This blog is open to any who wish to comment on Australian society, the state of the environment or political shenanigans at Federal, State and Local Government level.
*
Much
like the saplings in her hand, Hayley Talbot is hoping her idea to
help local bushfire-affected areas will sprout and grow tall.
Ms
Talbot, through her business Blanc Space, and project partner
ex-professional surfer Daniel Ross have created the Caring for the
Clarence project, in which 5000 trees will be planted to help rebuild
the local koala population ravaged by bushfires.
Partnering
with the NSW Government’s Save Our Species program to fund the
initiative, Ms Talbot said she wanted to contribute to the area in a
tangible way.
“I
wanted to do something that has some longevity, that would help us as
a community and help our homeland heal,” she said.
While
the effort to plant 5000 trees on private properties around the
Mororo and Woombah area may seem like a mammoth task for a group
reduced in numbers by COVID-19 restrictions, Ms Talbot said they
worked at it one tree at a time.
“I
really feel like it’s been a great example of what any community
member can do if they’re passionate and energetic,” she said.
Guided
by conservation scientists and using trees of local provenance, the
program used data from Google Earth combined with information on
koala sightings to plant areas of use to sustain the population.
“From
there it was about engaging with local property owners because every
tree we’ve planted has been on private land,” Ms Talbot said…..
[The
Daily Telegraph,
1 July 2020]
*
Clarence
Valley local government area now eligible for federal government
drought
support
administered by St. Vincent de Paul until end of 2020. [Queensland
Country Life,
2 July 2020]
One
of the largest capital works programs ever seen in the Clarence has
passed through council, and is set to provide a $70.6 million
investment in local roads and infrastructure during this financial
year.
At
Clarence Valley Council’s June 23 meeting councillors voted to
adopt the 2020-21 budget, paving the way for a significant economic
boost to the region.
“A
significant capital works program totalling $70.6 million has been
agreed for the 2020/21 financial year,” Clarence Valley Council’s
general manager Ashley Lindsay said.
“The
key features are $22 million to road and bridge infrastructure
projects and approximately $32 million allocated to open spaces,
community facility and building projects.” Mr Lindsay said an
additional $5.2 million will be generated from the final year of a
three-year special rate variation which commenced 2018/2019.
“The
majority of these funds will be spent on roads and infrastructure
asset renewals.
“This
is the final year of council’s four-year financial improvement plan
adopted in June 2017, which lays the foundations for the long-term
financial well being of the organisation, and the services,
facilities and infrastructure it provides for the community,” he
said…. [The
Daily Telegraph,
3 July 2020]
COVID-19
Pandemic
*
44% of all those in residential aged care who caught COVID-19 and 9%
of older people receiving care services in the home died as a result
of this viral infection [Australian Dept. of Health, 5 July
2020]
* COVID-19 growth rate graph
[ABC News, 9 July 2020]
Liberal
Party Politics
*
Finance
Minister Mathias Cormann, the man who revived Arnold Schwarzenegger’s
“economic girly man’’ insult in the Australian political
lexicon and privately called Scott Morrison “narcissistic” is set
to quit politics sparking a cabinet reshuffle.
Australia’s
longest serving Finance Minister has denied growing speculation he
will quit politics for months, but has responded with notable silence
to three reports in the last month that he plans to resign.
But
his departure also is set to remind voters of the ongoing leadership
fallout within the Coalition over the ascension of Prime Minister
Scott Morrison and his increasing popularity, dominance and control
of the government in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Last
month, there was even speculation that he might return to Europe in a
diplomatic posting for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development.
But
the Belgian-born Liberal senator told friends he is more attracted to
making some money in the corporate sector. [News.com.au,
3 July 2020]
*
By the
end of this year we will be half-way through this current term of
government.
Having
decided not to recontest the next election, I can confirm that I have
advised the Prime Minister that the end of this year would be an
appropriate time for an orderly transition in my portfolio.[Australian
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, Statement,
4 July 2020]
*
THOUGHT
FOR THE DAY: It's only taken PM Scott Morrison a little over 23
months to quietly push Dutton-supporter Mathias Cormann out of the
Australian Parliament. Who is next?[@no_filter-Yamba,
5 July 2020]
*
The NSW Liberal Party has appointed a former ICAC executive to
investigate claims the minutes of the local branch of Prime
Minister’s right-hand man Alex Hawke were doctored to secure his
power base.
In
the most significant development
since the scandal was first revealed by News Corp almost two years
ago, the party office has confirmed in an email sent to affected
branch members on Friday that it has enlisted the former head of the
corruption watchdog’s investigations unit, Michael Symons, to head
up the internal inquiry.
Liberal MP Alex Hawke. Picture: Kym Smith
The
party head office has been in internal turmoil since being made aware
of allegations that Mr Hawke’s factionally-aligned heads of the
Baulkham Hills branch in his electorate of Mitchell changed the
minutes to block the memberships of 10 new conservative members.
