Please support the Ballina to Darwin charity ride by 'Pelicans On Posties' as they pass through your district

Press Release 

‘Pelicans On Posties’ (POPS)

BALLINA TO DARWIN TOUR 2012 EVENT LAUNCH

To be Held at Biala Special School on Friday 10^th February 2012 commencing at 2.30 pm

The big idea is to ride genuine postie bikes from Ballina NSW (20km south of Byron Bay) to Darwin in time for the Darwin Cup, raising money for Biala Special School, Ballina and the Royal Flying Doctor Service on the way. The idea began the same way most great Australian ideas do, over a few beers at the pub. Most years a few friends will get together and go out west for some occasion be it the Birdsville races, a charity event like the Endeavour rally or the Variety Bash, ideas were being exhausted. This year they decided to go one better, they were sick of cars and so opted for postie bikes. Darwin is far enough away to be an adventure and a half and they chose their own worthy causes to fundraise for. It was big. So crazy many people said they’d never do it, crazy enough that it just might work.

After they talked about it for a while (without really doing anything) the daughter of one of the main architects of this grand plan, sent off a magnificently worded email to Honda – the manufacturers of the postie bike. Honda replied: they were in! That was almost unexpected. Everyone was so happy and it was now really time to get the show on the road. Old friends, the motorbike enthusiasts, were called. New friends were made. The respective causes were contacted. The ball was rolling.

One of the more challenging things was finding the postie bikes. Honda makes the postie bike model exclusively for Australia Post. Therefore you cannot purchase a new postie bike. When Australia Post is done with the bikes they are auctioned. They are a much sort after bike for beginner riders. The search was on; it was almost a race for each pelican to obtain a genuine postie bike.

Finding a bike was only half the battle for each pelican, they all are required to have a current rider licence. Many could ride a motorbike but not everyone was licenced to do that on a road. The process to get a licence is not that simple: To get your L’s you are required to take two half day courses, usually over a weekend. There is great demand for these courses and the waiting period can be over a month. Upon passing the course you are given a certificate of competency to take with you when you go to do your computer test of the road rules at the RTA, this test is a very educational experience, learning all the road rules you have forgotten or didn’t know existed. Once you pass that you get you L’s.

Meanwhile a support team was forming, family, friends and the wonderful people from Biala. Together with the Pelicans they managed to do all the little things that put the event together: other sponsors were contacted, such as Caltex; posters were made; raffle tickets were sold; sausage sizzles were had; social networking was established; websites were created; the itinerary was drawn up; accommodation was organised.

It is important to note that the ‘Pelicans’ are all of the riders and their support team that is travelling by road to Darwin with them. This team is especially important, without them all of the postie bikes, and their riders will surely not make it to Darwin. This team includes a red 1960’s convertible Mustang – the pride and joy of the Shaws Bay Hotel (Pelican headquarters) publican.

We are well on our way to organising a stellar event, all the help and support we can muster the better it will be. Your support would be most welcome in our grand plan to help others.

You are invited and encouraged to attend the official launch of the event which is taking place at Biala Special School on Friday 10^th February at 2.30 pm.  All available Pelicans - with their postie bikes, sponsors and beneficiaries will be present.  The event will be attended and officially launched by

Janelle Saffin MP Federal Member for Page

COME ALONG AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT TO THE PELICANS IN THEIR ENDEAVOUR TO ASSIST CHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS AND THOSE

REQUIRING MEDICAL SUPPORT IN THE OUTBACK!

For more information/to check out what we are doing/to offer your support:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/PelicanOnPosties

Website: www.pelicansonposties.com.au – Going Live On The 10^th February after the official launch!!

Email: pelicans.on.posties@gmail.com    debbie@biala.org.au

Phone: Biala on 02 6686 4763

   

Cansdellgate: NSW Opposition asking questions

ABC North Coast Radio reported this morning:

Five months after former Clarence MP Steve Cansdell confessed to signing a false statutory declaration he is yet to be charged.

The NSW Opposition's spokesman for Police, Nathan Rees, is asking why an investigation of the former state member for Clarence continues to drag on, five months after a public confession.

