On Saturday 25 March 2023 are you voting for the Clarence River system and the towns, villages and businesses which depend on its waters? Here are some of the community groups & candidates who think you should

 

Nymboida River, one of the twenty-four tributaries of the Clarence River and the principal source of drinking water for most residents in Clarence Valley and Coffs Harbour City local government areas. IMAGE: Arden E, YouTube 2015

The Clarence Valley’s rich biodiverse landscapes have nurtured and supported generations beyond count and down the years communities — as well as the grass roots organisations they support — across the Clarence River Catchment have worked hard to protect that which gives them life and livelihoods.

Because in places such as the Clarence Valley with its variable river systems; the aesthetic, environmental, social, cultural and economic values of its communities are intertwined. Healthy rivers, clear running creeks, intact temperate & subtropical close & open forests along with ancient remnants of the Gondwanaland forests, arable soils found in smaller valleys and the larger floodplain, as well as a long coastal zone providing tourism opportunities, all combine to provide a population of est. 54,180 men, women and children living in the catchment area with a solid local economy which keeps the local government area vibrant and its over 4,000 businesses productive. Businesses whose products and services make up est. 17 per cent of the wider Northern Rivers regional economy. [Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021, idcommunity 2021]

Make no mistake. The Clarence Valley relies on the fact that its air is fresh, free-flowing waters clean, main primary industries sustainable and its landscapes pleasing to the eye of tourists. For without those four things the Clarence Valley regional economy would not be worth anything like the over $2 billion it is consistently valued at despite the ongoing pressures of war in Ukraine and global pandemic [National Institute of Economic and Industry Research 2021].

It is also not just Clarence Valley residents that rely on good stewardship being applied to land and waters within the Clarence catchment area. An est. 78,738 people and 6,174 businesses in Coffs Harbour City local government area rely on the urban water infrastructure within Clarence Valley local government area to supply them with town water.

However, constantly growing population pressure and the commercial interests of often large-scale and/or state-sponsored industries (particularly construction, mining & forestry) has seen Clarence catchment landscapes being altered in ways that are becoming destructive.

Forestry now covers 20 per cent of Clarence River Catchment land and by 2022 there were a total of 18 existing mineral and gold mining leases, along with more than 41 mining exploration leases, in the catchment area. [NSW Government, Industry NSW, 2022] It should be noted that mining leases are on the traditional lands of three First Nations peoples.

Under threat are the streams, creeks and rivers which feed the longest coastal river on the Australian east coast, the Clarence River. Also under threat are the remaining tracts of native forest, as well as the tree cover on the Clarence Catchment’s steep hills which help anchor rock and soil to the hillsides and prevent it sliding down and choking the waterways that weave their way among them.

Since the 1990s there have been a number of government contracted reports concerning the Clarence Basin and its waterways. All have highlighted concerns still held today and largely unaddressed – the risks that mining activity, large scale forestry, soil erosion and water turbidity pose to the environment and waterways of the Clarence Basin.

Right now in March 2023 Clarence electorate residents have the opportunity to make their voices heard when they cast their votes this coming Saturday at the NSW State Election.

On Friday morning 17 March 2023 the Clarence Catchment Alliance (CCA) — a non-partisan, not-for-profit, community volunteer group established in 2018 as a response to increased mining exploration activity — held a press conference close to Whiting Beach, Yamba.

Clarence Catchment Alliance had invited members of the media, sitting MPs, candidates standing at next week’s state election, representatives from other community & business groups, as well as members of the public as observers, to this event.

The purpose of the press conference was to draw attention to the growing alarm about mineral extraction projects within the Clarence River catchment and any expansion of this activity across its 24 sub-catchments.

The event began with a Welcome to Country by Yaegl emerging elder Diane Randall, the press conference taking place on traditional Yaegl lands.

It was followed by an introduction from Shae Fleming one of the CCA organisers and then went onto comments by various speakers from other groups including the Clarence Environment Centre and the Yamba District Chamber of Commerce. Brief presentations were made by candidates standing in the Clarence electorate as well as candidates standing in Coffs Harbour and Lismore electorates. There was a general consensus that the waters of the Clarence River catchment area needed to be protected.

