U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child looks at Australia in 2012

 

The Committee considered the fourth periodic report of Australia (CRC/C/AUS/3-4) at its 1707th and 1708th meetings (see CRC/C/SR.1707 and 1708), held on 4 and 5 June 2012, and adopted, at its 1725th meeting, held on 15 June 2012 (see CRC/C/SR.1725), the following concluding observations.

See the full report here.

Some of the concerns expressed:

Preservation of identity

37. The Committee is concerned at the large numbers of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children being separated from their homes and communities and placed into care that, inter alia, does not adequately facilitate the preservation of their cultural and linguistic identity. The Committee further notes that a child‟s citizenship can be revoked where a parent renounces or loses citizenship in the State party.

38. The Committee recommends that the State party review its progress in the implementation of the recommendations of its Bringing Them Home Report, including as recommended by the United Nations Human Rights Committee and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous People to ensure full respect for the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to their identity, name, culture, language and family relationships. With reference to article 8 of the Convention, the Committee further recommends that the State party undertake measures to ensure that no child be deprived of citizenship on any ground regardless of the status of his/her parents.

Protection of privacy

41. The Committee notes as positive that the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has issued guidelines on the application of the Australian Privacy Act on handling the personal information of children. However, the Committee is concerned that the State party does not have comprehensive legislation protecting the right to privacy of children. Furthermore, while noting that the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner is empowered to hear complaints about breaches of privacy rights under the Privacy Act 1998 (Cth), it is concerned that there are no child-specific and child-friendly mechanisms and those available are limited to complaints made against government agencies and officers and large private organisations. The Committee is also concerned at the inadequacy of privacy protection of children involved in penal proceedings, including legislation in Western Australia and the Northern Territory permitting the publication of personal details of a person, including minors, who has carried-out ¨anti-social behaviour‟. Furthermore, the Committee is concerned that children receiving health services, particularly sexual and reproductive health, are not ensured their right to privacy.

Violence against children and women

45. The Committee is gravely concerned at the high levels of violence against women and children prevailing in the country and notes that there is an inherent risk that the co-existence of domestic violence, lawful corporal punishment, bullying, and other forms of violence in the society are inter-linked, conducing to an escalation and exacerbation of the situation. The Committee is particularly concerned that:

(a) Women and children of Aboriginal origin are particularly affected;

(b) Sterilisation of women and girls with disabilities continues;

(c) Programmes for the reintegration of child victims of domestic violence remain inadequate including because of the absence of monitoring systems of children victims who are reintegrated with their families;

(d) There is a lack of attention and specific procedures in cases where family members are the perpetrators of violence and/or women are perpetrators rather than victims; and

(e) There are no regular and systematic evaluations of the existing measures addressing violence against children in the school, Internet and other contexts.

Children with disabilities

56. The Committee appreciates the State party‟s assessment of its disability support system with its Productivity Commission in July2011. However, taking note of the findings of the Commission, the Committee shares the concerns that the current disability support system is "under-funded, unfair, fragmented and inefficient, and gives people with a disability little choice and no certainty of access to appropriate supports, with children with disabilities frequently failing to receive crucial and timely early intervention services, support for life transitions, and adequate support for the prevention of family or carer crisis and breakdown." Furthermore, while noting the State party‟s five-year implementation of its Disability Standards for Education 2005, the Committee remains concerned that a significant disparity remains between educational attainments for children with disabilities compared to children without disabilities. Further elaborating on its concerns on the non-therapeutic sterilization stated earlier in this report, the Committee is seriously concerned that the absence of legislation prohibiting such sterilisation is discriminatory and in contravention of article 23(c) of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Furthermore, the Committee is concerned that the State party‟s legislation allows for disability to be the basis for rejecting an immigration request.

Carbonageddon: nobody believes Tony

 

Stock and  Land on 16^th July 2012:

“VOTERS believe that the carbon tax will not be scrapped by a Coalition government despite Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's "pledge in blood" to move on his first day as prime minister to repeal it, private polling by the major parties has found.

Focus group research, which both major parties have conducted since the carbon tax started on July 1, has found that voters are highly sceptical that the tax will ever be dumped.

Details of the focus group research conducted by the Labor Party indicate that voters believe Mr Abbott's "blood pledge" is a political tactic and that he would find a reason to abandon it after he became prime minister, The Australian Financial Review reports.

