When the bells tolled at midnight.......

…..the NSW Electoral Commission Virtual Tally Room ballot count in the NSW state election stood at:

Legislative Assembly (Lower House)

Labor 19

Liberal/Nationals 59

Other 2

Undecided 13

Legislative Council (Upper House)

First Preference Group Votes
Group	Group/Party Name	Election Night	Declaration	Total	%	Quota Ratio
A	LIBERAL/NATIONALS	1,360,217		1,360,217	48.09	9.69
B	NO PARKING METERS PARTY	32,311		32,311	1.14	0.23
C		32,554		32,554	1.15	0.23
D	OUTDOOR RECREATION PARTY	20,346		20,346	0.72	0.14
E	SAVE OUR STATE	9,173		9,173	0.32	0.07
F	CHRISTIAN DEMOCRATIC PARTY (FRED NILE GROUP)	88,423		88,423	3.13	0.63
G	FAMILY FIRST	39,722		39,722	1.40	0.28
H	LABOR/COUNTRY LABOR	691,062		691,062	24.43	4.92
I	THE GREENS	315,112		315,112	11.14	2.24
J		51,515		51,515	1.82	0.37
K	SOCIALIST ALLIANCE	7,026		7,026	0.25	0.05
L	AUSTRALIAN DEMOCRATS	22,347		22,347	0.79	0.16
M	BUILDING AUSTRALIA	6,183		6,183	0.22	0.04
N	RESTORE THE WORKERS' RIGHTS PARTY	11,623		11,623	0.41	0.08
O	THE FISHING PARTY	36,632		36,632	1.29	0.26
P	SHOOTERS AND FISHERS	104,499		104,499	3.69	0.74
	Total Formal Votes	2,828,745	0	2,828,745
	Other (including informal)	137,850		137,850
	Blank Votes	127,105		127,105
	Total Votes	3,093,700	0	3,093,700

On the NSW North Coast the National Party of Australia retains all five electorates – Ballina, Lismore, Tweed, Clarence, and Coffs Harbour.

Antony Green at ABC Online NSW Votes 2011 has this graphic:

Click on image to enlarge

So you think your personal and financial information is safe?

With governments at state and federal level still intent on gathering as much personal, medical and financial information concerning Australian citizens for the fledgling national data base and to facilitate inter-agency data sharing agreements, it was interesting to note yet another security breach.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 21 March 2011:

Hundreds of thousands of cryptographic tokens used by Australians who bank online, the Defence Force and other large corporations are vulnerable to a potential hack attack after a supplier revealed secret data it held had been stolen.
Customers of RSA, a security division of the data storage giant EMC, were on Friday told that the company had been the victim of "an extremely sophisticated cyber attack".
Federal government customers of RSA's affected SecurID service include the Department of Defence, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Australian Electoral Commission, Family Court of Australia, Department of Parliamentary Services, Department of Veterans' Affairs, Geoscience Australia, AusAid, Department of the Treasury and Crimtrac, according to closed tender documents listed on the AusTender website.

Open letter to RSA customers excerpt:

Our investigation has led us to believe that the attack is in the category of an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT). Our investigation also revealed that the attack resulted in certain information being extracted from RSA's systems. Some of that information is specifically related to RSA's SecurID two-factor authentication products. While at this time we are confident that the information extracted does not enable a successful direct attack on any of our RSA SecurID customers, this information could potentially be used to reduce the effectiveness of a current two-factor authentication implementation as part of a broader attack. We are very actively communicating this situation to RSA customers and providing immediate steps for them to take to strengthen their SecurID implementations.

RSA Online Fraud Centre report February 2011:

The Trojan arms race continues in 2011. It appears that the more security features put in place to protect the online channel, the farther Trojan developers will go in their attempts to infiltrate the systems, compromise security, and better hide their activities within infected computers.

Some background on Australia's attempt to create a national database:

• So you want to look through my medical records?
• Federal Labor and Health Minister Roxon crossing a bridge too far
• And these are the people Rudd & Co intend to trust with access to a national database containing all your sensitive personal information?
• e-Health: something's rotten in the State of Kevin
• Who's guarding the guards guarding your personal information?

Winning hearts and minds in Afghanistan

Sometimes it seems that our imperialist overlords never learn.

