The blogosphere's talking about Tony Abbott

There are currently 43,648 mentions of Australian Liberal Party Leader Tony Abbott on Google Blog Search.
Here are a few:

If you had him in your family or as one of your friends, you'd quickly learn to ignore him. You'd laugh at him, write him off as a hysterical drop kick, or both. Oh, you'd say, there goes Tony again, with his lunatic conspiracy theories. Don't take any notice of him he's over-the top........
It doesn't take genius to see Abbott's modus operandi. He makes far-out statements in the hope that some mud will stick. He then backs off and resumes a more reasonable demeanour. In short, he is toying with us. Like a two-year-old child, he's testing out how far he can go before the adults impose limits on him. Unlike the child, he's fully cognisant of what he's doing and the consequences. His hope is that we are so thick we'll take his comments seriously, or at least factor them in as possibilities, and begin to see the Rudd government's apparently inexhaustible and dangerous potential for nothing less than absolute evil....
Jennifer Wilson at Online Opinion on 22nd February 2010

Abbott still misunderstands the role of effective, election-winning opposition, which is to keep the focus on the incumbent. I'm sure he's rubbing his hands at every headline he's getting, but all they do is keep the focus on him and his antics, and not the government.
PatrickG commenting at Larvatus Prodeo on 25th February 2010

As Abbott and Julie Bishop notch up their first 80 days as the new Opposition leadership team, the odds that they can pull off an election win are shortening. As unlikely as it seemed only two months ago, they may get there in time.
Ross Fitzgerald 23rd February 2010

For Abbott's Army it is victory after victory after victory and I know you are all high on the scent of blood and ready to do whatever your Commander in Chief (me) asks.
Tony with tongue firmly in cheek over at Abbott's Army: Forward to a safer past on 1st March 2010

We are getting a clearer picture of Opposition policies under Tony Abbott. It's full steam ahead to the past, circa 2004 to 2007:
Work Choices Light
Global Warming Slack
Hospital Boards Slight
Medibank Private Fire Sale
Refugee Reject
Kevin Rennie at Labor View from Bayside 17 February 2010

Paul Toohey has a piece in the Herald Sun: The PM, God and women – according to Tony Abbott. It's not a profile because only Abbott was interviewed. It's not Abbott's response to another politician. It's just a puff piece. But it's full of shit from Abbott:
"I do not regard myself as a Christian politician. I regard myself as a politician who just happens to think religion matters. I would be appalled, absolutely appalled, to think religion drove anyone's politics in a secular democracy like ours."
Seems Tony Abbott thinks we all have a short memory for when Parliament voted to remove his control of RU486.
And how's this quote from Abbbott about Rudd: "I also occasionally thought he was a little bit more in love with the sound of his own voice than he should have been." Pot, kettle, black.
The News With Nipples on 20th February 2010

Oz leader Tony Abbott misses sex during election campaigns!
Post tiltle at Buzz 7 on 19th February 2010

I am mesmerised by Tony Abbott. A conservative politician who actually articulates conservative values! A political leader who actually leads! Such a phenomenon is unknown in Britain, where David Cameron's Conservatives believe they have to go with the left-wing flow. And of all issues, Abbott actually won his party leadership through scorning man-made global warming theory for the scam that it is. This is surely as if Galileo had been elected to the Papacy. Abbott thus took on and bested not only Prime Minister Rudd but his own Liberal party colleagues who had supported Rudd's ruinous environmental policies. And wonder of wonders, such realism is winning votes; people queue up to say to me: 'At last, a politician who tells it as it is.' As a result, Abbott is snapping at Rudd's heels. A politician who is not afraid to tell unfashionable truths to ideological power; a conservative who is fighting on the right side of the culture wars. Can I bottle him and take him home with me?
Melanie Phillips on 24 February 2010

SYDNEY'S Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras went political last night with WorkChoices, budgie smugglers and the undead sending a message straight to Tony Abbott.

More than 70 members of union WorkersOut! a collective of working individuals who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual and intergender took part in the float "Tony Abbott and WorkChoices Undead?" and marched down Oxford Street in a sparkly protest.

The majority were dressed as zombies with slogans saying "Tony Abbott loves WorkChoices" and "Tony Abbott hates your rights at work".

World Countries on 27th February 2010

Essential Report opinion poll on politcal leaders shows Rudd still outshines Abbott in the personality stakes

The Essential Report pollsters asked 1,816 people for their opinion of various personality traits in relation to the Australian Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition, with 1009 responding to this 23-28 February online poll conducted at Your Source.

Kevin Rudd as incumbent Labor prime minister still wipes the floor with his Coalition counterpart across all positive categories - intelligent, hard-working, visionary, down-to-earth, capable leader, good in crisis, trustworthy, understands problems facing Australia, more honest than most politicians etc.
In relation to what might be seen as negative characteristics both men are considered equally demanding, with Rudd viewed as more superficial and complacent than Abbott who is seen as more out of touch, inflexible, narrow-minded and arrogant by most respondents.

Click on image to enlarge

Possum over at Pollytics breaks down the Essential Report data into easy to read tables.

The latest Newspoll shows similar two-party preferred percentages to those which occurred at the 2007 federal election, which seems to give Labor the winner's crown if an election had been held in the last fortnight. In this poll Rudd led Abbott as preferred prime minister by 25 percentage points.

The beautiful young faces of Boneless Pony

The Clarence Valley holds a wealth of young talent and the music trio Boneless Pony (pictured above) formed by three final year music students from Maclean High School are a delight.

The trio will be performing next at the Yamba International Women's Day Brunch on Saturday 6 March 2010. Details here.