Had
the new members been recorded accurately at the meeting — held in a
western Sydney funeral home — Mr Hawke’s Centre Right faction
would have lost control of the branch, potentially putting his
preselection in jeopardy.
Control
of branches is critical
in influencing Federal, State and local government preselections. At
a State level, the Baulkham Hills branch is critical for NSW Police
Minister David Elliott. [The
Daily Telegraph,
5 July 2020]
Eden-Monaro
Federal By-election
*
At 7:30pm on Saturday 4 July 2020, when First Preference vote
counting ceased for the night in the NSW Eden-Monaro federal
electorate, it was apparent that an est. 62,22%
of voters were not having a bar of Scott Morrison & his hard
right Lib-Nats government. [Australian
Electoral Commission,
4 July 2020]
At
the same time in bushfire ravaged little Cobargo at least 59.68%
of local voters refused
to give the Morrison Government candidate their First Preference
vote.
Even
after they appear to have been not so subtly threatened:
the
residents of Cobargo – the centre of a tragedy in January – swung
to the Liberals on Saturday night. Perhaps
this is a bushfire effect in the sense locals accepted the
government’s core message during the campaign: the fire clean up
will move much faster if you send Fiona Kotvojs to Canberra, rather
than a member of the opposition. [The
Guardian,
5 July 2020]
*
By
early
Sunday
evening
61.71% of all voters in Eden-Monaro who cast a formal vote had
refused
to give the Morrison Government’s candidate their First Preference
vote. So the inevitable happened…..
I'm pleased and honoured to be elected the next Member for Eden-Monaro.
Research
economist discovers ‘Scotty From Marketing’ Morrison’s economic
playbook
So,
a short recession’s not enough. You want to create a prolonged
depression, right?
Perhaps
you run businesses that specialise in disaster capitalism. Maybe you
want to suckle at the teat of a dying fossil fuel industry for a
little longer. It could be that you miss the social division and
inequality of the Victorian era. Maybe you’re just a jerk.
Whatever
your motivations, this guide will take you through the basic steps of
pushing an already struggling economy into a full-blown crisis…
Read
the full article here.
[The
New Daily,
5 July 2020]
About
endangered flying foxes
“Their supermarket has been destroyed...and there isn’t another one within flying distance”. The Grey-Headed Flying Fox is being threatened with extinction by the effects of climate change, their future looks grim. 📸 #AnnetteRuzickaPhotographypic.twitter.com/zDGac9XrQJ
The
orange roughy fishery, which some have dubbed the "posterchild
of fishery mismanagement", has been the subject of debate since
the 1990s when stocks collapsed after just 20 years of commercial
fishing.
It's
a fish that can live for more than 140 years and can't breed until
around 30 — and conservationists say its unusual biology should
make it off-limits to commercial fishing.
But
industry groups say they've learnt from past mistakes and can harvest
orange roughy sustainably.
Now,
acting on behalf of an Australian trawl-fishing interest group,
US-based consultancy MRAG Americas Inc has recommended the fishery be
given sustainability status.
The
consultancy handed down its recommendation last week to MSC, an
international non-government organisation that certifies the
sustainability of fisheries based on the sustainability of the
exploited fish stocks, maintenance of the fishery ecosystem, and
responsible management.
Objections
were raised by the Australian Marine Conservation Society and
conservation group WWF but were dismissed on a technicality,
according to AMCS spokesperson Adrian Meder.
Mr
Meder said the report contains a number of flaws that show a lack of
understanding of the biology of the species and fishery.
"It's
the shonkiest piece of greenwashing I think I've seen in my entire
career. It gets the basics wrong on so many levels," Mr Meder
said…..
Orange
roughy facts
Researchers
have caught orange roughy up to 149 years of age, making them one of
the longest-lived fish species. It's estimated that individuals may
live up to 200 years.
They
don't reach sexual maturity until around 30 years of age and by fish
standards, don't produce a lot of offspring.
Orange
roughy live between 700 metres and 1500 metres deep. They roam
across seabeds but congregate on underwater shelves and seamounts to
breed, meaning they can be easily caught in large numbers.
The
fish are caught by bottom trawling, usually across seamounts.
They
live in cold water, and in Australia are mostly found off Tasmania,
Victoria and the Great Australian Bight.
Commercial
fishing for orange roughy began in earnest in the 1970s, with the
biggest extractions taking place in New Zealand waters followed by
Australia.
They're
also found in the waters of Namibia, Chile, in the Atlantic and
south Indian Ocean, however stock data is limited in many of these
places.