Coalition sources confirm that Mr Abbott's pledge is doubted by voters who have become even more sceptical about promises made by political leaders in the wake of Labor's broken promises not to introduce a carbon tax. According to Labor sources, focus group participants believe overwhelmingly that once a new tax is in place it is there to stay.

When Mr Abbott's promise is put to them, typical responses are "he would say that, wouldn't he", "he's just saying that to win the election" and "when has a new tax ever been scrapped?"  

Anybody else smell a whiff of McDonalds 'greasy PR?

 

This was up on The Daily Examiner website on 13^th July 2012:

“Can Maccas come back?

IT WAS a Whopper of an argument that may have been solved by a Big Mac.

Police have responded to a call about a dispute over the price of a Whopper burger at a Hungry Jacks store in Rockhampton.

Initial reports indicate the issue was resolved by the aggrieved customer going to a nearby McDonald's store.”

The one thing I smell is APN head office doing a transfat-laden Clayton’s advertising deal with Maccas Australia.

 

U.S. Presidential Election 2012: Mitt Romney Skewered

http://youtu.be/Ud3mMj0AZZk

The Nationals spin on Grafton Gaol closure now closely resembles a grand lie?

This email arrived in my Inbox this morning. If it is genuine copy, then NSW Nationals executive committee members have collectively lost their political minds and decided that comprehensively lying to their own membership is an acceptable proposition.

In order to remain calm Clarence Valley voters will possibly need to sit down with a restorative beverage before reading this arrant nonsense:

From: NSW Nationals [mailto:email@nswnationals.org.au]
Sent: 17 July 2012 10:17
Subject: A message from the State Chairman on the Grafton Gaol issue

Tuesday 17 July

A message from the State Chairman on the Grafton Gaol issue

Dear members,
I would like to take this opportunity to provide you with some insight to the Grafton Gaol issue. It is evident that this issue has struck a chord with many of our members and has been a very difficult period for the Grafton Community.
Obviously any decision to remove jobs from a local community is difficult and one that is only a last resort, however I am disappointed that some within our party have questioned the ability and relevance of The Nationals to fight for the Grafton community and that is something I would like to address.
The way in which the announcement was made and the manner in which it was delivered is regrettable. It placed the local member Chris Gulaptis in a very difficult position from the outset.
Chris took a stand for his local community and was quickly supported by his parliamentary colleagues, both state and federal who were in constant contact with messages of support and advice.
Head Office was also in constant communication with Chris and his office and also sent Ross Cadell to Grafton to provide on the ground support.
The Parliamentary leadership team led by Andrew Stoner met with a delegation from Grafton led by Chris and commenced discussions with the Premier on the issue.
I cannot understate the level of support and work that was carried out by all within the Party, largely behind closed doors, to try and rectify this issue for the people of Grafton.
I too was in constant contact with Chris and our Federal Candidate for Page Kevin Hogan over the last fortnight.
Although the original decision stood and was not delayed as requested by many, The Nationals were able to convince the Premier to determine what Government Department or jobs can be decentralised to Grafton and report back within eight weeks, in addition to the North Coast Jobs action plan which the Deputy Premier announced last week. This will result in a net increase in the number of Government jobs in Grafton in the near future.
There have been many lessons learnt from this exercise, but contrary to some of the comments from a number of sources (disappointingly even from some of our own members) The Nationals have made a difference in fighting for the Grafton community.  We need to remember that it was the previous Labor Government that commissioned the construction of the Cessnock correctional facility, clearly with the view to relocating prisoners from older prisons like Grafton to Cessnock.
Although we would have preferred not to go through the last fortnight, Grafton will benefit in the long run due to the hard work that The Nationals have done throughout this difficult issue.
I truly believe that if it was not for The Nationals the jobs that will be lost due to the Gaol being reclassified to a remand centre would have been lost with no other opportunities provided.
While the Grafton community faces some immediate challenges, the future for jobs in the region is stronger as a direct result of The Nationals' actions over the past two weeks.
Yours sincerely,
Hon Niall Blair MLC
State Chairman

Some background to the issue:
http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/on-how-not-to-win-friends-and-influence.html
http://www.dailyexaminer.com.au/story/2012/07/04/mp-disputes-claim-prison-key-to-regions-economy/
http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/clarence-valley-calls-on-local-mp-chris.html
http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/gulaptis-admits-he-stuffed-up-then.html
http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/grafton-gaol-picket-line-8-july-2012.html
http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/robertson-at-grafton-gaol-picket-line.html
http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/staff-at-grafton-gaol-say-thank-you-to.html
http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/now-official-nsw-ofarrell-government.html
http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/sssssssnake-mp.html
http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/nsw-nats-continue-to-blame-others-for.html