Hair today gone tomorrow as 2010 unofficial election campaign rolls on

Maud up the Street has a big grin on her face because she's just noticed that Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's discreet baby frontal comb-over has been turned into a close crop which he obviously hopes will play better to the camera.

Maud thinks it must be hard when a pollie finds that even sporting poses for the media just can't hide a distinct tonsorial fail creeping from back to front. While standing up during Question Time must be a real trial for a man trying to project a 'young' image.

Pic from Crikey

Glenda MacPhail from the Clarence Valley named as a finalist in NSW Woman of the Year Award 2010

Glenda MacPhail of Townsend [see insert] a tireless worker on behalf of the Clarence Valley indigenous community has received some well-deserved recognition.
She was named a finalist in the NSW Woman of the Year Award 2010.
Winner to be announced on Monday 8 March.

From Bigpond News:

Three Aboriginal women are in the running to become NSW Woman of the Year thanks to their work in health and community development.
The award, for which there are 10 finalists, is part of International Women's Day celebrations on March 8. The winner will be announced at a reception hosted by Premier Kristina Keneally on the day.

Finalist Sister Alison Bush, the first Aboriginal midwife to be based at a major maternity hospital inNSW, has been recognised for her forty years working with Aboriginal mothers and babies.

Elder Millie Ingram is also in contention for the award for her ongoing work in community leadership through Redfern and Waterloo land council organisations as well as women's community groups.

Glenda MacPhail, a Yaegl woman, has also been honoured as a finalist for her efforts helping to set up the Lower Clarence Aboriginal Women's Resource Centre at Maclean, near Grafton on the state's north coast.

Full list of finalists from a field of 90 nominations:

• Sister Alison Bush from Leichardt,
• Ms Wendy Fogarty from Tarrawanna,
• Councillor Colleen Fuller from Gunnedah,
• Ms Millie Ingram from Glebe,
• Ms Susan Lee from Strathfield,
• Mrs Glenda MacPhail from Townsend,
• Mrs Johanne Provins from Granville,
• Professor Janice Reid AM from Penrith,
• Pastor Julie Virtue from Forbes; and
• Mrs. Christine Weston from Cumnock.

Far stranger than fiction: there's a price on Aussie PM's head

Where do some nongs keep their brains - in a box down in the garden shed?
Somehow I'd always thought offering a reward for political assassination was just a trifle over the top, even if you're young and stupid enough to say it on a Facebook page displaying your own mug shot for any potential complaint laid with the Australian Federal Police about advertising a willingness to fund murder.

Google's search engine indexes 2,870 items which have this word sequence "kill kevin rudd" and the item with top ranking is a free game called, you guessed it, Kill Kevin Rudd by Pictogame
There are only 4 items for "kevin rudd must die".
But there are 182 mentions of "assassinate kevin rudd" and the top ranker is the one offering "to pay someone $50000 if they assassinate Kevin Rudd":

kevin rudd is a fuckng douche bag Facebook

Todd Brees Riley i am prepared to pay someone $50000 if they assassinate Kevin Rudd. July 13, 2009 at 11:04pm · Report ...
www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=6818997201 - Cached

Australian Federal Election 2010: So who thinks neither rule nor law applies to him?

What's wrong with the pictured letter and attachments?
These three documents (letter, flyer and petition sheet) came in the same envelope - as part of a bulk mailout by the Nationals Federal Member for Cowper sent to voters in the neighbouring seat of Page which held by a member of the Rudd Government.
Worked it out yet?
I'm sure many of you are already starting to count the (ahem) breaches.....

Small hint; The entitlement must only be used for parliamentary or electorate purposes, and must not be used for: (a) party business and As of 1 October 2009, Senators and Members have had the option to submit a print ready copy of material proposed to be printed using their printing and communications entitlement for vetting by the Department of Finance and Deregulation. As part of the vetting process, Finance will assess the print ready copy against the parameters of the printing and communications entitlement, and Senators and Members will receive written advice on whether or not the item is within entitlement. and The AEC takes the view that the election period for these purposes will - at minimum - be the period from the announcement of the election or the issue of the writs (whichever is the earlier) to the close of polling on election day. However, in circumstances where there is considerable speculation surrounding a possible election, the AEC may consider that the election period has commenced, notwithstanding that there has been no announcement or issuing of the writs.

Seems Luke Hartsuyker MP didn't bother to consider his actions against current policy, rules or law and that's not his only problem, even if his spokesperson 'appears' not to understand when questioned by the media.

Click on images to enlarge

Name and address of recipient redacted from letter

International Women's Day 2010 events in the Clarence Valley

PROGRAM OF EVENTS

There is a range of activities during the week before and after 8th March, the official International Women’s Day. Council and the NSW Office for Women’s Policy are supporting the following events.

Saturday 6 March
Brunch organized by Lower Clarence Women’s Group at Yamba Community Centre, Treelands Drive, Yamba.
Guest speaker from Love Bites Program.
Entertainment: Youth trio Boneless Pony.
Time: 10 am - 11.30 am. $10 per person or $5 concession. Purchase tickets by Thursday 4 March at Yamba Community Centre: 6646 1478. Contact: susan.howland@clarence.nsw.gov.au

Saturday 6 March
Drumming workshop for women from 3- 5 pm at Scout Hall, Iluka. Cool drinks and nibblies provided. Bookings essential by Thursday 4 March to Susan Howland 0427 975 131 susan.howland@clarence.nsw.gov.au

Monday 8 March
Breakfast organized by Clarence Valley Women Inc with guest speaker, Judy Lewis, General Manager Daily Examiner. Victoria’s Restaurant, Fitzroy St. Grafton. 7.00 am – 9 am. $15.50 per person or $10 concession. RSVP by Thursday 4 March to Vicki on 6644 8450 or
victoria@stlawrenceconsulting.com.au

Friday 12 March
Clarence Valley View Clubs invite you to morning tea, light lunch,entertainment, guest speakers, lucky door prizes & raffles. Venue: Yamba Bowling Club, Wooli St. Yamba. 9.30 am for 10 am morning tea. $10 per person. Bookings must be made by Friday 5 March to Joy Lauder 6646 1124.

