So it was to the accompaniment of helpless laughter that I read this article in The Daily Examiner today, in which he ends with an outright misrepresentation of his original statements and a bald untruth about the funding process, as well as omitting to mention the fact that the Commonwealth has already begun scheduled funding payments:
Wednesday 19 October 2011
Clarence By-election: weeping with laughter in the first week of the unofficial election campaign
So it was to the accompaniment of helpless laughter that I read this article in The Daily Examiner today, in which he ends with an outright misrepresentation of his original statements and a bald untruth about the funding process, as well as omitting to mention the fact that the Commonwealth has already begun scheduled funding payments:
Dementia rates high in NSW and on the North Coast
Nature Conservation Council of NSW warning concerning O'Farrell Government coal seam gas policy
Government leaves significant wildlife habitat and natural areas open to mining and gas 15 October 2011:
The NSW government's proposed strategic land use policy will leave the state's most critical wildlife habitat and natural areas open to destructive mining and gas development, according to the Nature Conservation Council of NSW.
The proposed policy allows mining companies to buy their way into highly sensitive natural areas, by allowing mining and gas development to go ahead in these areas, provided that the destroyed habitat is 'offset' elsewhere.
"The policy proposals currently on the table will not deliver on the government's election promise to maintain critical environmental assets by placing sensitive areas off limits to mining and gas extraction," said Pepe Clarke, NCC Chief Executive Officer.
"Carefully mapping the most important wildlife habitat in the state, only to allow it to be destroyed by mining, is bizarre and totally unacceptable. The Government must recognise these are natural areas too precious to destroy and impossible to replace.
"The government's strategic planning proposal does not apply to exploration activities, despite the fact that exploration activities can have significant impacts on the environment in their own right.
"The NSW government's proposed approach to strategic land use planning does not reflect the balance between mining, agriculture and conservation promised by the Coalition in its election policy.
"We cannot accept a policy that does not provide certainty for mine‐affected communities and genuine protection for wildlife, forests, rivers and wetlands.
"Environmental and agricultural stakeholders have become increasingly frustrated with the government's strategic land use planning process, as their repeated calls for the government to honour its promise to place sensitive areas off limits to mining have fallen on deaf ears.
"The State government must not turn its back on its promise to protect natural areas and local communities from the destructive impacts of unprecedented expansion in coal and gas development.
"This policy proposal must be withdrawn immediately, and replaced with a commitment to provide real protection for local communities, farmland, water and natural areas," Mr Clarke said.
Front page image: This Eastern Pygmy Possum was found by scientists during a recent wildlife survey of the Pilliga forest. It is one of at least 22 endangered animal species under threat from a large-scale coal seam gas mining proposal in the Pilliga.
Here is the Eastern Star Gas 2007 Review of Environmental Factors for the Pilliga gas well sites, which somewhat conveniently only finds four threatened terrestrial vertebrate species occurring in the study area - none of which are the Eastern Pygmy Possum. This review also finds some of the segmented study area conveniently distant from at least five of the six identified core hole sites.
This same review stated across the Bohena and Bibblewindi project areas have found no evidence of any endangered populations, communities or habitat and
Same old, same old from the NSW North Coast Nationals
Former Clarence MP Steve Cansdell (who resigned after being outed as having made a false stat dec to avoid losing his driver's licence) greeting the new Clarence By-election candidate tipped to be his successor in the NSW O'Farrell Government after 19th November 2011.
A dubious case of mutual endorsement?
Tuesday 18 October 2011
Are your blog's visitors coming with additional political spam?
Saffin encourages increasing awareness of identity fraud
Monday 17 October 2011
Nats' candidate for Clarence ... business interests ...???
Click on image to enlarge
Punters left in dark about Nats' Clarence pre-selection processes
Leading up to the Nationals' big event yesterday all the reports were that seven hopefuls would face the starter's gun. However, today's Daily Examiner carries a page 3 report "Nats pick Gulaptis" accompanied by a photo of hopefuls. But one thing is missing from the photo, there's no Jason Cleary.