NSW Nats continue to blame others for Grafton Gaol closure

 

"The public service has shown it can't be relied on to have the community's interests at heart"; cries former Vice-Chairman of the NSW National Party and current Grafton Chamber of Commerce president Jeremy Challacombe in The Daily Examiner on the 17th July 2012.
Barely 5 days after the NSW Liberal-Nationals Coalition Government acted on its own executive decision and removed prisoners from Grafton Gaol leaving only a 60-bed remand facility to serve prisoners being held for local court appearances.
Suddenly Barry O'Farrell, Andrew Stoner, Greg Hunt and Chris Gulaptis’ sly betrayal of the Clarence Valley community didn’t happen.
Now it’s all the fault of the 107 people who lost their jobs when the last of the prison transport vans rolled out of Grafton and on to Cessnock.
The Nats are proving once again that they are nothing but a political nest for gutless rodents vipers idiots fools men of uncertain moral fibre and weak intelligence.

US Presidential Election 2012: A matching pair of political liars?

Australian Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is on record as cheerfully admitting that he lies to Australian voters at the drop of the hat.
It seems he has a mate in America, because Republican presidential canidate Mitt Romney has been discovered making his resignation for Bain Capital 'restrospective'.
Something he neglected to tell the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
CNN News 13th July 2012:
"The documents, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, place Romney in charge of Bain from 1999 to 2001, a period in which the company outsourced jobs and ran companies that fell into bankruptcy.
Romney has tried to distance himself from this period in Bain's history, saying on financial disclosure forms he had no active role in Bain as of February 1999. Obama has labeled Romney a job killer in hopes of undercutting the Republican's claim that his private business experience gives him the ability to turn around the struggling economy.
But at least three times since then, Bain listed Romney as the company's "controlling person," as well as its "sole shareholder, sole director, chief executive officer and president." And one of those documents — as late as February 2001 — lists Romney's "principal occupation" was as Bain's managing director."
If Tony Abbott and Mitt Romney are both leaders of their respective nations in 2013, will anyone be able to trust official foreign policy announcemnts about the Australian-US alliance for the next four years or more?

Federal Labor MP Janelle Saffin on the subject of her state counterparts

Letter to the Editor in The Daily Examiner 14 July 2012:

I write to express my feelings of shock and dismay at the loss of jobs and other impacts caused by the New South Wales Government's downsizing of the Grafton Jail.

At the picket line on Ramornie Day, I was both inspired by the strength of the community's support for the workers, their families, the families of inmates and for Grafton and Clarence Valley, and saddened as I knew the trucks were in transit to take remaining inmates away, the final act in axing local jobs.

The NSW Government and the National Party representatives, including, and I hate to say this, the local State Member, got everything wrong - the downsizing, the immediacy of it, refusing to talk to locals directly, and no plans put in place for the workers, their families, and the city.

On site at the picket I met with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, who were there protesting the jobs going and deeply worried for inmates, up to 70% of them Indigenous, being moved to Kempsey, Cessnock or other faraway jails.

Despite what we know from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, which recommended inmates have regular contact with family members, there were no transition plans in place either.

There are many cruel impacts caused by this callous treatment; teachers who are offered a redundancy but then told they cannot go into teaching elsewhere for 12 months under some State Government rules. These rules could have been relaxed for them.

When the South Grafton Abattoir closed late last year, a State Government Rapid Response was deployed. Why couldn't there be a similar response for the jail?

We were told it cannot apply to the public sector, but this public service closure, is ripping the guts out of Grafton. Again, these can be fixed by political decisions.

Like all locals, the question we are asking is how much more can the Clarence Valley take?
Grafton is a great city and the Clarence Valley is stocked with solid and stoic people, who will rebuild and pick up the pieces, but this betrayal is hard to accept.

I know Grafton Chamber of Commerce president Jeremy Challacombe said we should not be political, and I understand where he is coming from, but I am political and proudly call myself a politician, and one who speaks up for us locals.

That is my job, nothing more, nothing less. This is political and it was a political decision of the NSW Liberal Premier Barry O'Farrell and his Deputy, National Party Leader Andrew Stoner, to downsize Grafton Jail.

It could have easily been a political decision to not downgrade the jail to a remand centre, and at least, do what the local community kept calling for, 'to push the pause button'.

