"The Northern Rivers has once again cemented its reputation as the heartland of the anti-coal seam gas movement in Australia"

 

'well, it's going to happen anyway'
NSW Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, and Minister Assisting the Premier on Infrastructure 

October 2012

 

How the media saw NSW North Coast concerns in the face of a relentless O’Farrell Government push to mine our land…

 

The Daily Examiner 10 October 2012:

 

Clarence Valley Mayor Richie Williamson said yesterday that his position on Coal Seam Gas has not changed since he voted to pass a moratorium saying he will not support the Coal Seam gas industry until some key issues are cleared up.

"Until there are clear land use policies and the water aquifer policy is adopted Clarence Valley Council will not support the CSG industry," he said.

"We have also asked that any CSG activity on Council land or any application for CSG on Council land be reported and Council be able to consider it."

 

Northern Rivers Echo 11 October 2012:

 

LISMORE City Council approved a motion presented by Cr Simon Clough to request the NSW State Government to revoke all licences for exploration and production from the Lismore City Local Government area.

The motion was for Council to send a letter to the NSW Premier, NSW Minister for Planning, NSW Minister for Local Government and the North Coast, Page MP Janelle Saffin, and Lismore MLA Thomas George to express "its deep concern over the recently introduced Strategic Regional Land Use package"….

 

ABC North Coast NSW 13 October 2012:

 

The Northern Rivers has once again cemented its reputation as the heartland of the anti-coal seam gas movement in Australia.

Organisers of a rally and concert today say about 4000 people marched through the streets of Murwillumbah in opposition to coal seam gas.

 

My Daily News 13 October 2012:

 

Murwillumbah CSG protest stops town in its tracks

 

 

The Northern Star 15 October 2012:

 

ORGANISERS of the Rock the Gate rally, march and concert on Saturday got the 3000-plus they wanted out against coal seam gas and to mark the start of a Lock the Gate Alliance national week of action against the industry.

They had come from all parts of the Northern Rivers and beyond to the Murwillumbah Showground in solidarity and song, in a show of people power which included another blocks-long march through the central business district of a Northern Rivers centre.

You are cordially invited to a local government lynching on October 16 at 4pm. Dress casual. No RSVP required.

 

The Daily Examiner 17 October 2012:

 

THERE were tears and hugs in the public gallery at 7pm last night when Clarence Valley councillor Karen Toms was cleared of breaching the council's code of conduct.

It took councillors three hours, one of which was spent in private, to finally put an end to accusations the elected representative had acted wrongly in her dealings with a party that had held a contract for local swimming pools.

Two parties, the names of which were not revealed, complained Cr Toms breached the code of conduct by contacting a contractor….

About an hour later, Cr Margaret McKenna's recommendation that the council determine Cr Toms made no breach of the code of conduct and that the council review the report and procedures was supported by Crs Toms, Simmons, Challacombe and Baker with Crs Williamson, Howe, Hughes and Kingsley voting against….

 

What this newspaper report does not say is that more than a few local residents had a strong impression that a number of Clarence Valley shire councillors and senior council management thought that they had come together at the ordinary monthly meeting on 16 October 2012 to conduct a quick public lynching.

 

Three hours later this little noose party was in disarray and those watching from the ‘public gallery’ had heard concerns raised about the reliability of the contents of a 132 page confidential report for council's eyes only, due process, natural justice and a possible conflict of interest existing for some of those involved in consideration of Item 13.180/12 Conduct Review Committee.

 

All in all – a painful three hours for Cr. Toms and her family and a testing time for the newly-elected council.

NSW Police accused of lying about Cansdell case

The Sydney Morning Herald 13 October 2012:

THE lawyer for the woman who blew the whistle on the disgraced former MP Steve Cansdell for falsifying a statutory declaration has accused police of threatening her and then lying about their reasons for not pursuing charges against him.

He is also calling for an independent inquiry into the way police have handled the case.

Mr Cansdell, who was parliamentary secretary for police, resigned from State Parliament in September last year after admitting to signing a false statutory declaration that an aide, Kath Palmer, was driving when he was caught speeding in 2005.

On Wednesday NSW police issued a statement saying they would not pursue charges as the Commonwealth director of public prosecutions said there were not reasonable prospects of a conviction for a federal offence. It noted that Ms Palmer ''declined to be interviewed by officers''.

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But Ms Palmer's solicitor, Mark Spagnolo, said yesterday the statement was ''a lie''. In an email to police on October 19 last year, seen by the Herald, Mr Spagnolo said while Ms Palmer declined to be formally interviewed she would make an ''induced statement'' which would protect her from prosecution.

