The adventures of Chris in Macquarie Street

Yesterday, Wednesday 14 March, Chris Gulaptis MP, spoke twice in the chamber (see below). 

The Member for Clarence is yet to get his portrait on the parliamentary website. Why? He's never been known to be camera shy. 

1. At 8.13pm he spoke to support the Government Information (Public Access) Amendment Bill 2011. That was a rather simple, straightforward task. After all, the bill was being given bipartisan support.

2. At 9.04pm he was on his feet again, making a Private Members' Statement on the Maclean Highland Gathering. Again, no big challenge.

Mr Gulaptis commenced his speech with an acknowledged of the efforts of the Lower Clarence Scottish Association for its continued support of the Maclean Highland Gathering.

He then went on to add:

Maclean is of course renowned for being the Scottish town in Australia. Maclean's Scottish character originates back to the 1830s and 1840s in Scotland following the Jacobite's defeat at Culloden, the Highland Clearances, potato blight famine and prevailing disastrous economic conditions. The only future lay in emigration. In Australia John Robertson pushed through Parliament the Free Selection Act legislation, which provided for anyone to take up land from 40 to 320 acres for a down payment of 5 pence per acre with three years to pay. Some 450 Scottish families settled in Rocky Mouth. Surveyor-General Alistair Maclean ordered the town to be properly laid out. That was done in 1862 and named Maclean after the Scottish-born Surveyor-General. Many of its new streets were named after places in Scotland—Argyll, Morvern, Clyde, Oban and the like. Commerce and hotels sprang up under Scottish businessmen, such as Alexander Cameron, Samuel MacNaughton and John McLachlan. Churches were an intrinsic part of Scottish life and elders of the Free Kirk erected their church in 1868. It remains the oldest church still in use in the Clarence.

In 1886 the Murray Brothers, natives of Thurso, and local sawmillers, sponsored the first local Highland gathering in Maclean, and with the exception of the war years it continues to this day. This year at Easter will be the 108th Highland gathering. The Lower Clarence Scottish Association was formed in 1893. It has now existed continuously for 119 years. A pipe band was formed in 1898 under Donald Mathieson—formerly from Inverness—and has continued to this day. The primary function of the association is to organise the annual Highland gathering held at Easter each year. It is a major function of State and national significance in Scottish circles. The association has always required a chieftain as its head, and usually the chief remains in the post for many years. The current chief is Chief Peter Smith and the immediate past chief was Reverend Kenneth Macleod, he being a native Scot and probably the only Gaelic speaker currently in the Lower Clarence. The current secretary, Robert McPherson, OAM, and previous secretary, Norman McSwan, have held the secretarial portfolio for at least 57 years between them. Current senior chieftain is Roger McLean, junior chieftain is Graham Anderson, and Treasurer—for some 34 years—is John McPhee.

At this year's gathering 25 inter-district bands from Sydney, Brisbane and New Zealand will attend the gathering in a competition arena and there will be sports and fellowship. Competitions commence on Good Friday in drumming and solo piping, and on Friday night the main street is closed for a street festival with bands, dances, massed bands, a civic welcome and a concert in the Civic Hall. Easter Saturday commences with a full regalia street march of visiting and local bands through the shopping centre. Activities then take place at the Maclean showground where drumming, piping, dancing and bands compete, and there is a full array of Highland games such as caber tossing, pole wrestling, tug of war and the like. The finale of the day is always a very stirring massed bands display—a fitting end showing what Maclean is all about.

In 1986 local bank manager Mr Graham Leach initiated the thematical idea of rediscovering the town's Scottish heritage. Thus the Maclean Scottish Town in Australia Association was formed. The association's committee has undertaken numerous tasks to benefit the town's Scottish identity, including erecting a Scottish cairn in a town park, a pioneers memorial wall, painting some 220 power poles with Scottish tartans, organised concerts for Tartan Day and Kirkin' o' the Tartan Services for Easter Sunday. There have been only two presidents of the Maclean Scottish Town in Australia Association—Howard Cowling for two years and Robert McPherson, OAM, for the past 24 years. Secretary for 24 years is Warren Rackham and Treasurer is Roger McLean. Hardworking member Nancy Bain, OAM, has also been on the committee since its inauguration. I commend the efforts of the Lower Clarence Scottish Association.

