Conroy denies vendetta, but how many believe him?

Australian Communications Minister Senator Stephen Conroy was quick off the mark to deny any suggestion that his referral of Google Inc to the Australian Federal Police over its StreetView cars collecting digital information which they had no right to access.
Still, it's easy to imagine that he was filled with gleeful anticipation as he set the train in motion, against what he refers to as the "creepy" IT giant.
However Stevo appears more interested in getting his own hands on what he believes this data contains:
"(If) you were doing a banking transaction, or transmitting personal information, they could have hoovered it up, sucked it up into their machine," he told ABC TV yesterday.
"What we want to ensure now is that we get access to the information that's been collected.
"We want to know where it's stored, we want to know what the information is, and importantly we want to ensure that Google don't destroy this information." (Google has denied that it could read encrypted banking transactions).
Personally I'd be more worried about the Minister for Censorship & Moral Policing getting hold of any information downloaded from unsecured wireless connections, than I would be about Google having it.
Stevo's full frontal assault on basic freedoms in this country knows no bounds.

North Coast MP continues her anti-whaling stance as the Australian east coast prepares to count its whales in June 2010

Breaching Humpback Whale taken by Wayne Reynolds at Wild About Whales
Blue Whale and Humpack whale songs

Janelle Saffin, Federal Labor Member for Page on the NSW North Coast, has a genuine history of interest in environmental issues and opposition to whaling in the Southern Ocean.

2007: Coastal pollution, Japanese whaling, climate change, sustainable forestry and resource management will be among the topics up for discussion when the new Member for Page meets with Southern Cross University researchers at the Lismore campus tomorrow (December 14).
Janelle Saffin will receive a briefing on a range of environmental issues impacting on the North Coast from academic staff in the School of Environmental Science and Management.

2008: Page MP Janelle Saffin said the Australian public clearly wanted to put an end to Japan's so-called scientific-based whaling and that many young people in her electorate were very passionate about the cause. "Some people have asked why we don't send in the warships immediately, and it's because we obviously have an obligation to settle things diplomatically and peacefully," Ms Saffin said. "Our actions so far have been robust, sending an unambiguous message to the Japanese Government that whaling should be consigned to history.

2010 in the House of Representatives: I represent the electorate of Page, and the active communities across my electorate regularly raise a number of issues and priorities with me. Today I take the opportunity to put on the record issues impacting and affecting my electorate. The community's priorities are my priorities. I may not be able to mention all them that I want to in three minutes, but I will see how I go. There are two issues that many members of the community are passionately opposed to......There is a strong antiwhaling campaign in Page. There is support for the government's diplomatic efforts with Japan to get them to cease and for the legal case, coming by year's end, if diplomatic efforts do not bear fruit. There is support for Sea Shepherd and others who work to stop Japanese whaling in the southern ocean.

2010 in The Northern Star : FEDERAL Member for Page Janelle Saffin has welcomed the Australian Government's decision to initiate legal action in the International Court of Justice in The Hague against Japanese 'scientific' whaling in the Southern Ocean.Ms Saffin said she endorsed the government's commitment to bring an end to whaling in the Southern Ocean Sanctuary and around the globe, after unsuccessful efforts to find a diplomatic resolution to this issue in the International Whaling Commission and bilaterally with Japan."This decision is not one which has been taken lightly, but it will have widespread support across Page from all sectors of the community because so many local people are passionately opposed to whaling," she said.

This month the annual east coast whale census occurs and now is the time to make plans to participate:

On Sunday 27 June 2010, ORRCA (Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia) will be conducting its annual Whale Census Day along the Australian coastline. If you are interested in whales, we invite you to head to your nearest or favourite ocean viewing spot to take part in the whale census and learn more about these noble and fascinating creatures.
To register and report your sightings, just call the ORRCA Hotline (24 hours) on (02) 9415 3333. Pack a picnic, sun block and your binoculars (and a book on whales if you have one) and enjoy the great outdoors.

You can also show your support for whales at Tails for Whales

A great big new tax - it's gonna ruin us! Again!

It's Going To Ruin Us YouTube video

No wonder the Libs like Clive!

No wonder the Über Mensch of the Liberal Party like Australian mining magnate, rich listee and generous political donor Clive Palmer - he has the same take on 'truth' as Lib leader Tony Abbott.

Clive in The Bulletin on 20th May 2010:
"MINING magnate Clive Palmer will visit Central Queensland tomorrow to continue development of the Alpha coal mining project. Mr Palmer said the project will go ahead despite the Federal Government's proposal to tax the mining industry a further 40%, which he called "rubbish". He said: ''We will go ahead with that project, as finance is already approved, but any further expansion is definitely out of the question, and our other projects won't go ahead." Mr Palmer said two interstate projects, which he said could employ at least 6000 people directly, and up to 50,000 people through mining service industries, have been taken off the drawing board."