Where to from here? We must work together to ensure we attract whatever support we can to Grafton and the Clarence Valley, so that all can continue to not only survive but flourish.

We need to take advantage of all opportunities and openings, and go for them. This is what I shall be doing with the local community.

Janelle Saffin MP
Federal Member for Page

Are O'Farrell, Stoner and Gulaptis lying to the Clarence Valley again?

This was NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell on the subject of his under the radar April 2012 decision to close Grafton Gaol:

"In response to a request, a very forceful request from the Member for Clarence Chris Gulaptis and in line with our commitment to devolving public sector jobs out of Sydney to regional areas, Andrew Stoner, who chairs the Rural and Regional Subcommittee of Cabinet has been asked to come back within eight weeks to identify public sector jobs that are suitable".

In the 2012-13 NSW Budget the Coalition Government committed itself to  a reduction in the size of the public service, predicted to eliminate in excess of 10,000 positions over the next four years in the primary industries, corrective services, legal/courts, education, health, aged care/disability, child protection, roads & maritime, industrial relations and environment sectors.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that; An internal email from a NSW Treasury official dated June 12, obtained by the Herald, says ''there is no floor or cap on redundancies'' and government departments should look to privatising more services.

On 13 July 2012 there were 313 government jobs across the state advertised by Jobs NSW in the previous 28 days.

Of these; 227 were positions based in the Sydney region and 48 were in regional NSW – only two of these (both area health service jobs) were possibly situated in Grafton.

Few of these jobs appeared to be of a category which were not location specific. In other words, most would not be the type of job likely to come into the Clarence Valley.

In fact, the O’Farrell Government’s previous attempts to encourage people to move to regional NSW have been monumental flops so far.

Less than 700 Regional Relocation home buyers grants have been taken up since July last year. What is obvious is that few (if any) people living in the Sydney region are moving to Northern NSW under this scheme.

So how many of these as yet to be identified jobs in the reduced public service pool will actually come to Grafton under the vague promise given by the Premier?

Do O'Farrell and Co. not understand that, as these are not vacant positions, what jobs may actually come will not give employment to local residents who lost their jobs at the gaol or lower the Clarence Valley LGA unemployment rate?

Is the Clarence electorate being treated like fools and lied to again?

Moggy Musings [Archived material from Boy the Wonder Cat]

A kamikaze musing: Bruce the Cocky who lives in a local backyard has been squawking an alarm for days. He reckons that two voters crashing into cars holding the LNP Queensland Premier and Lib Opposition Leader points to a secret cadre of kamikaze voters determined to rid the country of political nasties. Tempting thought, but I think poor Bruce has been at the germinating seed again.

A just sayin' musing: Wonder which North Coast pair are rumoured to have taken a leaf out of the Vellar-Morgan play book?

An I can't believe they call this democracy musing: My little canine friend Veronica Lake says that locals are close to open revolt down Yamba way. Apparently the highhanded antics of Scotfree, Dodgy & Dessie are giving rise to kitchen table talk of ICAC complaints and damn the tender sensibilities of shire councillors prior to local government elections.

A Catfoodbreath musing: Don’t lick the toast. No paws in the cereal. Don’t drink the cream. Get away from the bacon. Do not put your tail in the coffee. Stop eating the eggs. Get off of the serving platter. You may not knock the muffins on the floor. Don’t get jam in your fur. The napkins are not to be used as forts. Do not stand on the croissants. Get away from the toaster. Raspberries are not toys, even though they roll. Do not push things off the table on to the dog. No kitties in the refrigerator. Don’t knock over the pitcher. Do not lay on the omelettes. No fur in the orange juice. You people really don’t know how to have a relaxing brunch, do you?

A Who can't take criticism? musing: My little canine friend Veronica Lake tells me that the latest bark on the block is a rumour that The Daily Examiner is editing online comments which point to holes and errors in its featured stories. Tsk, tsk, if this is true.

An ad aversion musing: Overheard my hoomin say that if BOM places advertizing on its website she'll go back to looking out the window to check on the weather.

A still giggling musing: Which NSW North Coast editor once wrote this in an online profile? Who I'd like to meet: French footballers, Swedish porn stars, binge drinkers, lost souls and artistic temperaments. Italian desperados need not apply. and Q: How will you be defined in the dictionary? A: A lewd street performer

A Get Smart musing: On 23 January 2012 the Liberals Deputy Leader Julie Bishop’s RMI listed the gift of a media pad from Huawei Technologies (Aust) Pty Ltd. This company also appears to have paid for her accommodation when she visited China in January 2012. Isn’t this an Australian subsidiary of the Chinese corporation that ASIO has warned the Gillard Government against? Radio New Zealand News: Huawei has been blocked from winning contracts to upgrade Australia's broadband network and from doing some business deals in the United States due to security concerns.