At 9.10pm his parliamentary colleague Craig Baumann (Member for Port Stephens and Parliamentary Secretary (Regional Planning)) [9.10 p.m.] " congratulate(d) the hardworking member for Clarence on advising the House of the upcoming Maclean Highland Gathering."

Mr Baumann added, "Many of us have Scottish skeletons in the closet and these gatherings and festivals are a great way to enjoy and celebrate that heritage. 

"I notice there is a tradition of developers naming streets after their children. It is good to see that in those days surveyors-general named towns after themselves."

Source: Full Day Hansard Transcript (Legislative Assembly, 14 March 2012, Proof)

Why is the NSW Aboriginal Land Council ducking and weaving over its lack of community consultation?

New South Wales woke up this month to find that the NSW Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC), a peak body said to represent an estimated 23,000 members, had applied for three Petroleum Special Prospecting Authority licences covering roughly more than half the New South Wales land mass.

The Council’s chief executive, Geoff Scott, is reported in The Sydney Morning Herald as saying; None of the titles fell on land owned by Aboriginal people.

Although it quickly became apparent that many local aboriginal land councils and native title claimants on the NSW North Coast and elsewhere had been unaware of the Council’s plans, it is still puzzling to find the bizarre claim that no land owned by indigenous individuals or communities fall within these applications.

This map showing the application areas in shades of red-pink tells another story. On the New England-Clarence Valley-Mid North Coast application alone over twenty local aboriginal land councils are potentially affected by any prospecting licence granted to NSWALC (and its future joint venture partner) by the O'Farrell Government.

Click on image to enlarge.

One in the eye for Monsanto & Co

The Australian 12 March 2010:

A SALT-RESISTANT wheat variety developed by an Australian team through old-fashioned cross-breeding rather than genetic modification is increasing crop yields by up to 25 per cent in salinity-prone areas, and could help counter food security concerns.

Researchers from Adelaide University's Waite Institute, the CSIRO and the NSW government first isolated the gene in an ancient relative of durum wheat -- used to make couscous and pasta flour -- 15 years ago.

The breakthrough was published in the international journal Nature Biotechnology overnight…..researchers had spent more than a decade using traditional cross-breeding techniques to blend the 10,000-year-old durum with its modern cousin to increase its salt resistance without genetic modification…..

Rana Munns, Richard A James &  Bo Xu, Asmini Athman, Simon J Conn, Charlotte Jordans, Caitlin S Byrt,  Ray A Hare, Stephen D Tyerman, Mark Tester, Darren Plett and Matthew Gilliham are to be congratulated for the research behind Wheat grain yield on saline soils is improved by an ancestral Na+ transporter gene in the March issue of  Nature Biotechnology (R.M., R.A.J., R.A.H., M.T., D.P. and M.G. conceived the project and planned experiments. R.M. and M.G. supervised the research. B.X. performed all Xenopus, yeast and protoplast experiments and R.A.J. performed field research. C.S.B. performed wheat genotyping. S.D.T. assisted with electrophysiology experiments. S.J.C., A.A. and C.J. performed in situ PCR and qPCR. M.G., D.P., R.A.J. and R.M. wrote the manuscript. All authors commented on the manuscript).

Dr. Rana Munns is Chief Research Scientist at the C.S.I.R.O. and began her investigations many years ago - her profile is here.
 
The C.S.I.R.O. is reported to have conducted field trials of durum wheat varieties containing new salt tolerant genes in northern NSW in 2009-10.

This is science which seeks  to improve cereal crops but does not risk contaminating wild grass populations with novel genetically modified organisms which never existed before in nature. It potentially does not have the same exploitative limitations imposed on farmers by biotech industry giants like Monsanto & Co.

As there are 12 types of groundwater flow systems contributing to dryland salinity across Australia, research into salt resistant food crops is also very relevant to national food security.