Steve Cansdell resigned last September, after admitting to signing a false statutory declaration to avoid a speeding fine and keep his licence.

The former Nationals' MP faces a possible prison term if charged over the offence, and Police Media says inquiries are continuing.

Nathan Rees says questions need to be answered.

"I'm more than happy to allow the usual processes to take their course, whether it's this case or any other usually," he says.

"But this has been going on for some months now and even people in the government have been raising questions about this privately and want some finality to the issue.

"I consider Steve Cansdell a pretty straight-up-and-down fellow, and certainly his outright confession at the start is consistent with the man I know, but it does raise issues subsequently when neither the police nor the Attorney General have seen fit to make a determination on what is an issue that I'm sure would bring Mr Cansdell some closure and indeed the community."

Source: ABC North Coast Radio

Senator Di Natale sends out an email with bite

Bring dental care into Medicare

Dear friend,

Millions of Australians can't afford to see a dentist. This year, we're going to change that.

Before I came here to represent Victoria in Parliament, I worked as a doctor. Every day, I saw proof that Australia's oral health is in crisis.

More than 60,000 avoidable hospital visits are caused by untreated dental problems every year – along with thousands more visits to the GP. We know why: one in three people say they can't afford to go to the dentist, or delay going to the dentist because of the cost. Low income earners, Indigenous people and those who live outside major cities are by far the hardest hit.

We can change this.

The Greens have a plan to bring dental care into Medicare, starting with those who need it most. Our plan is ready to go for this year's Budget – will you join us to get it passed?

It's already picking up speed. My office has been flooded with calls backing our Denticare plan.

Thanks to our agreement with the Government, an expert committee has been appointed to advise on dental health and options for the Budget – and they're due to report back any day now.

Just last week, even Tony Abbott came on board and said that he 'aspired' to include dental care in Medicare. While his 'aspiration' won’t get us there, it’s a sign that all sides of politics now recognise the need to solve Australia’s dental crisis.

There's excitement across the board for this vital reform – but there's a difference between excitement and funding. To get it started in this year's Budget, we need to convince the Treasurer with a massive show of public support.

That's why I'm launching our nationwide campaign for Denticare today by calling on Treasurer Swan to make dental care a priority in this year's Budget.

To kick off our big push – will you join our call to the Treasurer?

Let's turn the momentum behind this idea into action. Join the call and be part of it from the start.

Yours sincerely,

Richard Di Natale

Greens Senator for Victoria & Health Spokesperson

P.S. An estimated half a million people are on waiting lists for public dental care – some of them have been waiting for more than 5 years. This year's Budget is our chance to end the wait – join our call today.

One reason not to act the goat at Australian international airports

Being accidentally mistaken for a drug mule may have unintended consequences, as Australian Customs & Excise staff will mildly irradiate you and probably get to know the length of your next stool.

·         “AUSTRALIAN CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION NOTICE NO. 2011/24…. The amendments will allow, with the consent of the detainee, an initial non-medical internal scan of a person to be carried out by a Customs and Border Protection officer using body scan technology that is to be prescribed in the regulations. This technology produces a computer image of a person’s internal cavities within a skeletal structure, as opposed to images of external body parts. Such images may serve to allay an officer’s suspicion that a passenger is internally concealing a suspicious substance, in which case the detainee would be released immediately from detention for internal search.”

·         “Customs and Border Protection requires the supply, installation and maintenance of an internal body scanner X-ray (Body Scanner) including provision of training and training material…. Operation of the Body Scanner Early 2012”

·         “….the scanner is only intended for searching body cavities….After the trial is completed in 2013, Customs will spend three months evaluating the body scanner's overall performance and come to a decision on whether to decommission it or procure additional scanners.”

Australian Consumer Law and You

 

From the Australian Consumer Law website:

On 1 January 2011 the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) commenced.