Der Speigel Online 21^st March 2011:
“The suspected perpetrators are part of a group of US soldiers accused of several killings. Their court martials are expected to start soon. The photos, the army statement said, stand "in stark contrast to the discipline, professionalism and respect that have characterized our soldiers' performance during nearly 10 years of sustained operations."

Wall Street Journal 22nd March 2011:
“A soldier being court-martialed on a U.S. Army base near Seattle for the murder of three Afghan civilians has agreed to plead guilty Wednesday in hopes of earning a reduced sentence, according to one of the attorneys handling his case. "My client is admitting on the record to three counts of murder, plus one count of conspiracy to commit assault and battery and one count of illegal drug use," said Geoffrey Nathan, a lawyer….
12 soldiers charged with an array of offenses stemming from an incident last year when the Army says three Afghan civilians were murdered by members of the 5th Stryker Brigade operating in the Maiwand district of Kandahar Province.

And sometimes grandsons of Anzacs thinks it's macho to ape the attitude of these racist brutal overloads.

Canberra Times 25th March 2011:

"Controversial Facebook posts which label Afghans as ''sand niggaz'' and ''dune coons'' have prompted an urgent ADF investigation that could result in some soldiers being sacked."

Daily Telegraph 25th March 2011:

"I'm in Afghan ... now. running over c---- yeeha." "dune coons, sand niggaz. f--- em all".

This is the true face of the Coalition of the Willing. Is there no end to our national shame?

NSW Votes 2011 - links to live election news, polling updates, analysis*

A few links for those political tragics roaming cyberspace today:

• NSW State Election 2011 home page
• NSW Electoral Commission Virtual Tally Room - online from 6.30pm
• ABC Online NSW Votes 2011 - live coverage
• The Australian Online - live coverage including video
• ABC TV News 24 - will simulcast the ABC1 election coverage from 6.30pm (AEDT)
• Channel 7 NSW Election 2011 - coverage features commentary by Premier Kristina Keneally & Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell from 6.30pm to 8.30pm
• Twitter #nswvotes & #auspol

702 ABC Sydney and ABC NewsRadio will combine for a live radio simulcast from 6pm (AEDT) - coverage until 10pm.
702 ABC Sydney will also have audio streaming via abc.net.au/sydney and will broadcast live to ABC Local Radio across regional NSW and to 1233 ABC Newcastle.
2UE Radio Online NSW Election 2011 – coverage from 6pm

Someone's having a Bad Hair Day

Just because it's Saturday.........

Yamba is known by some as
the Town of the Little White Dogs
because there seems to be so many
- from almost all the different smaller breeds -
living in that small coastal village.

Earth Hour 2011 - a bit of trial for many in New South Wales?

Earth Hour falls on 26th March 2011 - tomorrow.
It falls slap in the middle of radio and television coverage of the NSW general election which is expected to give government to the Liberal-Nationals Coalition for the first time since March 1995.
Bet a few extra Nue Sou Welshie homes won't be switching off at 8.30pm - unless it's in disgust at the polling figures.
Because we're all set to get a state government which has thrown in its lot with that arch-on-again-off-again climate change sceptic, Federal Coalition Leader Tony 'I've never met a right-wing extremist I didn't like' Abbott.
Somehow I don't think dousing the lights is going to help us.

Caution. Drive slowly. Anarchists ahead

Over at Peace News Log a small anarchy bird has been released back into the wild:

"US Arms Manufacturer Lockheed Martin has the contract for the 2011 UK Census in March this year.

The arms manufacturer Lockheed Martin US makes Trident nuclear missiles, cluster bombs and fighter jets and is involved in data processing for the CIA and FBI. It has provided private contract interrogators for the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. Lockheed Martin has the UK Government contract to collect the process the data for the 2011 census in March. (Observer, 20 February 2011)

If you do not complete the census form and answer all the questions (except “religion”), (or return this information on line) you could get fined £1000 and a get criminal record. The Green Party has, after some real soul searching, decided not to promote a boycott of the 2011 census after all because that could lead to further funding problems for local authorities. The census data are used to determine the financial needs of councils on the basis of the population data for their area.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Lockheed Martin is in it for the money. A principled stance by you to boycott the census will not hurt them, could provide the British Government with £1000 of your money and will make life harder for local authorities. The rational approach would be to take part in the census but make processing your return as expensive to process as possible for Lockheed Martin. Make sure that processing your return costs Lockheed Martin more that they allowed for in their tender. Don’t let them make a profit from your census return but do help to provide the data your council needs for its Government grants.