National Report by Australia on Measures Taken to Support Implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
Commonwealth Intergovernmental Working Group for the UNCCD, April 2002

So it is more than a pity that the C.S.I.R.O. is looking at an additional use for this ancient gene - adding it into the GMO research it already conducts on wheat and other food crops. [ABC AM 12 March 2012]

It appears that once an Australian scientific agency gets into bed with Monsanto it is for life.

* This post is part of North Coast Voices' effort to keep Monsanto's blog monitor (affectionately known as Mr. Monsanto) in long-term employment.

The mystery of Blue's beer

Onya, Bazza!

YOUR article ("Soldiers' 'solace in binge drinking' ", 3-4/3) got us thinking down at the RSL the other night.

Blue just wanted to know who drank his beer. We struggled with the maths but finally agreed that 7.5 million cans over six months divided by troop strength meant we should have had six cans a night each.

However, The Ant reminded us that in camp at Nui Dat our ration was two cans a night and when we did occasionally get to Vung Tau he only drank local beer. Then, always alert, Grunt said: "Wait on, at any one time, a third of us were out on patrol. It was hard enough carrying water and ammo let alone beer."

We also recalled that some stronger willed Nashos did not drink alcohol. So the remaining third of us had to get through 18 beers every night. Since the boozer opened at 5pm, was closed for dinner and curfew was 10pm, we conceded the task was beyond even us.

We concluded that there must have been a phantom company that had Olympian drinking capacity was sent over along with the beer. Or else the whole story is a furphy.

Nevertheless, if it is true that if 7.5 million cans were dispatched from Australia to Vietnam for us Diggers over six months, whoever got them, it's your shout.

Barry Golding, Sherwood, Qld

Google Images supplied the beer pic

Cansdellgate - believe it or not!

A Daily Examiner correspondent has expressed his amazement [and it's most likely the same view that thousands of others have] about the speed with which the NSW DPP worked on the stat dec matter associated with disgraced former MP for Clarence, Steve Cansdell.

Source: Letters, The Daily Examiner, 14/3/12

So who wants to mine our backyard?

http://www.minerals.nsw.gov.au/mv2web/mv2?cmd=MainMap&topic=ttl

On 9 March 2012 the NSW Aboriginal Land Council announced it had applied for three Petroleum Special Prospecting Authority licences - about 49km ESE  White Cliffs (approx.. 368,340 sq km area), six kilometres SSE  Murwillumbah (approx.1,330 sq km area) and about 45km SSW Grafton (approx.47,040 sq km area). Murwillumbah and Grafton are on the NSW Far North Coast.

The  Murwillumbah  application PSPAPP 55 runs from the Dorroughby, Rosebank, Federal region right up through the ranges to the NSW-QLD border. The much larger Grafton application PSPAPP 56 roughly covers an inland area which goes from the Stanthorpe-Tenterfield region in the north to past Armidale in the south – extending across to the coastal zone from Mount Tucabia and Yamba in the north, Coffs Harbour midway, down to just above Crowdy Head.

So it was of more than passing interest to find that on the same day The Sydney Morning Herald reported a spokesperson stating that NSWALC already had a joint venture partner who apparently did not wish to be identified:

''Our initial geology studies are showing their potential is enormous. This is a paradigm shift.''

The council had a joint venture partner that would provide most of the cash and expertise required to follow any petroleum exploration and extraction through, he said. He would not identify the partner. Profits would be split equally. None of the titles fell on land owned by Aboriginal people, he said.

By 13 March 2012 The Daily Examiner was revealing a lack of consultation with local land councils:

NORTH Coast Aboriginal community leaders have sought to distance themselves from a plan by the NSW Aboriginal Land Council to apply for licenses to explore for petroleum and coal seam gas in the region……

But Ngaraakwal/Ngarangwal elder Harry Boyd has called for a public inquiry into the decision, describing it as a "back room deal" which was made without consultation.

"The matter of the NSW Land Council signing-off on petrol exploration licenses means for us, all of us, the entire community, a rubber stamp on coal seam gas," Mr Boyd said.

"But my people and I speak for most of the 'blackfellas' in the Northern Rivers here, (and) we were not present at the signing of any agreements.

