Showing posts with label risk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label risk. Show all posts

Friday 10 November 2017

Turnbull Government employment services program a mess


Meanwhile in Australian Minister for Employment and Liberal Senator for Western Australia  Michaelia Cash’s ministerial portfolio…..

The Australian, 31 October 2017:

The Coalition’s flagship $7.3 billion employment services program has been branded a “hopeless mess” with fewer than 40 per cent of unemployed clients finding long-term work, more than a third of job agencies performing so badly they should be disqualified and warnings that fraud may go undetected.

The Australian has uncovered evidence of job agencies inducing or harassing former clients for pay slips from their new employers to claim taxpayer ­bonuses worth thousands of dollars each.

Agencies are handed incentive payments four weeks after a ­client starts a job and again at three months and cumulatively can get up to $13,750 at six months if the client stays in the job.

Fewer than 40 per cent of ­clients remain employed after six months and almost half of the $1.7bn the department spends on the program each year goes on administration.

An analysis by The Australian of the five-year program ­reveals 569 employment services sites out of 1648 around the nation have failed a measure set by the ­Department of Employment that requires their business be reduced or taken away entirely, but only 12 companies have had their share reduced.

The problem is particularly ­severe in Western Australia, the home state of Employment Minister Michaelia Cash, where just 14 per cent of the 107 employment services sites met the grade for service standards. Only two sites were operating above the national average but the department has “deferred” any shake-up of the private companies “to give providers an opportunity to ­improve their performance”.

The bonuses under the re­designed “jobactive” program launched by the Coalition are big business and, in many cases, ­securing them is the only revenue keeping the organisations afloat.

The Australian understands there are active moves within the Labor Party to reconsider the ­entire employment services model, and while opposition ­employment services spokesman Ed Husic was tight-lipped on the issue in August, he admonished the system in a speech to service providers.

“We spend roughly $9bn on government jobs programs, the second largest area of procurement outside of defence,” he said.

“We have 730,000 people out of work … 40,000 employment services consultants and only 20 per cent of the people helped by the government’s jobs programs find work for more than 26 weeks.”

The Salvation Army lost more than $1 million a month in the first 18 months of the scheme launched in July 2015 because it was not qualifying for the bonus payments it needed to.

David Thompson, the chief executive of Jobs Australia, the peak organisation for non-profit providers, said the system was a “hopeless mess”, not “hugely ­effective” and had been run to the advantage of the largest companies.

“On average, the staff who work at these places have a high-school-level education and a caseload of 150 jobseekers,” he said. “That’s average. Some of them have 300 people they have to see in a week. They do not have a ­relationship with anyone. It’s cheap.”….

The department declined to release the names of the companies in the “low-impact breaches” because it said it was “concerned that publishing such information may cause commercial harm to the relevant providers”.

Of the 65 providers contracted to deliver employment support services on behalf of the federal government, the Department of Employment has classified more than 43 per cent of having a risk rating of “extreme or high”.

Of this number, more than half were rated extreme or high due to concerns about their ongoing financial viability, more than one-third due to overall service standards, 28 per cent were deemed compliance risks and ­almost 4 per cent were categorised as being at risk of fraud.

Thursday 9 November 2017

So you think it is a good idea, Gladys, allowing a small cruise ship into a relatively shallow Port of Yamba?


The Clarence River Estuary is part of the largest combined river-ocean commercial fishery on the Australian east-coast.

It also contains the Port of Yamba at its mouth.

Every vessel entering the port has to navigate past a coffee rock reef protected by Native Title which curves around the entrance waters.

The navigation channels these vessels sail range in depth from 3m to 5.5m on a good day.

This port can safely take vessels with an overall length of no more than 120m, a maximum beam of 20m and a draft limit of 5m or less.

Even small recreation boats straying a few feet out of the main navigational channel can sometimes get stuck in shifting mud banks. While the Yamba-Iluka ferry has been known to find itself momentarily stuck in sand within feet of the wharf in Yamba Bay.