Mr Spagnolo said this was because the investigator, Detective Peter O'Reilly, had earlier told him police were considering charging Ms Palmer with ''perverting the course of justice'' for her part in the false statutory declaration.

Mr Spagnolo said Detective O'Reilly rejected the offer of an induced statement.

According to a file note made by Mr Spagnolo, Detective O'Reilly said ''he did not have to go down that path as Mr Cansdell was going to, using his words, throw his hands up to the matter and therefore as Kath made it public in the newspapers the police will be investigating charges of her''.

Yesterday Mr Spagnolo said Ms Palmer felt ''completely wronged'' and called for an independent investigation.

''After having the courage to blow the whistle on a member of Parliament who was also a parliamentary secretary for the police, my client was threatened by the police with charges of perverting the course of justice,'' he said. ''She was devastated by the fact that going public to report on a politician who was prepared to swear a false statutory declaration and lie to save his driver's licence led her to face the threat of criminal charges''.

Mr Spagnolo said that ''the message from the police is, put in a politician linked to the police by his office for falsifying documents and we will charge you.''

A police spokesman said Ms Palmer was offered a formal interview under caution ''but this was declined''…..

The Australian Parliament is about to live in even more interesting times

The Australian Parliament is about to live in even more interesting times and the new Speaker's mettle will be repeatedly tested, as Abbott & Co. inevitably seek to take a wrecking ball to parliamentary practice in their pursuit of the Gillard Government now that the Independent Member for Dobell is before the court.

The Sydney Morning Herald 15^th October 2012:

“ Fair Work Australia has begun court proceedings against federal MP Craig Thomson over his alleged use of union credit cards to pay for prostitutes.

The national industrial umpire today lodged its claims against the former Labor MP turned independent in the Federal Court.

Mr Thomson faces civil action over a range of offences. As well as the unauthorised use of union credit cards to pay for prostitutes, the claim covers cash advances totalling more than $102,337.45.

FWA is seeking to fine Mr Thomson for these alleged misdeamenours and others, and the repayment of the funds…….”
Statement of Claim in FWA v Thomson here.

West Yamba subdivision questioned

Clarence valley residents and the environmental group Valley Watch continue to ring alarm bells in relation to a proposed subdivision in West Yamba.

Today's Daily Examiner reports: Valley Watch member Ros Woodward said she was disappointed to see the development go through without proper consideration for the sensitive natural environment around it.

"West Yamba could be an example to the world of how to develop sustainably with a small footprint in a very sensitive area, but I am afraid all they can envisage is slab houses on great big mounds," Ms Woodward said.

A submission [to Clarence Valley Council] from Valley Watch raised concerns about how sewage would be dealt with in the development and how practical the filling solution was in the area.

Also in the Examiner is a letter to the editor addressing the issue:

DA concern

It is with a sense of foreboding that I notice that once again council will consider on Tuesday a subdivision on Carrs Drive, West Yamba. This time the proposal is for 15 lots instead of 22, but fundamental problems of sewerage, fill and truck movements remain.

Since Maclean Shire Council endorsed in November 2003 the recommendations of the Yamba Wastewater Management Strategy, the community has been told regularly that development of West Yamba will not go ahead until the sewage treatment works are upgraded. One reason for this was that dual reticulation - a key element of the strategy - was only feasible on a greenfield site. Now we learn that on-site wastewater systems (that is, septic tanks) are proposed for the subdivision in spite of the Zone 1(y) objective that the land be connected to reticulated sewerage. Onsite sewage treatment in a flood-prone area is a major concern, but of even greater concern is the likelihood that this subdivision will make dual reticulation difficult or impossible for the future.

Dual reticulation (that is, use of high quality recycled water for toilet flushing, garden watering and car washing) will substantially reduce the amount of drinking-quality water being used - an important consideration given Yamba's growing population and an increasing risk of below average rainfall, higher temperatures and evaporation, and below average runoff, according to the CSIRO. Its implementation cannot be put at risk by a 15-lot subdivision.

Then there is the matter of the fill necessary for the site. There are 15 lots in this proposal, but the Flood Plain Risk Management Plan recommends that key services remain operable during times of flood up to at least the 100 year +0.5m level - that is 3.24 metres AHD. The height of land in West Yamba at present is between 1.0 metres and 1.5 metres. To fill it to 3.24 m AHD to allow key services to remain operable will take over 12,000 twenty-tonne truckloads a year for about nine years. (Yamba Floodplain Risk Management Study, Webb, McKeown and Associates Pty Ltd, July 2008)

One has to ask what the impact of this traffic will be on our roads and bridges. A twenty-tonne truck crossing Shallow Channel every six minutes is a scary thought!

