Natural Gas & Coal Seam Gas: A lesson in consequences for Australian federal and state governments

When gas mining went wrong on a large scale in America..........

LA Times, 6 January 2016:

Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday ordered new regulations, including stepped-up inspections and safety measures, for all natural gas storage facilities in California in response to the continuing leak that has displaced thousands of people in the Porter Ranch neighborhood of Los Angeles.

The emergency regulations would require Southern California Gas Co. and other operators of gas storage facilities to conduct daily inspections of wellheads using infrared leak-detection technology, verify the mechanical integrity of wells, measure gas flow and pressure and regularly test safety valves, among other steps.

Each facility would also have to draft a risk management plan that would examine the corrosion potential of pipes and other safety threats.

The requirements are part of a series of orders issued by Brown as he declared a state of emergency stemming from a leaking well at SoCal Gas' storage facility in Aliso Canyon. For more than 10 weeks a damaged well has released large amounts of planet-warming methane and emitted sulfur-like odors that have sickened residents with nosebleeds, headaches and other symptoms.

Brown's action came after weeks of demands by residents, activists and local officials for the governor to intervene. In the proclamation, Brown cited the “prolonged and continuing duration of this natural gas leak and the request by residents and local officials for a declaration of emergency.”

The governor ordered state agencies to “utilize all necessary state personnel, equipment, and facilities to ensure a continuous and thorough response to this incident.” Unlike with most emergency proclamations, however, he did not suspend state laws, cut red tape or commit more resources or public funds to address the leak.

Brown contends that SoCal Gas should bear all related expenses from the leak. He tasked the California Public Utilities Commission with ensuring that the gas company “cover costs related to the natural gas leak and its response, while protecting ratepayers.”

Evan Westrup, a governor's spokesman, noted that the proclamation does allow the governor to waive state laws if necessary in the future.

The new regulations will apply to a dozen natural gas storage fields across nine counties, according to the state Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources, which will issue the new rules.

Aliso Canyon Natural Gas Leak Preliminary Estimate of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (As of December 12, 2015):

When gas mining went wrong on a large scale in Australia……

ABC News, 10 August 2015:

A study commissioned by Queensland's environment department says an experimental plant operated by mining company Linc Energy at Chinchilla, west of Brisbane, is to blame and has already caused "irreversible" damage to strategic cropping land.

The department, which has launched a $6.5 million criminal prosecution of the company, alleges Linc is responsible for "gross interference" to the health and wellbeing of former workers at the plant as well as "serious environmental harm".

The 335-page experts' report, obtained by the ABC, has been disclosed to Linc but not to landholders.

It says gases released by Linc's activities at its underground coal gasification plant at Hopeland have caused the permanent acidification of the soil near the site.

Experts also found concentrations of hydrogen in the soil at explosive levels and abnormal amounts of methane, which they say is being artificially generated underground, over a wide area.

Other documents, released to the ABC by the magistrate in charge of the criminal case, show four departmental investigators were hospitalised with suspected gas poisoning during soil testing at the site in March.

"My nausea lasted for several hours. I was also informed by the treating doctor that my blood tests showed elevated carbon monoxide levels (above what was normal)," one of the investigators said.

High levels of cancer-causing benzene were detected at the site afterwards.

Earlier this year the State Government imposed an "excavation exclusion zone" on 314 square kilometres around the Linc facility where landholders are banned from digging any hole deeper than two metres.

ABC News, 10 June 2015:

The Queensland Government has widened its legal action against resources company Linc Energy over the alleged contamination of the environment by its underground gas plant on the Darling Downs in the state's south-east.

The Government has today filed a fifth charge of wilfully and unlawfully causing serious environmental harm against the company.

An investigation — the largest and most protracted in the history of the Queensland Environment Department — has found that Linc Energy's Underground Coal Gasification (UCG) plant at Hopeland caused irreversible damage "to more than one environmental receptor [which includes the atmosphere, vegetation, water and soil]".

UCG is a so-called "unconventional" means of extracting gas from coal seams that are too deep to mine.

Coal is burned in situ underground and the gas produced is siphoned off through wells.

The ABC has been told that external experts contracted by the department found "scientific evidence of [the plant's] operation above hydrostatic pressure, fracturing the landform, and excursion of contaminants"……

Queensland's Environment Minister Steven Miles is travelling to the western Darling Downs to meet with affected landholders and to explain what the latest charge means.

"This is probably the biggest investigation of its kind in Australian history, we've had upwards of 100 technical officers in Chinchilla monitoring sites and measuring this pollution, it's a very serious matter," he said.

"Our next biggest concern is the impact that this pollution could have on the livelihoods and on the wellbeing of the landholders in the area nearby Linc…..