This is the port that NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has given the nod to as a cruise ship destination if the October 2017 announcement by two of her ministers is any indication. Minister Pavey’s office afterwards stating that the first small cruise ship is to arrive in October 2018.

That ship has been identified as the Caledonian Sky, a 26 year-old, 90.6m long vessel with 4200 gross tonnage, a beam width of 15.2m, maximum draft of 4m and a carrying capacity of 114 passengers.

This first cruise ship visit has been approved ahead of any investigation of estuary/port conditions and capacity, community consultation or practical preparation.

But what could possibly go wrong? It’s a small cruise ship, right? It will get in and out of the port OK, won’t it?

Well let us look at other small cruise ships which were not making their very first visit to the area in which they were sailing……..

A limited selection of typical maritime incidents involving small cruise ships 

8 July 2008 - Spirit of Glacier Bay grounded just after 7am (local time) today near Glacier Bay in Alaska. The ship had 51 people on-board. No injuries were reported. Unclear whether the grounding was caused by human error or a mechanical or electronic malfunction.

9 September 2009The Balmoral anchored off Portree, Skye with severe gales preventing it from berthing in the harbour. The liner departed Invergordon on 7 September with a reported 18 cases of the highly infectious novovirus among its 1,280 passengers and 516 crew.

23 May 2010 - Deutschland moored at the quay in Eidfjord in Norway when a fire broke out in the engine room. The 608 passengers were evacuated safely and 205 crew stayed on-board to help battle the fire. Damage was contained to an isolated area and limited with the help of fire doors.


29 August 2010 - M/V Clipper Adventurer  ran aground Friday when it hit a rock. It was carrying 110 passengers on a cruise through the Northwest Passage when the mishap happened. No injuries have been reported among the passengers and 69 crew members on board. In 2017 a Canadian court ordered the owners to pay pollution related costs and fines arising from the incident finding the Coast Guard properly warned the Clipper Adventurer's crew of the rock shelf through a notice to shipping, which was not on board the ship. The court wrote "as it was, this nonchalant attitude put the lives of close to 200 souls at risk." A total of 13 tanks aboard were breached during the grounding. Some of those tanks held fuel, freshwater and sludge.

15 September 2011 - MS Nordlys was sailing from Bergen, Norway to the town of Kirkenes when fire broke out in the engine room of the cruise ship with 207 passengers on-board.  Passengers were safely evacuated from the ship at the port of Alesund, Norway. Two crew members were killed and nine others were taken to the hospital for treatment. The investigation concludes that the fire probably started when a diesel leakage was ignited coming into contact with an un-insulated indicator valve on starboard main engine. The most probable cause of the diesel leakage was fatigue fracture in the feed pipes for a fuel injection pump due to the pump being loose. AIBN is of the opinion that insufficient job specification in the shipping company’s maintenance system had contributed to the fuel injection pump not being sufficiently fastened and to the indicator valve not being sufficiently insulated.
3 June 2012Independence allegedly discharge of soapy water into the harbour at Bar Harbor from the cruise ship as it was tied up to the town pier. The water was effluent from clothes washing machines on the ship; the overboard discharge valves to the forward washing machines had been left open. 

21 May 2013 - MS Serenissima, which had 112 people on board, became stuck in sand and gravel at about 18.30 on Monday 20 May. It was refloated at about 01:10 after an earlier attempt failed due to high winds.

11 May 2015 - MV Hamburg grounded on charted rocks near the New Rocks buoy in the Sound of Mull, Scotland with 461 persons on board. There were no injuries but the accident caused considerable raking damage to the hull and rendered the port propeller, shaft and rudder unserviceable. Ship’s captain plead guilty to two charges.
12 August 2015State of Alaska issued cruise ship operators 18 notices of violation involving 48 instances of excessive air emissions since 2010. Each violation of law carries a fine of approximately $37,500. Between 2009 and 2013 Alaska reportedly issued 174 Notices of Violation for cruise ships discharging in violation of Alaska Water Quality Standards.
23  December 2015 - Star Pride while passing through UNESCO World Heritage Site Coiba National Park on 22 December hit some slightly submerged rocks while attempting to navigate through a shallow channel. The ship underwent repairs in this delicate ecosystem.

