Ramsey's destructive dummy spit creates political problem for Nationals in Clarence By-election

Ramsey Food Processing and Stuart Bruce Ramsey's response to recent court proceedings which went against them resulted in an announcement that 'Ramsey Group' was closing the South Grafton abattoir and moving its meat processing business to Casino with the loss of around 200 jobs from the Clarence Valley economy.

Ramsey has existing business interests in Casino as Ramsey Wholesale Meats Pty Ltd and Ramsey Holdings Pty Ltd are already based there.

Hot on the heels of various court judgments (including a finding of contempt, a $130,000 fine and a order to compensate sacked workers) a Ramsey spokesperson attempted to blame state government for the decision to abandon Grafton in favour of Casino.

The local response to this explanation of a move which is going to hit the bottom line of many Grafton businesses was quick and definite - Ramsey had only himself to blame.

That the Nationals find this a politically sensitive issue is evidenced by the extraordinary assertion of Clarence Duty MLC, Rick Colless, that the O'Farrell Government was prepared to subvert the authority of the Court by dismissing the fines imposed by the New South Wales Land and Environment Court in August last year.

As Mr. Ramsey has apparently rejected this offer one can only suppose that he was angling for a higher level of financial support from the NSW Government than that represented by this proposed waiver. 

Leaving the NSW Nationals attempting to blame the punitive measures that the previous government had imposed upon them, the fines that they had imposed upon them for the loss of so many local jobs. Rather than placing the blame squarely where it belongs -on Ramsey's poor business decisions.

As well as chasing Ramsey cap in hand to see if they can throw more money at him, as the political pain widens in the Clarence electorate and the epitaph mongrels is freely tossed about:

Nationals' State Leader and Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner was already working on a "co-ordinated response" to the abattoir closure, he said.

The Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services would seek a meeting with the owners of the Ramsey Abattoir next week, a spokesman for Mr Stoner said.

"This meeting will involve discussions about the circumstances of the abattoir's closure and determine whether the NSW Government can assist any businesses and individuals affected by the job losses that may result from the proprietor's decision to relocate to Casino," Mr Stoner said.

[The Daily Examiner, Abattoir jobs cut Closure is 'final straw': Small businesses are already struggling: Chamber,22 October 2011,p1]

While the Nationals candidate in the forthcoming by-election (and well-known supporter of the former Howard Goverment's WorkChoices laws) Chris Gulaptis also ignores the Ramsey Group's long history of worker exploitation and Stuart Ramsey's lucrative horse racing interests when he offers this excuse for Ramsey in The Casino Times on 20 October 2011:

"This is a sad outcome for everyone involved and really marks the end of a long and difficult situation going back a number of years over some waste management issues...
It is my understanding that significant investment would have been required in the plant to meet environmental requirements and that, given the economic uncertainty both in Australia and globally, the owners were not able to make that investment."

Of course, the Coalition has always been a friend to Stuart Ramsey. This is Liberal MLC Charlie Lynn lobbying on the floor of the NSW Parliament in 2001:

The news for Mr Ramsey's abattoir is that his business costs for workers compensation are about to double. I will say that again for the benefit of Country Labor members: Mr Ramsey's workers compensation business costs are about to double......
In the last three years the Grafton abattoir has paid $500,000 a year in workers compensation premiums. It has had to pay out on claims of $120,000. It cares for its workers' safety and welfare—they are family, it is a genuine concern.

UPDATE - Some background:

A year when Stuart Ramsey actually liked a NSW Government - it was giving him money.

Now this is something you won't hear Tony Abbott be man enough to admit

http://youtu.be/dme0nyz0OgU

Hey, Ramsey, just post the $60,000 winner's cheque to c/- the Grafton Post Office

The big, colourful racing identity who has problems paying his bills lined up as-quick-as-a-rat-up-a-drainpipe for a TV interview immediately after a nag he part owns crossed the winning line and collected the winner's prize of sixty grand at Moonee Valley today.

And, to make matters worse for viewers who had to put up with the pathetically poor payer's big picture on their TV screens, the interviewer referred to Ramsey with an endearing "Stuey". A bloke at a local pub rang me up immediately after he saw the event and reckoned the interviewer should have called him "Chop, Chop Stew".