If you don’t send in your form, Lockheed Martin will still get its money and just make a higher profit for less work.

This year, for the first time, you can make your census return on line. Do not do this, for an on-line return is the cheapest and easiest option for Lockheed Martin to process.

The value of Lockheed Martin’s 2011 census contract seems to be about £150 million. See the ONS (Office for National Statistics) press release on web page:

https://2011mc.census.gov.uk/index.php?module=documents&action=view&id=14

The census form consists of 32 pages. The contract includes the processing of about 39 million census forms. This is approximately £4 per census return. This figure includes all overheads and Lockheed Martin’s profit margin, so that the company will have priced the direct processing cost per form at a lower figure. To make money out of such a contract, the handling and processing of the forms will have to be a high speed and highly automated operation. Every minute longer spent on a form than Lockheed Martin has budgeted for, will reduce their profit on the contract. It is realistic to assume that this extra cost to Lockheed Martin would be in the region of £1 per minute of extra time spent on your form if all the overheads are taken into account.

Let’s assume that they plan, using their high speed computerised scanning and data capture technology, to process a form in, say, 5 minutes from receipt at their processing centre up to finished data capture. If your form is going to take, say, at least 15 minutes because it is a little awkward to deal with (possibly longer if supervisory level staff has to resolve queries and problems), then you will have reduced Lockheed Martin’s profit by approximately £10, if not more. You can make it extremely time consuming by very simple means.

THE CENSUS PROCEDURE

Some time in March you will receive a census form in the post – probably addressed to “the householder” or “the occupier”, which someone in your household is obliged to complete. (Remember: Don’t do it on line). This must be done after the census day of 27 March. The “census day” is meant to be a snapshot of the entire population on that particular day. The form must be returned by post as “soon as possible” after 27 March. The Government website says “If you have not returned your questionnaire by 6 April, a census collector may call after that time (possibly around the end of April) to offer you any help”. There is no particular deadline line for returning the form.

Do not provide convenient contact details when filling in your census form or on any other piece of paper relating to the census. After all, nobody can force you to possess a telephone or email. Paper correspondence is much more expensive. Alternatively, accidentally change a digit of your telephone number and ditto for an email address. Everybody makes minor clerical errors, that’s just human nature........"

NSW Votes 2011 - links to live election news, polling updates, analysis

A few links for those political tragics roaming cyberspace today:

• NSW State Election 2011 home page
• NSW Electoral Commission Virtual Tally Room - online from 6.30pm
• ABC Online NSW Votes 2011 - live coverage
• The Australian Online - live coverage including video
• ABC TV News 24 - will simulcast the ABC1 election coverage from 6.30pm (AEDT)
• Channel 7 NSW Election 2011 - coverage features commentary by Premier Kristina Keneally & Opposition Leader Barry O'Farrell from 6.30pm to 8.30pm
• Twitter #nswvotes & #auspol

702 ABC Sydney and ABC NewsRadio will combine for a live radio simulcast from 6pm (AEDT) - coverage until 10pm.
702 ABC Sydney will also have audio streaming via abc.net.au/sydney and will broadcast live to ABC Local Radio across regional NSW and to 1233 ABC Newcastle.
2UE Radio Online NSW Election 2011 – coverage from 6pm

Earth Hour 2011 - a hard choice for many in New South Wales

Earth Hour falls on 26th March 2011 - tomorrow.
It falls slap in the middle of radio and television coverage of the NSW general election which is expected to give government to the Liberal-Nationals Coalition for the first time since March 1995.
Bet a few extra Nue Sou Welshie homes won't be switching off at 8.30pm - unless it's in disgust at the polling figures.
Because we're all set to get a state government which has thrown in its lot with that arch-on-again-off-again climate change sceptic, Federal Coalition Leader Tony 'I've never met a right-wing extremist I didn't like' Abbott.
Somehow I don't think dousing the lights is going to help us.

East Coast Pty Ltd gets a PR fail in cyberspace

Snapshot 20 March 2011
Click image to enlarge

East Coast Pty Ltd is a NSW North Coast company registered in 1999 according to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission.

So in 2011 why is its website displaying in what appears to be badly constructed Latin when it was supposedly set up to allow visitors to; Search the entire Australian East Coast for property for sale... in English?

