Wednesday 5 February 2020
SevicesNSW is inviting residents & business premises destroyed by bushfire to register for a free cleanup of their property
Residents
on the NSW North Coast and elsewhere in the state should ring
ServicesNSW
on 13 77 88
to take advantage of the post-bushfire cleanup offer set
out in the media release below.
I
strongly
suggest that those eligible for this cleanup of residential or
business premises register immediately, as the Morrison Government
has recently demonstrated that it will repurpose bushfire recovery
funding at the drop of a hat and this program might just end prematurely with little notice to bushfire victims if federal funding is reduced or terminated.
Office
of the Prime
Minister,
media
release,
30 January 2020:
The
Morrison and Berejiklian Governments today announced they will share
the costs on a 50:50 basis for the clean-up of residential and
commercial properties destroyed by the recent bushfires in NSW.
This
follows the successful approach adopted by the Commonwealth and
Victorian Governments following the Black Saturday bushfires.
The
cost of the NSW clean-up is expected to run into the hundreds of
millions of dollars, though a definitive number cannot be settled
until the fires have ceased and sites are assessed.
As
part of recovery efforts the NSW Government has also selected Laing
O’Rourke Australia as the lead contractor to undertake the
clean-up.
Prime
Minister Scott Morrison, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, Commonwealth
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, NSW Deputy Premier and Minister
responsible for Disaster Recovery John Barilaro, Commonwealth
Minister for Natural Disaster and Emergency Management David
Littleproud and NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the funding
agreement would give people more certainty as the recovery process
continues.
“This
is an important step to get the clean-up and rebuilding process
moving to help people get back on their feet,” the Prime Minister
said.
“We
know many people are still battling these blazes but where the
fire-front has passed we’re deploying $2 billion through our
National Bushfire Recovery Agency to help people rebuild their homes
and communities.”
“The
destruction caused by these fires is unprecedented and the process of
recovery and rebuilding will take time, but I want people to know, we
will be with them every step of the way,” the Premier said.
“Government
is picking up the bill for the clean-up, at no cost to owners, so if
you’re uninsured, this is one less thing to worry about and if you
are insured, it means you will be able to use every dollar of your
policy to rebuild.”
Treasurer
Frydenberg said the speed at which agreement was reached between the
Commonwealth and the NSW government was not only a testament to the
working relationship between the two levels of government but that of
the National Bushfire Recovery Agency.
“An
unprecedented joint effort has and is required to assist with the
recovery, rebuilding and future resilience of local communities,”
Treasurer Frydenberg said.
“The
National Bushfire Recovery Agency has played a key role across the
board ensuring the Commonwealth’s resources are reaching the
communities when and where they are needed.”
The
Deputy Premier said the clean-up was a mammoth task but that he was
confident the partnership with Laing O’Rourke will see properties
cleared and the rebuild begin as soon as possible.
“With
2,399 homes destroyed and more than 10,000 buildings damaged or
destroyed all up, we have a long journey ahead of us,” the Deputy
Premier said.
“Despite
the enormity of the job, Laing O’Rourke has indicated the majority
of properties will be substantially cleared by mid-year, with a focus
on residential properties.
“The
contractor will also be working hand in hand with Public Works
Advisory to engage local suppliers and subcontractors, to keep local
economies ticking over.
“Our
emergency services, volunteers and our farmers have been outstanding
in emergency situations these past months, and we need to be as
vigilant in recovery as they have been in the face of disaster.”
Minister
Littleproud said the Commonwealth would continue to step up to do
whatever it takes.
"We
will continue to respond to changing conditions while these fires
affect communities across the country,” Minister Littleproud said.
“As
the rebuilding begins, the Commonwealth will be there to make sure
communities are well-resourced.”
Treasurer
Perrottet said he expected all savings insurance companies may accrue
as a result of the Government funded clean-up to be passed on to
policy holders to help assist them in the rebuilding process.
“I
know people are anxious to have their properties cleared as soon as
possible which is why the NSW Government has hit the ground running
with the clean-up effort,” Treasurer Perrottet said.