Boy

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's carbon price sums

 

This was Opposition Leader Tony Abbott in full flight on 11 July 2012:

The carbon tax is already having a significant detrimental impact on the tourism industry. It’s added up to $6 to every airline ticket. The cost of taking a family of four to Perth and back is $48 more thanks to the carbon tax. QANTAS will have $110 million carbon tax bill this year. That’s seven times their half yearly tax bill. Virgin will have a $45 million carbon tax bill. That’s twice their half yearly tax bill.

This is what Virgin Airlines is actually charging to cover national carbon pricing:

Zone	Distance (kms)	Surcharge
1	1 – 900	AUD$1.50
2	901 – 2000	AUD$3.00
3	2001+	AUD$6.00

This is Qantas Airlines carbon price schedule for domestic flights:

Zone	Distance (km)	Charge AUD including GST per sector
1	1 - 700	$1.82
2	701 - 1200	$2.79
3	1201 - 1900	$4.00
4	1901 +	$6.86

Jetstar calculated that domestic fares will go up by $5 for fuel and $2.80 for the carbon price for a total of $7.80 on a Melbourne-Sydney flight and by $6 for fuel and $6.86 for the carbon price for a total of $12.86 on a flight to Perth.

So the only time anyone is likely to pay a $6 or over carbon price component per domestic flight is if they are flying to Perth, West Australia or any other destination in the country which exceeds 1,900kms.

For millions of travellers each year, the cost impact of the carbon price on their ticket will be less than the cup of coffee they have at the airport.

At this point in time Abbott's relentless propaganda has begun to border on childish petulance.

A classic Bolta from First Dog

First Dog On The Moon excels himself over at Crikey:

Click on cartoon to make it gro-o-ow

We knew nothing! cry Stoner and Gulaptis

The Sergeant Schultz defence has been given an airing by NSW Nationals this week as they seek to hide from their decision to close Grafton Gaol and leave only a small 60-bed remand centre in its place.

This was NSW Deputy Premier and NSW Nationals Leader Andrew Stoner and the Nationals Member for Clarence Chris Would I lie To You? Gulpatis on the subject………

The Daily Examiner in Grafton

5 July 2012:

Chris Gulaptis: “I didn’t know about the closure of the gaol as it was happening….I was not involved in the process. I was not consulted about it”

14 July 2012:

NSW Deputy Premier Andrew Stoner has said in a radio interview he knew nothing about the full extent of the Grafton Jail closure even though it had been in the planning since October last year.

However, it is not ignorance concerning the closure but convenient amnesia which both Stoner and Gulaptis are displaying. As this timeline indicates……

Country Labor November 2011

Leaked documents have confirmed Grafton Gaol heads the list of prisons the NSW Government has been advised to privatise – which would threaten dozens of local jobs and the local economy, Country Labor candidate for Clarence Peter Ellem said today.

NSW Attorney General Greg Hunt

8 November 2011:

Earlier this year the Government commissioned KPMG to conduct an independent review of Corrective Services NSW taking into account historical expenditure and providing funding models. In response, Corrective Services NSW provided advice on factors impacting those expenditures and models, which were further considered by KPMG and included in its review. In order to achieve the efficiency measures that the Government requires, a number of staff positions will be deleted across the whole of Corrective Services—senior management, commissioned officers, correctional officers, industries, offender services and programs, enterprise assets, clerical, administrative and corporate services. Every area of Corrective Services NSW is contributing, including its head office…..The positions at Grafton are representative of positions being deleted at every correctional centre.

14 March 2012:

Today I announce that an independent review into Corrective Services NSW has been finalised, which will ultimately recommend a new organisational structure. Knowledge Consulting, headed by Keith Hamburger, who is a former Queensland Corrective Services Commissioner, conducted the comprehensive review. Its aim was to identify a cost-effective business model for Corrective Services NSW that delivers effective and efficient corrective services in New South Wales while ensuring that the Government's strategic policy objectives, such as the reduction of reoffending, are progressed and realised.

The Daily Examiner in Grafton

27 June 2012:

He said it was part of the State Government's cost cutting drive and the jail's age was also a consideration.