Even Google Translate cannot shed light on the website's contents. Here is its version of part of one para in its Folder Pages:

Hello world! Is love, consectetuer adipiscing elit, make it hidden by contributing authors tincidunt administer and pain _PN_OF. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Be added to by trivial example, which of us ever undertakes the army tation ullamcorper lobortis nisl when some from the selection below.

Alexa currently gives this website a zero ranking - so perhaps it is still under construction by Bob the Builder and isn't supposed to be visible on the Internet just yet. Oopps!

Bob drawing found at Geocaching

Climate Change and the next generation

From Pollyics Stream at yfrog.com

Election Eve NSW March 2011

I've made a meal of local election campaign adverts from all the major and some very minor political parties in the lead up to tomorrow's NSW state election and found that what I'm being served is a dismal choice between hopelessly inadequate sitting MPs and p*ss weak new or serial candidates across the political spectrum.
The only healthy response is........


Gif found at Glitter Graphics

NSW State Election 2011: As the worm turns.....

Snapshot from the Essential Report 23 March 2011

NSW North Coast MP Janelle Saffin supports pay increase for lowest paid workers

Saffin supports pay increase for lowest paid workers

Page MP Janelle Saffin said Australia’s lowest paid workers must not be left behind in the latest wage review.

The Australian Government submission to Fair Work Australia’s 2010 Annual Wage Review recommends that any increase in minimum wages be in line with cost of living and other economic changes.

Ms Saffin said many people on modest incomes are doing it tough and Fair Work Australia needs to take this into account.

“Pay increases for those in the workforce are for necessities, not luxuries.”

“The ACTU is calling for an increase of $28 a week. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) acknowledges that an increase in the minimum wage rate is warranted, although says it should be no higher than $9.50.

“It is important that the increase is a fair amount to help the lowest paid workers support themselves and their families.

“It is a worker’s right to seek a pay rise and the sky won’t fall in if this is granted,” Ms Saffin said.

“The minimum wage is a key part of Australia’s safety net. The Australian economy is performing well and can afford a fair increase to the wages of the lowest paid.”

21 March 2011

 

Big Screen Film Festival at Kyogle & Yamba March 31 - April 6 2011

The National Film and Sound Archive's Big Screen
Touring Australian Films

Coming to Yamba and Kyogle March 31 – April 6, 2011

Yamba Cinema
13 Coldstream Street
Yamba
Phone: 02 6646 3430

Richmond Valley Cinemas
26 Bloore Street
Kyogle
Phone: 02 6632 3285

Tickets: $15 opening night, $7 Family Screening (Adults Free), $7 other sessions.
Festival Pass Yamba: Pre-purchase only $35 for eight (8) different films (saving $22).

For the Big Screen Festival Programs visit www.nfsa.gov.au/bigscreen

Bookings for School Screen can be made by teachers only at http://www.metromagazine.com.au/

National School Screen program - Babe and Mao's Last Dancer will screen in Kygole, and Happy Feet, Bran Nue Day, Jackie Jackie, Caterpillar Wish and Harvie Krumpet in Yamba.

Thursday 31 March 7.00pm, Richmond Valley Cinemas, Kyogle – One Night Only

A suddenly widowed mother (Charlotte Gainsbourg) is trying to raise her unruly kids while coping with the tragic loss of father and husband. Eight‐year old Simone is convinced her father's spirit is protecting them from The Tree next to their home.

Friday 1 April 7.00pm, Yamba Cinema – Official Opening Night

Meet actor Gyton Grantley who will introduce The Reef and host a Q&A after the film. A great white shark hunts the crew of a capsized sailboat along the Great Barrier Reef. Matt (played by Gyton), is a heroic and believable character in this beautifully shot thriller, based on a true story.

Saturday 2 April at 12 noon, Yamba Cinema – Special Event

Gyton Grantley introduces another of his films, the epic Beneath Hill 60. The film has just won Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Editing awards at the Annual Film Critics Awards.

Saturday 2 April 6.00pm, Yamba Cinema

The Tree: A beautiful film about a young mother and her unruly family recovering from the loss of their father.

Saturday 2 April 8.00pm, Yamba Cinema

A young police officer's first day of duty in a small town turns into a nightmare when he is forced to take the law into his own hands to survive. Red Hill stars Ryan Kwanten, Steve Bisley and Tom E. Lewis.