31 March 2016 - Adventure Hornblower was attempting to dock at the Navy Pier in downtown San Diego, California. As the vessel made its approach to the pier, its bow unexpectedly swung to starboard and allided with the pier’s passenger embarkation dock. The ship then accelerated forward until it struck the seawall at the foot of the pier. Eight passengers sustained minor injuries in the accident. The allision caused nearly $1.06 million in damage to the vessel, pier, and seawall.

14 October 2016Pacific Princess struck a breakwater at Villefranche-sur-Mer (port to Nice, France) at 6am. The accident occurred in rough seas, with strong winds of over 50 mph (80 kph), causing the ship’s portside hull to hit rocks at the harbor’s entrance. Just as the vessel passed the harbor’s opening in the breakwater, a sudden gust of wind hit and skidded it into the breakwater’s wall. 

2 September 2016 - SeaDream I with 105 passengers and 61 crew caught fire off Naples, Italy. The vessel was making a voyage between Amalfi and Palinuro in Tyrrhenian sea, but one of the generators suffered failure and started smoking. The thick smoke and flames engulfed the whole engine compartment, causing damages to the engineering. Local authorities dispatched tug at the scene of the accident, which towed the cruise ship to Naples

19 December 2016 -  Spirit of Baltimore cruise ship captain fell asleep while navigating the ship on 28 August. Unattended, the boat with approx. 400 passengers veered off course and crashed into two moored recreational boats and floating pier at Henderson’s Wharf Marina in Fells Point, Maryland.

12 March 2017 - MV Caledonian Sky hit coral reefs at Crossover Reef, inflicting significant damage to one of the world's most biodiverse reefs on 4 March. It has been voted among the best diving spots in the world According to NSW Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight Melinda Pavey this cruise ship will be mooring in Yamba in October 2018. This ship is a repeat offender having previously damaged coral off Medan in Sumartra.

5 April 2017 - L'Austral grounded on 9 January 2017 at Snares Island with hull breached and one ballast tank damaged. It then grounded a second time in Milford Sound on 9 February.

By now, Premier Berejiklian, you may be entertaining the idea that lining up the small regional port and town of Yamba for cruise ship visits may not be the best idea your government has floated.

But that's not what this port expansion push is really all about, is it Gladys?

No, your government has decided that all three small regional ports ideally should become multipurpose ports which include commercial shipping, cruise shipping and defence facilities as well as extensive channel & mooring area dredging to at least an 8m minimum with channel access suitable for ships 300m long - which is as long as a Panamax super freighter.

Sadly, in the future there won't be a viable, biodiverse, seafood rich, clean and green Clarence River Estuary if the Berejiklian Coalition Government has its way.

BACKGROUND

North Coast Voices, 15 March 2017, Is the NSW Dept. of Industry seeking to significantly expand the Port of Yamba?

Friday 29 September 2017

WA company with Chinese & UK backing announces a desire to mine near, extract water from and potentially pollute Clarence River catchment waters



The Daily Examiner, 29 September 2017, p.1:

JUST 35km north-west of Grafton is a block of private land with the potential to change the face of Clarence Valley’s industry as we know it.

Mt Gilmore, which lies between Fine Flower and The Gorge, has been revealed to be home to several deposits of high-grade cobalt.

Now Western Australia-based company Corazon Mining is trying to work out just how big that deposit is, and whether it’s worth mining.

On June 16 2016, Corazon announced it had secured the right to earn up to 80% of the Mount Gilmore Cobalt-Copper-Gold Project from private company Providence Gold and Minerals Pty Ltd.

Their project tenure included one granted Exploration Licence covering an area of approximately 25km by 15km, and over the past couple of months they have been drilling to in an effort to find precious metals.

Corazon managing director Brett Smith said so far, things were looking good.