Saturday 13 March

Lower Clarence Aboriginal Women’s Group invites everyone to join them for an exhibition of arts and crafts by local Aboriginal women at Annie’s Place, Hillcrest Maclean from 3 pm – 5 pm. Afternoon tea provided. Contact: Nakeeta McLeay 6645 3468/0418 425 637.

Sunday 28 Feb 2010: Marine Tsunami Warning issued for Australian east coast from Point Danger QLD down to Banks Strait TAS

At 5.30 this morning the Australian Bureau of Meteorology issued the following information for New South Wales:

MEDIA: No use of the Standard Emergency Warning Signal (SEWS)
TOP PRIORITY FOR IMMEDIATE AND FREQUENT BROADCAST

TSUNAMI WARNING NUMBER 9 FOR NEW SOUTH WALES Issued by the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre (JATWC) at5:30 AM EDT on Sunday 28 February 2010
TSUNAMI THREAT TO THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT SUMMARY:
Tsunami warning for the marine environment for NEW SOUTH WALES.
Threatened areas extend over all New South Wales coastal areas from Gabo Island to Point Danger.
Possibility of dangerous waves, strong ocean currents and foreshore flooding throughout the day from 08:00 am (EDT) Sunday.
Sea level observations HAVE confirmed a tsunami has been generated.
For further details visit the Bureau web site www.bom.gov.au. Next update due by 7:00 AM EDT on Sunday 28 February 2010
DETAILS: Tsunami waves are more powerful than the same size beach waves, with the first wave not always the largest.
First tsunami effects are expected as follows:
Gabo Island after 08:00 am (EDT) Sunday
Sydney after 08:45 am (EDT) Sunday
Crowdy Head after 08:45 am (EDT) Sunday
Coffs Harbour after 09:00 am (EDT) Sunday
Byron Bay after 09:15 am (EDT) Sunday
Tweed Heads after 09:15 am (EST) Sunday
Check that your neighbours have received this advice.
Boats in harbours, estuaries or shallow coastal water should return to shore.
Secure your boat and move away from the waterfront.
Vessels already at sea should stay offshore in deep water until further advised.
Do not go to the coast to watch the tsunami, as there is the possibility of dangerous, localised flooding of the immediate foreshore.
For emergency assistance, call NEW SOUTH WALES STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE on 132500
Maps showing the affected areas are on the Bureau web site www.bom.gov.au/tsunami. For a repeat of this warning call 1300 TSUNAMI (1300878 6264).

*TSUNAMI SOURCE: An undersea earthquake of magnitude 8.8 occurred at 5:34 PM EDT on Saturday 27February 2010 near THE COAST OF CENTRAL CHILE (latitude 35.320S longitude 72.930W )
*The JATWC is operated by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and Geoscience Australia

State/Territory Warnings
Norfolk Island Marine Warning issued 6:01 AM local time on Sun 28 Feb 2010
Lord Howe Island Marine Warning issued 5:31 AM EDT on Sun 28 Feb 2010
Tasmania Marine Warning issued 5:31 AM EDT on Sun 28 Feb 2010
Victoria Marine Warning issued 5:30 AM EDT on Sun 28 Feb 2010
New South Wales Marine Warning issued 5:30 AM EDT on Sun 28 Feb 2010
Queensland Marine Warning issued 4:30 AM EST on Sun 28 Feb 2010

Which Witch? or Rumours To Spell By

The ladies at the croquet club have been looking at me with strange sideways glances since Bob’s encounter with the bunyip.
The story spread faster than dog fleas.
Bob’s fight with the dark dastardly bunyip grew to heroic proportions.

It seems my spell expanded as well. It is now known that I danced naked around the shed while reciting words from an ancient mystic language, only the last part of which could be understood by Bob the Valiant. Gigantous robusta meaning big strong spell was what he heard chanted. {Not grevillea robusta the botanical name for silky oak}.

An esky full of beer was made to taste like water, but Bob was safe in the shed, not a bunyip in sight and the next morning he emerges at dawn feeling great with hardly a hangover at all.
It seems that spell must have had hangover protection properties as well!

Graphic from Google Images

From the 'way too much information' file

What on earth was the real estate agent and the property owner thinking when a particular Canberra house was listed for sale online, with multiple large, glossy detailed photographs displaying the interior attached.
Did we really need to know that the somewhat notorious alleged Liberal Party mole Godwin Grech obviously has a passion for collecting antique clocks, a penchant for decorating with gilt cherubs and reads books about Hitler?
Nup, didn't think so.