Another bloke has this message for the victims of StewedRam:
"To all the long-suffering, under-paid ex-employees and the current employees soon to be sacked by Stuart Ramsay Meatworks, take heart all is well in the stables, his thoroughbred won the second race on Cox Plate Day at Moonee Valley! "

Credit: Image from Racing Channel TVN

Saffin furious about Gulaptis incorrect claims over funding for Grafton Base

Saffin furious about Gulaptis incorrect claims over funding for Grafton Base

Page MP Janelle Saffin said it is outrageous that Clarence National Party candidate, Chris Gulaptis, is still trying to promote himself by incorrectly aligning himself with millions of dollars in funding for Stage 2 of Grafton Base Hospital, despite the facts being made clear.

“Mr Gulaptis had absolutely nothing to do with the funding, which may be why he got the amount wrong, saying $9 million when it is $10 million.

“Local people know better than Mr Gulaptis where the money has come from.

“I lobbied for the money for Stage 2, to provide the new X-Ray department along with 6 orthopaedic beds and a kitchen.

“Federal Health minister, Nicole Roxon, provided $6 million and the then State Health Minister, Carmel Tebbutt, provided the $4 million.

“I personally thanked the Treasurer Eric Roozendaal for securing the funds, and I have a copy of the letter that Mr Roozendaal wrote to Minister Tebbutt last November, confirming that the money was secured.

“So if Mr Gulaptis got the figure wrong, and where the money came from, with such a key development for Grafton, we have to ask, what else he has got wrong.

“I cannot let this rest. 

“By trying to claim this as O’Farrell Government funding, Mr Gulaptis is not being straight with the people he hopes to represent.

“When he was caught out making this tricky claim, he should have admitted his mistake.

“In public life there are principles that we expect to be upheld, - including giving credit where it is due, and admitting your mistakes. 

“If you make a mistake, you say it.  I do and so did former Clarence MP, Steve Cansdell.

“Steve and I had sometimes had our differences, but we worked together for our local community and always acknowledged the efforts of all those who worked to bring better services, especially in health.

“Come clean Chris and put right a wrong.

“Am I furious?  You bet.”

[Media release, 20 October 2011]                                         

Clarence River Drovers - a video photo essay by Debrah Novak

Clarence River Drovers by Debrah Novak from Debrah Novak on Vimeo.

The ABC is so impressed with the result that Clarence River Drovers has been selected to screen on TV. Tune in to the ABC Open slots on ABC 24News on December 15 at 9.57am and 8.57 pm.

Television and radio still rule in 2011

There's something comfortably reassuring in this graph for greybeards like myself who start the day by switiching on the radio.

KPBC Internet Trends (2011)

Ramsey loses in the courts and kicks Grafton community in the teeth

In an ultimate act of corporate betrayal Ramsey Food Processing Pty Ltd and Stuart Ramsey have decided to close down the South Grafton abattoir he has controlled since 1998, after successive losses in Federal and NSW courts resulted in significant monetary penalties for his group of companies.

Not only will this business closure affect many of the 150 abattoir workers who may not be able to transfer elsewhere (rumour has it that workers may not receive full entitlements on termination), it is bound to have a flow-on effect for the Grafton Sale Yards.

While folding the Grafton business, Stuart Ramsey intends to continue in the meat industry via the 78 year-old  Northern Co-operative Meat Company in Casino - a business which earlier this year was threatening to lay off workers and one which has its own workplace issues.

Ramsey, a Hunter Valley horse breeder and racer who owns Turangga Farm Stud, will of course continue with his million dollar interests elsewhere in 2011:

Karuta Queen is another smart horse bred by Stuart Ramsey in the short time he has had the Turangga stud, Segenhoe Valley, Scone. Another is Headway (by another Arrowfield sire, Charge Forward), winner of the AJC Sweet Embrace Stakes and VRC Ascot Vale Stakes and runner up in the Golden Slipper.Turangga itself plays host to a Golden Slipper second, Ramsey’s foundation sire Zizou, one whose first 2-year-olds are predicted to do well in 2011-12. Also second in the Blue Diamond and accoladed a champion 2-year-old, Zizou is by the Mr. Prospector Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus and from Natural is My Name, a half-sister to Karuta Queen’s sire Not a Single Doubt.