“We’ve been saying that this is one of the highest- grade cobalt deposits in Australia, we just don’t know how big it is,” he said. “There was a lot of gold and copper prospecting there back in the late 1800s, early 1900s, and so it’s amazing where it’s located how little modern exploration has gone on there.”

The reason they have their eye on cobalt, rather than gold or copper, is that the element’s value has risen exponentially in recent years due to its use in lithium-ion batteries.

Mr Smith said demand from the battery sector had tripled in the past five years and was projected to double again by 2020.

It is most commonly used in smartphones, laptops, and electric vehicles.

“Cobalt is the most expensive raw material used for building lithium-ion batteries, paying about $61,000 per tonne,” Mr Smith said.

“A lot of people have been exploring for cobalt in NSW but are looking at oxide deposits. Ours is a bit different in that it’s a sulphide deposit, and they are fairly rare to be cobalt dominant.

“It’s all in vogue at the moment so we’re pretty hopeful this can be used to produce cobalt salts for batteries.”

Mr Smith said the company was currently on its second drill program, which they hoped could be used to accurately determine the lay of the land.’

Exactly what mining exploration licence is this newspaper article talking about?

Well according to NSW Planning & Environment on 1 September 2017 it is  EL8379 granted to Mt Gilmore Resources Pty Ltd on 23 June 2015.

So who is Corazon  Mining Limited?

The company’s 2016-17 Annual Report states:

Corazon Mining Limited (ASX: CZN) (“the Company” or “Corazon”) is an Australian based company exploring and developing the Lynn Lake Nickel-Copper-Sulphide project in Canada and Mt Gilmore Cobalt-Copper-Gold project in Australia.

It has three main exploration projects -  the Lynn Lake and  Victory projects both in Manitoba Canada and the Mt Gilmore Project in NSW Australia.

This is the corporations current Board of Directors:

Clive Jones, Non-Executive Chairman - 4,235,330 fully paid ordinary shares, 5,000,000 options exercisable at $0.035 expiring 31 March 2020, total annual remuneration $154,607
Brett Smith, Executive Managing Director - 7,107,131 fully paid ordinary shares, 10,000,000 options exercisable at $0.035 expiring 31 March 2020, total annual remuneration $417,250
Adrian Byass, Non-Executive Director - 9,357,370 fully paid ordinary shares, 7,000,000 options exercisable at $0.035 expiring 31 March 2020, total annual remuneration $144,600
Jonathan Downes, Non-Executive Director - 11,154,512 fully paid Ordinary Shares, 5,000,000 options exercisable at $0.035 expiring 31 March 2020, total annual remuneration $190,557
Mark Qiu, Non-Executive Director (appointed 18 August 2017) - 1,269,300 fully paid ordinary shares, total annual remuneration unknown
Robert Orr is company secretary and Chief Financial Officer, shareholding unknown, total annual remuneration $114,360.

The last annual report indicated that the company share structure comprised 1,039,283,317 fully paid ordinary shares held by 2,135 individual shareholders and, 60,000,000 unquoted options are held by 10 individual option holders.


The largest options holders are Brett Smith with 10 million held and Zenix Nominees Pty Ltd with 20 million held.

On 1 December 2016 the Company announced the issue of 3,410,840 shares to key management personnel in lieu of cash-based salary. This strategy was implemented in order to conserve cash reserves for operational expenditure.

Corazon Mining appears to be operating at a loss and apparently paid no tax in 2016-17.

Corazon Mining Limited’s Purchase Agreement for the Mt Gilmore Cobalt-Copper-Gold joint venture project:

Under the terms of the agreement with Providence and subject to Corazon completing due diligence to its sole satisfaction on or before 30 June 2016, Corazon has the exclusive right to earn up to an 80% interest in the Project as follows:

Corazon can earn an initial 51% interest by:
* Issuing Providence 25 million Corazon Mining Limited shares
* Paying cash reimbursements of costs totalling $100,000
* Spending $200,000 on exploration within the first 12 months from the date of satisfaction of all conditions precedent (“Commencement Date).