Dividing the GST pie in 2010

Just goes to show - if you whinge long enough and hard enough you're bound to be heard.
New South Wales finally gets a slice of the GST pie which begins to reflect the amount of this consumption tax we Welshies pay.
From the Commonwealth Grants Commission media release on 26th February 2010:
"The Commonwealth Grants Commission has released its advice on how GST revenue should be distributed among the States and Territories in 2010-11. .....Under the Commission's recommendations for 2010-11, Victoria and New South Wales, and to a lesser extent Queensland and South Australia, receive larger shares of GST revenue compared to 2009-10, while Western Australia, and to a lesser extent the Northern Territory and the ACT, receive smaller shares. The share of Tasmania would stay unchanged. The Chairman of the Commission, Alan Morris, said, "This review takes into account the significant changes in the fiscal circumstances of the States since the Commission's last review in 2004. At the time of that review, New South Wales and Victoria were fiscally stronger than the other States. While their fiscal capacities are still above average, those of Western Australia and Queensland have strengthened quite dramatically over recent years as a result of strong increases in their revenue raising capacities, principally from mining royalties. The fiscal capacities of these two States are now the strongest. These four States now share the cost of raising the fiscal capacities of the four weaker States to the average. "Fiscal equalisation is designed so that, as a State's own capacity to raise revenue, or its cost of delivering services, diverges from the national average, there are compensating adjustments to its GST revenue", Mr Morris said. "That is what has happened in recent updates, and in this review."

2010 CGC Review final report here.

Dividing the Goods & Services Tax according to Granny Herald:
NSW + $1.07 billion
Victoria + 872 million
Queensland + $545 million
S. Australia + $357 million
Tasmania + $91 million
NT + $78 million
ACT - $30 million
WA - $223 million
SOURCE: GRANTS COMMISSION 2010-2011

The Big Joke Comedy Festival returns! 18-21 March 2010 at Bangalow NSW

The Big Joke Comedy Festival brings the laughs to the Bangalow A and I Hall. Featuring international headline acts, stand up comedy by kids, emerging comics battle it out for the Village Idiot crown and a women's comedy breakfast. The best comedy experience outside a capital city, No wait, better. No traffic, no long waiting lines, village atmosphere with a holiday begging to be taken, the funniest comedians on the planet WHOM actually want to have a beer and chat with the audience after the show, autographs, photo's, parking, relaxed and painless but really, really memorable.

When: 18 March to 21 March 2010 starting at 11:00 AM
Where: A and I Hall, Bangalow, NSW

Contact: Tel: 02 6629 1457 Email: jonathanallison@rocketmail.com

Web: http://www.thebigjoke.com.au/
Festival program details and online booking details here

Rudd Government and Woolworths partner in 2010 Food Rescue Campaign

Food Rescue Campaign

Woolworths supermarkets, together with the Federal Government, have launched a year long campaign to rescue a record amount of surplus food from the waste stream and turn it into meals for the needy. With a target to provide two million meals for those in need and $2 million for those food relief charities who serve them, the campaign aims to address an underlying social problem in Australia. The Australian Government will partner with Woolworths to advise on the allocation of the funding. The Woolworths Fresh Food Rescue campaign will support food relief charities at two core levels: Expanding food rescue and food donation schemes from Woolworths stores to charity groups. With 687 supermarkets already participating in some kind of food rescue program, Woolworths wants to substantially increase its partnerships with local food relief charities or soup kitchens. Woolworths' target is to turn its food surplus into two million meals for the needy in 2010. Building additional capacity amongst charity groups through a major grants scheme Woolworths will contribute $2 million to help charity groups expand their operations and ensure thousands more people can access healthy, nutritious food. Each year households, retailers, restaurants and businesses throw out millions of tonnes of food which then finds its way into landfill sites. Although not always fit for sale, much of it is good quality and could easily be rescued and turned into nutritious, healthy meals for the needy or vulnerable in our society. Organisations such as Foodbank, OzHarvest, FareShare, Food 4 Life and SecondBite and others work hard to turn excess food into nutritious meals for the homeless, the vulnerable and the needy. These charities are primarily staffed by volunteers and only have limited resources to provide the help that is required. Food is not the only thing they need, the sector is also crying out for vehicles, storage, refrigeration and other facilities to maintain and expand their operations. FareShare CEO Marcus Godinho says there's no shortage of quality surplus food in Australia, however sadly local charities have lacked the means to handle the food donations on offer. Godinho says the program will help charities to receive, store and hand out hundreds of tonnes of quality food and help the growing number of Australian families who are struggling to afford three meals a day, seven days a week. OzHarvest Founding Director Ronni Kahn says the unwanted food is there and Australians in need are there. OzHarvest is only limited by lack of funds to enable us to collect more food from more stores to deliver to more people. An injection of funds like this to the food rescue sector helps all of us to share the surplus food with those in need. SecondBite also supports the Woolworths initiative to expand the provision of surplus fresh food and donate $2million dollars to the food relief sector. Food Program Manager Russell Shields says that with SecondBite's focus on providing recipient agencies with fresh food and innovative food relief programs that provide long term preventative solutions to families in crisis, this funding will help us to collect and redistribute over 900 tonnes of fresh food in 2010 across Victoria and Tasmania. Foodbank CEO John Webster describes the initiative as a wonderful adjunct to the current Woolworths' program to capture and distribute surplus packaged goods from individual stores and distribution centres. He says Woolworths is already their single largest national food donor and this will assist in expanding donations as they strive to meet the demands of the 2,200 welfare agencies that they provide food to across the country. Woolworths says it is working toward an ambitious target to reduce organic waste to zero by the year 2015. In 2009 the company was one of Australia's largest food donors, providing 1.35 million kilos of consumable food which is the equivalent of 1.5 million meals. Woolworths will be consulting with a number of current charity partners to understand how the grant scheme can best address their needs. Further details, criteria and eligibility will be released later in the year. Enquiries can be made by email - freshfoodrescue@woolworths.com.au (From Northern Rivers Social Development Council Feb/March newsletter)

Flying foxes - let's get it right

It is disturbing that incorrect information about the bats in Maclean has been widely circulated. The management of urban flying-foxes is complex.