Seven of the yearlings they sold at the Magic Millions sale each realised $100,000 or more with the high being $500,000

Christy Moore - Ordinary Man

Powered by mp3skull.com

While Ramsey blames the government for his woes, a brief history of the 'Ramsey Group' courtesy of Austlii indicates other reasons are at the root of his problems:

1. Fair Work Ombudsman v Ramsey Food Processing Pty Ltd [2011] FCA 1176 (19 October 2011) (From Federal Court of Australia; 19 October 2011; 165 KB) 
2. Environment Protection Authority v Ramsey Food Processing Pty Ltd [2010] NSWLEC 150 (10 August 2010) (From Land and Environment Court of New South Wales; 10 August 2010; 33 KB)  
3. Environment Protection Authority v Ramsey Food Processing Pty Ltd [2010] NSWLEC 23 (24 February 2010) (From Land and Environment Court of New South Wales; 24 February 2010; 120 KB)  
4. Peter Geoffrey Wright v Ramsey Food Packaging No. 2 Pty Ltd - [2007] AIRC 606 (8 August 2007) (From Australian Industrial Relations Commission; 8 August 2007; 58 KB) 
5. McIlwain v Ramsey Food Packaging Pty Ltd (No. 4) [2006] FCA 1302 (4 October 2006) (From Federal Court of Australia; 4 October 2006; 188 KB)  
6. McIlwain v Ramsey Food Packaging Pty Ltd [2006] FCA 828 (30 June 2006) (From Federal Court of Australia; 30 June 2006; 445 KB)  
7. McIlwain v Ramsey Food Packaging Pty Ltd [2005] FCA 1233 (2 September 2005) (From Federal Court of Australia; 2 September 2005; 156 KB)  
8. Ramsey Butchering Services Pty Ltd v Blackadder [2003] FCAFC 20 (21 February 2003)
   (From Federal Court of Australia - Full Court; 21 February 2003; 138 KB)  
9. Blackadder v Ramsey Butchering Services Pty Ltd (includes corrigendum dated 10 May 2002) [2002] FCA 603 (10 May 2002) (From Federal Court of Australia; 10 May 2002; 80 KB) 

North Coast Voices 19 October 2011: Ramsey ordered to compensate sacked workers
The Daily Examiner 15 October 2011: Ramsey in contempt

UPDATE:

Ramsey to deny redundancy package to some workers.

Ramsey has only himself to blame.

2011 Clarence By-Election Scorecard. Part 1 - Opening Salvos

Opening salvo from NSW Nationals candidate Chris Gulaptis in ABC News item on 17 October 2011:

"So we've got $9 million for the Grafton Base Hospital's orthopaedic ward, $1.2 million for Maclean Hospital as well, $4 million for the Grafton Bridge,"….

"So there's money coming into this electorate right now and it's important that we continue to serve the people this way and that's what I'm trying to do as the Nationals' candidate."

Opening salvo from NSW Country Labor candidate Peter Ellem in ABC News item on 17 October 2011:

"He's the man who in 2007 described WorkChoices as a positive move," ….

"The Nationals chose a candidate yesterday who will do the bidding of the Liberal Party which has taken control of the new Coalition Government, a Government which is no friend of working people."

Opening salvo from the NSW Greens candidate Janet Cavanaugh in a media release on 18 October 2011:

“It is time to clean up NSW politics,” she said. “The Greens have a history of maintaining ethical stands across a range of issues. By acting with integrity, The Greens offer a better way of doing politics and this will result in better outcomes for the electorate.
“One of the key issues we are worried about is the threat posed by mining to our precious water supplies. There is the risk posed by antimony mining on the Dorrigo Plateau to the Coffs-Clarence regional water supply and our estuarine fisheries, and the potential for coal seam gas exploration to drain and poison groundwater reserves as well as wreck important farming land and wildlife habitat.

Opening salvo of Independent Wade Walker in a The Daily Examiner article on 19th September:

He said he wanted to run as an independent because it would allow him to best represent the Clarence electorate without having to make concessions to an overall party policy - he said areas such as health, emergency services and the Pacific Highway upgrade would be among the key areas he would campaign on.