The
flesh is pearly white and delicate. [ABC
News,
5 July 2020]
Pauline
Hanson labelled residents in the nine public housing estate towers
"drug addicts" and "alcoholics" who can't speak
English, in an interview this morning on Channel Nine's Today Show.
After
widespread backlash across the morning, Channel Nine released a
statement to announce that Hanson won't be joining the Today Show in
the future…..
The more than a little petty and spiteful, Messrs.
Lim Kim Hai, John Sharp, Lee Thian Soo, Neville Howell, Chris Hine, James
Davis and
Ronald
Bartsch remain
firm in their refusal to continue to fly Rex Express small passenger
jets into Grafton Airport in the Clarence Valley.
Australian Prime Minister and Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison uses the old excuse that 'Jen & the girls deserve a break' to bolt out the backdoor once again * It appears that 'Scotty From Marketing' has been away on holidays for most of the last six days and intends to keep holidaying for another six to seven days.
IMAGE: Found on Twitter
* "As you know, it is a school holidays and Jenny and the girls will be taking some time on the outskirts of Sydney....We have technology where I can be with them and continue to take briefings, calls and meetings in dealing with the situation whether it be Victoria or the other situations in the country.
"As a dad, I will take some time but at the same time I can assure you we will remain absolutely focused on the things we need to focus on next week." [9 News, 10 July 2020]
Morrison holidaying in a crisis *again* proves he doesn't regard it as a serious job. He's there for the power, not the service.
That he's not getting chased with cameras says a similar thing about our political press.
Scott Morrison was ALREADY on holiday with the family and Twitter busted him AGAIN. Not that you heard anything from the MSM. Now he has been busted, he says he won’t be with them full time in wish washy words. I call BS. #auspol
Australia awoke last week to the strains of Spike Milligan’s poignant refrain, ‘I’m walking backwards to Christmas.’
It may not be all the way to Christmas, but it could be even further – well into next year, and perhaps beyond that. We don’t know and we can’t tell.
But it is sadly clear that our dream run over the coronavirus pandemic has come to a sticky end. And it has happened on both fronts, the medical and the economic. The cluster of hot spots that emerged from Victoria does not yet constitute the dreaded second wave, but it is worrying, and defies explanation.
For readers of The Australian, of course, it is all too simple: Daniel Andrews unleashed the beast by not clamping down on the Black Lives Matter protests. But hang on – there were protests in other states as well, without clusters emerging, And in any case, not one of the cases in Victoria can be traced to the demonstrations.
So perhaps the problem was that Andrews mismanaged the Cedar Bay abattoir outbreak? Or ignored communicating COVID-19 information to the ethnic communities? One way or another, we have to blame the socialist totalitarian for something.
But apart from the partisan bullshit, the fact that there are clusters at all must serve as a warning, because across other parts, around the world, COVID–19 is still raging. It is out of control in Brazil, spreading dangerously in India, working its way through the southern United States and, most disturbingly, making huge inroads in parts of China, where it was thought to have been tamed......
And for the government, the worse news is that the easing of restrictions has not just stalled, but has been reversed in some areas, notably the urgency of opening state boundaries.And despite the predictions of the optimists, we are not yet in reach of a vaccine. This is not good news.
It appears that we are reverting to the old maxim: think globally, act locally. The national cabinet was never much more national than our mish-mash federation, or the constitution that birthed it; it was a useful conceit and helped us muddle through the early emergency, but it was always gesture politics rather than reality....
And now the premiers have declared that it is every state for itself. Some are derestricting like mad, others are more cautious, playing for time. And of course Victoria has gone backwards – even toilet paper is back on the rationing list. This is serious, folks......
And it appears that the other premiers are less than sympathetic. In NSW, Gladys Berejiklian has made it clear that Victorian holidaymakers will not be welcome in her pristine domain – in fact, she has bluntly told them to bugger off.
Australia is still doing fairly well by world standards. Moody’s rating agency and the International Monetary Fund have both offered commendation, ticking us off as one of the best in a fairly miserable bunch.
But the IMF have warned that shutting down the stimulus measures designed to dampen unemployment too abruptly could lead to awful consequences – it has urged caution; a gradual easing, rather than a sudden shut off.
Morrison and Josh Frydenberg seem, reluctantly, to be getting the message. The strictly temporary JobKeeker program, scheduled to end in September, may have to be extended, at least for the most vulnerable sectors of the economy.
And some extra spending is being rolled out; the beleaguered arts are finally getting a boost, although a very minor one, and in the wake of the Qantas stand down, assistance for the airline industry is on the table.
And Morrison is hell-bent on ramping up the nation for business – whatever the consequences. ‘We can’t go “stop, go, stop, go”, we can’t flick the light on and off,’ he insisted, blithely ignoring the fact that this is precisely what he is planning to do with JobKeeker. ‘We’ve got to just keep the focus on keeping the economy open and getting people back into jobs.’ And there is absolutely no need for anxiety about the Victorian outbreak, because ‘we were expecting it.’ Perhaps he was – the rest of us were somewhat taken aback.