The community is entitled to be presented with information that is free of hysteria, stereotypes and political manoeuvrings.

Research, that can be verified, indicates that most efforts to relocate flying-foxes in Australia, including Maclean have been unsuccessful e.g., despite over 10 years of disturbance at Maclean the flying-foxes return annually, and due to their fidelity to camp sites are likely to return for many more years, maybe indefinitely.

Relocation attempts are often extremely costly e.g., over $400,000 at Maclean since 1999 and $3 million at Melbourne. Relocations need to be considered by the broader community, not just immediate communities, as relocations have the potential to shift the flying-foxes to other urban areas.

It is highly probable that the flying-foxes from Maclean have relocated to Iluka causing conflict with those residents. Further relocations at Maclean have the potential to increase conflict again in Iluka and fragment the animals into other urban townships such as Ashby and Yamba.

Given the high costs and uncertainty of relocation, it is very clear that other options such as community education, revegetation of buffer zones and modifications to buildings are also considered.

Flying-foxes are a native species and they are responsible for the propagation of our iconic forests. It is important that we recognise the intrinsic value of our Australian wildlife. To do less is a sad indictment on all of us.

Imelda Jennings

Secretary, Wildlife SOS

* GuestSpeak is a feature of North Coast Voices allowing Northern Rivers residents to make satirical or serious comment on issues that concern them. Posts of 250-300 words or less can be submitted to ncvguestspeak at live dot com dot au for consideration.

Bravo Patricia! Proud Yaegl woman socks it to Sydney media in defence of Yamba

In The Daily Examiner on 24 February 2010:

THE riot in Yamba on February 14 has attracted plenty of unwanted attention for the holiday town. A report in the metropolitan media at the weekend pointed the finger at Yamba's Aboriginal population as the cause of the town's problems. Today, Yamba Aboriginal leader and NSW Aboriginal Land Council member PATRICIA LAURIE responds.

IN the past week, mainstream media reporting of my community of Yamba has been inaccurate, sensationalised and ridiculous.

The reports relate to the arrest of 15 people on February 14 following a party at an industrial area on the edge of town.

During the incident several police were allegedly assaulted and two vehicles damaged.

Some media are calling it the Valentine's Day riots.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported over the weekend, 'Holiday haven one day, riots the next'.

'A thin strip of barbed wire running along a high fence-top behind The Sands resort says everything Yamba residents will not: this is a town divided', the report read.

'On one side of the street is a three-storey, gated complex of luxury villas and apartments with a lap pool, tennis courts and spa, and spacious private houses with neat gardens behind tall wooden barriers.

Across the road is a derelict moonscape; a barren paddock of dishevelled brick homes and abandoned weatherboard cottages.

Welcome to Yamba, one year ago declared Australia's best tourist destination ahead of Byron Bay and Port Douglas.

Last weekend the once sleepy North Coast fishing village at the mouth of the Clarence River was the scene of a riot in which party-goers allegedly danced on a police car, pelted it with bricks, then set it alight after being asked to turn music down at a shed on the fringes of town.

Publicly, locals put crime down to the sporadic police presence.

A dozen officers are expected to cover a population of roughly 20,000 spanning three towns and can take more than an hour to respond to triple-0 calls.

Privately, two groups are blamed: the local Indigenous population and the children of low-income seachange families.'

Unfortunately, the facts of this incident have gotten in the way of a story.

So here are a few inconvenient truths for media planning to visit Yamba in the future.

Firstly, of the 15 people arrested by police on the night, only three were Aboriginal.

Of the three arrested this week, only one is Aboriginal.

That means 14 of the 18 are non-Aboriginal.

Secondly, figures from 2008 from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOSCAR) reveal that the Clarence Valley Local Government Area – which takes in Yamba – has an assault rate below the state average.

Our region is not racked with violence. Our town is not divided.

It is calmer and more peaceful than most of the state.

The figures also reveal that assaults against police are below the state average in the Clarence Valley. But where's no news in that.

The headline 'Yamba a safer town than state average' is nowhere near as interesting as 'Community in crisis' or 'Town divided' or 'Beautiful one day, rioting the next'.

Here are a few more inconvenient truths.

The Bega Valley, way down on the Far South Coast of NSW, has almost precisely the same relative crime statistics as the Clarence Valley.

Can Merimbula – another coastal tourist town – expect the arrival of busloads of Sydney journalists determined to prove it's a community divided by race wars and juvenile delinquency?

The assault rate in Cessnock is higher than it is the Clarence Valley.

It's higher in Coffs Harbour.

It's higher in the Cooma-Monaro region which takes in the Sydney crowd heading to the snow in winter.

It's higher in Glen Innes, a sleepy country town due west of Yamba.

It's twice as high in Inverell, another sleepy country town due west of Yamba.

The rate of assaults is also almost twice as high in Campbelltown; in Manly on Sydney's lower north shore; in the Byron Shire.

But wait for it: the rate of assaults in the Botany Bay area – where the resident MP is the premier of NSW, Kristina Keneally – is higher than in the Clarence Valley.

Where are the headlines about NSW burning?

Surely our state's a tinder box?

A powder keg of racial violence waiting to explode?

Or maybe the media is just looking for something sensational to report, rather than wade through piles of crime statistics which tell different tales to those reported.

The rate of assaults on police in the Clarence Valley is identical to the rate in the Wingecarribee Shire, home to the wealthy Bowral community.

But there's no 'Bowral divided' story in the weekend edition of the SMH, just a piece about some shopkeepers lobbying to keep St Vinnies out of the main street.