Clive in The Sydney Morning Herald on 6th June 2010:
"First out of the blocks in the race to cancel spending was Palmer, who, within days of the tax's announcement on May 2, claimed he was going to scrap exploration plans in South Australia. The problem - as Treasurer Wayne Swan quickly pointed out - was that no one in government seemed to know about the plans. ''Mr Palmer has claimed that he has scrapped a project in South Australia that neither the Federal Resources Department, nor the State Resources Department in South Australia know anything about,'' Swan said. And when it was suggested to the former staffer of Joh Bjelke Petersen that the tax might also disrupt his plans to float his privately owned empire, Palmer changed his tune. ''I don't think so....."

Clive in ABC News yesterday:
"In the heat of the public debate, Queensland billionaire and Liberal National Party (LNP) donor Clive Palmer admits he may have overstated the tax's impact on his projects in Western Australia's Pilbara region.
Mr Palmer owns one of the largest deposits of iron ore in the world, carved out in five separate projects.
The investment for the first development was secured before the super profits tax was announced.
When asked about one project Mr Palmer said was "canned", the chief geologist at Mineralogy, Mark Strizek, said the project was still going ahead.
"All approvals are done and we've also submitted the environmental approvals for the other three or four projects there, so they're all in train," he said.
Mr Palmer says he probably phrased it too strongly.
"It should have been ... slowing them down, waiting to see what happens," he said."

That Clive thinks he can tell any old tall tale is well-known, but what is not as well known is that on his personal brag page at Mineralogy he links to media articles he likes about his bankrolling of WA Lib state election campaign ads, mining expansion plans, accquistions, the sports team and anything else 'Clive' which takes his fancy. Of course what is missing from that webpage is any mention that the economy will go into free fall if the Rudd Government introduces a resources profits tax or that company expansion plans are in anyway on hold - he leaves that nonsense he spouts elsewhere well alone.

Why is Google inserting itself in the Australian mining tax debate?

Australian mining magnate Clive Palmer has been making much of the fact that Kevin Rudd is mentioned in the same breath as Marx and Engels when one does a Google search for the term "super tax".

However the first mention of this 'trio' appears to have been by Palmer himself - starting initially as a general charge of "communist" to a Bowen LNP audience on May 19 before refining to a specific association with Marx and Engels by 2 June this year in front of a National Press Club audience.

Coincidentally, the latter reference does not turn up 'independently' until 2 June, when Wikipedia finally makes mention.

When looking for references I stumbled upon this comment attached to an online Sydney Morning Herald article on 3 June 2010:

On Tuesday 1 June 2010 if you clicked he following link to Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superprofit you would have seen Kevin Rudd's name along side those of Marx and Lenin in the first paragraph. It stated that Kevin Rudd had announced a "Super Profit tax," for mining in Australia.
I know because I sent the link to some friends suggesting that having the PM of Australia mentioned in the same paragraph as the 2 communist icons is not a good thing for Australia.
Having checked the link again this morning, Rudd's name is not mentioned and the reference to the mining tax has been removed.
I don't know if/how you can check things out in Wiki land to see what and when something was updated, but it would be great if someone could as it has definitely changed. I wonder if it was within a few minutes of Clive Palmer mentioning it at the Press Club yesterday.
Forget fighting Conroy's disastrous internet filter, Labor government censorship is happening right now.
CJ NSW - June 03, 2010, 8:06AM

Intrigued, I went to Wikipedia and discovered the individual who edited out mention of Kevin Rudd was USER Intelligent Mr. Toad, an occasional Wiki editor since 2004 who possibly hails from Queensland.

However, even more intriguing was the identity of the individual who first inserted Rudd's name USER 72.14.228.140, an individual/s apparently from somewhere in or near New York who only emerged on 13 April 2010 in Wiki edit histories.

Now IP address 72.14.228.140 belongs to Google Corporate It according to Whois. It's not a robot.

So why was a Google employee bothering to mimic Clive Palmer by placing Rudd in the same company as Marx and Engels?
Thought Clive needed a little help with his credibility perhaps?

Kristina the Angry

Anyone else notice how many times NSW Premier Kristina Keneally is angry these days?
This year alone she's been angry with Paluzzano, Campbell, McDonald for not telling her teh troof and with a whistleblower for so obviously yelling troofs - calling him "vexatious" and hinting at nefarious deeds.
Whenever Tina the First isn't angry she often finds herself "disappointed" or "frustrated". Yesterday she was reported a "grim" once the media asked her to comment on the fact that ICAC is allegedly looking into an allegation that she created a dirt file on that whistleblower.

I'm getting a strong impression that this premier is no longer in control of the state train.
I expect that Keneally will also find herself "shocked" and "sorry" on a few occasions before the next state election rolls around.

Pics of Tina flashing her cranky face from Google Images

The Clarence Valley Famous Five continue to suffer fallout after caving in to McDonald's Australia

Letter to the editor in The Daily Examiner on 5 June 2010:

Who does CVC represent?

FIVE Clarence Valley Councillors need reminding of who they represent.

I would like to make a comment in regard to Cr Pat Comben's McDonald's opinion and the general McDonald's issue.

First of all, congratulations to the three young men from Yamba, who along with the Yamba Chamber of Commerce, stepped outside their comfort zone and drove the "No McDonald's" campaign.