But it is still all about industry and business. Individuals – casual workers in particular – are not considered essential. And of course enemies are still to be punished. The universities, and most of all the ABC, have been singled out for clobbering. Some of us are in this together more than others.
But it’s time to forget about the health crisis – so 2019-2020, We need a new narrative to turn the page into the new financial year. It’s the economy, stupid – and we do mean stupid. Back to Spike Milligan. As the Great Goon might have warbled:
Sometimes even in these dark times the news cycle throws up a quiet giggle. In the Murdoch-Morrison War on the ABC, Australia's public broadcaster...... First salvo L'l Scotty Morrison routinely swats away a journalist during a doorstop on 29 June 2020: JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you’ve spoken about the need for tax reform out the back of this crisis. Will you consider taking to the next election either an increase in the GST or a broadening of the base of the GST in order to get rid of and decrease other taxes or is that something you would rule out? PRIME MINISTER: Well, what I'm focused on at the moment is the decisions the Government has to make in relation to JobSeeker and JobKeeper and they’re important decisions as we move to the next phase post September. And I've got to say, Andrew, that's where my attention is right now. JOURNALIST: So it’s something you might consider down the track? PRIME MINISTER: No, Andrew, I'm not going to let you put words in my mouth. I've said what I've said. You know, we're focused on the questions that Australians are most interested in at the moment. And that is, frankly, the next phase beyond JobSeeker and JobKeeper. There is still a lot of work to do there and that's what we're focused on now. JOURNALIST: Were you concerned… PRIME MINISTER: No, it's not a one on one today, Andrew, there's many other journalists here. I'm happy to give you another one later. Supporting salvo News Corp's own NCA Newswire decides this exchange is a perfect opportunity to take another potshot at the ABC:
However there is one small problem with this 'news' report. Return fire from opposing trenches And that small problem was at matter of identity:
It would appear that News Corp mixed up Andrew Clennell a political editor over at its own subsidiary, Sky News Australia with an ABC political editor Andrew Probyn. Thus managing to bring down one of its own media soldiers in a volley of friendly fire. In future skirmishes perhaps Murdoch's troops could check mugshots before firing off a round - the Andrews are easy to tell apart.
ABC News, June 2020: Charities are warning Tweed Heads is a food insecurity hotspot and they are running out of supplies to meet rapidly growing demand. Agape Outreach founder Theresa Mitchell said the number of people asking for food assistance has almost doubled since the advent of coronavirus.
"Before COVID we were feeding up to 400 people a week, now we're feeding up to 700," she said. "We are getting 1,600-1,700 kilograms of food donated a week, but we can go through 700kg a day. "A run we did last week we had 150 hot meals. We didn't get halfway through the places we were going to. We bought $100 of pizza on top and we still had to turn people away." Tweed region facing unique challenges Agape services the stretch between the northern Gold Coast and Byron Bay, where Ms Mitchell said all communities were experiencing increased hardship as a result of coronavirus job losses. Food recovery charity OzHarvest is making hot meals Tweed, however, has few big businesses to provide major chunks of funding and faces unique accessibility issues with pockets of population dotted in remote areas. "There are a lot of people who can't get here [to access food] because of lack of funds to do that," Ms Mitchell said. "Every person walking in the door would ask us for a petrol voucher but we're not funded, we don't get money from everywhere, so we can't give them." Demand becoming unsustainable The Gold Coast manager of food rescue organisation OzHarvest, Sally Anderson, said servicing Tweed's growing demand is unsustainable.
OzHarvest figures show that in May 9,299kg of food was delivered to the nine charities it supports in Tweed Heads, but less than a third of it was contributed by donors from that area. "That identifies to us that Tweed donors would never be able to fill the demand of the food relief that is required by the charities down there," Ms Anderson said. "We make up the rest by donating Gold Coast food that we have collected to meet that food demand down at the Tweed end. "We are all a community, regardless of whether there is a border there or not, but in the next 12 months we will be facing some tough times. "Tweed really needs some attention so we would love it if we could get some support down there and we are trying to connect with local businesses."
The Sydney Morning Herald, 28 June 2020: The federal government's COVIDSafe app has not identified any close contacts of a person infected with coronavirus who had not already been found through manual contact tracing, despite being downloaded by more than 6 million Australians in two months. As the number of infections soars in Victoria, Centre Alliance senator Rex Patrick said the government was being dishonest about the effectiveness of the app, which Prime Minister Scott Morrison touted as "sunscreen" against major outbreaks and as the key to lifting restrictions..... The $2 million app — downloaded more than 6.44 million times and launched amid the height of the pandemic in Australia on April 26 — was built to help assist state and territory contact-tracing teams uncover close contacts of infected COVID-19 cases who may have been within 1.5 metres of them for more than 15 minutes in public places such as restaurants, cafes or shops. But testing data provided to the Senate showed its effectiveness, particularly on Apple iPhones, remains an ongoing issue.