Unfortunately the Nationals candidate for Clarence, Richie Williamson, did not attend. However, given the strong pro-mining, pro-barely regulated land clearing, pro-native timber harvesting and pro-state and private forestry policies and practices of the Nationals as partner in successive NSW Coalition governments, that is hardly surprising.

What was surprising was the rider added by the Labor candidate for Clarence to his general support of protecting the Clarence catchment area. Leon Ankersmit stated that the Labor Party would not allow him to sign the CCA pledge of support as the party was in favour of mining in Northern New South Wales.

The following is a brief summary of concerns articulated by some of those that spoke at the press conference, in no particular order.

JOHN EDWARDS (Clarence Environment Centre): It’s not coal or iron that worries me – it’s heavy metal mining. Ore get trucked from mine sites but processing minerals begins at the mine. The evaporation ponds produce a toxic sludge which permanently contaminates the soil and remediation is merely covering that soil with more soil. Leaving a time bomb behind when the mining company leaves. (Signed the CCA pledge)

SUE HIGGINSON (Greens MLA): The community here worked hard to shut down the Timbarra Gold Mine after it leaked cyanide into the Clarence River. However mining leases are still being granted in river catchments. Local seafood, dairy, sugar cane, livestock, crops, and tourism, and the industries that serve them, need clean water. (Signed the CCA pledge)

SHAE FLEMING (Clarence Coastal Alliance): We already have healthy water based industries here. They need protecting. (Signed the CCA pledge)

JAMES ALLAN (current President, Yamba Chamber of Commerce): Degradation of our waterways leads to degradation of our businesses. I support No Mines in the Clarence catchment. There are few jobs in mining. Re-opening the Drake mine would only create fifty jobs. (Signed the CCA pledge)

BRETT DUROUX (Indigenous Australia Party candidate for Clarence): I grew up in Cangai, raised in the old ways. The bush is a place of beauty and healing for so many people. Miners needs are not as important as our needs. My response to proposals to mine in the Clarence Valley is “NEVER!” (Signed the CCA pledge)

NICKI LEVI (Independent candidate for Clarence): Water is sacred, water is precious, water is life. Our priorities should be to protect the air in the Richmond Valley and water in the Clarence Valley. (Signed the CCA pledge)

DEBRA NOVAK (Independent candidate for Clarence & current Clarence Valley councillor): If elected I pledge to lobby hard for a moratorium on mineral mining just as we successfully did with coal seam gas mining. Nothing is more important than protecting the water. (Signed the CCA pledge)

GREG CLANCY (Greens candidate for Clarence & current Clarence Valley Council Deputy-Mayor): I have been protesting against threats to the rivers for a long time. Mining in this wonderful environment is “not on”. Parts of the Mann River are already dead zones because of previous mining ventures. (Signed the CCA pledge)

LEON ANKERSMIT (Labor candidate for Clarence): I’m proud of the sustainable industries that rely on a healthy river like prawning and fishing. Our land is precious and its such an important job to protect our river. (Refused to sign CCA pledge)

MARK RAYNOR (Legalise Cannabis Party candidate for Clarence): We need to find new industries and new crops not start new mines. (Signed the CCA pledge)

TIM NOTT (Greens candidate for Coffs Harbour): Mining is being done the wrong way - mining near waterways produces industrial level pollution. (Signed the CCA pledge)

ALISON WATERS (Animal Justice Party candidate for NSW Upper House representing Northern NSW): They are our waterways and our catchments. We need to protect them. (Signed the CCA pledge)

VANESSA ROSAYRO (Animal Justice Party candidate for Lismore): Mining just doesn’t affect our lives. It affects marine and plant life and the lives of local animals. (Signed the CCA pledge)

Background

"Don't Drown Our Town" banners appearing on Yamba streets as the town waits to see how long and strong this third La Niña will be

Stop The Fill banner in front of retaining wall holding back landfill on a subdivision site in Carrs Drive, Yamba....

IMAGE: NBN News, 18 September 2022

Examples of STOP THE FILL: Don't Down Our Town corflutes out the front of homes on Yamba Rd, The Halyard & Golding Street....