Sunday 3 April 10.00am, Yamba Cinema ‐ Family Screening

A young boy living with his father in the wild Coorong wetlands of South Australia, rescues a baby pelican, Mr Percival in Storm Boy. Print from the NFSA's Kodak/Atlab collection. Adults free!

Sunday 3 April 11.30am, Yamba Cinema

A Heartbeat Away is a feel‐good Australian musical comedy from internationally acclaimed director Gale Edwards. Starring Sebastian Gregory, Isabel Lucas, Tammy MacIntosh and Colin Friels.

Sunday 3 April 3.00pm, Yamba Cinema – Special Event

Meet director Claire Gorman and rising surf star Jess Laing who introduce their inspiring new feature film First Love. Follow three young surfers from Phillip Island on their journey to the big waves of Hawaii. When Jess is injured, will she recover?

Tuesday 5 April 10.30am, Yamba Cinema

A Heartbeat Away (details above)

Tuesday 5 April 12.15pm and 4.30pm, Yamba Cinema

The Tree (details above)

Wednesday 6 April, 10.30am, Yamba Cinema

Animal Kingdom is a powerful thriller about the battle between a Melbourne crime family, the police and the young man who finds himself caught in the crossfire. Starring Joel Edgerton, Guy Pearce, Ben Mendelsohn and Oscar nominee Jackie Weaver.

Can't believe they said that!

The Australian Federal Parliament House of Reps threw up these tasteful pearls of wisdom and goodwill on 21^st March 2011....

“Whilst I will not go so far as to sully the image of non-pension-age employees as generally unreliable or around the corner from pregnancy or a hangover—hopefully, not both at the same time—I believe that this constituent has a very valid point.”
How many more voters can the Libs Member for Bennelong John Alexander manage to insult in one sitting day?

“Answer the question, you harridan.”
On that same day fellow Lib and Member for Sturt Christopher Pyne interjects to demonstrate why he will never be considered a gentleman.

“Don‘t lie!”
While yet another Lib Sophie Mirabella, who currently has squatter’s rights in the Indi electorate, gets sin binned for this nasty three worder.

And a mad pollie's website ran with this on the 16th....

PRESENTER:Seriously, so, the only question I want to know is were you thinking of having a chest wax any time soon?
TONY ABBOTT:What, to get rid of my love rug?
Can the Leader of the Opposition and Federal Member for Warringah get more tackily boastful than this?

Late development: Nationals Steve Cansdell leans even further to the right

The camera doesn't lie.

Nationals MP Steve Cansdell has a paid-for how-to-vote in the free (throw-away) local paper the Clarence Valley Review that indicates he's bending over backwards to keep extreme right wingers onside.

Here's a pic of the ad:

Source: Clarence Valley Review, 32/3/11, page 5

A word or two to those No CarbonTax ragers. Yer? I really believe ya (not)

Take a look at these pics from today's No Carbon Tax Rally in Canberra, organised by Jacques Laxale of the Consumers & Taxpayers Association.
Definitely not a crowd whom on a good day I might suppose had actually considered the the pros and cons of placing a national price on carbon before introducing a market-driven emissions trading scheme.
I've a feeling that it was pure ignorance on show - a redneck extravaganza with Sophie, Bronnie, Pauline, Eric[a] and Angry in tow.
A rally chocka with the type of people who would never think that Opposition Leader Abbott was probably mentally laughing at them when he opened his rally speech with these words:
"Ladies and gentlemen, I want to say congratulations to all of you for coming out today and letting the Government of Australia know that the people of Australia can never be taken for granted. As I look out on this crowd of fine Australians I want to say that I do not see scientific heretics. I do not see environmental vandals. I see people who want honest government."

As MrDenmore remarked: "A group from the #noCTrally stayed behind for a party. See picture here."And when someone tries to inflate the Canberra rally numbers remember this panorma pic ....
Pics from Twitpics and News Ltd courtesy of Google Images

Over 100,000 Twitter users were psychologically assessed - without their knowledge or consent?

