Will someone please tell Tony Abbott that the 2013 federal election campaign is over and it's time for the junkyard dog to turn into a statesman

The very unstatesman-like Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott speaking about the former Federal Labor Government, during a telephone interview with The Washington Post sometime between 20 to 24 October 2013:

I thought it was the most incompetent and untrustworthy government in modern Australian history. They made a whole lot of commitments, which they scandalously failed to honor. They did a lot of things that were scandalously wasteful and the actual conduct of government was a circus. They were untrustworthy in terms of the carbon tax. They were incompetent in terms of the national broadband network. They were a scandal when it came to their own internal disunity. They made a whole lot of grubby deals in order to try and perpetuate themselves in power. It was an embarrassing spectacle, and I think Australians are relieved they are gone.

UPDATE

The Sydney Morning Herald 28 October 2013:

Tony Abbott's use of a Washington Post interview to brand his Labor predecessors as ''wacko'' and ''embarrassing'' could set back his working relationship with the Obama adminstration, a leading US commentator says.

Norman Ornstein, an author and political scientist with the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute, said he ''winced'' when he read the interview in which Mr Abbott put the boot into the Rudd-Gillard government in unusually strong language for a foreign interview.

''It really does violate a basic principle of diplomacy to drag in your domestic politics when you go abroad,'' Dr Ornstein said. ''It certainly can't help in building a bond of any sort with President Obama to rip into a party, government and, at least implicitly leader, with whom Obama has worked so closely.

''Perhaps you can chalk it up to a rookie mistake. But it is a pretty big one.''

Metgasco's smaller shareholders remain unimpressed with the current board

On a Hotcopper forum this month:

Fellow shareholders, my disillusion with our current board crystallized with its total capitulation on our NSW assets, withdrawal from Northern NSW, closure of operations both conventional and CSG, appointment of another "Esso man" to our board ( the Esso million dollar retirement fund ) to explore for opportunities in other jurisdictions.
WTF.
Some how two days following notice from the Boards stylised " minority shareholder" group; our Board have an enema, announcing that we may return to NSW and low and behold we are going to revisit Rosella some time in the future!!!!
Demonstrating much nimbleness, and a further epiphany our CEO in a desperate bid for position preservation, has back flipped, and dispute all previous justification on his proposed excessive option allocation, now announces "in the companies interest" he intends to decline this offer from our remuneration committee of which he is not a member ( given the number of company employees, maybe the tea lady is committee chairperson!)
IMHO we have witnessed another "to hot in the kitchen moment"
Time to pass the baton Mr Henderson, thank you for trashing our brand.

Motsa

There is a more fundamental problem here. The current Board does not consist of some fly by night bushranger types. In June when they awarded these shares, they must have seriously believed that $0.14 was a significant hurdle. So much for faith in the Company's assets or a viable strategic plan
The real problem is that the current Board does not understand the business and they take too long to come up to speed.
This cancellation of the share issue to Peter Henderson comes almost three months after it was awarded, and just days before voting for the AGM effectively closes.
I see it as just one more example of on the run policies and thought bubbles that predominate their thinking.
We can also see that they are now in panic mode, desperately trying to talk to all the shareholders when they basically ignored them for the past twelve months since the last capital raising.
We have to get a change at the Board level.

CGG Guy

Dear Nick and Peter,

As a shareholder with approximately $000,000 invested in your company for many years, (eventually refused to commit more), I have become as infuriated as I have been appalled at the seeming lack of finesse, judgement and street smarts employed by officers of the company who were entrusted to utilise my capital to the best of their abilities.

Over the last eight months or so, in some instances longer, I have been reminded of a retreating rabble of an army, employing slash and burn tactics akin to cutting off your noses to spite your faces, (OUR faces if you don’t mind).

I am concerned your actions may have severely damaged the Metgasco brand, setting us back an inestimable time in this industry. Until recently when it became clear some of your “material” had begun to be written professionally, (possibly for an additional fee), any releases from the company were irrational, very, very contradictory, lacking in conviction and frankly embarrassing to have to endure.

I consider your five to midnight decision to now incur further expenditure in a spurious act of self-justification selfish and desperate. I refer to the engaging by the Board of a firm to canvas shareholders who have been badly LET DOWN, in the hope of securing your tenure for another term.