“Impacted
owners wanting their property cleared need to call Service NSW on 13
77 88 to register their details and provide consent for access to
their land.
“We
are working with the new National Bushfire Recovery Agency to ensure
a coordinated response to make clean-up as easy as possible for
property owners.”
The
NSW Government will provide regular updates to the Commonwealth on
the progress of the clean-up.
Labels:
bushfires,
government funding,
recovery
Tuesday 4 February 2020
Regulation, policy oversight and funding of aged care services are predominantly the role of the Australian Government - under three successive Coalition governments needs are not being met
Regulation
and policy oversight of aged care services are predominantly the role
of the Australian Government. It funds residential aged care, home
care and home support, with state, territory and local governments
also funding and/or delivering some of these services directly.
However, most services are delivered by non-government providers such
as private-for-profit, religious and charitable organisations.
Government
subsidises a significant portion of the cost of providing aged care,
but clients and residents are expected to contribute where they can
and may be charged fees and payments by service providers.
In
2018-19
there were est.
3.9 million
people 65 years of age or older in the Australian population.
Of
these
older
people:
236,
213 were in permanent residential care;
64,117
had received respite care;
24,137
had
received
transition
care or short-term
restorative
care;
1,072
national ATSI flexible age care program places were operational;
826,335
were receiving home support; and
131,534
were receiving home care packages.
[Productivity Commission, REPORT ON GOVERNMENT SERVICES 2020]
[Productivity Commission, REPORT ON GOVERNMENT SERVICES 2020]
That is est. 1.2 million older Australians who are receiving some form of government funded care.
Government
recurrent expenditure on aged care services was $20.1 billion in the
2018-19
financial year
or $4,874 per older person, with
the federal government providing 98.2 per cent of the funding.
That
low annual level of expenditure per person may be one of the reasons for
this…..
The
Sydney Morning Herald,
23
January 2020:
The
time it takes for older Australians to enter a nursing home after
being assessed as needing residential care has blown out almost 50
per cent in two years, while waiting times for the highest level of
home care package are 34 months.
The
Productivity Commission reports that the median "elapsed time"
between getting approval from an aged care assessment team (ACAT) and
going to a nursing home was 152 days in 2018-19. This is up from 121
days in 2017-18 and 105 days in 2016-17.
In
New South Wales, the median wait time was 143 days in 2018-19 and 124
days in Victoria. Across Australia, almost 42 per cent of older
people entered a nursing home within three months of getting ACAT
approval. Almost 60 per cent of people entered a nursing home within
nine months.
The
Productivity Commission explained the waiting time was influenced by
the availability of places as well as an older person's "preference
to stay at home for as long as possible". The commission noted
people may choose to try to access formal help at home or more family
help, instead of taking up a nursing home place.
It
said there may also be delays if people sold their family home before
going into residential care.
The
Productivity Commission's annual report on government services
follows the aged care royal commission's recent scathing assessment
of the sector. In its interim report, the royal commission slammed
the aged care system as "sad and shocking", "diminish[ing]
Australia as a nation". It also comes amid pleas from the aged
care sector for $1.3 billion in urgent financial assistance to keep
nursing homes open around the country.
The
Productivity Commission's report, released today, said the median
time between ACAT approval and the offer of a home care package
ranged from seven months for a level one package, to 34 months for a
level four (highest needs) package in 2018-19.
The
commission said there was no comparable data on home care package
"elapsed times" for previous years, due to a change to the
approval process in 2017. Federal government data released before
Christmas showed more than 112,000 people were waiting for home care.
The royal commission singled out the home care wait list for urgent
attention last October, noting "many people die waiting".
According
to the Productivity Commission, in 2018, 84.4 per cent of those who
received a formal aged care service in the home over the previous six
months said they were satisfied with the quality of help they
received. This was down from 89.2 per cent in 2015.
The
report also found that 34 per cent of people over 65 who live at home
and were classified as "in need of assistance" said their
needs were not "fully met"…..