* Recent telephone polling by ReachTel suggests that a Christian Democratic Party candidate might eventually declare an intention to stand, but to date there is no name in the public arena.

Assessment:

1. Chris Gulaptis stumbles as he leaves the gate.

a) The bulk of this alleged $9 million for Grafton Base Hospital comes not from The Nationals or the O’Farrell Government, but from the Federal Labor Government as officially set out here in September 2011:

This Implementation Plan provides for the Commonwealth’s financial contribution of $6 million toward a $10 million upgrade of the Grafton Base Hospital. The New South Wales Government will contribute the remaining $4 million to this project.

Commonwealth funding is provided to New South Wales to establish a new four bed orthopaedic surgical ward and a new medical imaging unit at Grafton Base Hospital.
With the state's $4 million contribution being previously pledged by the former NSW Labor Government.

b) As for Maclean District Hospital, in March this year the hospital itself had a slightly different perspective:

The redevelopment is largely the result of a “very generous” bequeath that was left to the hospital, according to Dan Madden, executive officer of the Maclean hospital. Commonwealth funding has also come through over the last year for emergency departments Australia-wide, and the Maclean Hospital Auxiliary had also been effective and generous with its fundraising, he said.

c) Whilst the actual state funding set aside for a second Grafton Bridge appears intended to refine the preliminary route options for a second crossing point which initial NSW Roads & Traffic Authority had previously identified - so any new bridge is still far into the future:

Through studies, surveys and consultation, the RTA has been unravelling the tangled web of 41 crossing options suggested by the community during surveys conducted since December last year. Project manager Chris Clark said the 25 sites remaining from the original 41 would now undergo further engineering and environmental investigations to assess their feasibility.
d) When publicly called on his statements concerning hospital funding Chris Gulaptis defended himself by saying he was quoting his disgraced predecessor; Mr Gulaptis defended the figures he quoted, claiming they were in a press release Mr Cansdell sent out before his resignation on September 16.

2. Peter Ellem by keeping his observations to a minimum has fared better.

On the matter of opponent’s support for WorkChoices he is merely citing the facts as these 2007 Gulaptis quotes show:

a) The Nationals MP, Ian Causley, is retiring and the party's new candidate, Chris Gulaptis, says Work Choices is positive for the electorate.

b) He says any controversy over the WorkChoices IR laws is union-driven."IR isn't the dominant issue in the electorate, and if the Labor candidate was out and about, she'd certainly know that,"

c) When defending WorkChoices Chris Gulaptis said: "Northern Rivers residents moved to the region accepting they would be paid lower wages as part of the trade-off for living in one of the most desirable parts of Australia".   

 d) New figures confirming the North Coast is enjoying the fastest employment growth in Australia underline the local benefits of the Coalition’s economic management and workplace reforms, according to Page Nationals candidate Chris Gulaptis.

3. Janet Cavanaugh went where both major party candidates have thus far been too timid to travel and, is reflecting voter concerns which cross more than one demographic. Mining on the NSW North Coast is currently a topical issue.
If this election campaign progresses along similar lines to past elections then both major parties will cravenly let The Greens do the heavy lifting on environmental issues and rarely speak out publicly, while privately assuring voters that they are really 'green' at heart themselves.

4. Wade Walker was probably the first to publicly declare that he was definitely standing in the 19 November Clarence By-election.
However, apart from the initial statement, he does not appear to have managed to get anything else into the local mainstream media.

Elsewhere Walker has been more prolific and he can be found on Pauline Hansen's website on 26 September encouraging her to stand for Clarence;

please stand in the seat of clarence nsw by election the nats are on the nose.

One has to worry about the genuineness of the candidate's desire to contest this particular election

* Three of the four self-declared candidates went on to say something about crime rates and police numbers. However, Labor's Peter Ellem was first out the gate last week with a community petition for more police in Grafton, Casino and Yamba, thereby stealing a march on the the Nationals, Greens and Independent.

Scorecard

Gulaptis  -1

   Ellem        1.5

    Cavanaugh 1
       Wade Walker 0
             Bethany Camac 0

Update:

Bethany Camac was identified today as the Christian Democratic Party candidate. Bethany stood at the March 2011 NSW state election. She is yet to make any by-election campaign statement which has been picked up by the media, so comes in with an equal zero rating with Wade Walker.