I have now decided to seek my own advice as to the legal appropriateness of this latest tactic, coming so close to your likely removal from the duties you have been entrusted to. 

In that light, you should consider the wisdom of continuing to spend shareholder funds on non-core tasks such as this, in such a small company.

The roles you have occupied thus far, (of course Peter is employed, by those WE appointed), are conveyed by privilege; NOT as your right. We grant them, and we take them away if necessary.

I believe you have seriously under-estimated the combined experience, vision, and patience of those you serve. This has to come at a cost, which will have to be borne by you.

Yours sincerely,

Xxx Xxxxx (joint shareholder)

Pretty interesting tactic from the Company to include a share price chart. This is something that I thought the proposed new Board members would rely heavily on. It is for all the world like picking at a scab and reminds all holders of their disappointments.
Since Peter Henderson’s appointment as MD was announced, the share price has fallen from $0.55 to a minimum of $0.049. This is even worse than his stint at Nido where the share price only halved during his time as MD.
If you read the notes on the chart, every price movement except the suspension, even the positive ones are attributed to external factors. So in the two years covered, what exactly did the Board and management do? It reminds me very much of the dictum that if you want a change in the outcome you need to change the way you are doing it. And our current Board and management seem to be hell bent on justifying the way they have done it before.
It is more instructive to look at the actual price changes rather than try to decipher the nebulous comments appended to the chart.
Reading the chart you get the impression that the share price drop in early 2013 is mainly all due to the announcement of the 2 km exclusion zones. But the share price history tells quite a different story. The NSW Government announced the 2km exclusion zones on 19th February. The same day the company released a very short two paragraph statement including the following:
“The details of these changes are not yet clear but they could have a significant impact on Metgasco’s Northern Rivers CSG operations.”
True shoot from the hip and think later approach that we have come to expect from our Board i.e. we have no idea but it might really hurt us. We now know that it is likely to have little or no effect on MEL.
Well quite predictably the share price fell and on that day it fell 28%, but how much was due to the Government’s announcement and how much was due to the Company’s shoot from the hip announcement, no one can tell.
However three weeks later the Company did it all on its own and announced the suspension of activities around Casino. This resulted in a 22% drop in the share price.
So all of this fall was the Government’s fault – not a chance. And it does not even attempt to explain the fall from the $0.20 at the time of the capital raising in September 2012 to the $0.145 at the time of the Government’s announcement.
Then we look at the recent share price strengthening which the Company attributes all to the results of the Federal election. Well the Federal election was on September 7th and the Company released an announcement to the market of September 9th implying that nothing had changed. But the share price leap (doubling over three days) did not occur until September 18th on very high turnover.
11 days after the result of the election was known. Market a bit slow to catch on – again I very much doubt it. What else could have triggered the jump?
We now know that the shareholding group lodged their formal notices for replacement Board members on September 27th, nine days after the jump in price. We also now know that the Board invited the proposed new Directors to meet with them on September 27th. Obviously this invitation was issued some time before the 27th. So the question becomes when did the Board actually know that there was likely to be a challenge?
It appears as if the Board might have rushed out the Notice of AGM on Friday 27th in an attempt to try to head off the challenge. So what and how much did the Board know on September 18th.
But I guess the most important take away for the share price chart and notes, is that the Company believes every share price movement good and bad, bar for the suspension, is due to the actions of someone else. So what has the current Board and management achieved for shareholders in two years?
Time for fresh blood – you betcha.

CSG Guy

Voted Liberal Party or Nationals in September 2013? This is how they treat you the following month

A majority of good people of Winmalee voted for an Abbott Government on 7 September 2013, as did many other Blue Mountains communities....

http://vtr.aec.gov.au/HousePollingPlaceFirstPrefs-17496-1816.htm

Then this roared towards their small town one month later....

Leaving a traumatised community in its wake....

The Abbott Government response....

ABC News 26 October 2013:

Fire-affected residents in the Blue Mountains have criticised the Federal Government for tightening the eligibility rules for disaster relief payments, as fires continue to burn uncontrolled....

Emergency services and Government officials briefed hundreds of fire-affected residents about the recovery effort at a community meeting in Winmalee last night.