In the Mosman area – another of Australia's most privileged regions – the number of 'liquor offences' is more than three times the rate of the Clarence Valley and four times greater than the state average.

So why no media campaign for a Federal Government intervention to stop the rivers of grog on the lower north shore?

It would have more factual basis than the rubbish we're being dished up about Yamba.

The facts are, the mainstream media coverage of the 'Yamba riots' has mostly been garbage.

It's designed to sell newspapers or improve ratings. Yamba has the same tensions all average Australian communities face.

Nothing more, perhaps a little less. The real beat-up is the mainstream media's coverage of our community.

Yes, there are occasional tensions in the town, just as there are in all Australian communities.

And, yes, those tensions sometimes run along racial lines.

Yes, Yamba has its share of assaults just like every other community in Australia, coastal or otherwise.

But is there room for improvement? Of course there is, just like there is in every other community in Australia.

And that's precisely what Yamba residents are working to do.

On the whole, our community is peaceful and cohesive.

Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people work hard at maintaining respectful, meaningful relationships.

The media will be disappointed to learn that no amount of misreporting is likely to change that.

Microsoft threatens & Networks disables whistleblower website, but......

Everytime one turns around some government or multinational corporation appears to be gathering data concerning our lives and habits and, in the process attempting to treat citizens/customers as though they have little or no right to know the extent of these activities.

This time it was Microsoft's turn to be outed and Cryptome posted a downloadable file titled Microsoft Spy Guide which contained the company document Microsoft Global Criminal Compliance Handbook, March 2008.

This document opens with information concerning its online Free Email Services @hotmail.com @msn.com @live.com, Authentication Service: Windows Live ID, Instant Messaging: Windows Live Messenger, Social Networking Services: Windows Live Spaces & MSN Groups, Custom Domains: Windows Live Admin Center & Office Live Small Business, Online File Storage: Office Live Workspace & Windows Live SkyDrive, and Gaming: Xbox Live :

Microsoft Online Services will respond to emergency requests outside of normal business hours if the emergency involves "the danger of death or physical injury to any person…" as permitted in 18 U.S.C. § 2702(b)(8) and (c)(4). Emergencies are limited to situations like kidnapping, murder threats, bomb threats, terrorism threats, etc. If you have an emergency request, please call the law enforcement hotline at

(425) 722-1299.....

Microsoft has established local contacts within your country or region to handle legal process related to Microsoft Online Services. If you are not already familiar with your local contact, please e-mail the Global Criminal Compliance team at globalcc@microsoft.com, and you will be directed to the local contact handling requests from your country.

All legal process for criminal matters from non-U.S. law enforcement, prosecutors and courts must be directed to Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052 and not to Microsoft's local subsidiary as all Microsoft Online Services customer data is stored in the U.S. Your local contact will be able to educate you as to what local process must be followed in order to obtain online services customer account records from Microsoft.

Details of the war of words between the whistleblower website and Microsoft can be found at The People's Forum. Cryptome itself is no longer accessible on the Internet as of yesterday 25 February 2010.

However, as usual netizens reacted and now the original Crypotme document (1.75MB PDF or 29KB TXT) can be found at Scribd here.

Why the Microsoft Corporation feels that its customers should not be aware of the extent of their potential exposure (due to company policy and legislated requirements under U.S. law), or why it wants to embarrass itself by drawing attention to a posted copy of the document it was wishing to conceal, remains a mystery.

This desire to hide from the general public its ability and willingness to data gather and store information over long periods is an attitude it appears to share with other big corporations and government agencies around the world.

Aw tell me it ain't so, Stevo! You haven't gone and nobbled a government website?

This is the content of the very small tag cloud found on the Dept. of Broadband, Communications, Digital Economy and Compulsory National Censorship webpage Senator the Hon. Stephen Conroy, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy,Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate:

NBN Broadband
National Broadband
Network ABC
Broadcasting National Broadcasters
SBS Digital Switchover
Digital Television Youth Advisory Group
Cyber-Safety
Internet Budget E-Health
Mobile Services

Looks unexceptional don't it?
Then someone on a Whirlpool forum asked themselves a question. Why isn't the search term "ISP filtering" or similar up there somewhere?
After all that term is found in about 63 media releases archived on the website and presumably cyber visitors go looking.

Oh noes! came the answer, the word cloud has been nobbled!

Filtering already begun! :)

User #185532 8 posts Rupple Forum Regular

I find this one rather humorous, on Conroy's website, if you take a look at the right hand side there is the "cloud" for searched items, the more searched the phrase or word is, the larger the item is. Looking at the source code of the site, there is the entire list of words that the script uses to determine the cloud words and how prevelant they are. Basically breaks it down to an array, counts and then sets the size based on how frequent it is etc... In the script that generates the cloud, there is a line that says basically if the seach term is "ISP Filtering" to skip and go onto the next. In the time I was on the site, there were about 16 instances of "ISP Filtering" in the cloud, and only about 5 instances of E-Health, though ISP Filtering did not show in the cloud.... Anyway just a funny, and some food for thought! :) //for(var i=0; i<unique.length; i++) for(var i=0; i<=15/*<-Important! increase this value by 1 everytime a keyword is excluded below*/; i++) { var z=0; for(var j=0; j<split.length; j++) { if (unique[i]==split[j]) { z=z+1; } counts[i] = z; } var size = getTagClass(z); //Customise the tag-cloud to display what shows up if (unique[i] == "ISP Filtering") { continue; } document.write('<a class="'+size+'" href=\"http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au/search?q='+unique[i]+'">'+unique[i]+'</a> '); } document.write('</p>'); document.write('</div>'); } EDIT: Thought I should add the URL of the site, incase people get confused with stephen-conroy.com :) This is on the minister for broadband and other random crap that he has no idea about site.... URL: http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au/

State of Play in the Climate Change Cyberspace War

In ABC online The Drum's Unleashed four articles have been posted by journalist and former Greens candidate for the seat of Higgins Clive Hamilton this week as part of a series of five:

Bullying, lies and the rise of right-wing climate denial

Who is orchestrating the cyber-bullying?