Shell targets polar bear's home for drilling. We're suing says NRDC

Help us stop Shell in court! Shell is moving full speed ahead with its plan to drill off the coast of the Arctic Refuge, the polar bear’s favorite onshore birthing ground. Help send NRDC to court to stop Shell! Important news: We have filed suit in federal court to stop Shell from drilling off the coast of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge next summer. We can’t wage and win this courtroom battle without your help. Please make an online donation right now that can help us stave off Shell’s latest assault on Arctic wildlife. As you know, the Obama Administration recently gave Shell tentative approval to begin exploratory drilling near the Arctic Refuge, the polar bear’s favorite onshore birthing ground. Shell’s rigs will operate in wildlife-filled waters -- home to vulnerable populations of seals, whales and migratory birds. An oil spill in this fragile and sensitive ecosystem would be devastating. Any polar bears swimming in thickly-oiled waters will most certainly die, and an oil spill offshore could blanket the coast of the Arctic Refuge with a layer of thick, toxic oil for generations to come. Help NRDC fight in court and make sure this tragedy never happens. Shell’s oil spill response plan reads like a fantasy. The oil industry still has no proven method for cleaning up spills in ice-filled waters. Yet Shell is claiming that more than 95 percent of spilled oil will be recovered before it hits shore. Only five percent of the oil unleashed by BP in the Gulf was ever captured. Thanks to your support, we’ve been fending off Shell’s repeated attempts to drill near the Arctic Refuge since 2008. But with the Obama Administration now paving the way for Shell’s latest plan, we need your help more than ever before. Shell has vast resources to bring to this fight. We, on the other hand, rely entirely on Members and activists like you to help ensure the survival of America’s polar bears and other Arctic wildlife. And unlike Shell, we can’t afford to lose even once. Your tax-deductible donation will allow us to wage and win this courtroom battle against Shell’s scheme and defend our environment in the most effective way possible. If we’re going to stop Shell before it sinks its first drill bit into Arctic water next summer, we have no time to waste. Please let me know that I can count on your support today. Sincerely, Frances Beinecke President Natural Resources Defense Council

OMG! It's Judgement Day and I'm still here

Way back in May (after Harold Camping bombed by yet again predicting The Rapture that never was) it was somehow decided that today was going to be Judgement Day.
Universal Doomsday for all the world's inhabitants? Well not if I'm any indication.
Sitting here very much alive and earthbound - munching toast and drinking tea without a care.

Pic from judgementday2011.com

Please, in case I forget, remind me NEVER to contact this North Coast solicitor

The solicitor for the Ramsey Group of companies is reported to have said:

"Whilst the move from Grafton is regretted, and not the preferred option by the Ramsey Group, it appeared inevitable certain Government Departments were single minded in their efforts to achieve the closing of the abattoir business at Grafton."

Fair dinkum! So, it's government departments that are responsible for the predicament employees of Stuart Ramsey or whatever shonky bodgey employment mobs that have been orchestrated to be the workers' employer should carry the can, is it?
 The solicitor representing Ramsey is, among other things, the chairman of the board of the major local private hospital in the Richmond valley.

Credit: The Daily Examiner, 21/10/11

The Greens candidate in Clarence by-election speaks out against mining risks

NSW Greens media release October 18, 2011:

The Clarence Greens today confirmed that Janet Cavanaugh would be running as their candidate in next month’s by-election for the seat of Clarence. A resident of the area for more than 20 years, Ms Cavanaugh was the Greens candidate for the March State Election.
“The Greens view this by-election as an opportunity for the electorate to cast a vote of ‘no confidence’ against both major political parties,” Ms Cavanaugh said.
“It is time to clean up NSW politics,” she said. “The Greens have a history of maintaining ethical stands across a range of issues. By acting with integrity, The Greens offer a better way of doing politics and this will result in better outcomes for the electorate.
“One of the key issues we are worried about is the threat posed by mining to our precious water supplies. There is the risk posed by antimony mining on the Dorrigo Plateau to the Coffs-Clarence regional water supply and our estuarine fisheries, and the potential for coal seam gas exploration to drain and poison groundwater reserves as well as wreck important farming land and wildlife habitat.