Upset locals used the meeting to vent their frustration at the Federal Government for tightening eligibility rules for disaster assistance.

A disaster recovery payment is available for people who are severely injured or if their homes have been destroyed or badly damaged.

The payment is $1000 per adult and $400 per child.

However, the payment is only available for people who are severely injured or if their homes have been destroyed or badly damaged.

Unlike victims of the Tasmanian bushfires or Tropical Cyclone Oswald, the Government is not offering assistance to those who have been cut off from their homes or who are without electricity or water.

Locals say not everyone affected can get the help they need.

One resident, Leigh, said his mother lost her home in the fire and is eligible for the assistance.

But he is angry that funding will not be available for his sister, whose home was damaged, when she would have been eligible in the past.

"When I found out people were having entitlements stripped from them that they would have had previously, I was livid," he said.

"It's something I'll keep on until I get an answer from our local member Louise Markus who is supposed to be representing us."

* Hat tip to @vogrady2132 for pointing out the relationship between voting and outcomes for one community

** Photographs found at Google Images

Bunarm Bologaman wahl Bundjalung

An exhibition supported by Arts Northern Rivers
of new works by male Bundjalung artists

Date: 2 November - 23 November 2013

Time: Saturday 2nd Nov, 2pm

Place: Boomalli Aboriginal Artist Cooperative | 55-59 Flood St Leichhardt, Sydney

Artist Talk: Sunday, 3rd November @2:30pm

On November 2nd, Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Cooperative in Leichhardt, Sydney, will host the opening of  Bunarm Bologaman wahl Bundjalung, an exhibition of art by leading Bundjalung artists.

The Bundjalung nation are the original custodians of northern coastal areas of New South Wales, and this exhibition will present new works by 8 male artists; Noel Charlie Caldwell, Clarence Luke Close, Anthony (Tule) Gordon, Burri Jerome, Gilbert Laurie, Oral Roberts, Jai Walker and Lewis Walker.

Arts Northern Rivers assisted the group in applying for funding and assisting in other key management procedures, such as helping to source wholesale art materials, pricing and art courier services. The project was initiated by artist tutor Jan Levy from ACE North Coast Inc. for  artists who were at the mid-career phase of their arts practice.

The Governor of NSW, her Excellency, Professor Marie Bashir, AC, CVO will officially open the show, that will showcase artistic interpretations men’s stories and celebrate the culture of Bunjalung Country. There will be performances at the opening by Lewis Walker and Anthony Gordon, and an artist talk taking place the following day.

Community concern over the effect of CSG production on groundwater is valid according to surveyed senior oil and gas executives

Letter to the Editor in The Daily Examiner, 23 October 2013:

Message is clear

I SEE that The Daily Examiner's letters to the editor section is still making heavy going out of one particular coal seam gas exploration/mining survey, whose respondents predominantly did not favour the industry in question.

However, there has been more than one Australian survey on the subject and these surveys, which have been conducted by Essential Research, Galaxy, Newspoll, Nielsen, MyOpinions Research and Southern Cross University over the course of the last three years, show that most of those surveyed recognise the potential adverse effects of such mining.

This one quoted below was conducted this year.

"Research undertaken for NSW landholder groups has confirmed that a massive 85% of people surveyed agree that the coal and coal seam gas industries are threatening our water supplies, including groundwater.

"The poll of 1100 people in New South Wales conducted by Essential Research also revealed that 81% of those surveyed agreed that the coal and coal seam gas industries threaten the state's farmland and agricultural industries.

"Also of concern, but not new to NSW Farmers was the finding that 81% of respondents to the poll agreed that coal and coal seam gas extraction offered short-term economic return to investors but at the expense of local long-term industries such as farming and tourism.

"NSW Farmers president Fiona Simson said these messages, which are strong and incredibly consistent across all areas of the state are still not getting through to the government." [NSW Farmers media release, June 20, 2013]

Hall & Partners Open Mind, on behalf of one national newspaper, also conducted a survey of senior oil and gas executives this year which found that "69% agreed community concern over the effect of CSG production on groundwater was valid."