"There are a number of other factors that are just as significant," Mr Gulaptis said.

The MP said the restructure would involve job losses, but he said he was working with the Minister to ensure these were kept to a minimum.

28 June 2012:

Responding to the rumour, Mr Gulaptis said he had been working with Attorney-General Greg Smith on a restructure of the jail that would entail job losses, but he and the Attorney-General would not say how many positions would go.

Didn't know? Don't think so!

Oh, Jeremy!

Jeremy Buckingham‏ @greensjeremy

Have one or two for me @johnkgreens At launch of Cruelty Free shop in Glebe Pt Rd. Vegan teats galore plus @clovermoore http://campl.us/kq7P

Think he meant treats, don't you?

At home with The Dollipotts

NRMA's Open Road: dodgy promotions

    

A Yamba resident contributed a tear jerking yarn to the latest edition of the NRMA's Open Road about her new puppy escaping from her yard. But, thanks to her NRMA Pet Plus policy, the story had a happy ending and she was reunited with her puppy.

It was a great yarn, but there was just one small problem with it. The contributor also happens to be a part owner of the local NRMA business.

So, the question must be asked: why didn't the NRMA observe its duty of disclosure and tell its readers the full story about the contributor having a significant financial interest in the story and the NRMA?

Earlier this year the local newspaper in the Clarence Valley, The Daily Examiner, ran an article about the Yamba NRMA relocating to a new office. The article stated (in part):

Proprietors (names deleted) operate the Yamba NRMA office.

The move next door comes after more than a decade at the old site and proprietor (name deleted) said she was looking forward to welcoming customers to the new location.

"From our new office we'll continue providing the local community with all their NRMA insurance and roadside assistance needs," (name deleted) said.

"Customers can expect to see the familiar, friendly faces in the new office and we're celebrating the move by running a competition."

Sources: Open Road, July/August 2012 and The Daily Examiner, 3/4/12

Australian Government now has full responsibility for Home and Community Care (HACC) services

Department of Health and Ageing media release 1 July 2012:

From 1 July 2012 the Australian Government has full responsibility for Home and Community Care (HACC) services that support more than 500,000 older Australians to live independently in their own homes and communities.

Minister for Ageing, Mark Butler said the transfer of responsibility for HACC services for older people to the Australian Government rationalises the system and paves the way for the reforms outlined in Living Longer Living Better.

“Supporting older Australians to remain living in their own home is a key focus of our recently unveiled Living Longer Living Better aged care reform package.”

“We’re investing an extra $880 million over the next 5 years for 40,000 new home care packages to help older people stay living at home,” Mr Butler said.

“The HACC Program provides a foundation for future aged care reforms and is one of the first steps in the development of a consistent aged care system covering basic care at home through to high-level care in aged care facilities.”

The Commonwealth HACC program replaces the former joint Australian Government and state government-funded HACC program in all states and territories except Victoria and Western Australia, where basic community care services will continue to be delivered under the old arrangements.

State and territory governments will continue to fund HACC services for people under 65 (or under 50 for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people).

HACC consumers will continue to receive services from their current provider and remain in the most appropriate care setting regardless of their age.

The Australian Government has allocated more than $1 billion for the Commonwealth HACC program and will continue to support the joint HACC program in Victoria and Western Australia.

More information on the Commonwealth HACC program is available at: www.health.gov.au/hacc

USA CLIMATE CHANGE REALITY 2012

http://youtu.be/b0NrS2L6KcE

http://youtu.be/OmW_EQzU_qI

Fast food franchisee to stand against Elliot in Richmond

“A fast-food restaurant owner will go head-to-head with ALP MP Justine Elliot in the upcoming federal election”

And here he is in all his glory………

Matthew Fraser, co-owner of two Hungry Jacks (Competitive Foods Australia Pty Ltd) fast food franchises, in an obligatory shot with Wollumbin (Mt. Warning) in the background.

Pic from goldcoast.com.au

Matthew’s main claim to fame on the Internet is the exploding oil dumpster incident in 2009.

Darrell Lea Remembered

Darrell Lea went into voluntary liquidation this week and all we can think of is the pure delight of the deliciously plump and velvety plush chickens(with the most elaborate floral bonnets & cocky top hats) that perched on those mouth-watering nougat and chocolate eggs each and every Easter Sunday Morning of our childhoods.
They were year-round collectors items for Aussie kids under seven lucky enough to be visited by an Easter Bunny who lived within travelling distance of a store.