Local punters are asking, "Was he a late scratching? Was he nobbled?"
In 21st Century Australia the rich get richer and the poor lag behind
The wealthiest 20% of households have increased their average net worth 15% since 2005-06 (CPI adjusted), while the poorest 20% of households saw only a 4% rise, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
These wealthy households had an average net worth of $2.2 million per household, and accounted for around two-thirds of total household wealth. The poorest 20% of households had an average net worth of $32,000 per household, which accounted for 1% of total household wealth.
The average wealth of an Australian household in 2009-10 was $720,000, up 14% (CPI adjusted) since 2005-06.
There were differences in the average levels of wealth between the states and territories. Average net worth in Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania were below the national average.
Household wealth was more concentrated in metropolitan areas. The average net worth of households located in capital cities was $772,000 as compared with $629,000 in areas outside of capital cities.
Owner-occupied homes were the main asset held by Australians. Mortgages on them were the main liability, with over two-thirds of Australian households owning their own home either outright or with a mortgage.
For households who owned their home outright (2.7 million households), the average value of the home was $541,000. For those households with a mortgage on their home (3 million households), the average value of the home was $521,000, and the average mortgage outstanding was $188,000, giving a net home equity of $333,000.
One in five households owned property other than their own home, including holiday homes and rental properties.
Superannuation was the main financial asset held by households, with three-quarters of all households having some superannuation assets.
For households with superannuation, the average value of their superannuation was $154,000, but for half of these, the value was less than $60,000.
More information can be found in Household Wealth and Wealth Distribution, Australia, 2005-06 (cat. no. 6554.0).
Media notes:
· When reporting ABS data you must attribute the Australian Bureau of Statistics (or the ABS) as the source.
Canute Shire Council tries to turn back the sea
Sunday 16 October 2011
Clarence By-election: Nationals make the same mistake a second time
The Sydney Morning Herald 16 October 2011:
This man has the ability to take Clarence from an extremely safe Nationals seat to an almost marginal one in the space of weeks.
All that glitters is not gold for NSW North Coast communities
for the period 1995-96 to 2007-08
It's World Food Day Today, 16 October 2011
It is World Food Day today and it’s no surprise to find that this event is supported by the multinational biotech industry and agricultural sectors which promote GMO crops.
To counteract this I suggest……………………...
Send an email of support to Millions Against Monsanto here.
Sign up for Mothers Against Monsanto weekly newsletter here and join the network here.
Contact your Federal MP and tell him or her that you demand a review of the Australian Government’s position on GMO labelling. Contact details here and here.
Write a letter to the editor of a local newspaper stating how you feel about genetically modified crops and foods.
* This post is part of North Coast Voices' effort to keep Monsanto's blog monitor (affectionately known as Mr. Monsanto) in long-term employment.
Who is Henry Ergas and why did he hop aboard Teh Rabbit's Fright Bus?
Prompted by a tongue-in-cheek Jeremy Sear tweet asking the questions “Where the hell is Henry Ergas pulling this "$1 trillion" figure for the carbon price from? And who is Henry Ergas anyway?” I went looking for answers.
This is Henry:
Pic from The Australian
This is what what Wollongong University has to say about Henry:
This is what Liberal Party hacks have been saying about Henry:
This is what The Prof tells the Murdoch meeja:
“the carbon tax will cost a year's national income: that is, $1 trillion.”