Corazon can earn a further 29% interest (totalling 80%) by:
* Completing $2M  in exploration within 3 years of the Commencement Date
* Paying $150,000 in cash or shares upon the earlier of the commencement of the third year and Corazon spending a minimum of $500,000 on exploration
* Paying $250,000 in cash or shares upon earning 80% equity in the Project.

Corazon has the opportunity to extend this earn-in period by one year by paying $50,000 in cash or shares.

According to Corazon Mining;

The Project is located only 35km from the major centre of Grafton in north-eastern New South Wales. Project tenure includes one granted Exploration Licence (EL8379 – one year old), covering an area of approximately 25km by 15km……

On 22 August 2017 the Company issued 139,856,665 fully paid ordinary shares at an issue price of $0.014. The share issue was comprised of:
- an issue of 120,000,000 shares to Hanking Australia Investments Pty Ltd under a Subscription Agreement for a $1,680,000 investment in the Company;
- an issue of 7,356,665 to sophisticated investors to raise $102,993; and
- an issue of 12,500,000 shares to Providence Gold and Minerals Pty Ltd pursuant to the Company’s Earn-in Agreement with Providence in respect of the Mt Gilmore Project. Under this Agreement, Corazon has the exclusive right to earn up to an 80% interest in the Project. The shares have a total valuation of $175,000.

On the same date, the Company also issued 85,000,000 options to Hanking Australia Investments Pty Ltd following their investment in the Company. The options were issued with an exercise price of $0.03 and an expiry of 22 August 2019.

On 18 August 2017, Dr Mark Qiu of Hanking Australia Investments Pty Ltd was appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors.

China Hanking Holdings Limited, registered in the Cayman Islands and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, is the parent company of Hanking Australia Investments Pty Ltd.

The second largest shareholder in Corazon Mining Limited is Crescent Nominees Limited, a private equity firm registered in Northern Ireland since 2014 and owned by venture capitalist Crescent Capital NI Limited.

As part of NSW Minerals Week Corazon Mining Limited had a booth at the 14th Sydney Resources Round-Up in May 2017 where interested geologists could view their sulphide core from the 2016 Cobalt Ridge drilling program. 

Area in which the proposed cobalt mine would be situated

Satellite image of Mount Gilmore (height 372m) situated just above the Clarence River system at The Gorge

It doesn’t take a genius to look at this image and see the potential for heavy rain episodes over Mt. Gilmore leading to surface water runoff into Clarence River tributaries.

So the first question is; what happens if Corozon Mining was granted a mining licence by the NSW Berejiklian Coalition Government and one or more of its heavy metal contaminated holding ponds were breached during such a rain period? The potential exists for any such breaches to result in long-term contamination of surrounding soils and water courses, as well as higher sediment levels in surface waters.

Heavy metal and metalloid concentrations within stream-estuary sediments already occur naturally in NSW north-eastern coastal rivers and current Clarence River levels are also the result of historic mining in the upper catchment below the Dorrigo Plateau region.

This leads to a second question. Can a river system, which supplies drinking water to est.126,008 residents (Census 2016) along with water to farmers, graziers and commercial fishers in the Clarence Valley and Coffs Harbour City local government areas, safely tolerate higher heavy metal and metalloid concentrations in that water? Communities relying on the Clarence river system might not be happy with the thought of any increase in localised or overall toxicity.

Given that mining is a thirsty business and water used in its extractive processes has to come from nearby surface/groundwater sources, there is a third question which immediately springs to mind. In the face of increasing impacts from climate change can we afford to have the environmental water flow in the Clarence River system compromised further?

Then there is the question of required associated infrastructure, including transport of ore via trucks and rail – need I say more?

One has to wonder when Clarence Valley Council was going to mention this proposed mining activity to residents and ratepayers because it is highly likely that this mining company or someone acting on its behalf has approached either the Mayor or council administration.