Community campaigns and lobbying at a grassroots level take great courage, time and effort and usually come with a steep learning curve. To the uninitiated who blindly believe we have numerous rights soon find out that a lot of those rights are, in actual fact, constantly being eroded away by our very own local, state and federal governments and corporate greed.

We also had the Yamba Chamber of Commerce, who represent the local Yamba business community and has an obligation to its members, also involved in this campaign. Nobody knows or loves the Yamba business community better than they do and council's "Yes" decision is a slap in the face to them. The chamber would have not gone down the campaign road unless it had the support of its own members.

What I find interesting from a community perspective is those people involved in trying to save the Grafton and Maclean hospitals must be shaking their heads and wondering how to harness the energy of those 6000 people who made their feelings known about McDonald's in Yamba when they can only muster a couple hundred for their issue.

The good news is we need to be reminded there are numerous examples from around the world and Australia that people power is still alive and well and can move mountains, stop wars, affect change and bring governments and companies to account. The trick is to inspire people to stop being armchair critics and apathetic and become involved in their community.

Now for Cr Comben's comment. A former Queensland Cabinet Minister in the Goss era, Cr Comben obviously hasn't read his own "councillor guide", published by the NSW Department of Local Government in co-operation with the Local Government Association of NSW and the Shires Association of NSW when elected to Clarence Valley Council.

Cr Comben's comment: "The view of some individuals that councillors or any elected representative must vote as the majority of the ratepayers or electors wish... is not a requirement of Australian democracy", maybe that is how Queenslanders think and do things, however, it appears that is not the preferred style within NSW.

Excerpt 2.1 - Roles and Responsibilities of a councillor: "To represent the interests of residents and ratepayers, provide leadership and guidance to the community, facilitate communication between the community and the council. A councillor's role as a democratically elected representative provides an essential link between the community and council."

In my humble opinion, CVC and the five councillors who voted "yes" have been negligent in their duty of care to the Yamba constituents and the Yamba Chamber of Commerce involved in this matter by not enabling the Local Government Act 1993, which contains important mechanisms to enable a council to more formally consult with its community.

For example, a council may conduct a poll on an important issue to get an understanding of the community's views on a matter. Consultation is a mechanism to assist councillors to understand and incorporate the public will and community concerns into decision-making.

From the outset, CVC knew this was a contentious issue. Surely it would have been in the public and community interest to conduct a poll, public meeting or at the very least an education campaign as to what legal framework was available that could have been adopted to assist the Yamba community to resolve this issue in a more amicable fashion.

DEBRAH NOVAK, Yamba

Chris Hazell wins another regional art prize

A LOCAL identity in the art scene, Chris Hazell, has won a regional art prize by painting a local icon, Wayne Whitney. Chris took out the inaugural Northern Rivers Portrait Prize People's Choice Award through the Lismore Art Gallery for her portrait, titled Unsung.

Last year Chris took out first prize in the Grafton Art Club's 41st Jacaranda Art Exhibition with Puppet Master.

Image and quote from The Daily Examiner

Ned the Bear does national emergencies

It's always a bridesmaid and never the bride for Kevin Rudd when it comes to hosting a visit Down Under from U.S. President Barack Obama and naughty Ned the Bear takes full advantage of the situation. :-D
"He's cranky. He's orange. He's a cartoon bear." And he's here.

Those bl@@dy godbotherers and the Barclay Bros are at it again

Why is it that people who belong to certain long-established religions want to rule the world?
Here they are - at it again. And don't be fooled by the picture or the plea.
What this European group is really after in the long-term is for all ISPs around the world to keep records of every website you visit, page you open and image you download - then hand info it over to government on demand.

Of course they're not the only ones busily trying to create easily identifiable cyber profiles where none existed before.
Take a look at the Barclay brothers latest effort which is being sent out to frequent and one-time commenters on the U.K. Tele's online pages:
"Today we have released a new system that makes it easier to follow conversations across the website and gives every reader a profile."

Driver of golf buggy really blew it

NSW Police report that a man has been charged after allegedly being caught driving a golf buggy whilst intoxicated at Yamba on the state’s Far North Coast.

About 8.50pm yesterday (Friday 4 June 2010), patrolling police saw a golf buggy being driven north on Clarence Street towards the Pilot Street intersection.

It will be alleged a 51-year-old Yamba male then drove the buggy to the kerb on the road’s northern side and attempted to mount the gutter. The buggy was not equipped with head lamps, brake lights, or turn signals. The man was stopped by police and breath-tested, returning a positive reading of 0.135.

He was taken to Yamba Police Station and issued a Field Court Attendance Notice (FCAN) for drive with middle range PCA, and use unregistered vehicle on road. Police also suspended the man’s driving licence.

Source: NSW Police

How we feel about privacy for politicians

Excerpt from the Essential Report on 31 May 2010:

Media Coverage of Politicians' Private Live

Q. There have been some recent situations where a politician has resigned from their position or their party after some aspects of their sexual behaviour were made public by the media. Is it appropriate for the media to reveal details of a political figure's private life?

