young son interstate for medical treatment.

He also offered to make the helipad available to the Yamba community for emergency services. It has landing lights that can be activated by telephone.

That sort of community spirit has helped to win over Angourie locals.

"There are those with a little envy, but despite his obvious wealth and helicopter there is no real showiness about him," said a resident.

Crikey does community housing

In Crikey Tips and Rumours on Tuesday:

Rees Government, Dept of Housing and Office of Community Housing are allowing NSW community housing companies to raise pensioner rents this month by at least $100 per fortnight, even though they realise that anomalies in how rent assessments were produced means that many of these pensioners will be paying more than the guaranteed rent increase limit of $10 a week from their own pockets and, over Christmas/New Year will be forking out up to $79 dollars from their own pockets. At least one housing company NCCHC is telling tenants words to the effect of "like it or lump it". Tenants have noticed that this particular round of rent rises comes just four days after many of them receive Rudd's one-off lump sum payment and are wondering why Rees has decided it is alright to gouge in this way. NCCHC is telling media who ask that it will fix this up anomalies brought to its attention, but is very careful not to say this to complaining tenants thus far.

Things really must be crook in Tallarook if Rees and Borger are ripping off pensioners to this degree

The NSW Government budgetary bottom line really must be crook, if Premier Rees and Minister for Housing David Borger are turning a blind eye while Community Housing parts pensioners from a big slice of their meagre Centrelink benefits.
All in the name of propping up the government's own underfunding of the public rental sector.

In October this year I posted news that rent for community housing pensioner tenants living alone might increase by up to $33 minimum a fortnight.
Because according to the NSW Federation of Housing Associations:
"The government rent policy determining how community housing rents are set has changed. Community housing rents for new tenants have risen from July 1. Most of this increase will be offset by an increase in the tenant's entitlement to Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA). Existing tenants' rents will increase following their next scheduled rent review.
The new rents will be calculated based on a combination of 25% of 'assessable' household income, 15% of Family Tax Benefit, and 100% of Commonwealth Rent Assistance Entitlements (as long as the new rent is not more than market rent).
The new rent will mean a net increase in housing costs (after taking the increase in CRA into account) for most current tenants. This will be phased in over a number of years.
While the Federation welcomes the general approach to ensure stronger income streams which will allow associations to provide more housing opportunities for future tenants, we have expressed strong concerns to government about the impact on current tenants."

Seems pretty straightforward doesn't it?
However there is a small problem with such a plan and it quickly became evident - greed on a large scale.

According The Greens MLC Sylvia Hale:
"A pensioner contacted me today. He had received a letter, saying
that a change in Government policy means his rent will go up by $32 a
fortnight from July 1.
On the NSW North Coast the news is worse - it is leading to a December 2008 rent increase for some single pensioners of at least $105 a fortnight.

How is this coming about?
One has to imagine that the North Coast Community Housing Company doesn't realise that it can't arbitrarily decide to artificially inflate a pensioner's current total income (in some cases by between $79-$100 per fortnight) thereby inflating rent calculations.
Just so that further down the line the company can hopefully get its avaricious hands on the maximum amount allowed for individual Commonwealth Rent Assistance entitlement.

The wheels really fall of this greed wagon when single pensioners find that Centrelink will not always pay them the maximum rent assistance - yet North Coast Community Housing is still expecting them to find an additional $23-79 per fortnight out of their own threadbare pockets to meet any shortfall between what Centrelink will pay and the company's own strange rent assistance calculations.

Of course, for many tenants, this over-the-top rent increase comes just four days after the Federal Government's one-off Centrelink payment to retirees, returned servicemen, old age and disability support pensioners, families, carers etc.
Co-incidence? I wouldn't bet on it.
It seems this Christmas will not be as flush and worry-free as Kevin Rudd had planned for those living on or under the poverty line.
At least not in New South Wales while Scrooge Rees and Co. reign.

The Office of Community Housing (OCH) accepts complaints about:
"A community housing organisation or a resourcing agency (including conduct of staff, policies, procedures and processes, the board or employees)."
I'm told that the complaints have already begun and if community housing tenants in the region realise that they are being used in a clumsy corporate attempt to 'diddle' the Commonwealth, I expect that OCH may see a higher level of complaints in the next few months.
Especially when it is borne upon tenants that the daft mental arithmetic used by their community housing 'landlord' leaves them in many cases receiving less rent assistance than has been calculated on paper to inflate their rents.