Photographs supplied.

Time for that annual warning about the folly of over-developing Australia's coastline due to increased flooding, erosion and sea inundation. A warning that all three tiers of government have blithely ignored for too many years

 

Science and climate modelling has been informing people living in Australia's coastal zones that global warming-induced sea level rises, along with changes in east & west coast current speeds, more erosive wave patterns & increased flooding, will make living along the coastal fringe highly problematic the deeper the earth moves into this era-long climate change.

Coastal residents have been warned every year since at least 2006 and 2022 is no different.

This is the message in 2021-22.

What the NSW Government’s ADAPT NSW has to say about climate change-induced sea-level rise along the state’s coastline:

Projected sea level rise along the NSW coast

There is a direct relationship between climate change and sea level rise. As our climate warms, sea level rises mainly because of thermal expansion (when water warms up, it expands) and melting of snow, glaciers and ice caps (which increases the volume of ocean water). However, sea level rise is also effected by local oceanographic processes (e.g. changes to ocean currents) and changes to land levels.

Sea level rise is projected to accelerate over the 21st century. The most recent sea level rise projections are from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th Assessment Report. The IPCC predict a likely sea level increase on the central NSW coast of

between 0.21m and 1.06m by 2100, and

between 0.28m and 1.95m by 2150.

This is dependent on the level of future greenhouse gas emissions.

IPCC modelling suggests slightly higher sea level rise to the north of the state and slightly lower to the south. These projections do not include processes associated with the melting of ice sheets which for NSW could result in sea level rise of up to 2.3m by 2100 and 5.5m by 2150.

In the longer term, the IPCC show sea level is committed to rise for centuries to millennia due to continuing deep ocean warming and ice sheet melt, and will remain elevated for thousands of years.

If warming is limited to 1.5°C, global mean sea level will rise by about 2 to 3m.

for 2°C, 2 to 6m is expected, and

for 5° 19 to 22m is expected.  

This is the current seawater inundation scenario message in Predicted Coastal Flooding Resulting from Climate Change, based the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report Update 2021.

Examples from Coastal Risk Australia 2100 interactive mapping tool using IPCC scenarios for the period 2021 to 2100.

Sometime in the next 79 years this is what two small coastal towns will probably look like from the air.......

Ballina, New South Wales - blue area seawater inundation at 0.8m

Yamba, New South Wales - blue area seawater inundation at 0.8m

The Daily Telegraph on 18 January 2022:

The Coastal Risk Map shows what Australia will look like if sea levels rise due to climate change, showing how much extra water will filter into our cities and suburbs and the impact it will have on our way of life.

The map was originally created by spatial mapping company NGIS with non-profit partner Frontier SI in 2015, but has recently been updated with new data from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report.

The sea level projections show that if greenhouse gas emissions are moderated, the ocean may rise by 0.84m by 2100.

But a global rise approaching 2m by 2100 and 5m by 2150 would be possible under a very high greenhouse gas emissions scenario- much higher than first thought.

NGIS Executive Director Nathan Eaton said the aim of the map was to illustrate the data and give Australians a better understanding of how sea level rises could impact their lives.

“Previously the map showed a rise of 0.74m at it’s lowest, that’s since changed to 0.84m,” Mr Eaton said.

“Now less than a metre doesn’t seem like a massive difference to someone, but in low lying areas, even 10 centimetres can make a huge difference.”

Geobiology, archaeology and sea level expert Dr Ben Shaw said the map could be a “wake up call” for authorities on the urgency of curbing climate change.

“It’s phenomenal to see how impacted parts of Australia will be … a real concern for people living in Sydney, across NSW and around Australia, our coastline will look very different and there could be a serious environmental disaster,” Dr Shaw said.

“We will see the impacts of climate change regardless, but if we put the policies and strategies in place now to curb it … it can make a huge difference over generations and decades to avoid something like this.”

“Otherwise things like our water sources, our infrastructure, our suburbs and way of life may have to change drastically.”