Judith M. Melville

Yamba

Birdlife Australia’s NSW and ACT Twitchathon - 26-27 October 2013

NEWS RELEASE

 Birdlife Australia’s NSW and ACT Twitchathon  - 26-27 October  2013

Founded in 1901, Birds Australia, now Birdlife Australia, is Australia's oldest national conservation organisation, dedicated to the study and conservation of native birds and their habitats.   To assist the organisation in raising some of its funds, it conducts a Twitchathon on the last weekend of October each year.

Over the past sixteen years, birdwatchers all over NSW and the ACT have formed into teams and raced about NSW and the ACT to find as many species of birds as possible over the 24 hour Twitchathon period. Each member of the team has found sponsorship from friends, family, colleagues or corporations for each species of bird seen or heard by each team.  It has become an extremely competitive race and enormous fun!   Team members have won some fantastic prizes, which have been sponsored by very supportive corporations and individuals.  They have raised funds for projects associated with endangered species such as the purchase of trailer and watering units for the Capertee Regent Honeyeater Volunteer Operations Group, as well as equipment for both the Educational Units at Gluepot Reserve SA & the Birdlife Australia Discovery Centre, Sydney Olympic Park.  Funds have been provided for the Hunter Shorebird Roost Site Protection Project, Gosford’s Friends of the Bush Stone-curlew, the Kangaroo Island SA Glossy Black Cockatoo Conservation Project and the Murray Valley Bush Stone-curlew Captive Release Project, and monitoring by volunteers of the NSW Important Bird Areas.  Last year we provided funds for a project to increase both the area and connectivity of native habitats in the Cowra District, which is located on the Central Tablelands of NSW, c.100 km south west of Orange NSW and 317 km west of Sydney.  In the last three years, approximately $24,500 was raised each year for the projects outline.

This year’s Twitchathon aims to continue the support given in the 2011 Twitchathon to the Powerful Owl Project.  It is intended that the additional funds will enable Birdlife Southern NSW to extend the project for a third breeding season.  The Powerful Owl Project features the Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua)  in the Greater Sydney region, with new information collected, analysed and displayed on the new, interactive Birds in Backyards (BIBY) website.  The Powerful Owl serves as a focal point for the collection of new information on all nocturnal bird species.  The aims of this project are to stimulate and harness community interest in this iconic Australian species so that, for the first time, an accurate assessment can be made of its population size, distribution and breeding success in the Sydney region.  Project Officer, David Bain, advises that the Powerful Owls are now well into breeding season with a number of owls known to be on the nest with eggs.  Chicks will be starting to emerge soon and with over 120 volunteers between Wollongong and Newcastle now involved with the Project, he expects that we should get a greater understanding of what is happening this season.  Excitingly the project is partnering with Gibberagong Environmental Education Centre and Taronga Zoo to provide a Powerful Owl education program to schools in the northern suburbs of Sydney.  In other exciting news there is a nestCAM up and running – check it out at http://birdsinbackyards.net/Powerful-Owl-NestCAM.

Twitchathon 2013 aims to raise about $30,000 to assist this project.

So watch out for your local Twitchathon team and follow them through this fun event – watch them “twitch” about in rainforests, swamps, grasslands, woodlands, sewerage works, backyards and river estuaries, intensely listening, and desperately searching, for the most or the rarest species.  Experience the excitement of “ticking” and “dipping” on the birds, the desperation to win, the thrills, the spills of this great weekend adventure!   The teams could be competing in 40° temperatures or during a thunder storm but they will stick firmly to the Twitchathon Rules! They’ll never give up the thrill of the chase during the race because so many $’s are at stake!  Teams are not just competing for the highest score, but for the most dollars raised prizes or even the Lucky Twitcher’s Prize. 

You can also sponsor a few dollars to your local team by contacting:

Alan Morris     Tel (02) 43342776  Email: a.morris42@optusnet.com.au

Your local Twitchathon team is the Black-necked Stalkers (Greg Clancy, Gary Eggins, Russell Jago).                  

Their local bird club is the Clarence Valley Birdos

See you on the Twitchathon trail???