Think tanks, oil money and black ops

Manufacturing a scientific scandal

Who's defending science? (update - last article in series)

Reading these in conjunction with Jonathon Holmes' Malice, misquotes and Media Watch and an earlier The Punch article by Paul Coglan The holy war on climate change and a picture of the Australian state of play emerges in what has to be seen as an ongoing war on science.

The comments sections on these mainstream media webpages are littered with climate change denialists and this particular comment directed at Hamilton is fairly typical in attitude of the whole which survive after moderation for offensive language, defamation, hate speech etc:

moredissent4u : 23 Feb 2010 9:46:36pm

Clive Hamilton cannot countenance that his tome, Death Rattles of the Climate Change Sceptics, has come back to bite him. Sceptics who baulk at dire predictions of apocalypse are branded as heretics and deniers.
Hamilton is yet another egregious elite who cannot abide any dissent from his thought bubbles. The pathetic prohibition banner on this site screams censorship. Clive has proclaimed that Andrew Bolt is the enemy who will lead us astray. To exorcise the devil incarnate, Clive decrees we proles are forbidden from partaking of the fruit.
Like many who are sceptical of the exaggerated impact of AGW, I am neither paid for my stance nor will I be bullied into abjurement by battalions of sanctimonious self appointed censors. Hamilton's current obdurate diatribe reeks of a petulant, self-righteous boy who will not accept he too is fallible.
Whilst I do not condone any threatening of scientists or journalists by anyone, I noted that comments on Bolt's Blog deemed threatening by Pitman, demonstrates that precious Pitman borders on becoming paranoid.
I cannot wait to discover exactly whom Hamilton will traduce in his next noxious edition!

What set off these claims of screaming censorship and decree forbidding to him/her the fruit of Andrew Bolt's 'wisdom'?

Why this November 2009 graphic downloaded from kathleenjoyful's Flickr photostream and pasted alongside Hamilton's second article:

Kathleen Mac's original image came with the caption; I recommend sticking these on your monitor if you don't want to add extra rage to your day after reading one of Andrew Bolt's blog posts. She made no further comment.

It seems that she has now become collateral damage in the climate change cyberspace war.

Japan rapidly becoming a rogue state on the high seas

Photograph from The Sydney Morning Herald on 24 July 2007

From an article in The Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday 25 February 2010:

Australia has been urged to harpoon a proposal which could see Antarctic whaling continue for years - and become more legally secure.
A group of nations, which includes Australia, has issued a proposed deal-breaker on the vexed international issue of whaling.
The draft deal would lift the ban on commercial whaling, while reducing the total number of whales killed each year by ending so-called "scientific" whaling.
There are indications key nations support the deal and it could succeed.
Conservation groups are angry and want Australia to use its position to fight against the proposal.
The deal has been issued by a "small working group" of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), which includes Australia and Japan.
It is a draft deal which has not yet been approved; it is understood Australia will not support it.
Currently, commercial whaling is banned but countries can hunt whales in the name of science. Up to 1900 whales are killed each year.
The proposal would lift the commercial ban. Japan would legally be able to hunt whales without relying on the "science" justification.
The pay-off is that the proposal says the number of whales hunted would be significantly reduced from current levels.
The new deal would appear to allow for the hunting of minke whales, fin and humpback whales in the southern hemisphere.
It would come into force on November 1 this year.

There is a high degree of probability that Japan would seek to raise its kill quota in the future if this proposal passed.
The Government of Japan already appears to believe it has the divine right of kings when it comes to the world's oceans.
It's whaling fleet has been reported as indulging in indiscrimate killing of whale females in calf.
Right now Japan is floating the possibilty that it will refuse to abide by any European Union ban on commercial blue fin tuna fishing.

Japan is a already a bad neigbour to Australia and the rest of the world and, is rapidly becoming a rogue state on the high seas.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd needs to fight the Government of Japan on the matter of pseudo scientific-commercial whaling. He needs to do this swiftly and strongly.
It's time he stopped allowing himself to be held to ransom on the basis that any escalation of our continued firm opposition to killing whales would offend a major trading partner.

Saffin on capital punishment and torture

Janelle Saffin Labor MP for Page on the NSW North Coast on her feet in the Australian Parliament, 22 February 2010:

I speak in strong support of the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Torture Prohibition and Death Penalty Abolition) Bill 2009 for a number of reasons. Firstly, I oppose the death penalty. I oppose torture and other forms of degrading treatment. And I do so on moral grounds. We come to this place with a whole lot of roles. But we are also law-makers and as a law-maker I do not have the right to pass a law that would allow the state to execute another citizen or subject another citizen to torture or other forms of degrading treatment. I do not see that any lawmaker, in Australia, in any country, has that right. It is not a right that is given to us. We have to protect life and we have to protect human beings and human dignity. So it is totally on moral grounds that I oppose those things.

Full speech at OpenAustralia

Ms. Saffin's second reading speech was unequivocal in its opposition to the death penalty. In this she supports the Rudd Government move to remove the death penalty as a potential option for both the Commonwealth and the states.

In marked contrast to Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott who appears to waiver on the subject - this month declaring that execution may be a fitting punishment for those responsible for mass death.