Social networks tend to disproportionally favor connections between individuals with either similar ordissimilar characteristics. This propensity, referred to as assortative mixing or homophily, is expressed asthe correlation between attribute values of nearest neighbour vertices in a graph. Recent results indicate thatbeyond demographic features such as age, sex and race, even psychological states such as “loneliness” canbe assortative in a social network. In spite of the increasing societal importance of online social networksit is unknown whether assortative mixing of psychological states takes place in situations where social tiesare mediated solely by online networking services in the absence of physical contact. Here, we show thatgeneral happiness or Subjective Well-Being (SWB) of Twitter users, as measured from a 6 month record oftheir individual tweets, is indeed assortative across the Twitter social network. To our knowledge this is thefirst result that shows assortative mixing in online networks at the level of SWB. Our results imply that onlinesocial networks may be equally subject to the social mechanisms that cause assortative mixing in real socialnetworks and that such assortative mixing takes place at the level of SWB. Given the increasing prevalenceof online social networks, their propensity to connect users with similar levels of SWB may be an importantinstrument in better understanding how both positive and negative sentiments spread through online social ties.Future research may focus on how event-specific mood states can propagate and influence user behavior in“real life”…….We collected a large set of Tweets submitted to Twitter in the period from November 28, 2008 to May 2009.The data set consisted of 129 million tweets submitted by several million Twitter users. Each Tweet contained aunique identifier, date-time of submission (GMT+0), submission type, and textual content, among other information…We complemented this cross-section sample of twitter activity by retrieving the complete history of over 4 millionusers, as well as the identity of all of their followers. The final Twitter Follower network contained 4,844,430users (including followers of our users for which we did not collect timeline information). Armed with the socialconnections and activity of these users we were able to measure the way in which the emotional content of eachusers varied in time and how it spread across links. [Happiness is assortative in online social networks,Johan Bollen, Bruno Gonçalves, Guangchen Ruan, & Huina Mao,March 2011]

The 4,844,430 users (whose tweets were scanned in 2008 for the aforementioned study) would work out at about eighty per cent of the estimated 6 million Twitter accounts in existence during that year. Although only those who posted at least one tweet daily over a six month period were retained in the study, which ended up formally assessing 102,009 users.

One of those harvested appears to be a co-founder of ISP/telco Sonic.net who happens to be ‘followed’ by Barack Obama.
The wife of a co-founder of SDMOMfia.com was caught up in the tweet trawl and she is also followed by the U.S. President.
Obama was found again following a PR person from the Detroit area whose name cropped up in connection with the study.
One male who has no public Twitter bio is yet another who is identified by this study. He links back to Obama through an account the President follows.
However, it is highly unlikely that Barack Obama’s official tweets were assessed for Subjective Well-Being aka general happiness as he didn’t tweet daily.
There are a number of other tweeters mentioned in the study who can be easily identified by the general public or by their own followers.

What on earth was Indiana University's School of Informatics and Computing thinking in allowing any persons used in this study to be identified either directly within the text or in presentations undertaken later by one of the authors (and in one instance assigned an emotional state)? Did no-one realise the power of Twitter and Google to disclose identities to the idly curious?

These tweets may be in the public domain, but surely there are limits to the uses to which others may put them.

Never a truer word spoken on the Mad Monk - Part Two

This time it’s journalist Mark Dreyfus over at The Sydney Herald on the 11^th March 2011:

“Abbott's wildest claim is that he is running a ''truth campaign''. Leaving aside the Goebbellian cynicism of labelling a scare campaign a ''truth campaign'', I think it shows Abbott's contempt for the Australian electorate. His gaze is so firmly fixed on the prize of power that he is blind to the damage he is causing to the strength of our political system and the quality of debate. It is contemptuous to simply not answer real questions, to dismiss valid criticism without reasoning, to deflect real argument with personal attack.”

Part One here.

Environmental Roundup March 2011

Old Bar Sand Replenishment Group 12 March 2011:

INDEPENDENT MP for Lyne Robert Oakeshott has urged the Prime Minister to act on recommendations made last October in a seminal report to government about the impact of climate change on coastal communities. The report, titled Managing our coastal zone in a changing climate: the time to act is now, made 47 recommendations related to the need for national policy action on issues including coastal erosion and associated liability issues.