For further information contact : Alan Morris, Twitchathon Coordinator

Birdlife Australia Southern NSW Group Sydney

Tel 02 4334 2776

Email: southernnsw@birdlife.org.au

A fat thumb classic in the middle of the NSW October 2013 bushfires

The Don Randall saga becomes ridiculous

The West Australian 18 October 2013:

The WA Liberal had gone into hiding amid revelations he billed the Commonwealth last year to fly to Cairns where he had taken possession of a four-bedroom investment property.

The West Australian can also reveal Mr Randall had charged taxpayers earlier for a two-night stay in the north Queensland city in 2007, just three days after he bought the land.

Parliamentary records show Mr Randall claimed $414 in living-away-from-home allowance in Cairns on July 2 and 3, 2007, saying he was there as part of work on a migration committee.

Land title records show Mr Randall bought the land in Cairns on June 29 that year for $148,000.

Mr Randall insisted last night the 2007 visit had been within entitlement rules.

ABC News 23 October 2013:

Meanwhile, taxpayers also paid for the Coalition MP and his wife to fly from Perth to Melbourne on Saturday September 15 last year at a cost of $5,203, for what a Department of Finance document says was "sittings of Parliament".

Parliament sat last year the week before that date and resumed on Monday September 17. That Saturday night, the West Coast Eagles faced Collingwood in Melbourne in an AFL semi-final.

On 11 July 2012 the WA Liberal Member for Canning Don Randall informed the Dept. of Finance that he and his wife had entered a contract to build a house on land they owned in Cairns Queensland and on, 26 November that same year he informed the department that they had taken possession of this house.

In between those two dates Mr. Randall and his wife took an overnight trip from Perth to Cairns, billing Australian taxpayers for the following on the dates in question:

Travel Allowance for Don Randall

18 Nov 12 18 Nov 12 Cairns Electorate Business $354.00 **

** Incorrect rate paid. Adjustment to be reflected in a subsequent reporting period.

Airfare Don Randall

18 Nov 12 - Perth to Alice Springs 
18 Nov 12 - Alice Springs to Cairns

19 Nov 12 - Cairns to Brisbane

19 Nov 12 - Brisbane to Perth

$2,388.20

Taxi 18 Nov 12 $90.91

Taxi 19 Nov 12 $109.09

Airfare Family Traveller

18 Nov 12 - Perth to Alice Springs

18 Nov 12 - Alice Springs to Cairns

19 Nov 12 - Cairns to Brisbane

19 Nov 12 - Brisbane to Perth

$2,388.20

Total: $5,330.40

Since then Don Randall ha said he will repay this money and Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Warren Entsch MP were reported by The Sydney Morning Herald as stating:

Yet Mr Abbott, speaking on Fairfax Radio on Wednesday, suggested the trip was justified.

"The gentleman in question [Mr Randall] tells me that ... he went from Perth to Cairns to have some very important discussions with the whip," Mr Abbott said. The whip at the time was Leichardt MP Warren Entsch, whose electorate takes in Cairns.

But when quizzed by The Australian Financial Review, Mr Entsch refused to divulge the content of those discussions and admitted he did not know if they constituted "electorate business" as Mr Randall had claimed.

By 24 October Mr. Randall had changed his story when speaking with the Armadale Examiner:

Mr. Entsch is right to be cautious when responding to requests for verification in the present climate – especially if he were to find that there is no diary entry covering this alleged 2012 meeting.

After all, voters might turn their gaze to his own travel claims and recall his past lavish spending on the public purse:

The figures emerged as the Opposition also targeted Liberal MPs in Queensland over alleged travel excess, including the member for Leichhardt, Warren Entsch, over a visit to a space launch in the US where he spent $6900 a day at taxpayers' expense....

According to Mr Entsch's official travel returns he spent $77,000 on an 11-day trip to the US in July 2005 "to attend the launch of the space shuttle program and to hold discussions regarding the Joint Strike Fighter Program". [Sunday Tasmanian,8 July 2007,p5]

To recap. Thus far we see a West Australian MP who has now given two different explanations of why he went to Cairns in 2012 (and none as to why he needed his wife by his side on this expensive overnight trip) and, who has committed to paying back over $5,000 in travel expenses he denies he had improperly claimed. While at the same time we have a Prime Minister who has asserted that this same MP was engaged at the time in werry, werry, ‘portant but unspecified party business which could not have been conducted over the phone and, a Queensland MP and Government Whip who is not wholeheartedly backing either Randall's or his leader’s version of events.