Labels:
#MorrisonGovernmentFAIL,
aged care,
government funding,
health,
safety
Extraordinarily high levels of manganese in town water after rain causing a problem in Tweed Shire
EchoNetDaily, 31 February 2020:
Following recent rains the water supplied to the Tweed Shire catchment has been appearing dirty as a result of the high mineral content that has washed into the river following the long dry spell.
On Wednesday evening Tweed Shire Council stopped pumping water through the reticulation network in a bid to isolate the issue of dirty water to Murwillumbah.
However, this has been unsuccessful and the dirty water has spread to other areas of the shire.
Residents are advised that while the water is unsightly, it is fit for drinking.
However, it should not be used to wash clothes, particularly light-coloured clothes, as it may stain them.
Difficult treatment process
‘The levels of manganese in the weir pool are extraordinarily high,’ manager water and wastewater Anthony Burnham said.
‘These elevated levels of mineral are a result of the recent intense rain washing a lot of organic matter into the waterways, which has then drawn on the dissolved oxygen levels as it decays.
‘The dissolved oxygen level in the weir pool is now very low, exacerbating the minerals issue as the manganese and iron is dissolved and not in its usual particle form, making it harder to remove.’
Council is now drawing water from the top layers of the weir pool, where the water quality is better.
Removing iron and manganese from the water during the treatment process if finicky and requires constant fine-tuning of the treatment process.
‘Our water treatment process was unable to achieve that fine balance yesterday and the discoloured water is now more widespread throughout the reticulated water network,’ Mr Burnham said.....
Labels:
pollution,
Tweed Shire Council,
water
Monday 3 February 2020
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison & his merry band of cost cutters decided to save $9.2 million a year by cutting off CapTel phones for the profoundly deaf. Luckily this new front in Morrison's ongoing war on the poor & vulnerable was something of a fizzer
"The Commonwealth Government has awarded American company, Concentrix Services a contract to deliver the National Relay Service (NRS). One of the first things Concentrix is contracted to do is to shut down the CapTel handset service on 1 February 2020." [Deaf Forum of Australia, July 2019]
ABC News, 31 January 2020:
Thousands of hearing-impaired Australians could face a return to 1980s technology from today after the Federal Government cancelled a deal to support text-captioning telephones.
Phones with CapTel captioning display words on a large screen in near real time, so deaf and hearing-impaired users can make calls and see the responses.
But in a decision criticised by disability advocates, the phones will not work as of February 1, after the Department of Communications declined to renew the service provider's contract with the National Relay Service (NRS).
A new company won the contract. [Concentrix Services Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of the SYNNEX Corporation]
It will force users to take up alternative options, with many choosing to revert back to what are known as TTY teletypewriter phones — technology first introduced in the 1980s.
For Christine O'Reilly, the CapTel phone changed her life. Ms O'Reilly's hearing has been deteriorating since childhood and now at 62, she is profoundly hearing impaired.
"When I received the CapTel I was so overjoyed I burst into tears," she said.....
Critics say the decision has come down to one thing: money.
The cost of the NRS has blown out in recent years, from $26.3 million in 2015-16, to $31.2 million in 2017-18......
The new NRS contract awarded last June provides for $22 million per year over three years.
Until recently there were more than 3,500 CapTel handsets distributed across Australia. The Department of Communications estimates about 1,000 are still active.
"I certainly acknowledge any transition of this kind is challenging, particularly for older Australians who may not be as familiar with technology,"
Minister for Communications Paul Fletcher said. "We've retained a team of trainers who've been going to meet individually with CapTel users to brief them on their alternatives." .....
It is expected many users will switch to TTY teletypewriter phones, which have a small two-line screen for text above the number pad.
"We're having to go backwards in time, and everyone else can get the latest iPhone," said Dr Alex Harrison, a profoundly deaf veterinarian in Adelaide.
"[I feel] enormously frustrated and discriminated against," he said.
Dr Harrison said the CapTel phone had revolutionised his practice, allowing him to easily make up to 10 calls a day.