Whether this was just another Abbott grab for a media moment or something he clearly thinks should be debated will only be shown by what he says and how he votes in the House of Representatives torture and death penalty debate.
Oh wait, it looks like he won't be speaking on the subject in parliament - preferring to dog whistle instead.

Something another North Coast MP, the Nationals Luke Hartsuyker, appears to be emulating in that he too has been rather silent in the House on this subject so far, intent as he is on beating up on vulnerable flying foxes at public meetings in his electorate.

It is good to see at least one local MP taking human rights seriously.
I commend all those members of the federal parliament who have spoken out against the death penalty over the last four years.

The anti-science winged nuts are at it again

If you think your blood pressure can cope with a snippet from one recent anti-science email newsletter, read on:

The Next Climate-gate?

The global warming scandal keeps getting worse. But probably the most damaging report has come from Joseph D'Aleo, the first Director of Meteorology and co-founder of the Weather Channel, and Anthony Watts, a meteorologist and founder of SurfaceStations.org. In a January 29 report, they find that starting in 1990, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) began systematically eliminating climate measuring stations in cooler locations around the world. Yes, that's right. They began eliminating stations that tended to record cooler temperatures and drove up the average measured temperature. The eliminated stations had been in higher latitudes and altitudes, inland areas away from the sea, as well as more rural locations. The drop in the number of weather stations was dramatic, declining from more than 6,000 stations to fewer than 1,500.

For the full report see

http://scienceandpublicpolicy.org/images/stories/papers/originals/surface_temp.pdf

I'm sure that these practicing ratbags have been breeding in dark corners for years unnoticed until now. Is it time to bait with 1040 yet?

It's the greed, stupid!

It's a tragedy that men have died installing government subsidized roof insulation and that some homeowners have had house fires as a result of faulty installation.
However banging on about ministerial responsibility and calling for Environment Minister Peter Garrett's resignation allows the real culprits off scot free.
It was those business owners who contracted with householders to install roof insulation (and sometimes then sub-contracted the work to unskilled individuals) who are responsible for the dangerous manner in which some of this insulation was laid down.
Their greedy desire to gain as many customers as they could, do as many jobs as humanly achievable in the least possible time with insulation material which gave them the biggest profit margin, which led to the deaths and housefires as surely as night follows day.
They cared for nothing except their own bank balances and should be publicly condemned.
Tony Abbott won't bay for their blood though because most of these business owners will be voting at the Australian federal election this year and he wants to be the next PM.

Anon
Maclean

* GuestSpeak is a feature of North Coast Voices allowing Northern Rivers residents to make satirical or serious comment on issues that concern them. Posts of 250-300 words or less can be submitted to ncvguestspeak at live dot com dot au for consideration.

Tony Abbott only winning back some of the once rusted-on Coaltion voters?

From an Essential Report poll of 1,834 respondents released on 22 February 2010:

Approval of the Opposition Leader, Tony Abbott

Voter approval comparison between Turnbull and Abbott as Coalition leaders.
Click on table to enlarge

Just under half (45%) of those surveyed approve of the job Tony Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader, 36% disapprove and 18% don't know.

This gives Tony Abbott a net approval rating of +9%.

This is the highest approval rating that has been recorded for Abbott in the Essential Report thus far and higher than Turnbull ever scored in our polling.

Results followed party lines – Coalition voters were more likely to approve of the job Abbott is doing (79%), while Labor voters were more likely to disapprove (58%). 28% of Labor voters approve of the job Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader.

68% of Green voters disapprove of the job Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader and 19% of these same voters approve.

People aged 65 years and over were more likely to approve of the job Abbott is doing (68%), while younger voters were more likely to indicate they don't know (37%).

Males were more likely than females to approve of the job Abbott is doing as Opposition Leader (47% v 43%).

Over half (57%) of Australians surveyed think that if Tony Abbott and the Liberals win the next election it is likely that they will introduce at least some parts of WorkChoices, 23% think it is unlikely and 20% don't know.

77% of Labor voters, 65% of Green voters and 50% of Coalition voters think that it is likely that at least some parts of WorkChoices will be introduced if Abbott and the Liberals win the next election.

People aged 45 – 55 were more likely to think that if the Liberal party wins the next election, at least some parts of WorkChoices will be introduced (68%), while people aged 65 years and over were more inclined to think it is unlikely some parts of WorkChoices will be introduced if the Liberals win the next election (32%).

A tweet whip around on Peter Garrett

Australian Minister for the Environment, Heritage, the Arts and shaved heads everywhere, Peter Garrett, is getting mixed reviews on Twitter as the Opposition and Tony Abbott continue to pound him in Parliament:

Pollytics

Really - "Peter Garrett should resign because he couldn't force some installers read instructions"? Is that what we have devolved to?

EssentialReport

Garrett's approval rating: 56% approve, 28% disapprove http://tiny.cc/ER23feb10

charlottevale_j: how come most journalists are pronouncing peter garrett's insulation as "inshulation" (and not just those on channel 9)?

P_Stevenson: I think the system has let Peter Garrett down even though he may have some faults in what has happened.

GiantGuineaPig: If Peter Garrett can't insulate his own head, how did we trust him to insulate Australia? #ithinkididapoliticsjoke

nikki_isabel: Ten months, 87+ fires, and 4 deaths too late, Peter Garrett finally sees the warning? Well done, don't let the door hit you on the way out.

s2chig: Question time i.e. public scolding session of Peter Garrett was great. Tony Abbott has got some lungs on him

zombiemao using the death of others to score political points is the lowest of the low #qt