* Stop laughing – this is serious *

The craven Mr. Carr

Bob Carr by Rocco Fazzari

Former NSW Premier Bob Carr was sworn in on 13 March 2012 to fill a casual vacancy in the Senate caused by the resignation of Federal Senator Mark Arbib.

He became Australian Foreign Minister at the same time.

As Foreign Minister he undertook official visits to Cambodia, Vietnam and Singapore in March 2012; United Kingdom, Belgium, Malta and the United States of America in April 2012; Fiji in April 2012; China and Japan in May 2012; Burma, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Kingdom, Turkey, Algeria and Monaco in June 2012.

According to the Dept. of Finance, in 2012 the cost of this overseas travel totalled $966,896.45.

      

       As a senator he spoke in 44 debates in the Senate from 14 March 2012 to 27 June 2013.

Carr first stood for federal election on 7 September 2013 and, due to the resulting change in government became a senator on the Opposition benches whose new six-year term would begin on 1 July 2014.

He announced his retirement on 23 October 2013 (effective the next day) before the 44^th Parliament was due to sit on 12 November 2013.

His entire federal political career lasted 19 months and 11 days.

Media reports suggest that Carr will now will become a professorial fellow in the Sydney Southeast Asia Centre at the University of Sydney and an adjunct professor at the University of NSW.

One wonders why the Federal Labor Party elevated him in the first place.

Bushfire volunteers in October 2013

With the exception of one celebrity part-time firefighter, all professional and volunteer firefighters and their support teams deserve our unconditional and heartfelt thanks.

Running from the flames during back burning in New South Wales October 2013 bushfires.....

https://twitter.com/702sydney/media

Hon. Tony Abbott MHR on Day 36 as Australian Prime Minister

Action Man as seen through different sets of eyes.... 

The Sydney Morning Herald 20 October 2013

The Guardian 22 October 2013:

At what point do Abbott’s Putinesque cameo appearance at the beach, on a bike or near a fire, stop reinforcing voters’ perception of the prime minister as fit, strong and decisive, and start to look like mere self-indulgences?

Herald Sun 22 October 2013:

TONY Abbott's rural fire chief has labelled as "complete rubbish" and "disrespectful" attacks on the Prime Minister joining his brigade on the weekend to help fight the devastating NSW bushfires.

News.com.au 22 October 2013:

THE United Nations says the NSW bushfire crisis is "absolutely" linked to climate change and Tony Abbott's Direct Action policy is dangerous. UN climate chief Christiana Figueres has told CNN the Abbott government will pay a heavy political and economic price for walking away from Labor's commitments on climate change.

SBS 22 October 2013:

Professor Phelps is incorrect because discouraging discussion prevents us from unpacking what the image of Tony Abbott in firefighting gear means to us socially and symbolically.  If we don’t interrogate it, we end up swallowing a diet of whatever ‘default rational’ ideology is most beneficial to politicians and the press.

The Age 23 October 2013:

Meanwhile, instead of trying to influence Labor's caucus to do what Abbott wants, media commentators should be highlighting the Prime Minister's brazen hypocrisy.

The Sydney Morning Herald 23 October 2013:

Some even suggest the blokey volunteer Tony is self-interested. He cops stick for allowing photo ops in safety gear, lycra or Akubra. And he has been pilloried for billing taxpayers when he does charity work.

The Guardian 23 October 2013:

To make his point, Mr Abbott rattled off a series of years when Australia had experienced bad bushfires. He also said that Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, was "talking through her hat" when she pointed out earlier this week that there was a link between bushfires and human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases.

In making his statement, Mr Abbott has dismissed out of hand the work of scientists going back more than 25 years showing that as temperatures and carbon dioxide emissions go up, so do the risks of bushfires. Christiana Figueres' hat is stuffed with evidence. 

The Herald Sun 23 October 2013:

TONY Abbott says he will "do the right thing" and attend his gay sister's wedding but could never support the marriage.