Stuart Ramsey ordered to compensate sacked workers

It has been a long time coming for those eleven South Grafton abattoir workers sacked in November 2008, but yesterday in Fair Work Ombudsman v Ramsey Food Processing Pty Ltd and Stuart Ramsey (19 October 2011) the Federal Court of Australia found in the workers favour and ordered compensation for termination without notice, severance pay or annual leave entitlements.

Full transcript of the judgment here.

Update:

The Daily Examiner today offers this summation:

In effect, the court found Mr Ramsey and his company Ramsey Food Processing established shelf labour-hire companies and used them as a mechanism to hire and fire who he wanted, while avoiding paying entitlements.
It found that when the company wanted to get rid of employees without paying entitlements, it moved the employees it wanted to retain into another labour hire company then starved the original company of funds. That company would then become insolvent, leaving neither money to pay the employees nor money to which they were rightly entitled.
That is what the workers claimed when they were sacked and their claims have now been vindicated.
It has not been a great week for Mr Ramsey. Last Thursday he was found guilty of contempt in the NSW Land and Environment Court.

Byron turned out to say no to coal seam gas mining

Photograph from Northern Rivers Guardians website

Byron Bay makes its views known on the subject of coal seam gas mining as part of the Lock The Gate /Defend Our Water National Day of Action on October 16 2011:

Photographs from Facebook and Common Ground Byron Bay

The O'Farrell Government is not listening as it endorses fraccing in its submission to the NSW Inquiry into Coal seam gas.

Best Tweet of the Week

Queensland Liberal MP Andy Laming successfully aping his leader The Rabbitt on Twitter this week:

@AndrewLamingMP Andrew Laming

@slabb0 Bad luck. My job is to annoy people just like you.

13 Oct via web

You might remember that this backbencher is the son of former Queensland state Liberal MP Bruce Laming and supposedly factional ally of Senator George Brandis.

Pic from The Age

Clarence By-election: weeping with laughter in the first week of the unofficial election campaign

When I first read the health funding claims of Nationals candidate Chris Gulaptis I was frankly sceptical, given his past record of saying any old thing to support his position.

I searched the Internet until I found a copy of the agreement between the Commonwealth and the NSW Government concerning Grafton Base Hospital.

I also hunted cyberspace for any evidence that his predecessor had ever made the same claim.

Result – Gulaptis was incorrect in claiming either the NSW Nationals or the O'Farrell Government had supplied the entire amount of this funding or that Steve Cansdell had made a statement to that effect. Nor are his assertions concerning Maclean District Hospital correct.

When the media first queried the Gulaptis claim this is what he said:

Mr Gulaptis defended the figures he quoted, claiming they were in a press release Mr Cansdell sent out before his resignation on September 16.

"The $9 million is in relation to the orthopaedic ward and imaging expansion.

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:

Poll stoush over hospital funding  by Tim Howard

THE Nationals candidate for the Clarence by-election, Chris Gulaptis, has been caught out with claims the State Government has stumped up $9 million for Grafton Base Hospital says an opponent.

Following his preselection on Sunday, Mr Gulaptis included a figure of $9 million for Grafton Base Hospital among "hundreds of millions of dollars" the Nationals had directed toward the Valley since the March State election.

The chairman of the hospital Medical Staff Council, Allan Tyson, questioned the claim on Monday and yesterday the Country Labor candidate Peter Ellem accused Mr Gulaptis of "overstretching" with the claim.

"Mr Gulaptis, either through ignorance or incompetence, is inappropriately claiming credit for Grafton Base Hospital funding provided by the Commonwealth and former State Labor governments last year," Mr Ellem said.

"I'm calling on Mr Gulaptis to provide the budget details of his claim - where is the $9 million for Grafton Base Hospital?

"If it is the same $6 million from the Commonwealth and the $4 million announced by the former Labor State government, Mr Gulaptis should apologise for misleading the local community.

The claim has also angered Federal Member for Page Janelle Saffin, who worked hard to make sure the money came to the hospital during the 2010 Federal election campaign.

"I'm furious that someone can try and take credit for something they had nothing to do with," Ms Saffin said.

"What he's saying is wrong in fact and wrong in any sort of insinuation.

"And to attempt to blame Steve (Cansdell) left me speechless.