"We were not consulted by the Land Council ... and we have not been represented by the Land Councils for many years."

He said those who signed the "back room documents" needed to explain themselves to the people of the North Coast.

"This matter needs to be opened up for public inspection as it affects us all," he said.

"We want those people ... to explain to us what ground they are standing on.

"All of this leads to confusion for everyone and it upsets my people who still consider the ground sacred.

"The land councils are meant to protect the culture, not just do deals."

Mr Boyd said he made it clear to Federal Government representatives in April that Aboriginal people of the North Coast did not want coal seam gas.

"Our unborn spirits are in the underground water, and we consider this industry as a great offence," he said.

Mr Boyd's comments were supported by Arakwal community representative Gilbert King.

Mr King said the proposal potentially affected the traditional land of his people, but that they were not consulted in the decision.

Bundjalung elder and Gugin Guddaba Local Aboriginal Land Council deputy chairwoman Patsy Nagas also said her group were strongly opposed to the development of coal seam gas in the region.

Also on 13 March 2012 ABC North Coast NSW confirmed another LALC which had not been consulted:

The Tweed-Byron Local Aboriginal Land Council says it's surprised by its state counterpart's application for petroleum exploration licences on the north coast

The chairman of a local Aboriginal land council on the state's far north coast says he wasn't consulted about plans to mine in the area.

ABC Indigenous  indicated that the unease was felt further afield:

A far west Aboriginal elder says local indigenous communities still haven't been consulted about the NSW Aboriginal Lands Council's plan to invest in the mining industry….

Doctor Beryl Carmichael, an elder of Ngiyaempaa country, said local Aboriginal people weren't told about the plan.

"There's been no consultation, with the grass root people, nor the custodians of this country," she said.

"And I think they should have had the decency to let us know, indicate something to us, that this was going on."

"They are, will be operating in Ngiyaempaa country, and I think they should start sitting down and coming out and sitting down with the grass root people, and talking about their plans."

Doctor Carmichael said mining the land goes against traditional Aboriginal beliefs.

"The land's our mother, and if these people want to go and exploit the land, well where are they coming from, you know?" she said.

"Where's their connectedness to the land and the environment? They don't even know their culture, what culture really means."

"No, I'll certainly argue with this one, I think, I've got to for the sake of my ancestors."

UPDATE:

MinView mapping indicates that all three NSWALC prospecting applications may also include areas under current native title claims. Click on images to enlarge.

The three applications marked in purple

Native title claim areas in red

Cansdell continues to haunt the NSW parliament

According to Hansard former and disgraced Member for Clarence, Steve Cansdell, was in the Legislative Assembly on Tuesday 13 March 2012 a bit after 3.30pm and voted with the government on its Education Reform motion That this House supports the Government in delivering on its election commitment to give decision-making power back to local schools and school communities.

How very convenient  it must be for the newly elected Member for Clarence, Christopher Gulaptis, to be able to sneak out of the house when a division is called and know his good old best mate Steve is ever ready to stand in for him.

A rare frog the NSW Minister for Resources and Energy & Anchor Resources intends to ignore?

Giant Barred Frog found on the Wild Cattle Creek property

Scientific name: Mixophyes iteratus
Conservation status in NSW: Endangered
National conservation status: Endangered

Image found at

Protect & Preserve the Dorrigo Plateau

It is no secret that NSW Minister for Resources and Energy, Chris Hartcher, is enthusiastic at the prospect of mining on the Mid and Far North Coast – particularly when it comes to gold and antimony mining on the Dorrigo Plateau.

A plateau which takes in the Clarence River catchment high country which supplies fresh water to an estimated 125,419 residents (based on 2010 ERP figures) in Coffs Harbour City and Clarence Valley Shire local government areas.

Local government areas falling within a region which has a population expected to grow more than 28% to around 424,400 by 2031.

Given the ongoing exploration within Anchor Resources Limited’s Wild Cattle Creek EL 6388 lease and the corporation’s recent history of environmental degradation, one has to wonder why Minister Hartcher and his department head have not yet thought fit to insist on a formal environmental assessment of the lease area.