The Sydney Morning Herald 23 October 2013:

24 October 2013: Prime Minister Abbott continues on his merry way.......

Malcolm Turnbull gets told by one NBN lobby group in his own backyard

Sometimes NSW Police make me cringe in shame

The Sydney Morning Herald 11 September 2013:

Six northern NSW police officers are facing possible criminal charges and dismissal from the force after the Police Integrity Commission found they used excessive force against a young Aboriginal man at Ballina police station and then falsely claimed he had assaulted them.

In scathing findings tabled in Parliament on Tuesday, the commission criticised the officers involved in the January 2011 incident, finding them guilty of serious police misconduct and recommending a range of charges including assault, perjury and giving false evidence.

The incident began when Aboriginal man, Corey Barker, then 21, was arrested on Tamar Street, Ballina, for trying to obstruct police, and taken to the local police station.

The police officers involved claimed that when they attempted to move Mr Barker to a different cell he assaulted Senior Constable David Hill, punching him in the face.

However, the commission found that CCTV footage revealed there was no assault.

Rather, the commission found, the footage showed Mr Barker being slammed into a wall and a large metal object in the station's charge room by the officers, before they dragged him backwards by the arms along the ground into a cell.

Six of the officers who were either involved in the altercation or witnessed it, subsequently signed sworn statements accusing Mr Barker of assaulting police, statements which they then backed up with sworn evidence in court.

The case was thrown out by Ballina Local Court Magistrate David Heilpern, who referred the police's actions to the commission......

The commissioner found that Senior Constable Hill was a witness "of little credibility", and he and the other five officers had lied in their statements and in court.

The commission recommended Senior Constable Hill, Constable Walmsley, Constable Mewing, Senior Constable Mark Woolvern, and Constable Eckersley be considered for charges of assault, and that all but Constable Eckersley also be considered for charges of perjury....

On Tony 'stop the boats' Abbott's watch asylum seekers are still arriving by sea

18 September 2013 – Abbott Government sworn in

22 September - HMAS Maitland and another vessel escorts SIEV boat into Christmas Island harbour – the Cahaya Baru contains 31 passengers and 2 crew.

24 September – SIEV boat containing 7 asylum seekers arrives on Australia’s Boigu Island in the Torres Strait 

25 September - SIEV boat containing 19 people arrives at Darwin Harbour sometime during the night of the 24^th or early hours of the morning of the 25^th.

26 September - SIEV boat arrives Christmas Island Harbour with an estimated 70 passengers including children. HMAS Ballarat takes part in the rescue of another 44 asylum seekers in Indonesian waters with these people transferred to an Indonesian rescue vessel for return to Indah Kiat port in Java.

27 September – boat heading towards Australia and estimated to contain up to 125 asylum seekers sinks off southern coast of Java. At least 20 bodies, mostly children under 15 years, washed ashore so far. Australian Customs Vessel ACV Triton rescues 31 asylum seekers from another boat and is thought to be still at sea off Timor.

30 September - 2 RAN patrol boats enter Christmas Island harbour with an estimated 79 asylum seekers (men, women and children) on board, thought to have been picked up from a boat which was either sinking or was otherwise considered unseaworthy.
10 October 2013 SIEV boat with 41 asylum seekers on board found off Cocos (Keeling) Island and, another SIEV boat containing 53 people was recorded as arriving in the same week.