The testing data, released to the Senate's select committee on COVID-19, shows when an iPhone is locked there remain issues with the app detecting another nearby iPhone user. Only 25 to 50 per cent of the time did it work on May 26 in locked iPhone-to-iPhone testing.
At launch, it was worse, working only 25 per cent of the time or less for locked iPhone to locked iPhone. When it was running in the background, the app also didn't work well.
Issues were also prevalent on Android smartphones, with problems remaining on May 26, especially when the app's testers tried to get iPhones and Androids to share information. At the app's launch, Government Services Minister Stuart Robert said: "To be effective, users should have the app running in the background when they are coming into contact with others. Your phone does not need to be unlocked for the app to work." Labor's government services spokesman Bill Shorten accused the government of being "secretive" about the app's dysfunction.
"The current app is clearly not working well enough and the government is being secretive about how often it has actually made a difference," Mr Shorten said..... On the app's launch day, 6696 Australians had coronavirus. Since then, a further 926 cases have been identified, many returned travellers. Of the 926, only 40 of those have had the COVIDSafe app and have allowed health officials to look at their close contact data..... On Wednesday, Victoria's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said his contact tracers had downloaded the app's data 30 times but had not identified anyone who wasn't already uncovered through the manual interview process..... Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt revealed on Thursday that NSW health officials had downloaded people's contact data from the app 10 times. But the NSW Health Department confirmed on Saturday no contacts or cases had been identified using the app.....
Local
farmers are spoiling for a fight with the State government over plans
to dig hundreds of gas wells across NSW’s most fertile countryside.
A
proposed $3 billion project to drill 850 coal seam gas wells between
Narrabri and Gunnedah would be a “climate crisis” according to
farmers in north west NSW, who hold grave fears for the future of
livestock, cropping and human drinking water.
The
NSW Department of Planning last week approved the proposal after a
drawn out three-year process, which means the final hurdle is
sign-off from the Independent Planning Commission.
A
NSW Farmers branch representing hundreds of farmers across the
Liverpool Plains voted unanimously to call on its peak industry body
to up the ante in its opposition to the coal seam gas project.
The
Gunnedah and Tambar Springs branch of NSW Farmers has formally
requested its parent body lobby the government to scrap the Narrabri
coal seam gas project and extinguish 11 expired and inactive
petroleum exploration licences dotted around the region.
Santos
Narrabri Gas project has raised alarm among farmers over the future
of livestock, cropping and human drinking water in the area. Picture:
Nathan Edwards.
Santos
has claimed the project won't compromise the Great Artesian Basin –
the world’s largest underground freshwater tank, big enough to fill
Sydney Harbour 130,000 times – but farmers maintain there is too
high a risk it could deplete and irreparably contaminate the aquifer.
"What
my members are saying is they can produce food and fibre without gas,
but they can’t do it without water,” branch secretary and wheat
farmer Xavier Martin said.
“The
Berejiklian government is not listening so NSW Farmers has to
escalate this.”
Farmers
see the Narrabri project as a “Trojan horse”, which if approved
will encourage gas miners to fire up 11 expired and largely inactive
petroleum exploration licences in the state’s north west from the
Upper Hunter and Liverpool Plains north to Moree and west to
Coonamble.
New Matilda, 28 June 2020: An infamous federal government bureaucrat at the centre of one of the biggest scandals in the ABC’s history – a fraudulent story which sparked the multi-billion dollar Northern Territory intervention – has been promoted to serve as Australia’s High Commissioner to Ghana.
Gregory Andrews was working as a senior adviser to Indigenous affairs minister Mal Brough in 2006 when he appeared as the star witness in an ABC Lateline story which falsely described him as an ‘anonymous youth worker’.
Andrews – whose face was filmed in shadow and his voice digitized to hide his identity – wept openly on camera as he described how, in the mid-2000s, he reported incidents of sexual violence against women and children in Mutitjulu to police, but withdrew his statements after being threatened by powerful men in the community.
It subsequently emerged the entire story was a fiction – Andrews had never made a single report of violence against women or children to police.
Andrews was also forced to apologise to the Federal Senate for providing misleading testimony, and later became the first public servant in history to avoid appearing before a Senate Inquiry on the grounds of stress.
The day after the ABC story was broadcast, the Northern Territory government announced a high-level inquiry into the claims. Almost a year later, the resulting reporting – Little Children Are Sacred – was used by the Howard Government as the basis for launching the Northern Territory intervention.
Infamous Canberra bureaucrat, Gregory Andrews, pictured in 2017.