A majority (54%) believe it is appropriate for the media to reveal details of a political figure's personal life in some or all circumstances. 12% think details should be revealed in all circumstances and 42% in some circumstances. 38% say details of a political figure's personal life should not be revealed at all. 64% of Liberal/National voters and 50% of Labor voters approved revealing details of political figure's personal life in some or all circumstances. Greens voters were split 50% some/all, 50% not at all. There were no substantial demographic differences.

If answered "in some circumstances" –

Q. Is it appropriate for the media to reveal details of a political figure's private life in any of the following circumstances?

The majority of those who approved revealing details in some circumstances agreed that details could be revealed where there is a public interest due to impact on the politician's work or taxpayers' resources (92%) or where the politician has acted in a way clearly at odds with their publicly expressed views (88%). However, revealing details where a politician's personal choices are unusual or not considered mainstream was only acceptable to 20%.

K-K-Keneally gets the snake eye

This ABC News piece is probably the kindest comment on NSW Premier Kristina K. Keneally's management style:

New South Wales Premier Kristina Keneally has defended her level of spending on privately chartered jets, entertainment and staff redundancies since taking the top job.

The Opposition has obtained documents detailing $4 million in spending within the Premier's office since December.

It includes $120,000 on flights around Australia, many of them privately chartered, as well as $1,200 on entertainment and $1.2 million on staff redundancies.

New South Wales Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell says it is an exorbitant figure.

"Well it's not justified to take two chartered aircraft at a cost of $40,000 to Armidale when there are scheduled services to those areas," he said.

But Ms Keneally maintains the spending is justified, especially the travel spending.

"I make no apology whatsoever for getting out across the length and breadth of this state," she said.

She has rejected suggestions the spending was designed to boost her public profile.

While The Herald Sun added some meat to the tale:

"The figures show Ms Keneally has spent over $120,000 flying around Australia, including on privately chartered jets and helicopters. By contrast, Mr Rees spent about $80,000 on flights, including less than $70,000 for chartered planes.

Other expenses have included more than $100,000 in rent for private car-parking in the Sydney CBD, $32,000 on mobile phones and $222 on books.

There was also a $72.50 laundry bill for towels in Ms Keneally's personal bathroom in Governor Macquarie Tower.

Another $1200 was spent on "entertainment" - mainly food at restaurants and in-house catering.

The bill also includes a $1.2 million payout to around 26 staff made redundant after Ms Keneally took the top job.

The staff, who worked for Mr Rees, included senior Labor media advisers Tim Gleason and Aaron Ross, policy hound Davina Langton and Labor political strategist Graeme Wedderburn.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal Mr Wedderburn's payout, estimated to be $160,000, triggered an investigation by the Auditor General's Office into ministerial payouts, and Government sources say the yet-to-be released report recommends future payouts be subject to greater tax."

By 2 June there was another hiccup for Ms. Keneally's hard-pressed PR team:

"NSW Premier Kristina Keneally has admitted she failed to declare free airline upgrades for her children during a trip to the US in 2008.
But Ms Keneally said she made no apology for failing to declare the upgrades, given by Qantas, saying the issue of free upgrades for politicians was a "grey area".

Photo from The Sydney Morning Herald

When a water spout becomes a tornado: spare a thought for Lennox Head on the NSW North Coast today

ABC News online:
Police say it is a miracle no-one was killed when a tornado smashed into the New South Wales north coast town of Lennox Head this morning.Twelve houses were destroyed and debris was sent flying when the storm, which one witness said hit "like a bomb", careered in off the sea about 7:30am.

Numerous caravans were also tipped over and an estimated 2,000 homes left without power.

The following images are from ABC News, The Sydney Morning Herald and Channel Nine News. All were apparently captured by local residents and holidaymakers on the spot. They deserve credit for keeping the 'new' in regional news and the 'current' in current affairs programs which mention the Northern Rivers area.

More tornado photographs courtesy of The Northern Star here.

Rio Tinto releases more RSPT spin and now I'm getting annoyed

Like many other observers of the political scene, I've been waiting on Rio Tinto releasing those figures it has been proclaiming would show that the proposed Resources Super Profits Tax was really the economic ogre the Coalition and mining industry said it was.

Well the media release is out and running across the mainstream media.
But the Rio Tinto wording is rather curious.......

"Corporate taxes amounted to A$14.6 billion and royalties were A$5.7 billion in the period 2000-2009. Rio Tinto's rate of taxation over the 10 years to 2009 averaged 35.6 per cent of its earnings before tax payments in Australia."

Huh? Rio Tinto Chief Executive Tom Albanese and friends are calculating the tax rate on the mining multinational's global business enterprise, not the rate it actually pays in Australia?
A global business that earned around US$50.53 billion between 1999 to 2008 according to Rio's own 2008 financial statement and, had a combined profit after tax in 2007 & 2008 of US$12.35 billion on combined earnings of US$37.48 (before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortisation -restated) for the same two years.

Interestingly, at the time of writing Advfin Australia lists Rio's effective tax rate for the last twelve months as 26.4 per cent.