Making a call on a TTY phone is much more complicated. "If I want to make a phone call on the TTY, I have to call a 133 number first … and they'll put me through to an operator," he explained.
Once you do that, you may be put on hold or told you are in a queue to make a call.
On January 7, the department acknowledged wait times to get through were unacceptable.
"We understand and acknowledge community disappointment about these issues and can assure you that we are focused on resolving these concerns as a priority," it said.
To address the wait times, the relay service provider Concentrix is currently hiring and training additional staff.
New staff took their first calls just prior to Christmas and more staff will commence during the rest of January.
Other options offered by the Department of Communications are internet-based call captioning and apps designed to work on mobile phones and tablets.
But users said many of the online options were much slower and less user-friendly, requiring them to fill in multiple fields just to initiate a phone call.
"The other options are far too slow. They're primitive," Ms O'Reilly said.
And advocates point out the average age of CapTel phone users is more than 80.
"For an elderly person who's not tech savvy, [these options] can be very intimidating, and often they can't do it. Some of these people are 80 or 90, and they really struggle with that," Dr Harrison said..... [my annotation in red]
"It is indeed a big shock to many Australians, and myself, who rely and need the Captel handset. It seems to me that this section of people with a hearing loss have been sacrificed in a big way so that the TTY can be ‘re-introduced’ and then plunge those who went deaf later in life and whom can speak, right back in the dark ages. It is also a direct insult to the intelligence of the people who worked long and hard to get Captel up and running in Australia. Many of our members have spoken of their dismay and disgust, particularly being isolated and the loss of their independence. In the long run, this move will cost the Australian government much more than it does now." [Deaf Forum of Australia, July 2019]
Thankfully, Captioned Telephone International, the company whose contact the Morrison Government refused to renew and, its president Rob Engelke, have bigger, kinder hearts than either Prime Minister Scott Morrison or Minister for Communications Paul Fletcher, as Mr. Engelke has committed the company to maintaining the CapTel system for those Australians who would otherwise lose their handsets by arranging for the routing of all calls through the company's U.S. captioning centres, while it investigates long-term options based in Australia.
Lots of small tree-dwelling mammals on the NSW North Coast need your help
Nature Conservation Council of NSW
An estimated 800 million animals have died in the recent bushfires.
Donate here to help us provide nest boxes for fire-affected wildlife!
https://chuffed.org/project/help-buil...
There is an urgent need to provide shelter for the thousands of animals that survived the fires. Lots of small tree-dwelling mammals, including sugar gliders, possums and bats, rely on tree hollows for shelter.
Without these hollows, many animals fall prey to feral animals such as cats and foxes.
With this campaign we hope to place nest boxes of various sizes on the North Coast to provide emergency shelter for hundreds of animals affected by the recent fires.
Sunday 2 February 2020
Fact of the Day
There
are est. 197 countries around the globe & of these Australia is
the 14th highest emitter of greenhouse gases, is still the highest
per capita emitter in
the OECD & is the 5th biggest miner of fossil fuel
carbon.
For a developed country of less than 26 million people Australia has a carbon dioxide monthly average in the vicinity of 405.59 ppm in the atmosphere over its land mass and national waters - which is only 1.81ppm below the global monthly average produced by a world population of 7.8 billion people in 2018.
Due to the amount of forest currently unable to function as high level carbon sinks because of the 2019-20 bushfires, Australia is expected to add an additional 2 per cent to the atmospheric carbon dioxide ppm total in 2020.
[Source: The Australia Institute, July 2019, NOAA
Earth System Research Laboratory Global Monitoring Division, December 2018, UK Met Office, January 2020 & countries-ofthe-world.com]
For a developed country of less than 26 million people Australia has a carbon dioxide monthly average in the vicinity of 405.59 ppm in the atmosphere over its land mass and national waters - which is only 1.81ppm below the global monthly average produced by a world population of 7.8 billion people in 2018.
Due to the amount of forest currently unable to function as high level carbon sinks because of the 2019-20 bushfires, Australia is expected to add an additional 2 per cent to the atmospheric carbon dioxide ppm total in 2020.