The ACL includes:

• ·    a new, national unfair contract terms law covering standard form contracts;
• ·    a new, national law guaranteeing consumer rights when buying goods and services, which replaces existing laws on conditions and warranties;
• ·     a new, national product safety law and enforcement system;
• ·     a new, national law for unsolicited consumer agreements, which replaces existing State and Territory laws on door-to-door sales and other direct marketing;
• ·     simple national rules for lay-by agreements; and
• ·     new penalties, enforcement powers and consumer redress options, which currently apply nationally.

The ACL applies nationally and in all States and Territories, and to all Australian businesses. For transactions that occurred up to 31 December 2010, the previous national, State and Territory consumer laws will continue to apply.

The ACL is a cooperative reform of the Australian Government and the States and Territories, through the Ministerial Council on Consumer Affairs (MCCA). An Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) [PDF 217KB] [RTF 236KB] signed by the Council of Australian Governments underpins the establishment of the ACL……

 
The full text of the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) is set out in Schedule 2 of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 which is the new name of the Trade Practices Act 1974 (TPA).

US Presidential Election 2012: politicians as enemy combatents

Barack and Romney begin change direction and focus on each other in the lead up to what smart money sees as the inevitable U.S. presidential race face-off....................

December 2011

Romney:

http://mittromneycentral.com/2011/12/

Obama:

Make a donation today to be automatically entered for a chance to have dinner with President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.

We'll cover your airfare and the meal—all you have to bring is your story and your ideas.

And this time, if you win, you can invite a guest.

Important: By clicking on the "Submit" button below or otherwise participating in the promotion, you agree to be bound by these Official Rules and represent that you satisfy all of the eligibility requirements. [http://www.barackobama.com/]

February 2012

Romney:

Mitt Romney One term. One message. We’re holding @BarackObama accountable: onetermfund.com #OneTermFund

Obama and Biden:

The Two-Term Fund 

Mitt Romney's campaign just launched his One-Term Fund with a million-dollar goal.

http://youtu.be/Tn4hijKmMNk

Here's why, in Mitt Romney's words: "We must not forget what this election is really about: defeating Barack Obama."
Don't let that happen. Make a donation today.

More than 59,139 people

Have donated $2,309,209 toward our $2 million goal

Romney One-Term Fund: About $980,000 as of 12:20 p.m. ET Thursday

Lismore-born Bundjalung woman's talent is recognised

ABC North Coast NSW Radio February 6, 2012:

Lismore-born Bundjalung woman Rhoda Roberts is the new head of Indigenous programming at the Sydney Opera House….

State Arts Minister George Souris announced Rhoda's appointment today, but she is no stranger to the elaborate halls of the performing arts centre.

Rhoda is also the artistic director of the Message Sticks Festival, celebrating its 13th year at the Opera House next month.

eHealth - when "We told you so" gives no satisfaction

First it was privacy concerns which headed the list of reasons why the proposed eHealth scheme could be one of the worst ideas Federal Labor has come up with in the last one hundred years – now it seems the very wheels are thought to be falling off the national database wagon and it may even be dangerous to patient health.

The Australian 6 February 2012:

THE private corporation established by the federal and state governments to roll out the proposed electronic health records system has been savaged by the software industry and privacy advocates.

Both the Medical Software Industry Association (MSIA) and the Australian Privacy Foundation have told a Senate inquiry hearing in Canberra that personally controlled e-health records should not go live on July 1 as planned.

MSIA president Jon Hughes says industry has lost confidence in the ability of the National eHealth Transition Authority (NEHTA) to deliver the program.

"There is evidence of a lack of probity, ineffective governance and an inability to deliver targeted programs," he told the inquiry.

"The program risks falling into disuse from the very first day of live operation."

Industry argues the federal health department has not provided the support needed to maintain the e-health records in the longer-term………

Dr McCauley told the committee if data was reformatted as envisaged it could create havoc when it came to listing medications on e-health records because the so-called Australian medicine terminology still had serious issues.

"That medication list (on records) is going to become a major mish-mash of sources of information from different people in different places describing the medication using different names and it's going to be extremely confusing."