Tuesday 30 May 2017

Coastal regions should note that last month saw second warmest April on record & also saw record-low Arctic, near-record-low Antarctic sea ice


“The average global temperature for April 2017 was 1.62 degrees F above the 20th-century average of 56.7 degrees, according to the analysis by scientists from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. This was the second highest for April in the 1880-2017 record, behind last year by 0.31 degrees.” [US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), May 2017]
The Northern Star, 24 May 2017:

INUNDATION THREAT: Areas in dark blue show the impact of a 0.74m seal level rise, while areas in light blue show a 2m rise.

NEW modelling has escalated the threat of sea level rises to the North Coast putting many more homes and valuable public infrastructure at risk.

Just four years after an initial report predicted a worst-case 0.74m sea level rise, rapid melting of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets have prompted scientists to publish a new report which predicts a 2m rise, although the chances of this worst-case scenario occurring are just 2%.

The research data provided by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been mapped into an interactive website published by Coastal Risk Australia, which puts the 2013 and 2017 predictions side by side.

Dark blue represents a 0.74m sea level rise and light blue represents the inundation spread with a 2m seal level rise, based
on US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) calculations

The Australian national mean temperature for April 2017 was 0.09 °C above average, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

With the continuation of warm conditions contributing to the sixth warmest January to April period on record.

Thursday 16 March 2017

Berejiklian continues Baird privatisation madness


The Sydney Morning Herald, 12 March 2017:

Serious concerns are being raised about the Berejiklian government's land titles registry sell-off, with multiple parties privy to the process claiming it is being rushed and the wrong model is being used.

One source in the data room says the auction of Land and Property Information (LPI) is going too fast and critical details are being missed, while another insider warns the public might be short-changed $3-4 billion.

The well-placed insider questioned why the government was treating LPI as an infrastructure asset when it was a data and technology one. 

"They're using a model that works for ports, toll roads and power stations, but LPI is completely different; it's a technology asset on the cusp of the biggest technological change in 150 years [moving from paper to electronic titles]," he said.

"They should be using the Telstra model and progressively privatising LPI, which will raise capital, create a commercial focus and fund the building of digital technology and services."

The government is leasing LPI for 35 years and hoping to reap $2 billion, which it plans to spend on rebuilding sports stadiums, despite protests from peak bodies for lawyersdevelopers and surveyors, that say the integrity of the state's world-class land titles system is at stake.

LPI, which enjoys a 70 per cent profit margin, generated $190 million in revenue in 2015-16. Fees for regulated products will rise by CPI each year.
"It's a bargain, and I believe they're under-selling it by $3-4 billion," the insider said.

He says there's confusion as to why the government was rushing the process, especially with an enviable balance sheet. This claim was backed by a potential buyer.

"There's a sense of urgency and it's very end-date driven," he said. "It's been more about getting this done and not about whether it's being done in the right way."

The source revealed there was a small group within government "hell bent" on privatising LPI. He added there was an "unhealthy influence" of the big infrastructure companies.

"There's an unholy alliance of consultants and advisers, all of whom are earning good fees, and there seems to be a pre-destined outcome," he said. "It's a privatisation feeding frenzy."…

Sunday 25 September 2016

Cliff Notes for Submission 38 to the Senate Inquiry into the 2016 Census


On 21 September 2016 the Australian Chief Statistician, David Kalisch, made a submission on behalf of the Australian Bureau of Statistics to the Senate Economics References Committee Inquiry into the 2016 Census.

This document was listed as submission number 38 and briefly published on the relevant parliamentary webpage.

It has since disappeared, but one enterprising soul with an IT background had already downloaded a copy and posted all 123 pages online here.

Here is my personal interpretation of some of the submission's contents.....