Environmental Defenders Office (NSW) 17 March 2011:

The EDO is acting for the Snowy River Alliance Inc ('SRA') in their challenge to the Water Administration Ministerial Corporation's ('WAMC') review of the Snowy Hydro water licence and a subsequent variation to the licence. The Snowy Hydro Corporatisation Act 1997 (NSW) ('Act'), requires the WAMC to conduct a review of the obligations under the licence relating to the "Snowy River Increased Flows" and to exhibit a copy of any state of the environment reports prepared by the Snowy Scientific Committee ("SSC"). On 23 July 2010, the EDO commenced proceedings in the Supreme Court of NSW on behalf of the SRA challenging the validity of the review.
The case was heard before Justice Hislop on 14 March 2011. SRA argued that the WAMC's review failed to meet the description of "review" as required by the Act and failed to exhibit any SSC reports prior to the review. If the review is found to be invalid, the variation to the licence may also be invalid. Justice Hislop has reserved his decision.

The Daily Examiner 18 March 2011:

THE Coastal Communities Protection Alliance in Wooli has been given more fuel for its argument to deal with the coastal erosion issues plaguing the community in a way other than Clarence Valley Council’s planned retreat option.
Dr Shaw Mead, director of international consultancy ASR, spent several days at the beachside village assessing the potential for protective measures for the dune system and Wooli Wooli River mouth, which suffered degradation from severe weather events and changes in sand movement during past years.

ABC News online 18 March 2011:

Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke has given the Victorian Government until April 8 to get cattle out of the Alpine National Park.
The Ted Baillieu-led government reintroduced cattle grazing into the park in January to test if grazing cuts down the bushfire risk.
But Mr Burke has lashed out at the State Government and says the matter should first have been referred for Federal Government approval.
He says if the State Government does not take the cattle out in time and refer the plan for his approval, the Federal Government will act anyway.
"Every Australian company knows they're not above national law. Victoria decided maybe they were, well they're now in for a shock. They're not above the law and by April 8 the cattle will be out and the matter will be referred," he said.
He described the Victorian Government's responses to his department's requests for information about the trial as "a joke".

Portlandia: Is It Local? Just for fun

Irrigators go all historical on Twitter

nswirrigators NSW Irrigators
Mike Wade from Cal Farm Water notes anniversary of Senate topping Julius Caesar - what happens to leaders not listening! #basinplan lesson?

Hang in there, Ginge!

Ginger Meggs needs our support as he copes with the fact that his best friend and current cartoonist, Jason Chatfield, was recently the victim of one very dangerous cabbie.
Chin up, Ginge. Get well soon, Jas!
From everyone here at North Coast Voices.

Ginge drawing found in Google Images

Death by typography at Corrs Chambers Westgarth

There is a May 2010 Corrs Chambers Westgarth Lawyers legal letter under the title Australian Defamation Notice posted on Chilling Effects.
It is hard to take this letter seriously when one counts the number of spelling errors.
Obviously the recipient didn't see the gravity – the number of Catholic Care employees named on the allegedly offending website has now risen to three.

Graphic found at Google Images

Giving The Greens a go......

…..’cause it will so p*ss orf  the conservative element on the NSW North Coast.

The Greens political advertising currently doing the rounds in an email.

Gen X, Gen Y, Gen Z and now ...

Veterans, Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y and Gen Z are readily acknowledged but what about the latest lot?

According to a former resident of the Lower Clarence area youngsters in Australia have acquired a title that's in keeping with the notion of being able to readily identify them.

In a submission to the Issues Paper on a Sustainable Population Strategy for Australia the youngsters have been referred to as Generation Plasma. 

Former Treasurer Peter Costello, who so regularly reminds us he holds the title of Australia's longest serving treasurer, gets much of the credit for this generation's name, thanks to his baby bonuses which many new parents spent at retailers such as Harvey Norman and acquired plasma televisions. (Note to Mr Costello: 'longest serving' is not synonymous with 'best'.)

Although submissions to the Paper formally closed on Tuesday 1 March 2011, late submissions will be considered to mid-March 2011.

Read the submissions here.

Land values fall - finally the penny is dropping on the Clarence Coast?

The Daily Examiner 24 November 2009

For literally decades now – with information and risk scenarios firming along with the science as the years pass – the NSW Northern Rivers generally and the Clarence Coast specifically have been aware that these regions will probably be on the front line of climate change impacts. Heatwaves, increased fire risk, more drought periods per decade, more extreme rainfall/wind/flash flooding events are predicted.