Senate Community Affairs Committees Inquiry into Personally Controlled Electronic Health Records Bill 2011 and one related bill

MSIA has repeatedly asked for the information contained in the comprehensive safety report that NeHTA has stated was performed prior to the Health Identifier service going live. This has not been made available. The results of a recent FOI request to DoHA by The Australian, demonstrated that DoHA does not have such a report. The recently discovered design flaws suggest that the safety report, if completed, was not sufficiently comprehensive.
[Medical Software Industry Association submission (PDF 438KB)]

A brief history of the debate on North Coast Voices:

Friday, 17 April 2009  So you want to look through my medical records?

Wednesday, 10 June 2009  Federal Labor and Health Minister Roxon crossing a bridge too far

Thursday, 28 January 2010  e-Health: something's rotten in the State of Kevin

Sunday, 7 March 2010  And these are the people Rudd & Co intend to trust with access to a national database containing all your sensitive personal information?

Monday, 15 March 2010  Who's guarding the guards guarding your personal information?

            Thursday, 14 April 2011  PCEHR opt-in provision expected to allay privacy concerns. Pull the other one!

Her Maj sez ta in 2012

From the bowels of Buck House, The Queen's Diamond Jubilee message:

Today, as I mark 60 years as your Queen, I am writing to thank you for the wonderful support and encouragement that you have given to me and Prince Philip over these years and to tell you how deeply moved we have been to receive so many kind messages about the Diamond Jubilee.

In this special year, as I dedicate myself anew to your service, I hope we will all be reminded of the power of togetherness and the convening strength of family, friendship and good neighbourliness, examples of which I have been fortunate to see throughout my reign and which my family and I look forward to seeing in many forms as we travel throughout the United Kingdom and the wider Commonwealth.

I hope also that this Jubilee year will be a time to give thanks for the great advances that have been made since 1952 and to look forward to the future with clear head and warm heart as we join together in our celebrations.

I send my sincere good wishes to you all.

ELIZABETH R.

Where should Clarence Valley tourism funding go?

One Lower Clarence ratepayer objects to Clarence Valley Council's attempts to reposition Grafton as a tourist hub - a ‘River City’ destination.

Clarence Valley Review, 1 February 2012
Click on image to enlarge

Howzat! Tones gets caught out

Which one is Tony?

Tony Abbott displays his lack of spine in 2012.

TRANSCRIPT OF THE HON. TONY ABBOTT MHR DOORSTOP INTERVIEW SYDNEY:

“TONY ABBOTT: This has been a truly shambolic start to the year by the Gillard government. ……We have the Anthony Albanese plagiarism incident.”

Herald Sun 2^nd February 2012:

“OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott has been swept up in his own embarrassing claim of political plagiarism, appearing to have borrowed from speeches of two US Presidents and a US shock jock in his address to the National Press Club on Tuesday.

A week after Labor Minister Anthony Albanese was lampooned for plagiarising a fictional Hollywood president, played by Michael Douglas, in his speech to the Press Club, Mr Abbott appeared to have gone a step further and taken liberties with the work of real presidents.

Claiming his speech was all his own work, and not the labours of his staff, when asked if he thought it was a good speech, Mr Abbott replied: "Well I wrote it, so I hope so." Not exactly, it appears….”

Read the rest here and compare it with his speech here.

Jellyfish mosaic from Google Images pics

Australian east coast flooding in pictures, January-February 2012

From Queensland through to News South Wales and Victoria -  La Niña flood waters were a problem to overcome.

Snapshots of Mitchell, Wee Waa, Moree, Belligen, Canungra Creek, Charleville, Coffs Harbour, Charlton and Lawrence........................

Photographs from ABC News files, SBS News, The Australian, The Age, and Goggle Images.

It's Armageddon! cries Nats Senator Fiona Nash

Poor Fi Nash – 2012 is overwhelming her early and she’s so fearful for her job all of us living in regional New South Wales.