#CensusFail is IBM’s fault

"The online Census system was hosted by IBM under contract to the ABS and the DDoS attack should not have been able to disrupt the system. Despite extensive planning and preparation by the ABS for the 2016 Census this risk was not adequately addressed by IBM and the ABS will be more comprehensive in its management of risk in the future. However, once the system had been affected, the ABS took the precaution of closing the online Census form to safeguard and to protect data already submitted, protect the system from further incidents, and minimise disruption on the Australian public by ensuring reliable service." [p.4]

Even though ABS didn’t inform widely inform Australia of personal information & data retention plans ‘we’ knew in our hearts that the general public wasn’t going to mind

"In December 2015, the ABS announced a change in the length of time Census names (and addresses) would be retained, building on the increased capability of the ABS to integrate Census data with other sources safely and effectively, as demonstrated by the 2006 and 2011 Census Data Enhancement programs. The time frame for which names and addresses would be retained was extended from the end of the Census processing period until there was no longer any community benefit to their retention. The ABS made this decision following a public consultation process and on the basis that independently run focus group research indicated that support for the change and significant public concern would be unlikely." [p.5]

Even though deliberate failure to complete a Census 2016 form would lead to conviction and hefty fine and ABS repeatedly stated so in the mainstream media, the fact that most Australians completed a form was not because they were compelled but because they cared so little about their personal privacy

"...sentiment testing, both before and after 9 August, showed that only a very small minority of Australians considered privacy concerns to be a barrier to them completing the Census. The small level of general community concern about privacy in relation to the 2016 Census was similar to that observed in the 2011 Census, as also shown by the high levels of participation in the 2016 Census." [p.6]

#CensusFail is also the federal government’s fault

"Over the last 15 years, ABS resources have generally been reducing. Its staff numbers have fallen by 14% and the budget appropriation (in real terms) has also fallen by 14%. In contrast, the demands on the ABS to properly measure the economy, society and the environment, and respond to the requirements of governments, has increased and become more complex….In line with ABS forward funding (Figure 2.2), non-Census staffing affordability decreases significantly over the next four years with required reductions of approximately 400 staff in 2016-17, 300 in 2017-18, and then a further 40 in 2018-19." [p.14]

The chief statistician before me sucked

"In 2013 the Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) undertook a capability review3 of the ABS, as part of a broader program of reviews of Government agencies. The review team, led by Tony Cole AO, found that the ABS is “widely regarded as one of the best statistical agencies in the world. It has a strong reputation as a highly respected and trusted institution”. While the reviewers noted that the independence of the Statistician was a prerequisite to this respect and trust, they also noted that the manner in which this independence had been exercised had contributed to a degree of organisational isolation and insularity that needed to be addressed." [p.16]

Honestly, I wasn't laughing as I typed *cough*

"In regard to statistical risk management (an element of the ‘governance’ dimension of transformation and overseen by the Statistical Strategy Committee)4 , the ABS has adopted a more proactive and fit for purpose management of risk with a view to:

· more accurately foreseeing and managing the cumulative impacts of change on key economic and population statistics;
· enhancing the quality assurance for significant statistics;
· ensuring clear lines of accountability and clear governance; and
· ensuring risk management is streamlined, pragmatic and actually makes a difference, without unnecessarily stifling innovation." [p.18]

Despite the fact that a recent Freedom of Information application revealed a January 2016 privacy breach by the ABS which released the contact details of 5,245 individuals, your personal details are always safe with us

"Privacy is a foundation of all statistical agencies, and the ABS is no exception – protecting privacy remains the number one priority of ABS and its staff, and it is a requirement in the ABS’s governing legislation. The ABS is committed to upholding the privacy and secrecy of all of the information it collects. Maintaining the trust and support of the Australian community is critical for the ABS to effectively carry out its functions, and is a key measure of organisational success set out in the ABS Corporate Plan1." [p.24]

See, it’s not our fault!

"The online Census DDoS attack of 9 August 2016 was against an IBM system not an ABS one." [p.27]

It all went like clockwork according to plan ‘we’ got there in the end. What was the question again?

"The new approach:

*Changed the way Census materials were delivered and information is returned by the public. Australia Post’s mail service was used to deliver and return required materials from the majority of households. The majority of households responded online. Households are able to request a paper form through an automated phone service if they preferred or needed to respond by paper. These changes were designed taking into account international best practices in Census taking and build on the Australian public's increasing access to and use of the internet, while also providing a paper response options for others
*Removed the need for Census Field Officers to visit every dwelling. The use of approach and reminder letters were planned to allow half of all Australians to respond to the Census before household visits were required. Household visits were planned to provide support to any households that required it, deliver additional materials and remind households to complete the Census.