The jungle drums are beating along the Northern Rivers and I'm told that in the 2007-08 financial year North Coast Community Housing paid out over $20,000 in Board expenses and at least $12,400 in directors fees - the seven board members granting themselves about $200 for every time they turned up at monthly meetings.
It seems they are a lot more understanding of their own financial circumstances than they are of the circumstances of the company's many pensioner tenants.

Office of Community Housing rental policy here.
Brotherhood of St. Lawrence poverty line August 2007 update here:





Click on image to expand

Living life on your uppers in the Northern Rivers

I've just received the October newsletter from my community housing company which contains mind boggling information.
It informs me that my entire rent assistance will be taken by North Coast Community Housing Company Ltd and that this will go towards a rent increase.

In this newsletter a member of the Tenant Council also tells me that "While $50 a fortnight is a lot to lose out of our income, Housing NSW and the Community Housing Companies have agreed that no more than $10 per week increase will be taken out in the 1st year. That means that $10 per week will come out in the 1st year, $20 per week in the 2nd year, $30 per week in the third year. Most, if not all of this will be covered by CPI increases."

Where on earth did this nonsense come from?
"Most, if not all of this will be covered by CPI increases" - who on earth lives in a world where the Commonwealth Government gives pension CPI rises which amount to $60 a fortnight?
And what about all the other cost increases, like groceries and transport, that are also supposedly covered by the real minuscule pension increases? Also, why on earth assume that every tenant gets $50 in rent assistance because many don't, and why does the letter which came in the same envelope say that money from my "own pocket" might also be needed to meet the rent increase? What pocket would that be I wonder and where can I find it?

This is a blatant rip-off!!

Disgruntled Pensioner
Grafton NSW

* 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@live.com.au for consideration.

Single, living alone, no assets, on a full pension and in community housing? Rudd and Rees want to starve you out

It is rather difficult to find Housing Commission accommodation in regional New South Wales these days. I'm told that most subsidised housing in recent years has come online under community housing management so that state government can save a bit on the cost of regional bureaucracy.

I've had a few phone calls in the last couple of days about this community housing.
With pensions and other income assistance not really keeping up with the cost of living and little hope that Kevin Rudd's increased pension 'promise' will come to fruition as anything more than a token, it was a shock for many Northern Rivers community housing tenants already living in straightened circumstances to recently receive a version of the item below.

Community housing rents changed

The government rent policy determining how community housing rents are set has changed.

Community housing rents for new tenants have risen from July 1.

Most of this increase will be offset by an increase in the tenant’s entitlement to Commonwealth Rent Assistance (CRA).

Existing tenants’ rents will increase following their next scheduled rent review.

The new rents will be calculated based on a combination of 25% of ‘assessable’ household income, 15% of Family Tax Benefit, and 100% of Commonwealth Rent Assistance Entitlements (as long as the new rent is not more than market rent).

The new rent will mean a net increase in housing costs (after taking the increase in CRA into account) for most current tenants.

This will be phased in over a number of years.

While the Federation welcomes the general approach to ensure stronger income streams which will allow associations to provide more housing opportunities for future tenants, we have expressed strong concerns to government about the impact on current tenants.

As far as I can tell, an average single pensioner living alone in community housing will be losing around $31 to $33 dollars minimum a fortnight due to this change in policy.
In practice this would mean at least an extra $23 to $25 dollars less on pension day as community housing already takes 25% of any Commonwealth rent assistance.
Even if the community housing company agrees to stagger this money grab to $20 per fortnight in the first year, this is twenty dollars more than most single pensioners (or for that matter the single unemployed without family) can afford.

NSW Premier Rees and Prime Minister Rudd should be ashamed of themselves - they have quite literally endorsed taking food out of the mouths of the elderly, widowed, disabled and carers.

It's a low dingo act, from two pollies who have forgotten what the Labor Party once stood for.

Both these men had better hope that their next respective election dates do not fall in the second week of the pension payment cycle - voters with empty bellies tend to feel a mite uncharitable when faced with a ballot paper stuffed with well-fed candidates.

Oh, and by the way Rudders, don't think that single pensioners in community housing haven't noticed that you are willing to back Aussie investors, as well as home-grown and foreign banks to the tune of around $600-708 billion while you've agreed to help Rees snatch the food out of the mouths of many of those who wouldn't have more than a dollar in the bank as 'savings'.

Rudd & Rees family pic came from Google Images

Update:

Link to list of Australian and foreign banks/financial institutions whose deposits and certain debts the Rudd Government has pledged to guarantee here.