"I never saw any such release and I know Steve never tried to claim anything like this. He always said it was a good thing the hospital got that funding."

Mr Gulaptis defended his assertion yesterday, and upped it by $1 million.

"Over the course of the weekend I referred to the $10 million allocated to Grafton Hospital - one of many projects in the Clarence Electorate to receive funding in the 2011 State budget papers," Mr Gulaptis said in a prepared release.

"The NSW Government budget papers for the Liberal and Nationals' first State budget are clear and in black and white.

"There is a total of $10 million in COAG funding for Grafton Base Hospital, consisting of $4 million from the State Government and $6 million from the Federal Government.

"This is being delivered. It is not a promise from a former minister, nor an undertaking from a senior departmental officer but a hard-line item with funding from both the Federal and State governments to improve health infrastructure for the people of Clarence.

"Many State Labor health promises over the years were never delivered. The Nationals have actually handed down the funding for this project."

Writs for the Clarence By-election will not be issued until 28 October and candidate nominations only open on the same day. The NSW Nationals still have time to change their minds and rectify their biggest mistake this year.

Dementia rates high in NSW and on the North Coast

Click on images to enlarge

According to a report DEMENTIA ACROSS AUSTRALIA: 2011-2050 prepared for Alzheimer’s Australia by Deloitte Access Economics, the prevalence of diagnosed cases of dementia are continuing to rise with NSW projected to have the greatest number of people with dementia now and in the future.

This report states; NSW has 91,308 people with dementia in 2011, projected to increase to 303,673 people by 2050.

In NSW North Coast federal electorates the estimates for 2011 are:

Lyne 2,502 persons - with numbers expected to exceed 3,000 by 2015 and reach 9,004 by 2050

Cowper 2,448 persons - with numbers expected to exceed 3,000 by 2016 and reach 8,930 by 2050

Richmond 2,441 persons - with numbers expected to exceed 3,000 by 2016 and reach 8,808 by 2050

Page 2,362 persons - with numbers expected to exceed 3,000 by 2015 and reach 5,586 by 2050

What these figures indicate is that North Coast communities need to lobby hard and lobby early if they are to see adequate supported accommodation and community health services are in place for the most vulnerable of our retirees and frail aged - because the call for funding dollars across Australia will become increasingly urgent.

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

To date, the flora surveying conducted across the CSG project area is yet to identify any individual or communities of threatened or vulnerable species within the operational area.

Perhaps there is a lesson here for Northern Rivers communities when it comes to how they assess material supplied to government by mining companies intent on furthering their own business aims.

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?

Snapshots from 16th October 2011 NBN news clip

Are your blog's visitors coming with additional political spam?

Cartoon from Puzzlehead

Speaking with a fellow blogger this week he complained that his blog is receiving double the amount of spam it usually receives and all of this increase is anti-carbon tax propaganda and right-wing abuse. North Coast Voices also noticed a similar spike, along with a sudden rash of adult content.

Could this be the answer?

The Age 16 October 2011:

AS OPINION polls reveal Labor's worst results on record, largely on the back of plummeting support for the Gillard government's decision to put a price on carbon, ''grassroots'' anti-carbon tax websites have mushroomed.

But what appears to be a proliferation of community-based, anti-government activism sites is not necessarily what it seems. Several sites are part of an orchestrated political campaign by Liberal senator Cory Bernardi and conservative organisations he is linked with.

Using American Tea Party-style tactics, Bernardi has built a network of ''grassroots'' political websites that promote limited government, lower taxes, free enterprise and ''traditional'' values - as well as a campaign against the government and its policies, most potently against the carbon tax.

Bernardi is chairman of the Conservative Leadership Foundation, which has set up at least six websites, including the Conservative Action Network under the name CANdo.org.au and stopgillardscarbontax.com.

While membership is free, the sites do ask for donations. In most cases, it is only when attempting to pay that subscribers can discover who the backer is. The websites do not declare that the South Australian senator is behind them, and the majority do not reveal that the money raised goes to either the Conservative Leadership Foundation or its think tank Menzies House, which was co-founded by Bernardi.

Rumour on the NSW North Coast is that many of these winged monkeys and spammers are actually being paid by the Bernardi propaganda machine.