*Allowed for approaches to be tailored to the needs of different areas. In some areas of Australia, where the postal service was likely to be unsuitable or insufficient address information was known, Census Field Officers delivered materials to each dwelling, enabling residents to either complete their form online or mail back a paper form. In other areas where a high proportion of residents were expected to need to complete the Census form on paper, all households were delivered paper forms in addition to login numbers (e.g. in areas where there is a higher proportion of older residents).

*Provided the ability to monitor progress on a near real-time basis through the integration of management information from Census Field Officers using handheld devices, call centre agents receiving public enquiries, completed online Census forms and completed paper Census forms when received by the secure Data Capture Centre. This information was be used to highlight areas of lower response, or any other issue, so that alternative strategies were enacted quickly to respond to these problems as they arose. In previous Censuses, such timely management information to inform operations was not available. This new approach planned to deliver savings of $100 million in the running of the 2016 Census compared to the 2011 Census. The digital-first Census will also establish a sustainable model for the Census 2021 and beyond." [p.53]

Just to make sure everyone knows ABS is publicly breaching a business contract I'm helpfully spelling it out for you across 13 paragraphs – and by the way, it’s all IBM’s fault

"The ABS is obliged to notify the Committee that the following subsection "Online Census" contains Confidential Information under the terms of the contract with IBM (ABS2014.105 Services for eCensus and Data Capture Solution)…..
The subsection containing Confidential Information under the terms of the contract with IBM (ABS2014.105 Services for eCensus and Data Capture Solution) concludes" [pp.61-63]

On 9 August 2016 I began to furiously tap dance so that my excessive annual salary was protected

“8:26pm -- the Australian Statistician provided an initial telephone briefing to the Hon Michael McCormack MP, the Minister for Small Business who has Ministerial oversight for the ABS. The Australian Statistician provided updates to the Minister during the evening.” [p.67]

You are getting sleepy, very sleepy….and when you wake up you won’t recall that a mini industry is developing in re-identification research and, formulas used to breach privacy as well as re-identification attack results have been reported/
published exposing the total anonymity myth

“Consistent with the quality studies undertaken as part of the 2006 Census Data Enhancement program mentioned previously, a non-identifying grouped numeric code was assigned to all records in the ACLD following the 2011 Census using a combination of letters from first and last names using a secure one-way process. For example, "Joe Blake" might become “100321”. Each code represents approximately 2000 people and therefore is not unique to an individual. Since a large number of different names receive the same hash value, it cannot be reversed to identify individuals. However,a particular name and surname will always code to the same hash value so that it is a useful linking variable.” [p.78]

I deliberately waited until mid-morning on a Friday at the start of December 2015 school holidays before announcing the ABS was retaining Census names and addresses indefinitely, hoping you all wouldn’t notice

“This decision11 was announced on 18 December 2015, accompanied by a media release12 and publication of the Privacy Impact Assessment 13 on the ABS website”. [p.84]

We’re right and the rest of you are plain wrong

"* Privacy of information is important to the ABS and the community. However, this also needs to be seen alongside the proposed community benefits from use of personal data to produce reliable statistics, as well as the mechanisms available at the ABS to produce statistics while preserving privacy. The 2016 Census public commentary has predominantly focussed on the first aspect while largely ignoring the second and third aspects.

*Community attitudes to privacy and trust in the ABS to secure and effectively use personal data to produce statistics of value to the community appear to be quite different from the views of some public commentators who may have presumed that their opinions are widely shared across the Australian community." [p.85]

We’re allowed to be highly subjective or just make things up if 'we' want to – so there!

"There is no requirement to engage an external consultant to conduct a PIA [Privacy Impact Assessment] in the best practice guidelines of the Office of the Australian Information Commission. The ABS sought advice from the Office of the Australian Information Commission on the 2016 PIA, and followed their best practice guidelines issued by that Office." [p.118]