NSW Department of Environment and Conservation:

Description

Giant Barred Frogs are large frogs, up to 115 mm in length. They are olive to dark brown above with paler or darker blotches, and cream to pale yellow below. The skin is finely granular. The pupil of the eye is vertical and the iris is pale golden in the upper half and brown in the lower half. The call is a deep ‘ork’ breaking into a series of ‘orks’ and grunts. The Giant Barred Frog can be most easily distinguished from other barred frog species by the black thighs with smaller yellow spots, distinct barring on the limbs, dark blotches on the sides, absence of a creamy stripe on the upper lip and the distinctive eye colour.

Location and habitat

Distribution

Coast and ranges from south-eastern Queensland to the Hawkesbury River in NSW. North-eastern NSW, particularly the Coffs Harbour-Dorrigo area, is now a stronghold. Considered to have disappeared south of the Hawkesbury and there are no recent records from the Blue Mountains. [my bolding]

Habitat and ecology

• Giant Barred Frogs forage and live amongst deep, damp leaf litter in rainforests, moist eucalypt forest and nearby dry eucalypt forest, at elevations below 1000 m.
• They breed around shallow, flowing rocky streams from late spring to summer.
• Females lay eggs onto moist creek banks or rocks above water level, from where tadpoles drop into the water when hatched.
• Tadpoles grow to a length of 80 mm and take up to 14 months before changing into frogs. When not breeding the frogs disperse hundreds of metres away from streams. They feed primarily on large insects and spiders.

Threats

• Reduction in water quality, from sedimentation or pollution.
• Changes in water flow patterns, either increased or decreased flows.
• Reduction of leaf-litter and fallen log cover through burning.
• Timber harvesting and other forestry practices.
• Vegetation clearance.
• Predation on eggs and tadpoles by introduced fish.
• Weed spraying close to streams.
• Chytrid fungal disease.

An empty vessel satirized

http://youtu.be/JyxTX8ozLGI

Of course it's harder to laugh at the bloke when you read some of the dangerous nonsence that pours out of the clutter of empty brain boxes on his hand-picked team.
"Asking mining companies to fund dam projects was one of the options being considered.
''For instance, some of the dam work we are looking at, we think we can get - instead of taxing the mining industry - suggest to them they can invest in a dam and then have access to water to wash their coal. And they'll pay serious amounts of money, in fact they will pay for the construction of the dam,''

The price we pay for Tony Abbott's never-ending censure motions and other nonsense

After the general election ballot box, Question Time in both houses of Australia’s federal parliament is perhaps the principle way that the government of the day is held accountable - now that much of the national mainstream media spends most of its time uncritically regurgitating political media releases as a substitute for investigative journalism.

According to the Australian Parliament website statistics link, in 1963 (an election year) the House of Representatives sat for 53 days and the Government was asked 968 Questions Without Notice during Question Time.

In the following year 1964, the House sat for 65 days and there were 1,557 Questions Without Notice recorded.

In 2010 (an election year) and 2011 the House sat for 55 and 64 days respectively, taking  948 Questions Without Notice in the first instance and 882 Questions Without Notice in the second instance.

Now I may be wrong, but I think that the period 2010 to 2011 was only the second time that House of Representatives’ Questions Without Notice have fallen in number (when an ordinary year followed an election year) in the last forty-eight years.

It seems that Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s grandstanding is actually ensuring that other Members of Parliament are being given fewer opportunities to apply that very Australian maxim - keep the b@stards honest.

If it’s Thursday it must be censure time is not quite so funny a phrase when one remembers that, every time he rose to his feet and uttered the words I move that so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Leader of the Opposition from moving forthwith the following motion, voters were denied an opportunity to hear their own elected representatives raise important national and local issues.

Drawing of Coat of Arms from Google Images

Things go better with Coke! Or do they?

This turned up in the mainstream meeja last week: 

“COCA-Cola and Pepsi say they have lowered levels of a chemical in caramel colouring which has been found to cause cancer in lab tests.

The move allows the companies to avoid having to label products with a cancer warning due to a California law setting safe levels of 4-methylimidazole.