Labels:
Australia,
climate change,
greenhouse gases
Saturday 1 February 2020
Quote of the Week
"If
we nominate Trump, we will be destroyed… and we will deserve it."
[South
Carolina Senator Lindsay
Graham,
quoted
in BBC
News,
4 May 2016]
Labels:
Donald Trump,
Republican Party,
US politics
Friday 31 January 2020
Clarence Valley, Lismore & Richmond Valley get $1 million each from Drought Communities Programme after discovery of yet another alleged Morrison Government 2019 election campaign funding rort caused grant criteria to be revised & broadened
The Daily Examiner, 29 January 2020:
Yes, the Clarence Valley has been 100% drought affected with most of the land officially in either the Drought or Severe Drought categories.
This along with the bushfires has makes 2019-20 a horror year for farmers and graziers.
So this federal government grant is most welcome.
However, Clarence Valley local government area - like Lismore and Richmond Valley - only became eligible when criteria for assistance was changed after it was discovered that, just an in the 'sports rorts affair', there had been an apparent manipulation of a grant programme's funding allocations just prior to the May 2019 federal election - when of the 14 councils announced eligible as a Coalition election commitment 13 were in Coalition-held electorates and just one was not as it was held by an Independent.
The plus for Nationals MP for Page, Kevin Hogan, is that now instead of one council in his electorate being given a Drought Communities Programme grant, there are now
Public art with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison as its subject is popping up here and there
Labels:
arts,
political comment
Thursday 30 January 2020
Australia's 2019-20 bushfire season expected to increase total global atmospheric greenhouse gases by est. 2 per cent this year
According to NOAA Climate.gov; The global average atmospheric carbon dioxide in 2018 was 407.4 parts per million (ppm for short), with a range of uncertainty of plus or minus 0.1 ppm. Carbon dioxide levels today are higher than at any point in at least the past 800,000 years.
With the ability of Australia's east coast forests to act as carbon sinks severely impacted by bushfires and air pollutants released by these fires to date circumnavigating the earth, it was to be expected that the amount of carbon dioxide parts per million in the atmosphere will rise sharply in 2020.
UK
Met Office, media release, 24 January 2020:
A
forecast of the atmospheric concentration of carbon-dioxide shows
that 2020 will witness one of the largest annual rises in
concentration since measurements began at Mauna Loa, in Hawaii, 1958.
During
the year the atmospheric concentration of CO₂ is expected to peak
above 417 parts per million in May, while the average for the year is
forecast to be 414.2 ± 0.6ppm. This annual average represents a 2.74
± 0.57 ppm rise on the average for 2019. While human-caused
emissions cause the CO₂ rise in concentration, impacts of weather
patterns on global ecosystems are predicted to increase the rise by
10% this year. Emissions from the recent Australian bushfires
contribute up to one-fifth of this increase.
Professor
Richard Betts MBE, of the Met Office Hadley Centre and University of
Exeter, said: “Although the series of annual levels of CO₂ have
always seen a year-on-year increase since 1958, driven by fossil fuel
burning and deforestation, the rate of rise isn’t perfectly even
because there are fluctuations in the response of ecosystem carbon
sinks, especially tropical forests. Overall these are expected to be
weaker than normal for a second year running.”
Weather
patterns linked to year-by-year swings in Pacific Ocean temperatures
are known to affect the uptake of carbon-dioxide by land ecosystems.
In years with a warmer tropical Pacific, many regions become warmer
and drier, which limits the ability of plants to grow and absorb CO₂
and increases the risk of wildfires which release further emissions.
Along with other weather patterns and human-induced climate change,
this has contributed to the recent hot, dry weather in Australia,
which played a key role in the severity of the bushfires.
Professor
Betts added: “The success of our previous forecasts has shown that
the year-to-year variability in the rate of rise of CO₂ in the
atmosphere is affected more by the strength of ecosystem carbon sinks
and sources than year-to-year changes in human-induced emissions.
