Official Australian Election vote count at last running tally 7am 22 August 2010

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Australian Electoral Commission Virtual Tally Room:

Across Australia 14,088,260 electors enrolled to vote.
Currently 77.85% of the primary vote has been counted.
The two party preferred count is 74.71% complete.
The election results were last updated at 22/08/2010 7:34:29 AM.

Tweed Coast koala attrition levels reaching dangerous point

From The Far North Coaster online magazine on 18 August 2010 reporting as Tweed Shire Council prepares to undertake the first Koala Habitat Study since the mid-1990s:

The Tweed Coast Koala Advisory Group met for the first time last week and was presented with alarming results from a scientific study of local koala populations.
The group was formed to guide the development of a comprehensive Koala Plan of Management (CKPoM) to address growing concerns in the community and Tweed Shire Council about dwindling koala numbers.
The project aims to establish the current distribution, status and future prospects for koalas on the Tweed Coast and provide a CKPoM consistent with State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) 44 and state and national koala recovery plans.
Ecological consultant Dr Stephen Phillips from Biolink presented a progress report on a Tweed Coast Koala Habitat Study (commissioned by Council with funding support from the Department of Environment Climate Change and Water) which found that the range and numbers of koalas had declined substantially in recent years.
"All evidence points to a relatively recent escalation in the rate of range contraction and decrease in occupancy rate that now places the long-term viability of the Tweed Coast koalas in real jeopardy," Dr Phillips said.
He advised that the proposed CKPoM would need to 'actively and aggressively engage population protection, management and recovery as the security for the remaining source populations is vital'.......

Biolink on the subject:

Threats to Tweed Koalas

􀂃 Apathy

􀂃 Inappropriate urban development

􀂃 Private forestry practices

􀂃 Motor vehicle strike

􀂃 Dogs in some areas

􀂃 Fire – including hazard reduction burning

The bad news

􀂃 Populations are now mostly gone from the north of the LGA, having either disappeared or largely declined from areas formerly supporting known populations eg. South Tweed/Fraser Drive, Chinderah and Kingscliff.

􀂃 Population attrition is also evident in the south of the LGA (Wooyung).

􀂃 Remaining Koalas on the Tweed coast are now mostly isolated from the rest of the LGA by the Yelgun to Chinderah motorway, where there is ongoing mortality despite ameliorative measures.

􀂃 The Tweed Coast population probably consists of less than 500 animals, not taking into account losses which were likely sustained during the 2005/2006 fire at Round Mountain.

The good news

􀂃 Cessation of logging practices in places like Mebbin, Mooball & Mt. Jeurasalem (former State Forests, now National Parks) will likely provide for potential population increase.

􀂃 There is good evidence that appropriate development can be effectively integrated with Koala habitat, eg. Koala Beach – shows how it can be done, but initial concepts can be improved (smaller building footprints/larger lot sizes, more internal greenspace).

Being grateful for small mercies

The Family First Party failed to get a candidate elected to the Senate of the Australian Parliament on 21st August 2010.
Which means that after FFP Leader Senator Steve Fielding's current term expires in the middle of 2011 there will be one less happy clappy nong mindlessly throwing his weight around.

Status quo remains on NSW North Coast as results of Australian Federal Election continues to be tallied nationally

Tonight the Australian Electoral Commission's Virtual Tally Room declared that in the Federal General Election, 21 August 2010:

Richmond electorate was won by sitting member Justine Elliot (ALP)
Page electorate was won by sitting member Janelle Saffin (ALP)
Cowper electorate was won by sitting member Luke Hartsuyker (NATS)
Lyne electorate was won by sitting member Robert Oakeshott (IND)

Currently 75.10% of the primary vote has been counted nationally and 73.34% of the two party preferred count completed.

Australian Election 2010 Virtual Tally Room and other links

Australian Electoral Commission Virtual Tally Room - will activate after 6pm on 21 August 2010.

ABC Online Australia Votes live cover - also on ABC1 and ABC News 24 at 4pm in Western Australia, 5.30pm in the Northern Territory and South Australia and 6pm in the eastern states

ABC Antony Green's Guide

ABC NewsRadio website streaming coverage at abc.net.au/newsradio
Radio election coverage will also be streamed on ABC Local Radio websites

SBS Online Vote 2010 with Live Election Map (updated every 3 mins) from 6.30pm

Bigpond Online Federal Election 2010 - live from 5pm

Sky News Australia Online Election 2010 Live Stream - initial reporting begins around 3.30pm.

Also Sky Channel 601 features Sky political editor David Speers in Sydney and Channel 602 will be hosted by Peter Van Onselen from the Canberra tally room

Twitter #ausvotes

Time to look skywards and pray for wise & perceptive vote casting across Australia tomorrow?

Sometimes the only comfort is remembering how small we are in the universal scheme of things.........

IRAS 05437+2502, a small, faint nebula
that spans only 1/18th of a full moon
toward the constellation of the Taurus

Abbott wants a national indentity database - all the better to punish us with

"A COALITION government would revive the controversial Howard-era plan for a national access card to identify every individual receiving government benefits, shadow treasurer Joe Hockey has revealed.....
But instead of everyone having a card, this time the identifier could be in electronic form."
Electronic form? Everyone has to give a fingerprint swipe to access government services like Medicare and pension payments? Now that would be some database - all Oz fingerprints gathered together in one place despite the fact that the vast majority would belong to people who have no criminal record.
Just the thing to make breaching our human rights easier for any Abbott Government.

Election 2010: Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again

Well the dream wasn't about Manderley but That Man,

and it fulfilled an old trout's wish.