Both drinkmakers said their popular and highly secretive recipes will not be altered but that caramel suppliers have been asked to reduce 4-MEI levels in California, a change that will eventually spread across the United States and - at least in Coke's case - around the world.

"We are NOT changing our recipe; or our formula," Coca-Cola Company spokesman Ben Sheidler said in an email.

"What we did do is direct our caramel suppliers to make a manufacturing process modification in order to reduce the level of 4-MEI in our caramel so as to meet the requirement set by the state of California's Proposition 65."

For its part, PepsiCo said its beverages "are and always will be safe for consumption."

"Consumers will notice no difference in our products and have no reason at all for any health concerns. There is no scientific evidence that 4-MEI in foods and beverages is a threat to human health," it added.” {new.com.au 10^th March 2012}

This is what Coca Cola South Pacific is still saying about caramel colouring at livepositively.com.au:

"Colours are added to enhance the appearance of processed foods and beverages.
For example, 'Coca-Cola' contains caramel colouring, which is a widely used food and beverage colouring found in many kinds of processed food and beverages including: brown bread, buns, and chocolate. Although made from sugar, the amount present is not physiologically significant and contributes only a trace amount of kilojoules to a can of 'Coca-Cola'."
And here's Coca Cola's global press centre denying there's any problem.
While over at US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health this is what you find on mice fed with 4-Methylimidazole (4MI) :
"Clonic seizures, excitability, hyperactivity, and impaired gait were observed primarily in 2,500- and 5,000 ppm females. The incidence of mononuclear cell leukemia in the 5,000 ppm females was significantly greater than that in the controls. The incidences of hepatic histiocytosis, chronic inflammation, and focal fatty change were significantly increased in all exposed groups of male and female rats. The incidences of hepatocellular eosinophilic and mixed cell foci were significantly increased in 2,500 ppm males and 5,000 ppm females. Groups of 50 male and 50 female B6C3F1 mice were fed diets containing 0-, 312-, 625-, or 1,250 ppm 4MI for 106 weeks. Based on the food consumption the calculated average daily doses were approximately 40, 80, or 170 mg 4MI/kg body weight to males and females. Survival of all exposed groups of males and females was similar to that of the control groups. Mean body weights of males and females in the 1,250 ppm groups and that in the 312- and 625 ppm females were less than those of the control groups. Feed consumption by exposed groups of male and female mice was similar to that by the controls. The incidences of alveolar/bronchiolar adenoma in all exposed groups of females, alveolar/bronchiolar carcinoma in 1,250 ppm males, and alveolar/bronchiolar adenoma or carcinoma (combined) in 1,250 ppm males and 625- and 1,250 ppm females were significantly greater than those in the control groups. The incidence of alveolar epithelial hyperplasia was significantly increased in the 1,250 ppm females. 4MI is carcinogenic inducing alveolar/bronchiolar adenoma and carcinoma in male and female mice. 4MI may also induce mononuclear cell leukemia in female rats."

Pic from Google Images

MONEY TAKEN FROM CRIMINALS TO FUND LISMORE PCYC

THE HON. JASON CLARE MP

MINISTER FOR HOME AFFAIRS

MINISTER FOR JUSTICE

MINISTER FOR DEFENCE MATERIEL

JANELLE SAFFIN
MEMBER FOR PAGE 

MONEY TAKEN FROM CRIMINALS TO FUND LISMORE PCYC

9 March 2012

Lismore PCYC will receive a $75,000 grant funded by money confiscated from criminals to fund their Bundjalung Midnight Sports program.

The program will be delivered in conjunction with the Aboriginal Community Justice Group and will operate in Ballina, Lismore, Casino and Coraki targeting young indigenous people aged between 14 and 18. 

The sessions will be held in prime time for youth crime – with participants being picked up from home at 5pm and taken to Lismore PCYC, where they will have dinner and undertake educational and sporting activities. They will then be taken home at 11pm. 

Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare made the announcement today with Page MP Janelle Saffin, PCYC President John Maxwell and Lismore Police Inspector Matt Kehoe.

Ms Saffin said the grant would make a huge difference for the local community.