Nevertheless, the anthropogenic emissions are still the overall
driver of the long-term rise in concentrations.”
The
CO₂ concentrations at Mauna Loa are measured by the Scripps
Institution for Oceanography at UC San Diego and the National
Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Fire emissions
are monitored by the Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED).
The
2020 CO₂ forecast is available here.
A carbon dioxide concentration of 400 parts per million is considered unsafe - a danger warning - and Morrison Government denialist-based climate change policy is making sure that we are now well and truly exceeding that figure.
The average surface temperatures over the Australian continent and its surrounding oceans have increased by nearly 1°C since the beginning of the 20th century.
This global rise saw land surface temperature in the NSW Northern rivers region rise by somewhere between 1°C and 1.4°C by 2014, with most of that warming occurring since 1950.
How hot will this region become in 2020?
This global rise saw land surface temperature in the NSW Northern rivers region rise by somewhere between 1°C and 1.4°C by 2014, with most of that warming occurring since 1950.
How hot will this region become in 2020?
Wednesday 29 January 2020
Tree canopy loss in NSW Northern Rivers from Clarence Valley LGA to NSW-Qld border by January 2020
Firegrounds post major fires which were actively burning in September 2019 to January 2020, mapped by https://geo.seed.nsw.gov.au/Public_Viewer/
Southernmost half of coastal Bundjalung National Park showing full canopy loss |
Degrees of canopy loss in the Cloud Creek and Guy Fawkes region |
Labels:
bushfires,
climate change,
climate emergency,
drought,
Northern Rivers,
NSW
Tuesday 28 January 2020
Mullum Flickerfest and Byron All Shorts film festival 30 January to 1 February 2020 at Mullumbimby Civic Hall
29th International Short Film Festival
Tour Date: Thursday 30 January - Saturday 1 February 2020
Flickerfest CafeOpen daily: 1hr prior to sessions.
Serving delicious organic treats & drinks.
Thu 30th Jan, 8.00pm - Best Of International Shorts - 2020 Tour - $25/ $22con (inc pre-screening drinks & nibbles)
Fri 31st Jan, 8.00pm - Best Of Australian Shorts - 2020 Tour - $16/ $14con
Sat 1st Feb, 8.00pm - Short Laughs Comedy - 2020 Tour - $16/ $14con
Fri 31st Jan, 8.00pm - Best Of Australian Shorts - 2020 Tour - $16/ $14con
Sat 1st Feb, 8.00pm - Short Laughs Comedy - 2020 Tour - $16/ $14con
Sat 1st Feb, 4pm – Byron All Shorts – Nth Rivers Short Film comp (Prog announced early Jan) – $14/ $12
Festival Pass: $55/45
Full Programme, Information & Bookings: www.iQ.org.au
Venue: Mullumbimby Civic Hall
Doors Open: 1 hr prior to sessions
Opening Night Party starts: 7pm
Tickets: through iQ.org.au; (or at the door).
Serving delicious organic treats & drinks.
Some of the short films being shown:
German film ‘The Jackpot’
Australian comedy ‘Chicken’
Animated film ‘Rebooted’
Australian film ‘Its Christmas’
Drama ‘A Day In Your Life’
Comedy ‘A Family Affair’
12 short films from around the NSW Northern Rivers
Labels:
arts,
entertainment,
Mullumbimby,
Northern Rivers
Lismore Diocese in the NSW Northern Rivers region once again focus of historical child sexual abuse allegations
Former Catholic priest Clarence David Anderson died in retirement at Toowoombah Qld in April 1996 and peacefully rests in a Goonellabah NSW cemetery, but his alleged victims are still seeking justice....
Newcastle Herald, 23 January 2020:
A PARISH priest is suing a NSW Catholic diocese and an order of nuns [believed to be the Presentation Sisters] in what is believed to be the first Australian case of a serving Catholic priest seeking compensation for alleged child sexual abuse by a priest.