If Yamba wants to remain a desirable tourist destination it cannot afford to have its one road in and out of town clogged with trucks.

Gary Whale, Yamba

Christopher Pyne attempts to rewrite Abbott history

 

Christian politicians cannot check their faith into the parliamentary cloakroom and be otherwise indistinguishable from everyone else…

Why isn’t the fact that 100,000 women choose to end their pregnancies regarded as a national tragedy…

[Tony Abbott on THE ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF A CHRISTIAN POLITICIAN March 2004]

 

Mr Abbott had hoped to encourage a private member's bill on what he termed the "epidemic" of abortion, and was advocating an inquiry.

[The Age 1 February 2005]

 

Given the recent public debate on Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott’s attitude to women, there was an interesting ABC TV Q&A exchange between the Labor Minister for Employment Participation and the Minister for Early Childhood and Childcare and the Liberal Shadow Education Minister and Manager of Opposition Business on Monday 8 October 2012:

 

KATE ELLIS: Well, I just think if you want to talk about his record and if you want to talk about his record as Health Minister, I think we should talk about his record over a number of decades. But if you want to talk about when he was Health Minister, why don’t you talk about the way he restricted access to RU 486 for Australian women across the country because his religious views did not agree with that. Let’s talk about that because is his record...

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: No, he restricted it...

KATE ELLIS: That is his record and he had to be overruled by the parliament when we voted in a conscience vote because, as Health Minister, he refused to do it.

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: Actually the Department of Health's advice, Kate, because I was the Parliamentary Secretary for Health at the time with responsibility for the Therapeutic Goods Administration, was that RU 486 was and is a dangerous drug and the recommendation is it should not be approved for use in Australia.

 

Apparently Christopher Pyne would have us believe that when he was the Federal Minister for Health in the Howard Government, Tony Abbott was opposing the introduction of this drug based on advice received from the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

 

However, this is what Tony Abbott is reported to have said in January 2006:

 

"This use of the drug is sufficiently controversial, if you like - there are sufficient public interest issues involved - for the added accountability of a ministerial decision to be part of that process," Mr Abbott told the Nine Network.

While this is what he wrote himself on 6 February 2006:

 

The abortion pill is too risky to leave to medical officials, argues Health Minister Tony Abbott.  In 1996, the ederal [sic] parliament decided that decisions about abortion drugs were too important to be made by unelected, unaccountable officials…. The parliament decided that it was not just the science of abortion drugs that mattered but the circumstances surrounding their use. Experts can explain fads [sic] but politicians then have to resolve the values that are to be placed on those facts to the satisfaction of a democratic electorate. The parliament decided that ministers rather than bureaucrats should have the final say on these drugs’ availability because polilicians [sic] are accountable for their actions in a way that officials are not….

So far no application to use RU486 has been finalised by the TGA for ministerial consideration.  

 

On 15  February 2006 this is what Abbott as Federal Health Minister told the Australian Parliament:

 

I suppose this is why I pose the question to him and others: why does he trust the head of the TGA, whom he does not know and cannot question, to make these decisions, rather than a minister whom he does know and can question and apparently trusts? I have great respect for the officers of the TGA, but I simply pose the question: why should the head of the TGA, a person whose name would not even be known to most of the members of this House and who has never given an interview, be responsible for making decisions on some of the most fraught questions facing our society, rather than being responsible for simply providing expert advice?.....

So the big issue is not RU486 but what can be done to ensure that the women of Australia have real freedom of choice. That is why I am so pleased that the cabinet will shortly be considering new support for pregnant women facing very difficult decisions.

I believe that, in essence, this private member’s bill before us is a political statement by its sponsors that there should be no external restrictions or controls on abortion whatsoever. I think that society should not be indifferent to the fate of up to 100,000 unborn babies every year, and it will not always remain as indifferent as it currently seems. At the very least, this debate has at least focused attention on how, in this respect, our nation falls so very far short of its best self.

 

By 14 October 2012, under siege for his sexist views, his position had changed according to The Advocate:

 

A spokesman for Mr Abbott responded that ''administration of RU486, as with other drugs, is a matter for the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the Coalition will not change that''.

 

Or has it? Do we have this change of heart in writing?