Reporting by Fairfax revealed that shortly before Prime Minister John Howard announced the NT intervention, it received a report from Liberal Party polling firm Crosby Textor advising it that its best chance of winning the 2007 election was to intervene in the affairs of the state and territory governments, to try and make them look incompetent (all state and territory governments at the time were controlled by Labor).
The strategy failed – the Howard government lost the election, with former Foreign Affairs minister Alexander Downer lamenting afterwards that despite the loss, the policy proved popular with Australian voters.
Andrews worked in the community of Mutitjulu for a short period in 2005 as a project manager for the Northern Territory government. He subsequently joined the Department of Families and Community Services, Housing and Indigenous Affairs, and was providing advice directly to Minister Brough when the ABC falsely described him as an ‘anonymous youth worker’.
Talking points which had been prepared by Andrews for the minister prior to his appearance on Lateline were subsequently leaked – they revealed that once Andrews was provided anonymity by Lateline, he grossly embellished his story.
Andrews claimed children were being traded between Aboriginal communities in Central Australia as “sex slaves”. A lengthy investigation by Northern Territory police found “no evidence whatsoever” to support the claims. An Australian Crime Commission investigation also found the allegations to be false.....
The Age, 25 June 2020: ABC chairwoman Ita Buttrose has lashed out at Communications Minister Paul Fletcher over the Morrison government's handling of its multimillion-dollar budget cuts and accused him of lying about the national broadcaster's efforts to collaborate with SBS. In a fresh war of words between the taxpayer-funded broadcaster and the Coalition government, Ms Buttrose has accused Mr Fletcher of twice failing to provide the ABC board and management with the critical data that informed an independent report proposing the closure of two broadcast channels and the sharing of back-office and support services with fellow public broadcaster SBS. Ms Buttrose has also said the government misrepresented the ABC's efforts to work closer with SBS.
In a strongly-worded letter to Mr Fletcher, seen by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, Ms Buttrose said the ABC's board had asked her to "convey its concerns" about Mr Fletcher's lack of response to correspondence between the pair in September last year. "We raised a number of issues but were particularly interested in seeing 'the information - data, models and assumptions - which formed the basis for the savings estimates provided in the report'," Ms Buttrose wrote.
"I appreciate you have a busy schedule but we would appreciate an answer to our queries." Ms Buttrose said several media reports, which ABC management believes were informed by Mr Fletcher, had suggested the ABC "had neglected to 'collaborate more closely with SBS'". "This is incorrect," Ms Buttrose wrote. "David Anderson has had several conversations with SBS about sharing costs". A Peter Tonagh-led review of the public broadcasters was handed to the Morrison government in March last year, but its details were kept confidential as the ABC developed plans to cut costs. Some recommendations - such as an increased focus on digital growth, improving the ABC's iview platform and reducing investment in products that are not central to the ABC charter - were effectively adopted in the plan announced yesterday, but an ABC spokesman said that if all had been implemented there would have been more cuts. In the September correspondence between the pair, Ms Buttrose said the board said several proposals in the review "lack enough detail to allow an evaluation of whether the suggested savings can be realised". "In some cases, the savings estimates are presented in aggregate for the two national broadcasters and it is unclear what proportion of them has been attributed to the ABC, rather than SBS," she said. In particular, the review estimates that the national broadcasters could together save "a minimum of $45 million" by reducing multichannel services and "between $80 million and $115 million per annum" through focusing expenditure on what it characterises as "core" activities and a greater focus on digital delivery. "However, it provides no information as to how these figures were derived or the proportions attributed to the ABC," she said. Sources said Ms Buttrose had also raised the issue with Mr Fletcher at a face-to-face meeting between the pair at ABC's Ultimo headquarters on Tuesday. Mr Fletcher and Prime Minister Scott Morrison staunchly defended the level of funding provided to the ABC, insisting the government has not cut its budget, and backed the national broadcaster's efforts to be more focused on regional and suburban Australia.
"There are no cuts ... the ABC's funding is increasing every year," Mr Morrison said on Thursday. "The ABC would be the only media company or organisation in Australia today whose revenue, their funding, is increasing. It would be the only one in the country. We are seeing regional mastheads by commercial newspapers abolished."