When it comes to its Australian mining interests we are told that its tax direct tax obligations were A$20.3 billion between 2000-2009 (across its 19 operating mines and smelters etc.) and that Rio Tinto has generated net profit after tax of A$37.4 billion in Australia in the 10 years to 2009.

Hold on - didn't the company write off that A$5.7 billion in royalties as business costs?

After all, Under the Total Tax Contribution framework, petroleum resource rent tax is included as a tax whereas extraction royalties are not treated as a tax. (Refer "Survey for the Business Council of Australia and the Corporate Tax Association").

And didn't the 2007 Business Council of Australia survey also find that Taxes Collected are negative for the mining industry group because as major exporters survey participants reported a significant GST refund which more than offset other Taxes Collected?

I'm sorry Mr. Albanese, I just can't dredge up any sympathy for the mining giant you represent.
Try as I might I can find no justification for the average 35.6 per cent tax figure you complain about.

The bottom line is that I'm more inclined to believe the Federal Treasurer's estimation that; "In Australia, wholly-domestic mining companies paid an effective tax rate of only 17 per cent and multinational mining companies paid an effective tax rate of only 13 per cent".
Because these are somewhat similar percentages to those my own calculator spits out (without benefit of Shakelford and Markle).

Nor do I believe all the gloom and doom Rio Tinto predicts; with regard to this week's annual general meeting it was reported that "China's demand for iron ore, copper, coal and aluminium is expected to continue to grow over the next 15 years, after which time we expect to see increasing commodity demand from India," Mr du Plessis said. Mr Albanese said industrialisation, urbanisation and increased productivity would double demand for iron ore, aluminium and copper in that time.

In fact the longer Rio Tinto and the rest of the mining industry continue this tawdry exercise in spinning figures the more irritated I've become and, that irritation may inform my federal election vote later this year.

Australian Securities Exchange graph of Rio Tinto monthly share activity over ten years:

The true nature of Stephen Conroy?

"This week, I spent longer inside the mind of media minister Stephen Conroy than I would necessarily recommend.

The reason was as we've written in various posts his performance at the Senate Estimates Committee.

Reading the transcript has, I must admit, made me change my mind about him.

You see, when he was saying some of the more extreme stuff about his proposed internet filter over the last few months, I assumed it was just politics. I thought he was grandstanding on family values while of course knowing that it wouldn't fly.

But when you read his thoughts (you can find the 131 page transcript here if you like), it's enough to make you think again about him both as a person and as a minister.

(A slight declaration of interest at this point - unlike Rupert Murdoch, I've sat next to Conroy at dinner, within a few days of him being appointed. At that stage he seemed thoroughly affable, if more interested in talking about soccer than media policy.)

But the person who comes across in the transcript is a sneering, sarcastic grudge-bearing point scorer. And one who won't give a straight answer to a straight question, at that."

More from Tim Burrowes writing for MUmBRELLA here.

Stevo continued to cement his reputation as the federal pollie most loose-with-the truth (after el supremo o' teh lie Tony Abbott) when he was caught out by one Aussie ISP - "Don't claim we support filter, iiNet tells Conroy".

SMH online poll around 7am last Monday

By 6.30am on the second day 1st June 2010 the poll count was 85,271 - still running 99% against the Rudd-Conroy plan to censor the Australian Internet.

NSW North Coast enters its June-July 2010 flood season

Priority
NSW SEVERE WEATHER WARNING
Flash Flooding
For people in
Northern Rivers, Midnorth Coast, and eastern parts of the Northern Tablelands.

Issued at 5:00 pm on Wednesday 2 June 2010

Synoptic Situation: 3:00 pm EST Wednesday

FLASH FLOODING EXPECTED ABOUT PARTS OF NORTHEAST NEW SOUTH WALES TONIGHT AND THURSDAY.

A trough lying off the New South Wales north coast is expected to deepen tonight, leading to the development off a low pressure centre in the region during Thursday. Widespread showers and rain are expected over the northeast of the state during this time, with the chance of local thunderstorms. Later Thursday and on Friday the low is forecast to move slowly south, before moving away to the Tasman Sea on Saturday.

The very heavy rain is expected to cause flash flooding, with the area of coast and adjacent ranges between about Yamba and Kempsey likely to see the heaviest falls tonight and Thursday.

A Flood Watch has also been issued for the NSW North and Mid North Coast from Yamba to Taree.
Emergency services advise do not enter flood water. Stay well clear of creeks, storm drains and causeways.

For emergency help in floods and storms, ring the SES [NSW and ACT] on telephone number 132 500.

The next warning is due to be issued by 11 pm Wednesday.

This warning is also available through TV and Radio broadcasts; the Bureau's website at www.bom.gov.au or call 1300 659 218. The Bureau and State Emergency Service would appreciate this warning being broadcast regularly.

Updates at BOM Weather Warnings

Just when McDonald's felt it was safe to get back in the water the Yamba boycott shark begins to circle!