This is what the Liberal Party’s best mate told the Senate Carbon Tax Inquiry on 10th August 2011:
This is the conclusion he drew for the Business Council of Australia:
And this is how good an economist ol’ Henry is:
Extracted from ASIC's database at AEST 20:14:00 on 15/10/2011 |
Name | NETWORK ECONOMICS CONSULTING GROUP PTY LTD |
| ||
ACN |
|
| ||
ABN |
|
| ||
Australian Proprietary Company, Limited By Shares |
| |||
Registration Date | 27/07/1987 |
| ||
Next Review Date | 27/07/2010 |
| ||
Deregistered Date Deregistered 21/10/2009 |
| |||
Locality of Registered Office | not available |
| ||
Australian Securities & Investments Commission |
| |||
Former Name(s) | ERGAS & ASSOCIATES PTY. LTD. |
| ||
WATRON PTY. LTD. |
| |||
Extracted from ASIC's database at AEST 20:41:54 on 15/10/2011 |
| |||
Name | CONCEPT ECONOMICS PTY LTD | |
ACN |
| |
Australian Proprietary Company, Limited By Shares | ||
Registration Date | 03/03/2008 | |
Next Review Date | 03/03/2012 | |
Deregistered Date Deregistered 08/05/2011 | ||
Locality of Registered Office | not available | |
Australian Securities & Investments Commission |
From Bloomberg Business Week:
Network Economics Consulting Group Pty. Ltd. provides economic and strategic advisory services.
Mr. Henry Ergas Managing Director
From Manta:
Henry Issac Simon Ergas Director
Inevitable conclusion – why on earth would I trust the carbon tax sums done by a Menzies House amigo who apparently couldn’t balance the books of two businesses?
Saturday 15 October 2011
Some advice for polluter: sell a couple of racehorses, pay your bills and get your house in order!
Read the full report in today's Daily Examiner here.
Translation: I really don't like the Nationals pre-selection candidate
One of NSW Nationals preselection candidates in the run up to the Clarence by-election gets a vote of no confidence from one local in a letter to the editor in today’s The Daily Examiner:
I HAVE written a letter that I hope can be published and shared among the people of the Clarence Valley.
This letter has to do with the preselection occurring in the area and may very well help the people of the valley to vote right in order to assure the best, most promising candidate is chosen this weekend.
In 2007, Nationals Party MP Ian Causley retired after serving the party for 11 years. It was then that Chris Gulaptis (local man of Maclean at the time) became the new Nationals candidate.
While Mr Gulaptis was putting up a tough campaign, he still faced a difficult contest from his Labor opponent Janelle Saffin throughout the election.
The November 24, 2007, federal election revealed that Janelle Saffin accumulated more votes than Gulaptis from within the communities and was sure to be the better MP out of the two.
This outcome left many National Party members and supporters extremely disappointed.
During the campaign, Mr Gulaptis made himself well known as a friendly, compassionate and dedicated candidate.
When the announcement came through that Ms Saffin had won the seat and defeated Gulaptis, it wasn't too long before the people of the National Party realised there was another side to their "perfect candidate".
It is only expected that after an election is held, win or lose, that the candidate shows some form of appreciation and gratitude towards his/her members and volunteers - normally an after celebration.
Mr Gulaptis provided nothing for his party.
In fact, for a man who loved the party so much, it proved easy for him to decide that working in politics was no longer of interest to him.
He walked from the Nationals and left the Clarence Valley with his tail between his legs.
It is for that reason Gulaptis sounded like a media clown when he commented: "The Nationals on the North Coast are like a second family to me." The former candidate has always claimed that he relocated to Mackay in 2008 for work reasons.
There, in north Queensland, he had found himself a new career at a surveying firm and became responsible for its management.
It was not his decision to leave that left the people of the Valley saddened, but the shock of how soon it happened after the election.
The people of the Clarence Valley should want their chosen candidate to be somebody who is true to themselves and can be trusted; somebody who will show more concern about the people and the community in which he/she lives than themselves and their reputation. If Chris Gulaptis is appointed to the seat, all we can hope for is that the going never gets tough.
THERESE MANNING,
Maclean
Pic from The Daily Examiner
Saturday's Adult LOL
The Movie Rights Group which obviously thought no-one would notice. LOL.
The Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia prepares to again walk away from truth in labelling
Friday 14 October 2011
Clarence By-election 2011 date set
GILLARD AND SWAN ARE LYING COMMUNIST TRAITORS !!!!
The crazy Abbott Army at play.............
The Daily Examiner Beyond 'fair comment' 13 October 2011:
Abbott's Army in Action -video
Frank Walker in 2010 - background of an email pest