The ABC announced a range of cuts on Wednesday, including 250 job losses and the end of the 7.45am radio news bulletin, in a bid to save $40 million until 2022. Managing director David Anderson also announced plans to cut poor-performing content, reduce episodes of Australian Story and Foreign Correspondent and lease space at the ABC's Sydney headquarters in Ultimo. The measures triggered a wave of criticism about the funding squeeze imposed on the broadcaster by the Coalition in recent federal budgets. ABC News, 27 June 2020: The ABC put forward two separate proposals offering to open more regional Australian studios, expand its coverage of remote communities and hire more journalists in rural areas in return for the federal government dumping its decision to freeze annual funding indexation. Correspondence between ABC managing director David Anderson and Communications Minister Paul Fletcher and seen by The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald, show the national broadcaster was prepared to invest tens of millions of dollars more outside capital city centres if the Morrison government was prepared to reverse its budget cuts. In a proposal made after the Black Summer bushfires in January, ABC management told Mr Fletcher the national broadcaster would be able to find $10 million a year to employ more regional journalists if indexation was restored. Mr Anderson's letter, sent to Mr Fletcher on January 24, said he was writing to ask the government to consider a reversal of the indexation pause, which is expected to cost the broadcaster up to $84 million over three years, to safeguard the future sustainability of the ABC. "If indexation was restored, combined with savings and efficiencies that the ABC has identified in recent months, the Corporation would be in a position to commit an additional investment of up to $10 million per annum to employ more journalists in regional Australia and generate more content from regions for the local and national stories," Mr Anderson wrote. Several government sources have confirmed Mr Fletcher did not reply to the letter, nor did he discuss the proposal with the ABC or his National Party colleagues, who have constantly raised concerns over the future of regional media outlets, following a spate of natural disasters including last summer's fires....[my yellow highting] The Saturday Paper, 27 June 2020: Two days before the ABC confirmed that up to 250 jobs will be cut across the organisation, the federal government finalised a $200,000 offer for consultants to prepare a report on news and media business models looking specifically at the impact of public broadcasters “on commercial operators”. An approach to market for the report was closed on Monday, with the federal Communications Department under minister Paul Fletcher requesting the successful bidder evaluate failed, successful and emerging news media operating models from around the world. As it happens, a key requirement of the research, due before the end of August, is also a hobby horse of the ABC’s commercial rivals. The tender asks consultants to examine “the role of publicly-funded (non-commercial) media organisations in the production and dissemination of news and media content in the comparable jurisdictions, and the impacts and interactions of publicly-funded entities with commercial operators”.
This is the argument News Corp makes against the ABC: that it is cutting into the audiences of commercial enterprises such as Rupert Murdoch’s newspapers, websites and pay television business. “The report will be used as an input to inform policy advice and decision-making in relation to the news and media sectors. The end-users of the report include Commonwealth officials, relevant Ministers, and their staff,” the tender documents say. “The report is not intended for public release.”...... BACKGROUND ABC News, 26 June 2029: The ABC has not only helped shape Australia, we are the national voice that unites us. It’s about democracy. Without the ABC we would have a balkanised and parochial bunch of broadcasters that are in danger of being compromised by profit and more intent on dividing than unifying. Imagine what it would be like during the bushfire season if we had to rely only on state-based or even regionally based media outlets. When we are in the middle of bushfires, don’t we want to know that they are being covered by a knowledgeable and experienced network of journalists with all the supporting infrastructure of a large national network? The ABC, funded by all of us, regardless of our creed – race, age, political beliefs – is us. It’s the way we build cross-cultural understanding, the way we help each other in times of need. It’s who we are collectively. Why would anyone want to diminish that and make us less than who we are? This has been a devastating week for the ABC. With unemployment at an all-time high to have to inform up to 250 people they no longer had a job has been an incredibly difficult task. Cuts to services caused by the ongoing reduction in our budget forced this action upon us and although we knew what had to be done, our hearts were with our employees. Let me clarify the cuts because there seems to be some confusion in Government circles about them. The 2018 Budget papers clearly state that the Government’s savings measures reduce funding to the ABC by $14.623 million in 2019-20, $27.842 million in 2020-21, and $41.284 million in 2021-22. This reduction totals $83.75 million on our operational base. It is true that over the three years the ABC budget does still increase but by a reduced amount, due to indexation on the fixed cost of transmission and distribution services. Previously, it was rising by a further $83.75 million over the same three years for indexation on our operational base. This is the funding that has been cut and considered a saving by the government.
These funding cuts are unsustainable if we are to provide the media services that Australians expect of us. Indexation must be renewed. The strength of the ABC and its relationship with the nation comes from the very people who work for us. They are passionate about public broadcasting and are prepared to work for less than they would be paid by commercial media to deliver it. The creativity in the programs they produce, the dogged and independent journalism they pursue and the connection with communities everywhere they provide through conversations is at the very heart of what the ABC delivers to our audiences. The ABC has a statutory requirement to operate as efficiently as possible. We have a strong track record in identifying savings and reinvesting them in services. This is how we created ABC News 24, ABC iview and a range of packages to boost services in rural and regional Australia. There is no other authority better placed to manage the ABC than the ABC itself. We know our business and we are determined to honour our commitment to independence. All Australians expect this of us just as they expect the Government to provide the appropriate funds to allow us to do so. The ABC is essential in generating and preserving Australia’s democratic culture. An independent, well-funded national broadcaster allows Australians, wherever they live, to connect. It is how we share our identity, how we tell our stories, how we listen to each other, how we ask for help and how we give it. Ita Buttrose AC OBE ABC Chair
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[Adopted and proclaimed by United Nations General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948]
Hi! My name is Boy. I'm a male bi-coloured tabby cat. Ever since I discovered that Malcolm Turnbull's dogs were allowed to blog, I have been pestering Clarencegirl to allow me a small space on North Coast Voices.