With parts of Yamba Hill likely to end up in the ocean when specific weather and seas conditions batter the cliff face, rising sea levels also likely to cause strong storm surges which will inundate streets within the town as far up as Lake Kolora, higher groundwater tables or sea water in the aquifers and, river flooding predicted to be less frequent but more destructive

So it has been a quiet wonder over these last ten years to find that house and land values had been holding firm or rising.

Not anymore though, as it appears that prospective buyers may now be more cautious when scoping out coastal property and are probably not as willing to shoulder the higher end of the coming financial risk:

A DROP in land values of up to $600,000 for properties in Yamba's prestigious hill precinct will see ratepayers fork out hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of dollars less in annual rates.
Figures obtained by The Daily Examiner show drops of up to 30% over the six-year period from 2004 for land in streets including Ocean St, Pacific Pde and Clarence St.
Despite this, increasing values in other areas of the Valley will still see the council's rate revenue for the 2011/2012 financial year rise by a projected 15%.
One Pacific Pde block, valued at $2.34 million in 2004, plummeted $600,000 to $1.64 million in the 2010 valuation.
The owners of one property on Ocean St will have to fork out around $1200 less in rates per year after the value of their land dropped by $350,000 to $1.2 million.
And the reduction in land values isn't just confined to residential properties.
The value of land occupied by the Blue Dolphin resort dropped $3 million, which will see council get around $13,000 less in annual rates from the holiday park.
Without knowing the specifics impacting on Yamba land values, a representative for the Valuer-General's Department said local issues could effect the movements of valuations up or down.
“The valuations are based on sales analysis. If the sales are moving up or down this could be a factor,” the representative said.
The Valuer-General's Department will investigate factors influencing land values and The Daily Examiner will report on the results……
[The Daily Examiner, 19 March 2011]

Well, the warnings were there weren't they?

Climate change has potentially profound effects for the property and development industry. Stakeholders in the industry must begin to consider the various ways that climate change will impact upon property prices and valuation methodologies. [2010]

Tens of thousands of properties along the coast of New South Wales could be left uninsured to the threats of rising sea levels, Gabby Greyem reports.
Sea level rise could cost Australians $150 billion in uninsured real estate, according to Insurance Australia Group.
As a result of global warming sea levels are predicted to rise up to 40 cm by 2050 and 90 cm by 2100. 46,000 properties between Newcastle and Wollongong are less than three metres above sea level and are uninsured for coastal erosion or landslip.
Director of Lonergan Edwards & Associates, Tony Coleman, said most insurance policies cover the house and contents, but not the land value, and often the land is a significant part of a waterfront property’s overall value.
“Even half a metre within 50 years is a lot of extra sea to keep out if you’re trying to stop waves.
“A lot of people are going to lose their property and they won’t be insured,” he said.
Mr Coleman believes there is a growing realisation about the costs of sea level rise, but it is being overshadowed by the high focus on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. [2009]

One general insurer has estimated that the value of coastal property in Australia at risk to rising sea levels and erosion is between $50 billion and $150 billion.
In a submission to a Federal Government inquiry, the insurer even suggests an insurance fund into which owners of low-lying land would pay a regular levy for compensation when sea levels cause their land to become permanently unusable. [2008]

Climate change has the potential to impact heavily both society at large and the global economy. It is also increasingly being understood as a business risk.
Issues of energy and environment have, for some time, been of key interest and relevance to the actuarial profession on a number of fronts. In particular, the effect of climate change on insurance and the contribution of electricity markets to greenhouse gas emissions.
Such concern on the part of the actuarial community is hardly surprising, given that they are experts at understanding and assessing the financial impact of future uncertain events. There can be no set of complex problems more amenable to, and more in need of, application of the actuarial skill set than those generated by climate change.
Weather and climate are "core business" for the insurance industry. At its most basic, insurers underwrite weather-related catastrophes by calculating, pricing and spreading the risk and then meeting claims when they arise. A changing, less predictable climate has the potential to reduce the capacity of insurers to calculate, price and spread this weather-related risk. Policyholders, shareholders and the community at large all have a stake. [2007]

Implications for property values & insurance in risky areas [2006]

How small we are......

NASA video taken of the Sun on February 24, 2011:
large prominence erupting from the surface. The dramatic explosion was captured in ultraviolet light in the above time lapse video covering 90 minutes, where a new frame was taken every 24 seconds. The scale of the prominence is huge -- the entire Earth would easily fit under the flowing curtain of hot gas.