One Yamba resident went public with this statement during the week, in relation to the McDonald's Australia plan to impose itself on the small coastal town of Yamba at the mouth of the Clarence River:

McDonald's incorporate all competition products into their stores. Over time they have gone from only selling burgers to competing against Subway with salad wraps and salad items. Then came the attached coffee shop and now free wireless to ensure that everyone has a "one stop shop", ensuring customers don't go anywhere else.
This is not about fair competition. It is about takeover. They don't want you to spend your money anywhere else. This is a long time business practice of McDonald's. Over the years I've studied the way they "compete" with other businesses.
Any business Macca's can incorporate into theirs, they will - as they want the entire market, not to share it.

Now which persons of influence made these remarks afterwards?

• Maccas certainly do know what they're doing and they don't care. Unlike our Chamber who do care about the small businesses. I commend Tania and the Chamber for their efforts and of course all the individuals such as yourself who also worked so hard. I only hope that the community will live by their convictions and boycott McDonalds Yamba. [my emphasis]
  
• An awful decision. There were compelling reasons to listen to, and take heed of, overwhelming community opinion.

McDonald's and it designated licensee may find the waters distinctly chilly when they enter this town.

Meanwhile, The Daily Examiner letters to the editor continue to berate Clarence Valley Council and McDonald's fifteen days after shire councillors voted:

Time to vote
THE Clarence Valley Council has recently voted in favour of a development application from a certain American hamburger chain. This is apparently against the wishes of the vast majority of the citizens of Yamba, who did not want this development to go ahead.
Firstly, there is a certain group of pro-development councillors who will vote in favour of any development application - no matter how inappropriate (eg. West Yamba Canal Estate). This group is closely aligned with Liberal/National parties and people know who they are.
The solution to this problem is just the next council election away.
Secondly, all is not yet lost for the residents of Yamba with regard to this development. You still have economics on your side.
If the worthy citizens of Yamba do not patronise this hamburger outlet you can be assured of one fact. It will not stay open very long. [my emphasis]
MICHAEL CASEY, Grafton

More on Maccas
I FEEL sadness and shame at the fact that our councillors have decided to go against the will of the people who elect them. More than nine out of 10 people who bothered to express their opinion about the McDonald's development proposal at Yamba were against it, yet the majority of councillors decided to approve it.
I understand the legal and financial implications of the case put forward to us: there is no point in wasting our money in a lost battle. Well, isn't there? The law is certainly something to be considered, with respect and with no frivolity.
However, our civil laws, I believe, didn't drop from the sky together with the 10 commandments. I like to think of our law as the worthy result of those people before us that fought for the justice of what they believed and came up with our laws as something to serve us as guidance and inspiration. Their inheritance to us.
Exactly the right that this decision is taking away from us: to fight for justice. The beliefs of the past cannot be necessarily imposed on the beliefs of the present.
When needed, laws have been challenged, laws have been changed, and laws have been proved to be wrong.
What right do our councillors have to take away from us our right to challenge a law, to fight for our beliefs? How can money be a consideration in what clearly seems to be an ethical issue for many ratepayers? This is precisely the kind of issue where I want my rates money that is paid to these councillors to be spent.
This is the kind of fight that makes me feel a worthy individual. This is where I don't want to give up. This easy surrender by our representatives is suppressing and depressing for our community at large (for nine out of 10 people).
Our councillors have decided that this is a lost battle from the point of view of the laws of the past denying us the right to fight a new battle to create the laws of the future. To them I say, even if a battle was going to be totally lost, even if an expectation was going to end in disappointment, our community, our men and women, the people you are there to serve, might prefer 1000 times just to be there, fighting and losing, holding their heads up with pride, rather than simply giving up. And if that costs us money, so be it.
Otherwise, why on earth do we bother to celebrate Gallipoli or to send our national soccer team to a World Cup final?
SANTIAGO ACERA, Lawrence

Highway an option
WHEN you look at the amount of accidents on the roads you really have to wonder at the Upper River and Lower River mentality - the one that we were assured would not exist - that has exhibited itself in the decision to approve McDonald's in Yamba. Not only is it detrimental to the ambience of the village and its tourist population from the cities, and to the local boutique businesses that give this town its special flavour. Byron Bay recognised this when it said "no" to drive-through restaurants.
But also, how short-sighted. McDonald's could be situated on the highway where it would provide a valuable rest point for motorists and give Maccas a better flow of people, and they would be able to offer 24-hour service. Families and groups travel the highway and a Maccas either north or south of the Clarence River would be able to service the highway travellers and both towns of Maclean and Yamba.
A Maccas on the highway would offer a well-lit, safe and fully staffed environment with food and facilities that would appeal to many people and encourage them to break their journey for a rest.
We know the long stretches of highways on the North Coast have a constant flow of traffic and have been identified as areas of major accidents. We need to have a 24-hour highway rest break here on the highway between Ballina and Grafton. This would also provide work opportunities for youth in the outer lying areas as well as those in the towns of Maclean and Yamba.
To the people at McDonald's, you have the opportunity not only to do the right thing, but also to take a more financially viable solution. Yamba simply does not have the static population in non-holiday times to support your business and the businesses that already service our town.
To our council and councillors, who are paid/elected to work on behalf of residents, what were you thinking? This matter needs to go back to council and a sensible decision taken, one that is better commercially for Maccas, better for the wider community, and shows that Maccas appreciates the real need that they could fulfil.
Councillors, you do have a responsibility to look after your residents and current business owners in Yamba who have stated their position quite clearly.
Now it is your turn to do something for everyone. Go back to Maccas with a solution to this divisive and damaging situation.
CATE CAPP, Yamba.