A false flag musing: I have noticed one particular voice on Facebook which is Pollyanna-positive on the subject of the Port of Yamba becoming a designated cruise ship destination. What this gentleman doesn’t disclose is that, as a principal of Middle Star Pty Ltd, he could be thought to have a potential pecuniary interest due to the fact that this corporation (which has had an office in Grafton since 2012) provides consultancy services and tourismbusiness development services.
A religion & local government musing: On 11 October 2017 Clarence Valley Council has the Church of Jesus Christ Development Fund Inc in Sutherland Local Court No. 6 for a small claims hearing. It would appear that there may be a little issue in rendering unto Caesar. On 19 September 2017 an ordained minister of a religion (which was named by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in relation to 40 instances of historical child sexual abuse on the NSW North Coast) read the Opening Prayer at Council’s ordinary monthly meeting. Earlier in the year an ordained minister (from a church network alleged to have supported an overseas orphanage closed because of child abuse claims in 2013) read the Opening Prayer and an ordained minister (belonging to yet another church network accused of ignoring child sexual abuse in the US and racism in South Africa) read the Opening Prayer at yet another ordinary monthly meeting. Nice one councillors - you are covering yourselves with glory!
An investigative musing: Newcastle Herald, 12 August 2017: The state’s corruption watchdog has been asked to investigate the finances of the Awabakal Aboriginal Local Land Council, less than 12 months after the troubled organisation was placed into administration by the state government. The Newcastle Herald understands accounting firm PKF Lawler made the decision to refer the land council to the Independent Commission Against Corruption after discovering a number of irregularities during an audit of its financial statements.The results of the audit were recently presented to a meeting of Awabakal members. Administrator Terry Lawler did not respond when contacted by the Herald and a PKF Lawler spokesperson said it was unable to comment on the matter. Given the intricate web of company relationships that existed with at least one former board member it is not outside the realms of possibility that, if ICAC accepts this referral, then United Land Councils Limited (registered New Zealand) and United First Peoples Syndications Pty Ltd(registered Australia) might be interviewed. North Coast Voices readers will remember that on 15 August 2015 representatives of these two companied gave evidence before NSW Legislative Council General Purpose Standing Committee No. 6 INQUIRY INTO CROWN LAND. This evidence included advocating for a Yamba mega port.
A Nationals musing: Word around the traps is that NSW Nats MP for Clarence Chris Gulaptis has been talking up the notion of cruise ships visiting the Clarence River estuary. Fair dinkum! That man can be guaranteed to run with any bad idea put to him. I'm sure one or more cruise ships moored in the main navigation channel on a regular basis for one, two or three days is something other regular river users will really welcome. *pause for appreciation of irony* The draft of the smallest of the smaller cruise vessels is 3 metres and it would only stay safely afloat in that channel. Even the Yamba-Iluka ferry has been known to get momentarily stuck in silt/sand from time to time in Yamba Bay and even a very small cruise ship wouldn't be able to safely enter and exit Iluka Bay. You can bet your bottom dollar operators of cruise lines would soon be calling for dredging at the approach to the river mouth - and you know how well that goes down with the local residents.
A local councils musing: Which Northern Rivers council is on a low-key NSW Office of Local Government watch list courtesy of feet dragging by a past general manager?
A serial pest musing: I'm sure the Clarence Valley was thrilled to find that a well-known fantasist is active once again in the wee small hours of the morning treading a well-worn path of accusations involving police, local business owners and others.
An investigative musing: Which NSW North Coast council is batting to have the longest running code of conduct complaint investigation on record?
A which bank? musing: Despite a net profit last year of $9,227 million the Commonwealth Bank still insists on paying below Centrelink deeming rates interest on money held in Pensioner Security Accounts. One local wag says he’s waiting for the first bill from the bank charging him for the privilege of keeping his pension dollars at that bank.
A Daily Examiner musing: Just when you thought this newspaper could sink no lower under News Corp management, it continues to give column space to Andrew Bolt.
A thought to ponder musing: In case of bushfire or flood - do you have an emergency evacuation plan for the family pet?
An adoption musing: Every week on the NSW North Coast a number of cats and dogs find themselves without a home. If you want to do your bit and give one bundle of joy a new family, contact Happy Paws on 0419 404 766 or your local council pound.
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