11 October 2013 SIEV boat carrying 79 people arrived at the Cocos (Keeling) Islands from Sri Lanka.
12 October 2013 two SIEV boats arrive carrying a total of 132 people.
17 October 2013 at approximately 8am HMAS Warramunga put into Christmas Island and disembarked 79 asylum seekers from the Middle East and Africa. Including one 8 year-old boy, eight to ten women and two individuals requiring wheelchairs.
20 October 2013 SIEV boat arrives with 126 people on board.
21 October 2013 SIEV boat arrives with 40 people on board.
7 November 2013  HMAS Ballarat and ACV Ocean Protector respond to a distress call from a SIEV boat in international waters, with an estimated 62 people on board and these people are transferred to the customs vessel . In transit to Christmas Island.
10-11 November 2013 two SIEV boats intercepted with unknown number of people on board. Expected to disembark at Christmas Island.*
11 November 2013 SIEV boat arrives in Darwin. Unknown number of people on board.*
17 November 2013 Australian customs vessel disembarks 35 asylum seekers (believed to have begun their journeys in Afghanistan & Pakistan) at Ethel Beach, Christmas Island. Unknown number of crew - possibly 5 individuals. SIEV boat began to sink on 15 November as it was being towed.
27 November 2013 SIEV boat arrives in Australian territory - 9 asylum seekers and 2 crew are taken into custody by Immigration officials.
1 December 2013 SIEV boat intercepted off Christmas Island, with approximately 30 passengers and unknown number of crew on board.
2 December 2013 SIEV boat comes ashore Dolly Beach, Christmas Island with 27 people on board. Remains undetected until 5 December.
3 December 2013 SIEV boat intercepted and around 29 passengers and crew taken to Christmas Island
4-5 December 2013 SEIV boat carrying about 60 people intercepted, with passengers and crew transferred at sea to an Australian border protection vessel.
6 December 2013 SEIV boat intercepted and approximately 73 passengers and crew believed to have been taken to Christmas Island.
13 December 2013 3 persons on an intercepted SIEV boat transferred to custody of Australian immigration officials
14 December 2013 HMAS Stuart arrives Christmas Island before 9am local time and disembarks 69 asylum seekers, including children.
19 December 2013 SIEV boat carrying 98 asylum seekers intercepted and transferred to custody Australian immigration officials.##
1 January 2014 SEIV boat with at least 38 people on board intercepted by naval vessels about eight nautical miles off Cape Van Diemen, the northernmost tip of Melville Island.

* Between 10-11 November a total of 171 passengers and crew were taken into detention at Christmas Island and/or Blaydin in Darwin. Those onboard the SIEV boat which entered Darwin waters are thought to contain Somali asylum seekers including children.

UPDATE: 
               Estimated total number of boat passengers and crew as of 1.1.14: 1,469+

               Estimated total number of boats as of 1.1.14: 28 in 105 days    

# Figures derived from eyewitness accounts, as well as international and national media reports.

## Australian Government reports on how many SIEV boats and asylum seekers reached Australia are always predicated on those same boat passengers and crew being transferred into the custody of Australian immigration officials. Not all passengers and crews on SIEV boats are transferred. From this date all SIEV boats are being turned back/towed back into or close to Indonesian waters. The Australian Government does not publish any information on tow/turn backs.

NOTE

Media reports in January 2014 indicate that the Abbott Government has used naval ships and/or customs vessels to tow back/push back up to 5 asylum seeker boats between mid December 2013 and early January 2014.

ABC News 11 January 2014:

The UN refugee agency says it is awaiting an explanation from the Australian Government over reports asylum seeker boats have been forcibly returned to Indonesia.

Earlier this week, Indonesian police told the ABC that a second boat carrying asylum seekers had been forced back to Indonesian waters by the Australian Navy.

The first boat was found shortly before Christmas on the island of Rote, in Indonesia's East Nusa Tenggara region.

The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is warning such actions may place Australia in breach of its obligations under international law.

"UNHCR is seeking details from the Australian parties about these recent reports," said spokesman Babar Baloch.

The agency is also investigating reports of plans to provide lifeboats for asylum seekers for future push-backs.

"For the UNHCR it's a very concerning policy or practice if it involves pushing asylum seeker boats back out to sea without proper consideration of individuals who need international protection," said Mr Baloch.

"Any such approach would raise significant issues and potentially could place Australia in breach of its obligations under the Refugee Convention and international law.

"If people who are in need for international protection seek a country's safety, then they must be allowed to go through a process which helps to determine if these people are in need."

Spot the Difference - today's grey matter testing material

NCV has had reports that versions of Ginger Meggs appearing in APN publications, including The Daily Examiner, are being used in schools and retirement villages to test the grey matter of both the young and old.

1. Ginger Meggs in today's Examiner

2. Jason Chatfield's Ginger Meggs as it appears at gocomics

 

A couple of wags have noticed that APN's version appears a day or two (or three) after the real version appears elsewhere.They suggested NCV provides an advance copy of the Ginger Meggs that is scheduled to appear in the following day's APN productions. They reckon they can work out what APN's edited version will look like. Well, that's food for thought.

Let's give APN another chance to get its house in order and fix up this dreadful situation. Over to you, APN!