“I congratulate Lismore PCYC and the Aboriginal Community Justice Group for this grant, and thank them for all the work they do in our community”, Ms Saffin said.

“The Lismore Crime Prevention Plan and the Lismore Youth Survey both identified the lack of activities for young people as a contributor to crime.

“This program addresses the problem head on.”

Mr Clare said money seized from criminals was now helping young people and communities across Australia.

“We’re taking money from criminals and investing it in PCYC’s across the country to help young people who are at risk of falling into a life of crime,” Minister Clare said.

“PCYC’s are terrific organisations. They’re a great example of community policing at work.

“That’s why the Federal Government is supporting the crime prevention work they do.”

The program will run over eight weeks, each session will match a recreational activity like basketball or kickboxing with an educational component such as road safety, drug and alcohol use and aboriginal culture.

The eight week program will run four times a year with 20 young people participating at once.

The funding is part of almost $2 million provided to 16 Police and Community Youth Clubs (PCYCs) around Australia to help young people at risk of falling into a life of crime.

The funding comes from the Proceeds of Crime Fund which enables money confiscated under Commonwealth laws to be returned to the community to prevent and reduce crime across Australia.

A list of the funded projects is attached. Information regarding crime prevention funding can be found at http://www.crimeprevention.gov.au/.

Over the border round Beenleigh way: I almost believed the bloke

I almost believed the bloke………almost.

Yahoo News 8th March 2012:

"The Liberal National Party (LNP) will retain a Gold Coast candidate linked to a soft porn website.

A party spokesman has confirmed that Mark Boothman will contest the seat of Albert for the LNP.

In a statement issued through the LNP on Thursday afternoon, Mr Boothman claimed a website he helped to run was shut down six years ago because it was hacked by people uploading adult content.

The site was set up almost 10 years ago as a forum for car enthusiasts, he said.

"But, unfortunately over a period of time, adult content was uploaded to the site," he said.

"In 2004, the site was continually under attack from hackers and was being hijacked from its original purpose and was getting beyond my control."

Because of this, it was shut down in 2006, he said."
But according to Gold Coast on 11th March:
"A check of the now-archived website shows the administrator had a designated VIP adult section and a warning about the pornographic images on the site."
And this old comments are still showing in Google Search:
More Women Pics - CruisingBrisbane.com - Page 4.75
http://www.darkosiris.com/ is a good site for pics of gals its one of the guys from boost's site i forget who though.
Sorany y Carolina Galleries (1) - PeachyForum
"These babes are so hot! http://www.darkosiris.com/photokorn/index.php?action=showgal&cat=127
Any more? I would really like more of this set! =)"
Finally it seems the present LNP candidate in his past life was not above promoting his website:
xspsi 2002 "mark (57OCK) sent me the site."
RhOmEL2002 "surrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrre you did.
you read penthouse for the articles as well dont ya??

The cream of the crop though is Mark (now standing for Laura Norder) bragging as 57ock in 2006 about messing with the heads of police:

“A while back, my mate and I went cruising on a Saturday night. We pulled up at the local BP Servo centre. While my mate was inside the servo, a cop car pulls up and has a look at my mates Supra. Mainly because its too low. One of the coppers asked me if I owned the Supra, I said no.. The copper walks around asking a few people if they owned it.
After a while of asking, the coppers decided to sit and there car and wait for the owner of the supra to turn up. About 30 mins pass and the coppers think there smart, so the drive their car off and park there car behind a bush around the corner so they can't be seen.
My mate came up with a brillant idea. If I can't drive the car out, why dont I hirer a tow truck. The look on the coppers face when they saw the Supra they had waited for 1hr and a half for drive away on the back of a tow truck was priceless.”