ANONY-MICE

Yamba

* GuestSpeak is a feature of North Coast Voices allowing Northern Rivers residents to make satirical or serious comment on issues that concern them. Posts of 250-300 words or less can be submitted to ncvguestspeak AT gmail.com.au for consideration.

We knew nothing, nothing! Honestly?

Following widespread social and mainstream media reporting The ISP Column in July 2012 recapped:

On the 18th June, it was reported on an Australian users' forum, Whirlpool, that whenever a Telstra mobile data service user contacted a web site, then some 250ms later the same web site URL was fetched from a different source address. It appeared that somehow this third party was stalking the mobile data user, visiting all the same web sites as the user, in every case shortly after the user. (http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=1935438)

This third party was reported to be on the IP addresses 50.57.104.33 and 50.57.190.97. These addresses are used by Slicehost, who appears to be a hosting service provider located in San Antonio, Texas in the US.

Other users reported on the same behaviour, and it quickly became evident that this was a more general behaviour that had been quietly introduced by this national carrier without any form of notice to their users. The observed behaviour was that all URLs used by end users of their mobile network, whether private or public, were being passed across to this US-based third party, who in turn were repeating the original access call to the visited URL, if the URL was a novel URL. There was some speculation in the forum on the particular motives were driving Telstra to stalk its users in this manner, and some speculation that Telstra was attempting to monetize its user's browsing behaviour by on-selling this user behaviour data to a foreign third party……

In response to an accusation of unethical behaviour on the part of Telstra, a local industry publication, SC Magazine, reported the following:

"But in a short statement, Telstra’s senior media boss Craig Middleton said the company’s wireless network management assured that “there is nothing untoward in what the Whirlpool member has observed - it is a normal network operation”."
[http://www.scmagazine.com.au/News/305928,telstra-says-its-not-spying-on-users.aspx]……

A few days later, on the 26th June, it was reported that:

"Telstra has confirmed it is tracking websites visited by its mobile users in the lead up to a launch of a new web filtering solution.
Days after suspicions of Telstra's networking monitoring activity was first aroused, the telco has revealed it captures web addresses visited by millions of subscribers on its Next G network.
The addresses are compared to a blacklist of criminal sites curated by web filtering company Netsweeper, and held both in Australia and the US.
[http://www.scmagazine.com.au/News/306441,telstra-tracks-users-to-build-web-filter.aspx]

Finally, after trying to say the secret data collection was all about protecting our kids, in the transcript of this email (from Telstra CEO David Thodey) Telstra senior management appears to be asserting that it didn’t know what Team Telstra had been doing with customer information:

Team
I want to talk to you about why customer privacy is not negotiable.
Last week, the media ran with a story that Telstra was sending information about the web browsing activity of Next G customers to a third party company in North America. We were collecting this information to classify Internet sites for a new cyber-safety tool called Smart Controls.
We stopped the program immediately, as this was the right thing to do. We informed the media and briefed the Privacy Commission and other regulatory bodies. But by then, the damage to our reputation was already done.
Some of our customers may feel we have broken their trust, and, frankly, they are entitled to feel that way.
The hard reality is it will take months of hard work to win back that trust.
I am also concerned that this incident occurred in the same week that the Australian Communications and Media Authority and the Privacy Commissioner handed down their findings on a privacy breach last December, when customer records were exposed on the Internet.
Judging by media reports, the Privacy Commissioner, Timothy Pilgrim, is also concerned. He told The Australian last Friday that he was now on the lookout for systematic privacy weaknesses in our operational culture.
It’s not hard to see why. These incidents and investigations create an impression that Telstra does not care enough about the privacy of our customers. Not only that, they undermine the great work we have done to improve customer satisfaction and change the way our customers talk about us.
Of course, the truth is we care deeply about customer privacy.
That’s why I want to remind everyone that privacy is not an aspiration at Telstra – it is an essential requirement and our license to operate.
Privacy at Telstra is everyone’s responsibility. We have to do better.
If you have concerns with anything that threatens the privacy of our customers, then raise the issue with your manager as a matter of urgency.
Our customers’ trust is a commodity that’s both precious and fragile. It takes months and years to build, but can be broken in one day.
That’s what happened last week. It must not happen again.
David

Friday the 13th - last one for 2012

The far-off sound you can hear is millions of black moggies
cheering the fact that they are off the hook until 2013

Grafton punters want to know where they collect their "winnings"

A sub-editor at The Daily Examiner provided a bit more than a ripple of laughter at the table of knowledge at the local watering hole today. The feature event at the Grafton races yesterday, the Ramornie Handicap, was taken out by the favourite Howmuchdoyouloveme, so why did the Examiner print the photo, with its accompanying caption, below?