Regional Australians are fed up
THE year 2012 has just started and already the Labor Government's agenda will impact on regional communities.
The government again flagged its intention to try to means-test the private health insurance rebate, putting more pressure on the already stretched public health system in regional areas.
Volunteers will be subject to unreasonable work, health and safety laws.
Small business is drowning in red tape, and a leaked report proposes regional airlines at Sydney Airport be moved out to Bankstown.
The agriculture sector faces proposed water cuts in the Murray Darling Basin, increasing foreign ownership of prime land and assets, cuts to live animal export permits to Indonesia, and a worrying shortage of graduates and skilled workforce.
The manufacturing and retail sectors are struggling and jobs are going in regional areas.
All of this is made worse by a carbon tax that starts in July and mounting government debt.
Regional Australians are fed up with being treated like second-class citizens.
The Nationals will fight on their behalf for a fair go.
Senator Fiona Nash
The Nationals Senator for NSW

The year is also addling her brain, as in this letter to The Daily Examiner published on 3^rd February shows she doesn’t realize that:

·         in-patients with private health cover are already being treated in regional public hospitals

·         proposed national harmonized health and safety laws which will codify existing common and compilate state law only apply to volunteer organizations which actually employ people and all volunteers have a right to be safe

·         dog whistles about small business red tape and Sydney Airport have been blown so frequently that the sound is barely noticed these days

·         few people have any sympathy for a live cattle industry which took its eye off the ball and allowed animal cruelty to become matter of course

·         regional manufacturing and retail sectors were in decline on the Lib-Nats watch as well as under Labor - ditto for skills shortages and increased foreign ownership of agricultural land

·         in crude terms Australia’s national ‘bank balance’ is still much larger than its debts, some of that debt is state government borrowings on which the federal government acts as guarantor, most of the foreign debt on the books is borrowings by the private sector, and the whole pile was at times much higher under the Howard Government than it is now

·         most of us want to see something done about slowing climate change and protecting the Murray-Darling Basin

Ochre Health's Grafton GP Super Clinic raises questions about equity and access

Here is a thumbnail sketch of general practioner medical services in Australia:

Australian Government expenditure on general practitioners in Australia was $6.4 billion, or $287 per person, in 2010-11. Australian Government expenditure on the PBS was around $7.3 billion, or $326 per person, in 2010-11. Total expenditure by all governments on community and public health was around $7.9 billion in 2009-10. [http://www.pc.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/114847/11-government-services-2012-factsheet-chapter11.pdf]

Nationally, there were around 2.1 million GP-type presentations to public hospital emergency departments in 2010-11…..

GP-type presentations to emergency departments are presentations for conditions that could be appropriately managed in the primary and community health sector

(Van Konkelenberg, Esterman and Van Konkelenberg 2003). One of several factors contributing to GP-type presentations at emergency departments is perceived or actual lack of access to GP services……

GP visits that are bulk billed do not require patients to pay part of the cost of the visit, while GP visits that are not bulk billed do…..

Reduced competition for patients can also reduce bulk billing rates……

Deferring or not visiting a GP can result in poorer health. Nationally, in 2010, 8.7 per cent of respondents reported that they delayed or did not visit a GP in the previous 12 months because of cost. [Australian Productivity Commission, Report on Government Services 2012]

Here is one example of how it is working on the NSW North Coast:

The Grafton GP Super Clinic will offer the community a compliment of general practitioners, practice nurses, physiotherapy, audiology, podiatry, chronic disease care managers and dietitians. The GP Super Clinic will also bring together visiting specialists and other allied health professionals to meet the needs of the local community.

With a specific focus on chronic and complex disease management, our team uses a single shared electronic medical record system and takes a team-based approach to healthcare. The GP Super Clinic aims to develop a health partnership with each and every patient, ensuring that we work in a preventative mode to reduce the chance of patients developing complex or chronic preventable illness. [Ochre Health website]

Grafton Super Clinic stated over the telephone on 2 February 2012 that bulk billing is not the norm for the clinic.

Ochre Health needs to respond to the questions raised in the letter below and, explain why it should continue to charge low-income individuals/families for basic consultations on everything from earache to influenza - given that the federal government paid in excess of $5 million to build this particular super clinic and set up the private medical practice in order to offer bulk billed services for concession card holders, children under 16 and patients with chronic conditions and complex care needs under Enhanced Primary Care Medicare item numbers, with a view to taking the burden of non-urgent free health care delivery off the sholders of public hospital Accident and Emergency departments.