The Daily Telegraph has analysed the Coastal Risk Map to see just how much a five metre rise in sea levels would impact NSW - here’s what we found and how it will affect you.

HOW NSW WILL CHANGE IF SEA LEVELS RISE

Under the current worst case projections, if sea levels rise by 5 metres by 2150:

FAR NORTH COAST (Tweed Heads and beyond down to Coffs Harbour)

Most of Coffs Harbour will feel the impact of rising sea levels. Residents living in the vicinity of Boambee Beach out to North Boambee Valley and in and around Park Beach will be impacted, with water set to flow into the CBD.

Moonee Beach and significant sections of Woolgoolga and Emerald Beach will disappear or become a small set of islands as water flows above the shoreline. Other beachside areas like Red Rock, Wooli and Sandon will be overrun and become lakes or bays.

A major new lake system will be established flowing more than 60km inland from Yamba to Grafton if sea levels rise.

Areas like Grafton itself, Cowper, Townsend Harwood Island, Talumbi and Yamba and Wood Head will cease to exist, forming a large lake with a the village of South Arm in the centre.

A similar large harbour will be carved out between Evans Head and Lennox Head, swallowing up Ballina, Wardell, Broadwater, Coraki, Woodburn and as far down as Bungawalbin, with waterways also swelling to impact Lismore.

Directly along the coastline, the enclave of Byron Bay will be completely awash, as will every other settlement stretching up to Kingscliff and past the Queensland border.

Water will overtake Brunswick Heads, New Brighton, Pottsville, Hastings Point, Casuarina all the way up to Tweed Heads, flowing inland to inundate areas like Murwillumbah, and creating another large lake.

Down near Byron, Mullumbimby will also be severely impacted.

Delta Variant Outbreak in Northern NSW in October 2021: the hubristic, elitist, city-centric world view of Perrottet will be the region's undoing

 

The NSW Delta Variant Outbreak began on 16 June 2021 and due to state government public health mismanagement quickly spread across Greater Sydney.

However, apart from infected individuals briefly visiting or driving through the seven council areas in north-east NSW within the Northern NSW Local Health District or locals returning home after being infected elsewhere, no local community transmission occurred until after the Morrison-Berejiklian-Hazzard push for people to accept that they need to ‘start living with COVID’.

The region’s first community transmissions began after 13 September 2021 – at that time these seven local government areas had been free of locally acquired community transmission for 165 days.

The Clarence Valley was the last to have Delta Variant community transmission occur when on or about 5 October it was discovered that 4 local residents in the Grafton postcode area were infected with COVID-19.

The number of infected people in the Grafton area stood at 7 by 8pm on 8 October 2021.

However, NSW Health record keeping is becoming somewhat erratic between jurisdictions and, on the basis of ‘garbage in, garbage out’ it is possible that the total may be nearer to 9 infected Clarence Valley residents.

Despite average vaccination rates across Northern NSW local government areas being markedly less than the 70% of the population 15 years of age and older set  by the National Cabinet, Premier Dominic Perrottet is ignoring the public health implications for regional areas and, for this one in particular with it high numbers of retirees in combination with its limited number of public hospitals adequately staffed and equipped to treat very ill COVID-19 patients.

With infection numbers still growing and sources of infection not yet fully explored - especially in the Clarence Valley - Perrottet has decided the business sector and budget deficits are more important than the state's most enduring resource, its people.

Like his predecessor, seemingly preferring to listen primarily to party political donors, vested business interests and the politically self-interested opinions/advice of Prime Minister & Liberal MP for Cook (Sydney) Scott Morrison, Perrottet has decided to open up the Northern Rivers region to Greater Sydney: 

• Domestic travel, including trips to regional NSW, will be permitted. 

 With only an oral one liner of 'no day trips' before 25 October 2021, coming from the Deputy Premier Paul Toole as a cynical figleaf.

Just 35 hours remain until trying to stop the infection spread gathering momentum becomes much harder for local communities.

Northern NSW Local Health District, media release, 9 October 2021:

To 8pm 8 October, seven new cases of COVID19 have been reported for the Northern NSW Local Health District.