The Diocese of Lismore has denied liability for alleged crimes by the late charismatic "surfer priest" Clarence "David" Anderson against the then 12-year-old altar boy in the 1960s, and has given notice it will seek a permanent stay against the priest's case in the NSW Supreme Court.
The move, initiated by the diocese last week, means survivors are "back to square one" in some dioceses despite legal reforms following the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, the priest's lawyer Mark Barrow said.
The permanent stay application is despite the diocese offering compensation to two families in 2004 who alleged Anderson sexually abused two brothers aged 9 and 14 in the Macksville area between 1966 and 1968, and two other brothers, aged 9 and 15, in Tweed Heads parish in 1969.
Melbourne-based Broken Rites put the two families in touch with each other after both were told they were the first to complain about Anderson, and that the diocese had no knowledge of allegations about him. Anderson was a priest for just seven years. One of his alleged victims was advised by the Diocese of Lismore in 2002 that Anderson resigned in 1970. He died in 1996......
The Guardian, 25 January 2020:
The abuse is said to have occurred at a church on the north coast of New South Wales, which sat on the grounds of a boarding school....
It is the second time in recent months that the diocese has attempted to have an abuse case thrown out due to delay.
It is the second time in recent months that the diocese has attempted to have an abuse case thrown out due to delay.
In December, the Lismore diocese successfully applied to permanently stay a case brought by a woman who alleged she was abused in the 1940s by a priest named John Curran, who has since died.
The church’s approach to delay conflicts with findings of the child abuse royal commission.
According to Broken Rites; In 2020, a legal firm is acting for eleven of Father David Anderson's victims, suing the Lismore Catholic Diocese for compensation.
Labels:
child sexual abuse,
court,
human rights,
law,
Lismore
Monday 27 January 2020
Clarence Valley Council fights to limit access to its local government register of councillors' interests
And local government wonders why it has such a bad reputation across Australia.......
Clarence Valley Independent, 22 January 2020:
Five of the valley’s councillors have remained staunch in their opposition to uploading their annual disclosure of interest returns to Clarence Valley Council’s (CVC) website.
Councillors Williamson, Lysaught, Baker, Kingsley and Ellem were unmoved by a NSW Information and Privacy Commission (IPC) statement that called out the councillors’ decision at the November council meeting.
Information Commissioner Elizabeth Tydd said that CVC and two other councils had “publicly stated their intention to adopt practices that appear to offend the requirements of the GIPA Act [Government Information (Public Access) Act] and Guideline 1”.
“The resolutions by councils, as they seek to deviate from clear requirements under the GIPA Act, and justify non-compliance for privacy reasons will be something I consider carefully,” she said.
The mayor, Jim Simmons, and councillors Toms and Novak (Cr Clancy was absent due to illness) supported the failed rescission motion, which was tabled by Cr Toms and co-signed by councillors Novak and Clancy.
During questions before debate on the matter, Cr Baker asked if there was “any legislation” that compels CVC to upload the declarations. General manager Ashley Lindsay said “there is” and that CVC would have to provide a “reason why the declarations of interest are not provided on the website”.
Councillor Lysaught asked if rejecting the rescission motion would constitute “any formal breach” of regulations. Mr Lindsay said he had received “a number of correspondences” from the IPC and that they had “already put us on notice to show cause why [the disclosures] were not on the web”.
Councillor Toms argued that CVC was duty-bound to comply with what she said was “legislation” and quoted from the IPC’s Information Access Guideline regarding the “mandatory proactive release” requirements” for “open access Information”.
The guideline and the GIPA Act do, however, provide for exceptions, provided a council can prove uploading the disclosures “would impose unreasonable costs on the council, or if the council determined there was an overriding public interest against disclosing the information”.
Neither of those concepts have been the subject of a councillor decision.
Councillor Toms said she hoped she had “convinced” the other councillors, “now that the Privacy Commission has written to the general manager with a ‘please explain’”.
She said she was “a bit disappointed” that she had not seen the letter from the IPC.
“It should have been shared with councillors,” she said.....
CVC’s current policy is to make the disclosure available on request in the presence of a CVC officer.
Read the full article here.
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