GP Super Clinic

I WOULD like to see the Examiner do a story on the GP Super Clinic in Grafton.
The super clinic was built and paid for by the government to reduce the strain on the public hospital system by giving patients somewhere else to go.
However, due to the greedy nature of doctors in Grafton, of course, this is the only GP Super Clinic that does not bulk bill its patients.
Thus, the people still go and sit in the waiting room at the hospital for up to three and four hours at a time just to see a doctor.
You can go and see a doctor and be bulk-billed by Medicare in any other city in Australia, except Grafton.
This is what is known as price fixing and it is illegal in Australia. Yet, no-one seems to want to do anything about it.
The money promised to the City of Grafton by the Australian Government was to build a GP Super Clinic for all the people of the area to use and alleviate the pressure on the over-strained hospital system.
However, the greed of doctors in this area has ruined what should have been a great thing for Grafton. We should shame these doctors into running our super clinic properly and to bulk bill patients, like every other super clinic in Australia.

KEN HINTON

Grafton

[Letter to the editor in The Daily Examiner Feb 2012]

Federal Labor accuses NSW O'Farrell Government of attacking foster and grandparent carers

In October 2011 I posted that In NSW 24,000 children may be in care by 2013 and, pointed to reports that the O’Farrell Coalition Government was attempting to squeeze foster parents with children sixteen years of age and over and, cost-shift more of the financial responsibility for these children onto natural parents and the Commonwealth.

Now JENNY MACKLIN, Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Minister for Disability Reform, and

JULIE COLLINS, Minister for Community Services Minister for Indigenous Employment and Economic Development, Minister for the Status of Women, are taking the NSW government to task in this 2 February 2012 media release.

Liberals attacking foster and grandparent carers in NSW

The O’Farrell Government has shown the Liberals’ true colours when it comes to dealing with families and vulnerable people.

The New South Wales Liberals have slashed $213 a fortnight from the already stretched budgets of foster carers of teenagers aged 16 and over.

The Minister for Families, Jenny Macklin, and the Minister for Community Services, Julie Collins, today called on the NSW Government to reinstate these payments to foster carers of older teenagers.

This is an attack on carers, who not only open up their homes to young people in need, but give their time, energy and financial assistance to help them have a better life.

The Liberals cuts come at the same time as the Gillard Labor Government has boosted family payments by up to $4,200 a year for teenagers aged 16 to 19 in school or training.

Only a Labor Government understands the pressures on families and carers who feel the pinch on their household budget every week.

We recognise that it doesn’t get cheaper to raise children as they get older.

That’s why we’ve ensured that eligible foster carers can receive the boost to the Family Tax Benefit, to make sure they’ve got room in their budget to give the teenagers they are caring for the best chance at a great future.

But the Liberals are putting this at risk. Foster care families will go backwards under the O’Farrell Government’s slash and burn policy making.

This attack on foster carers follows the threat from NSW Minister for Community Services, Pru Goward, to grandparent and other kinship carers that they must apply for child support from the child’s parents.

The Child Support Scheme is an Australian Government initiative to ensure children from separated families are supported by both their parents.

The NSW Liberals’ policy to ‘require’ grandparent carers to apply for child support is misleading and is not consistent with the Australian Government’s policy.

It is unnecessarily putting pressure on the sometimes strained relationships between grandparent carers and the child’s parents.

Although the option is available for relative carers in NSW to apply for child support, the Australian Government does not require or compel carers to do so.

The Australian Government also does not support changes to the Child Support Scheme proposed by the NSW Liberals to open up child support arrangements to foster carers.

These are just more cost-cutting exercises from Pru Goward, who is feeling the heavy hand of Barry O’Farrell on her department’s budget bottom line.

We do not support these ‘policies’. We understand that it is not always in the child’s best interests for grandparent carers or foster carers to apply for child support. 

A Labor Government will always act in the best interests of children.

Date: 2 February 2012

Tweet of the Week

 

R_Chirgwin R_Chirgwin

Love it - a story about a planet 22 light years away with the obligatory Google map in the sidebar, showing Washington.