Of these, three cases are in the Grafton area of Clarence Valley Local Government Area (LGA), two are in the Kyogle LGA, one in the Lismore LGA and one case is in the Ballina LGA,

One of the Kyogle cases is a household contact of a positive case. The Ballina case and Lismore case are linked to known clusters.

Investigations into the sources of the other infections is underway. Contact tracing is underway to determine any venues of concern, and public health teams have begun contacting a number of close contacts associated with these cases.

Four cases are being cared for in hospital, all are in a stable condition.

To 8pm 8 October, there have now been 64 total cases confirmed in Northern NSW since 16 June when the current Delta outbreak in Sydney began.

We would like to remind the community of expanded clinic hours available in Grafton this weekend:

Grafton Base Hospital, 184 Arthur Street, Grafton, open seven days. Saturday and Sunday 7am – 7pm.

Stay-at-home orders are in place for Lismore LGA, Casino, and Kyogle LGA until 11 October due to an increased COVID-19 public health risk.

Everyone in these areas must stay at home unless it is for an essential reason, which includes shopping for food, medical care, getting vaccinated, compassionate needs, exercise and work or tertiary education if you can’t work or study at home.

Anyone with even the slightest symptoms should get tested as soon as they feel unwell. There are more than 500 COVID-19 testing locations across NSW. Find a clinic at COVID-19 testing clinics or contact your GP.

We encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as they are able to. Find available bookings at the Australian Government’s COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic Finder (previously eligibility checker), or you can also call Health Direct on 1800 571 155 for assistance to book.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

WHOLE OF NEW SOUTH WALES COVID-19 STATUS

NSW Health, media release, excerpt, 9 October 2021:

NSW recorded 580 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.

One new case was acquired overseas in the same period, bringing the total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic to 68,057.

Sadly, NSW Health is reporting the deaths of eleven people who had COVID-19 – three women and eight men. One person was in their 50s, one was in their 60s, four people were in their 70s, two were in their 80s, and three were in their 90s.

Five people were from south-western Sydney, three were from western Sydney, and three were from south-eastern Sydney.

Four were not vaccinated, three had received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, and four had received one dose.

A woman in her 80s died at the Hardi Guildford Aged Care Facility, where she acquired her infection. This is the sixth death associated with an outbreak at the facility.

A woman in her 80s died at the Allity Beechwood Aged Care Facility, where she acquired her infection. This is the fifth death associated with an outbreak at this facility.

NSW Health extends its sincere condolences to their loved ones.

There have been 425 COVID-19 related deaths in NSW since 16 June 2021 and 481 in total since the start of the pandemic.

There have been 62,384 locally acquired cases reported since 16 June 2021, when the first case in this outbreak was reported.

There are currently 812 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 163 people in intensive care, 75 of whom require ventilation.

There were 79,894 COVID-19 tests reported to 8pm last night, compared with the previous day’s total of 103,388…….

To 11.59pm on Thursday 7 October across NSW, 89.8 per cent of the over-16 population had received a first dose COVID-19 vaccine, and 71.5 per cent were fully vaccinated.

Of the 580 locally acquired cases reported to 8pm last night, 130 are from South Western Sydney Local Health District (LHD), 98 are from Hunter New England LHD, 74 are from Western Sydney LHD, 54 are from Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD, 42 are from Sydney LHD, 42 are from South Eastern Sydney LHD, 41 are from Nepean Blue Mountains LHD, 31 are from Central Coast LHD, 20 are from Southern NSW LHD, 17 are from Western NSW LHD, nine are from Northern Sydney LHD, seven are from Northern NSW LHD, six are from Far West LHD, four are in correctional settings and five are yet to be assigned to an LHD.

NSW Health's ongoing sewage surveillance program has detected fragments of the virus that causes COVID-19 in sewage samples collected from across NSW, including West Wyalong in the Riverina region, Dungog in the Hunter New England region, Crescent Head on the mid north coast, Ballina on the far north coast, Gulargambone in western NSW and Merimbula in southern NSW.

Everyone in these areas is urged to monitor for the onset of symptoms, and if they appear, to immediately be tested and isolate until a negative result is received…...