Nationals in Richmond: Desperate times call for desperate measures

National Party candidate Tania Murdock's sudden exit from the race to win the seat of Richmond at the next Federal election has left the Nationals in the lurch.

Murdock was the only person to put her hand up when the Nationals called for nominations last year and it seems there's no one waiting in the wings to fill her shoes.

In their hour of need former National MP for Richmond Larry Anthony has said he won't be putting his hand up for another shot at winning Richmond.

Anthony said his reason for not wanting to stand was the same one he had when he decided against running in 2007.

"In politics you are a rooster one day and a feather duster the next. It can be pretty ephemeral.

"When I'm on my death bed it will be my children by my bedside, not the people who voted for me."

So, who will the Nationals turn to?

Nationals Richmond chairman Alan Hunter said people from outside the party are welcome to apply for preselection.

Interested in being the National Party candidate in Richmond?

Call Richmond Nationals Vice Chairman Alan Martin on 0400 402 106
or (07) 5524 6938 or email alanmartin1117@hotmail.com

Source: The Northern Star

Lismore Annual Lantern Parade 26th June 2010

arts, crafts, workshop, regional cuisine, spectacular parade, lanterns, parade bands, street theatre, carnival dancers, illuminated puppets,fire art and pyrotechnics......and much, much more

SATURDAY 26 June 2010

Enchanted Windows
CBD retailers decorate their windows in the themes 'seeds' or 'come to the heart'
Winning Window announced 24 June
20 June – 5 July

Erth's Dinosaur Petting Zoo Performance
Baby dinosaurs roam through Lismore Square. Free
between 11am and 2pm
Click here for more info
Carrington Street Stage
Live performance
12noon – 11.00pm

Market delight
Arts and Crafts, Regional Cuisine and Community Stalls
Carrington and Magellan Streets
For applications and more info click here
12 noon – 11pm

Erth's Dinosaur Petting Zoo Performance
Giant dinosaur roams Lismore CBD, Free. Click here for more info
12.30 – 1.30pm

Kids' Arts Space
Arts and Crafts activities for Kids.
Regionak Art Gallery and Spinks Park, Lismore CBD
Gold Coin Donation
Lismore CBD
2.00pm – 5.00pm

Erth's Dinosaur Petting Zoo Performance Lismore City Hall in a specially created dinosaur environment.
Tickets and Booking Info from NORPA
(Also on Friday 25 June 6.3.30pm)
3.30pm

Winter Warmers
Charity hot food stalls
Riverside Park
4.30pm – 8.00pm

Lantern Parade
Lanterns, dancers, performers, bands, giant puppets
Lismore CBD to Riverside Park
Generous donations in the buckets, please
5.30pm – 6.30pm

Fiery Finale
Art of Fire, river lanterns, bonfire and fireworks
The Lantern Garden. Display of LightnUp's beautiful feature lanterns.
Entry by Donation
6.45pm

The Great Street Party
Dine out in the CBD and dance the night away
Carrington Street
Program announced soon
Free

Parade Entry Form
Market delight Stall Application
Schools Lantern Workshop Booking Form

Photographs from Lismore Lantern Parade

When local government acts dumb.....

Found at The Leader (Vic) website this month:

"CASEY Council will rethink its ban on flying kites and model aircraft in public parks, reserves and sportsgrounds after public outcry.
Council officers have been asked to prepare a report on amending the local law to lift the ban in a sufficient number of open space parks around the city.
As revealed by Leader today, under the new local law it is an offence to “fly, or permit to be flown, any aircraft, without a permit”.
Those caught flying without a permit face a $234 fine.
Casey community safety manager Caroline Bell said the local law defined “aircraft” as “any device that uses airflow to move through the air, and includes any powered or self-propelled model aeroplane”.
The council confirmed to Leader that the ban included kites."

When do we finally admit that Israel is a rogue state?

Isn't it time the world called a spade a spade and admitted that Israel is a rogue state.

Media reports of events in a roughly chronological descending order:

• The assault began at 4.30am in international waters, about 60 miles from the coast of Gaza where the convoy was heading to deliver its cargo of aid.
• An Australian citizen was shot in the leg during a deadly Israeli raid on a Gaza-bound aid ship in the Mediterranean, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has confirmed.Mr Smith said two other Australians known to be aboard the ship - a journalist and photographer - were safe after the "terrible and shocking incident", which left nine people dead.
• At least three Palestinian journalists have been physically attacked by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank in the past 10 days while a Palestinian journalist and an Israeli journalist have been arrested."The incidents are increasing," Reporters Without Borders said. "More than 30 journalists have been physically attacked and injured by members of the Israel Defence Forces since the start of the year. We again call on the IDF to investigate these cases and punish the soldiers responsible."
• Since June 2007, when Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip, Israel has imposed a tight blockade on the area. According to Israeli officials, the objective of the siege is to bring down the Hamas government and lead to the release of Gilad Shalit. The siege thus constitutes collective punishment of the civilian population, and as such it is unlawful.....Under agreements between Israel and Egypt, the Gaza Strip's foreign trade must be conducted through Israel. The quantity of goods that Israel allows into the area is less than one-quarter the quantity that entered prior to the siege, and far below the amount required for the population's needs. The range of goods that Israel allows in is also much smaller: 150 types of goods compared with 4,000 before the siege. Israel refuses to publish the list of products permitted into the Gaza Strip, or the rules used in determining the list....Israel prohibits the importing of building materials, including iron and cement. The prohibition has remained in place even after Operation Cast Lead, during which 3,500 houses were completely destroyed, thousands more damaged, and extensive harm caused to infrastructures. Israel's prohibition is preventing the reconstruction of thousands of buildings destroyed during the operation.
• All 189 parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, including the United States, called on Friday in a declaration that singled out Israel for a conference in 2012 to discuss banning weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East."As a non-signatory state of the NPT, Israel is not obligated by the decisions of this conference, which has no authority over Israel," the Israeli government said in an emailed statement.
• Last Monday, Mr Smith announced Australia had ordered the expulsion of an unidentified diplomat following the forging by Israel of four Australian passports allegedly used by a team that assassinated a senior Hamas figure, Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, in Dubai in January.An inquiry by Britain concluded that 12 British passports had also been misused by the Israelis.
• Israeli tank fire killed up to 40 Palestinians at a United Nations school in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, medical sources at two Gaza hospitals said...Doctors said all the dead were either people sheltering in the school or residents of Jabalya refugee camp, in the north of the Gaza Strip.
• UN officials said that the monitors made ten phone calls to the Israeli army between 1.20pm on Tuesday — when an Israeli aircraft dropped a bomb 300 metres from the patrol base — and about 7.20pm, when the building was destroyed. The details came to light as Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, condemned what he called an "apparently deliberate targeting" of the well- documented UN position that had stood in Khiam, southern Lebanon, for 50 years. All the dead were part of the Observer Group — Lebanon, which works with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil).
• An Italian press photographer, Raffaele Ciriello, was shot and killed yesterday in Ramallah while taking pictures of Israel Defense Forces tanks positioned outside the Kedura refugee camp in the south-east of the city....An Italian colleague, Amedeo Ricucci, who was near Ciriello at the time of the shooting, said the latter had been hit by several bullets to his abdomen from an Israeli tank.
• In July 2002, Israeli forces dropped a one-tonne bomb on a building in order to kill a leading Hamas member, Sheikh Salah Shahada, killing 15 people in surrounding buildings, including nine children.
• Recently officials have indicated that the Israeli army is being given a freer hand to carry out targeted killings of Palestinian activists. The policy has come in for criticism domestically and internationally. Human rights organisation Amnesty International has called the assassinations extra judicial killings. The policy has even been challenged in the Israeli high court.
• In 2000, on the second day of the second intifada (Palestinian uprising), when Muhammad al-Dura, a 12-year-old Palestinian boy, was caught in Israeli fire and killed as he cowered in terror against a wall.
• In 1973, Israeli jets killed 108 people when they shot down a Libyan passenger airliner that became lost in a sandstorm and strayed over the Sinai Peninsula, which was occupied by Israel at the time.
• During the Six Day war in 1967, the Israeli air force and navy attacked the USS Liberty, an intelligence ship, in international waters, killing 34 crew, wounding 171 and doing severe damage to the vessel.

Saffin goes to bat for Aunty's rural reporters

Onya, Janelle!

"FOLLOWING Senator Barnaby Joyce claiming that rural reporter positions in Mackay and Lismore are under threat, Member for Page Janelle Saffin has written a letter to ABC managing director Mark Scott, seeking clarification.

"As one of the Members of Parliament who actively lobbied, and did so without prompting, for ABC funding and did again following ... a meeting with ABC NSW director Mike McCluskey, I am very concerned at the suggestion that there could be cuts to ABC services in my electorate," she stated.

"Senator Barnaby Joyce claims that the rural reporter positions in Mackay and Lismore are under threat. While I usually take Barnaby's blurtings with a grain of salt, I note that the ABC has not ruled out these mooted cuts."

Ms Saffin said she based her concern on the high dependence the residents of Page had on the ABC rural report and other news that the rural reporter produced.

"The Australian Electoral Commission classes Page as a rural seat and our rural reporter is someone farmers and others involved in primary production rely on," she wrote. "The morning rural report is a great ABC service, and something that has kept so many rural people loyal to their local ABC.

"I would also point out that this region is quite distinct from other parts of the state because of its climate, and diversity of farming practices, from the traditional to the cutting edge of organic farming and many innovative practices. The local rural program also draws on the wealth of environmental and agricultural research from the local Southern Cross University and the Agricultural Research Station." {The Daily Examiner on 28th May 2010}