Image from somewhere in cyberspace

The Nationals and political advertising cons

The three days preceding the political advertising blackout at midnight on Wednesday were more than a little painful, as television screens were blitzed by campaign advertising by all major political parties. Here on the NSW North Coast it was a veritable snow storm of spin.

However, what really took the top prize was the Nationals running with one ad which brazenly stated that it was the only party which helped to get an increase in the pension.
Not even lipservice paid to truth there. In fact, putting it bluntly, that would have to be a blatant lie.

The Nationals were not the only party debating pension increases over the last three years and, I can recall that in 2008 they supported an increase of only $30 a week and even then not for every class of pensioner. Remember that vacant space in their initial argument when it came to disability support pensioners?

Every Nationals candidate in 2010 from party leader Warren Truss down to novice Kevin Hogan seems to have conveniently forgotten that fact.

Number and age of everyone who now gets to vote on 21 August 2010

As a result of the recent High Court Decision (6 August) to extend the period for enrolling to vote in the federal election to 8pm 26 July 2010, the revised total number enrolled to vote is 14,088,260.
This compares to a previous total of 14,030,528 prior the Decision, representing an increase of 57,732 voters. A further 40,408 voters had their existing enrolment details updated.
Overall, 143,728 net additions to the electoral roll have occurred since the announcement of the 2010 federal election. A net total of 443,187 electors have been added to the roll since the close of rolls for the 2007 federal election, when 13,645,073 were enrolled to vote.

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AEC XLS file of age and gender by actual electorate.

Will Migaloo survive glacial pace of legal proceeding at The Hague in Australia v Japan?

As Migaloo the adult male white Humpback Whale makes a welcome annual appearance on the east coast of Australia, many are wondering how long he will be able to avoid the harpoon of any overeager Japanese whaler operating in the Southern Ocean.

Because so far it has only been sustained public pressure which has seen Japan draw back from its intended inclusion of humpbacks in annual catch targets since 2007.

The matter of Japan's activities is currently before the International Court of Justice in Australia v Japan.

On 13 July 2010 The Court determined that Australia has until 9 May 2011 to lodge it pleadings and Japan until 9 March 2012 to lodge its counter pleadings.

Unfortunately this would leave more than enough time for any incoming Coalition Government to withdraw from these proceedings. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott being less than enthusiastic in the past and clearly implying a willingness to consider abandoning proceedings in The Hague should he win government on 21 August 2010:

''Coalition policy is not to take Japan to the international court. We are against whaling, but we wouldn't seek to advance [the cause] in that particular way......
we don't want to needlessly antagonise our most important trading partner, a fellow democracy, an ally......
There are limits to what you can reasonably do, and taking war-like action against Japan is not something that a sensible Australian politician ought to recommend.''

ABC News photograph of Migaloo 14 August 2010 off the Queensland coast near Cairns

1 more sleep until polling day and......

...the NSW North Coast Nats candidate in Page (and former Croweater) Kevin Hogan's campaigning is beginning to smack of desperation - he's got his wife sending out personalised letters spruiking the cause.

The missus wants to tell a few voters all about Kevvie's virtues as "a husband and father, rather than just as the political candidate you see in the newspaper or on TV".

Apparently he has too much "humility" to tell us himself that he's a "man of integrity, commitment and intelligence".

Unfortunately for the luvverly Karen (pictured) she doesn't have all that much material to work with and I'm left wondering what the Nationals campaign team thought they were achieving this late in the piece.

For the record here's an image of the letter in question and while I'm at it - a chapeau tip to Clarencegirl and someone she calls R's Dad for passing this little gem on.

Sophie's digital pen rulz on polling day!

Australian Electoral Commission media release:

13 August 2010

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) acknowledges the Federal Court Decision today that a claim for enrolment by Ms Sophie Trevitt meets the purposes of s102(1)(b) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act.

The AEC has therefore added Ms Trevitt to the electoral roll this afternoon and she will be entitled to vote in the federal election.

The AEC notes that the particular methodology used by Ms Trevitt in her online completion of an enrolment form was a digital pen on a trackpad for the purposes of providing a signature.

His Honour Perram J stated in his judgement (Getup Ltd v Electoral Commissioner 2010 FCA 869) today:

"22. Granted then that faxing and emailing a JPEG files satisfies, for the Commissioner's purposes, the requirements of s10(1)(b), it must follow, and I find, that the signature tool and the Ozenrol site likewise satisfy that provision."

After the federal election the AEC will need to discuss the Decision with the Electoral Council of Australia, a body that includes the Electoral Commissioner and his Joint Roll Partners (State Electoral Commissions) to ensure that the methodology is appropriate for all enrolment purposes across the three tiers of government.

The AEC also will discuss the judgement and associated roll issues with the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters in the next Parliament.

The AEC notes that GetUP Ltd publicly launched their Ozenrol portal on the day before the announcement of the election and withdrew it on day of announcement. The AEC does not have figures on any other attempted enrolments during this period.

The AEC also notes that another prospective claimant in this case to the Federal Court, Mr Steven Hind, sought to update his details using Ozenrol site but did not pursue his claims.

Mr Hind's case, however, quite apart from the deliberations of the Court were accepted by the AEC. Mr Hind used the Ozenrol site in making his claim for enrolment and did not provide a signature but was able to take advantage of the recent passage through the Parliament of the Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Pre-poll Voting and Other Measures) Act 2010 and the commencement of Schedule 2 to that Act on 19 July 2010. These new measures allow online update of a pre-existing federal enrolment.