For the record, Prost ran  second, so perhaps the Examiner can point punters who backed it in the direction of a benevolent bookmaker who'll pay out on it.

Credit: The Daily Examiner, 12/7/12, page 29

The reason Nats Chris Gulaptis MP was not at Grafton Gaol when prison transfer vans arrived - he expected manufactured confrontation!

The Clarence Valley at its best in defence of community....

Now Official: NSW O'Farrell Government has sent Grafton into permanent decline

Like many country areas around New South Wales, Grafton City and environs has seen past glories turn into a falling population, less young people of working age living in town, higher unemployment rates than both state and national averages, a slowly shrinking viable central business district and rolling job losses as large companies withdraw to bigger regional or metropolitan centres.

Despite these woes, it had remained the transport  hub for the Clarence Valley, the centre for most locally delivered state and federal government services and, one of two main administrative centres for the local government area.

That changed less than two hours ago when the O'Farrell-Stoner-Gulaptis juggernaut finally sent in prison vans (protected by members of the police riot squad) to remove inmates from Grafton Gaol - turning it into a 60 bed remand centre for individuals awaiting court appearances.

Grafton has now lost 107 permanent jobs which will depress the local economy further and have a flow-on effect across the Valley.

The very craven Nationals Member for Clarence Chris Gulaptis reportedly turned up outside the gaol after those vans had entered the prison.

'A Clarence Valley Protest' Asks: Is Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott building a case to dam NSW coastal rivers?

From A Clarence Valley Protest 5 July 2012:

The Coalition will invest in new and upgraded dams

The Coalition will invest in Australia's future water security. Australia has been let down by a failure to plan for Australia's long-term water needs.

 State Labor governments have made poor investment decisions, deciding to pour billions of dollars into desalination plants which have contributed to the 60 per cent rise in water prices since Labor came to power in 2007.

 As a result, the long-term planning to secure Australia's water future has not been done. Crucial infrastructure in water assets takes decades to plan for.

The Coalition will invest in the water supply options that Labor has ignored during its time in government.

 Dams can provide reliable water supplies for cities, underpin the economic development of the agriculture, manufacturing and mining sectors, provide a low-emission source of electricity and mitigate the effects of flood.

Australia has not built a large dam for over 20 years. If we don't start planning for new investments now, then our water storage capacity will fall considerably over the next 20 years. That's why the Coalition's Dams Taskforce is looking at potential investments in Dam capacity across the country.

 Compared to 20 years ago, the amount of water we can store per person has fallen considerably. In 1990 Australia could store in its dams over 4.5 ML per person. Due to a lack of investment in dams, we can now only store 3.5 ML per person. By 2050, if no more dams are built, it will fall below 2.5 ML per person.

[COALITION SPEAKER'S NOTES Current as at 1 July 2012]

GlaxoSmithKine pleads guilty to criminal charges of fraudulent promotion of its drugs - pays US Government US$3 billion settlement

The Lancet 7 July 2012:

On July 2, UK-based GlaxoSmithKine (GSK) agreed to plead guilty to criminal charges of fraudulent promotion of its drugs and pay the US Government a settlement of US$3 billion. If accepted, this will be the largest fine imposed on a drug company, surpassing the $2·3 billion paid by Pfizer for inappropriate marketing in 2009. The amount adds to GSK's $750 million settlement in 2010 over manufacturing quality.

What is particularly egregious about GSK's fraud is the calculated deceit and potential human cost of its aggressive and misleading marketing. For instance, while evidence was emerging that showed an increased suicide risk in adolescents prescribed selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors for depression, GSK was actively encouraging off-label prescription of paroxetine to individuals younger than 18 years. This was not an isolated incident; off-label use was also encouraged for bupropion. For rosiglitazone, safety data were withheld from the US Food and Drug Administration and altered, potentially delaying restrictions on the drug's use and putting people to whom it was prescribed at increased risk of cardiovascular complications. The company is also accused of cheating Medicare. Such behaviour is not only illegal, it is immoral.

As Machiavelli observed, “he who seeks to deceive will always find someone who will allow himself to be deceived”. Sadly, in the case of GSK, this has involved doctors who were all too ready to be beguiled by illegal kickbacks and lavish hospitality…