8 March 2012
Whois info on website

Reverse Whois:

"Mark" owns about 872 other domains

Email Search:

is associated with about 3 domains

Registrant:
Mark
PO Box 769 Springwood
Logan City, Queensland 4133
AU
Domain name: DARKOSIRIS.COM
This domain name is up for auction for a limited time.
To place a bid, visit: http://www.snapnames.com
Administrative Contact:
Boothman, Mark
69 Burow Rd
Logan, QLD 4133
AU
+61.0738087133
Technical Contact:
Boothman, Mark
69 Burow Rd
Logan, QLD 4133
AU
+61.0738087133
Registration Service Provider:
Hover,
416.538.5498
http://help.hover.com
Registrar of Record: TUCOWS, INC.
Record last updated on 31-Jan-2012.
Record expires on 28-Jan-2012.
Record created on 28-Jan-2003.
Registrar Domain Name Help Center:
http://tucowsdomains.com
Domain servers in listed order:
NS1.RENEWYOURNAME.NET
NS2.RENEWYOURNAME.NET

Server Type:

Apache/2.2.17 (Unix) mod_ssl/2.2.17 OpenSSL/0.9.8e-fips-rhel5 mod_auth_passthrough/2.1 mod_bwlimited/1.4 FrontPage/5.0.2.2635

Domain Status:

Registered And Active Website

Site Trail info on website

IP Address:

118.127.4.180

IP Block:

118.127.0.0 - 118.127.11.255

Reverse DNS:

jupiter.quikservers.net

Host:

Dedicated Servers Brisbane, Queensland, AU

Location:

Brisbane, Queensland,  

Was it only media pressure which saw NSW Police & the DPP finally act on Cansdell's confession?

A far as I can tell it was the Clarence Valley’s good ol' Egg Timer aka The Daily Examiner which asked the hard question of NSW Police: Are you going to refer the matter of retired Clarence Nats MP Steve Cansdell on to the Commonwealth DPP?

Local journo Terry Deefholts in The Daily Examiner on 9^th March 2012:

"THE NSW Department of Public Prosecutions' decision to drop the case against former Member for Clarence Steve Cansdell is an example of the "wafer thin" separation of powers between the politics, the executive and the judiciary in Australia, a Sydney academic said yesterday.

Dr Michael Kennedy, a former detective of 18 years, is the head of the University of Western Sydney's Bachelor of Policing program and specialises in ethics and the politics of policing.

"You would have thought the NSW Government would want to put this matter to bed as a matter of public interest; they're not going to get any sympathy from the federal Labor Government," Dr Kennedy said.

He said magistrates and judges were politically appointed and most attorneys-general became senior counsels within a month of ending their jobs despite, in some cases, having less-than-impressive work records.

"At the end of an attorney- general's role they usually get a job on the Supreme Court; the separation of powers in this country are wafer thin," he said.

The case of Mr Cansdell reinforced this view, he said.

Mr Cansdell admitted last September to signing a false statutory declaration in 2005 to avoid a speeding fine but it was revealed on Wednesday the NSW DPP, which comes under the control of the NSW Attorney-General Greg Smith, dropped the case on the basis that Cansdell had signed a Commonwealth statutory declaration.

"NSW Police can act under the Federal Crimes Act," Dr Kennedy said.

Even if there was some special provision for the Statutory Declarations Act to be dealt with by the Commonwealth DPP, Dr Kennedy said: "Surely there are some Federal Police in NSW that can deal with it.

"There are rule makers, rule enforcers and rule breakers. It is beyond the pale to think that rule makers are dealt with differently to the rest of us when they break the rules."

Unfortunately, he said, there had been repeated evidence of this being the case in NSW. For example, he said very few prosecutions emanating from the Wood Royal Commission into police corruption in the mid-1990s were successful.

A spokesperson for NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson said if shadow police minister Nathan Rees had not asked questions of Mr Smith about the Cansdell case on February 23 it would have been dropped altogether.

It was only that journalists asked Mr Smith if he was going to refer the case to the Commonwealth DPP on Wednesday after Question Time that Mr Smith said he would do so yesterday, the spokesperson said."

It was aslo the Egg Timer's Rod Stevens who pointed out:
"Despite NSW Attorney-General Greg Smith and the NSW DPP saying because Mr Cansdell signed a Commonwealth statutory declaration it was out of their jurisdiction, the law states otherwise.
Section 12 of the Statutory Declarations Act of 1959 states "the several courts of the states (other than the Northern Territory) are invested with federal jurisdiction."