Did Steve Cansdell really resign or did he just decide to operate though a glove puppet?

If the fact that disgraced former Nats MP for Clarence Steve Cansdell was such a big part of the Chris Gulaptis campaign in the Clarence by-election gave more than a few people on the NSW North Coast pause for thought, then some statements and media reports since could be viewed as alarming.

This is Gulaptis after claiming victory:

“Mr Gulaptis said he will follow in the footsteps of his hard-working predecessor…. Mr Gulaptis said he would be talking to Mr Cansdell about these and other issues, as he had a lot of respect for what he achieved and knowledge he gained after more than eight years as member for Clarence.”

Gulaptis’ elevation to Clarence MP is so ambiguous that on the 18th November this year the Murdoch media itself was confused enough to think that the new member of the O’Farrell Government is none other than that right-wing chimera “Steve Gulaptis”:

Snapshot taken 10.30am 21^st November 2011

Tragedy at Sandon

Sandon.

A majestic coastline

With a sandy beach

Gently caressed

By waves of white and blue.

Sandon.

A precious home

For shorebirds.

A coastal feeding,

Nestling, roosting treasure.

Sandon.

A lifeline,

A chance to avoid extinction

For an endangered fellow creature,

The pied oyster catcher.

But,

Sandon, October 7.

Its sandy beach

Becomes a "highway"

An intruding 4WD.

Its driver

Indifferent and cruel

Sees an oyster catcher

And deliberately swerves

To hit it.

The 4WD continues on,

No thought of stopping

While the oyster catcher

Lies injued, in agony,

A wing badly broken.

To the stricken bird

NPWS carers come.

They strive to save it,

They do their utmost

But all in vain - the oyster catcher dies.

Our Earth community,

Its future is in the balance.

All life is important -

A supreme message - 

But, for some people ignored.

Stan Mussared

Clarence Valley Conservation Coalition

Sourced from CVCC's Voices from the Earth,
published in The Daily Examiner, 21/11/11

Spot the errors in Teh Daily Terror

One has to wonder why The Daily Telegraph journalist, Barclay Crawford, didn’t bother to check a couple of basic facts on Saturday night – Peter Ellem has not worked as an editor/journalist since 2008, Colin Clague stood as the endorsed Labor candidate in March 2011 and at the time these newspaper articles were being composed the swing to Labor on a two candidate preferred basis was +16.3 (+17.9 on first preference votes) by Antony Green’s final calculations on election night.
Perhaps Mr. Crawford was foolishly relying on the veracity of information supplied by the NSW North Coast Nationals? Never a good idea not to double check those media releases or helpful emails from vested interests.
Here in the regions we prefer our news to be accurate.

Nationals set to retain Clarence

Chris Gulaptis, a former mayor and federal candidate for the Nationals, was expected to enter state parliament with a convincing win in the Clarence by-election yesterday.

But the Labor Party was buoyed by a big swing in votes for its candidate, local newspaper editor Peter Ellem.

Mr Ellem campaigned hard on claims the O'Farrell government wanted to privatise electricity and the Grafton jail, and attacked the government over its decision to cut the death and disability scheme for police.

The Nationals, who retained the seat easily, said the swing to Labor was expected because the party did not contest the last state election, instead backing an independent candidate.

Nationals' leader and deputy premier Andrew Stoner was campaigning in Clarence yesterday, as was Opposition leader John Robertson.

The by-election was prompted by the resignation from parliament of Steve Cansdell, after he admitted he lied to avoid a speeding fine…….

Nationals win despite swing to Labor

CHRIS Gulaptis, a former mayor and federal candidate for the Nationals, will enter state parliament with a convincing win in the Clarence by-election yesterday, despite a solid swing of about 15 per cent for the Labor Party.

Paradise lost in Maclean

A letter to the editor in The Daily Examiner November 19, 2011:

Paradise lost
I'M visiting the Clarence area, having been away for some time.
I'm appalled at the lack of re-vegetation of the Maclean Rainforest Reserve, the amount of trimmings and vegetation removal in the high school area and the resulting movement of the flying fox camp to the gully/sub station area.
I was a member of the Maclean Rainforest Reserve Trust before the 1999 dispersals and I remember having a conversation with one of the residents of Harwood St, who stated from experience, that flying foxes had used the gully area in the past at times of dispersal/disturbance.
At the time, no one planning the dispersal would take any notice of this statement.
The "belief de jour" was that the disturbed flying foxes would move to Yaegl Nature Reserve - known then as Farlow's Swamp - despite the fact that there was no evidence that this was so.
The residents of the gully are certainly currently living daily with the results of this decision.
All evidence at the time stated that flying foxes are best managed in their original camp site.
I don't know what it takes to make those in authority take notice of evidence and consequences before they make decisions that others are going to have to live with.
They obviously use other criteria to make their decisions.
I wish I knew what they were.
It's interesting to note that Chris Gulaptis, who led the Maclean flying fox disturbance regime, is once again standing in the position of decision-maker for the people of this area.
I wonder if he ever reflects on the consequences of that earlier decision.
It certainly worked well for him, jump-starting his political career.
But the residents of the gully and a threatened species have not been so fortunate.

Carole West

Port Macquarie

Photograph from Google Images

NSW Police fight to keep mug shots of persons found not guilty by courts and succeed

NSW Police has given us more reason not to fall foul of the law – it intends to keep all those physical and digital copies of mug shots even after people are found not guilty by the courts.

The reason why police get to keep these records forever? Well the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal tells us it's because those lawmakers in Macquarie Street forgot to consider mug shots and surveillance photos when framing LEPRA.

The Tribunal also says; “NSW Police Force is not required to comply with the information protection principles when taking photographs of a person in lawful custody under s 133 of the LEPRA”

LEPRA allows for the destruction of finger and palm prints, but this legislative oversight leaves the way wide open for police to indulge in some petty revenge by keeping people in the database who have no criminal record.

Now I had a wee hunt back in time and discovered that LEPRA was enthusiastically embraced in 2006 by none other than the present NSW Police Minister who said in Parliament that “We want to re-empower police in relation to arrest and research with what is known as LEPRA—the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act.”

So the O’Farrell Government can’t just blame NSW Labor for the current stupidity.

Here’s one recent example of a person having prints destroyed but photos retained by police.