Linc Energy Limited v Chief Executive, Department of Environment and Heritage Protection [2015] QLC 12 (1 April 2015) [100%]
(From Land Court of Queensland; 1 April 2015; 32 KB) 

Linc Energy Ltd v Chief Executive Administering the Environmental Protection Act 1994 & Anor [2014] QSC 172 (1 August 2014) [99%]
(From Supreme Court of Queensland; 1 August 2014; 54 KB) 

Linc Energy Ltd v Chief Executive Administering the Environmental Protection Act 1994 & Anor (No 2) [2014] QSC 182 (5 August 2014) [97%]
(From Supreme Court of Queensland; 5 August 2014; 7 KB)

Chief Executive Administering the Environmental Protection Act 1994 & Anor v Linc Energy Ltd [2015] QCA 197 (16 October 2015) [24%]
(From Supreme Court of Queensland - Court of Appeal; 16 October 2015; 74 KB)

Linc Energy Ltd v Chief Executive, Department of Environment and Heritage Protection [2015] QLC 42 (26 November 2015) [100%]
(From Land Court of Queensland; 26 November 2015; 27 KB) 

Electoral redistribution in federal seats and what it might mean on NSW Far North Coast in 2016

Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), Proposed redistribution of New South Wales into electoral divisions, October 2015:

A total of 944,592 electors or 19.42 per cent of electors in NSW would change from their current federal electoral division under the proposed redistribution. Once a redistribution is final, the AEC automatically transfers existing elector enrolments, where required, to the correct electoral division.

The augmented Electoral Commission has adopted boundary changes* in the Cowper,Page, and Richmond electorates proposed by the Redistribution Committee for New South Wales.

Electoral boundary changes on NSW Far North Coast according to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC):

* Projected enrolment in the existing Division of Cowper is 100 289. This electoral division must gain at least 6 384 electors, or up to 14 122 electors, from other electoral divisions to fall within the acceptable numerical tolerances.

The Committee proposes that the Division of Cowper gain 37 024 electors from the Division of Lyne in the southern part of Kempsey LGA and that part of Port Macquarie-Hastings LGA including Telegraph Point and Port Macquarie.

The Committee proposes that the Division of Cowper transfer 23 114 electors to the proposed Division of Page in the northern part of Coffs Harbour LGA from Lowanna, Coramba and Sapphire Beach, and its part of Clarence Valley LGA.

The changes result in a projected enrolment for the proposed Division of Cowper of 114 199 or a variation from the projected enrolment quota of plus 3.31 per cent…..

As a result, there are less than optimal outcomes in terms of communities of interest. The proposed Division of Cowper contains the major centres of Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie and therefore splits the two respective LGAs. The locality of Wauchope is also split from Port Macquarie. The proposed electoral division does however unite Kempsey LGA. The alternative involves crossing the Great Dividing Range.

* Projected enrolment in the existing Division of Page is 98 008. This electoral division must gain at least 8 665 electors, or up to 16 403 electors, from other electoral divisions to fall within the acceptable numerical tolerances.

The Committee proposes that the Division of Page gain 23 114 electors from the Division of Cowper in the northern part of Coffs Harbour LGA south to Lowanna, Coramba and Sapphire Beach, and that part of Clarence Valley LGA south of Maclean, east of Grafton and north of Glenreagh, two electors from the Division of New England near Dorrigo, and 6 863 electors from the Division of Richmond in the Lismore LGA.

The Committee proposes that the Division of Page transfer 13 693 electors to the proposed Division of Richmond in that part of Ballina LGA east of Alstonville and south to Empire Vale. The Committee further proposes minor changes in the boundary with the proposed Division of New England, involving no elector movement.

The changes result in a projected enrolment for the proposed Division of Page of 114 294 or a variation from the projected enrolment quota of plus 3.39 per cent…..

The Committee notes that Lismore, Ballina and Clarence Valley LGAs are already split. Mindful of their principle regarding LGAs in rural areas, the Committee sought to minimise the incidence of split rural LGAs. Having provided electors from the Ballina LGA to the proposed Division of Richmond, the Committee was able to unite the Lismore and Clarence Valley LGAs in the proposed Division of Page.

* Projected enrolment in the existing Division of Richmond is 100 573. This electoral division must gain at least 6 100 electors, or up to 13 838 electors, from other electoral divisions to fall within the acceptable numerical tolerances.

The Committee proposes that the Division of Richmond gain 13 693 electors from the Division of Page in that part of Ballina LGA east of Alstonville and south to Empire Vale east of the Pacific Highway.

The Committee proposes that the Division of Richmond transfer 6 863 electors to the proposed Division of Page in the Lismore LGA. 419. The changes result in a projected enrolment for the proposed Division of Richmond of 107 403 or a variation from the projected enrolment quota of minus 2.84 per cent.

The Division of Richmond had to gain electors, and its position in the north-eastern corner of the state meant that the required numbers could only be obtained from the Division of Page. The Committee notes that both the Lismore and Ballina LGAs are already split. Mindful of their principle regarding LGAs in rural area, the Committee sought to minimise the incidence of split rural LGAs. The numerical requirements of the Electoral Act determined that the balance of Ballina LGA could not be transferred into the proposed Division of Richmond. The Committee therefore proposes to move the boundary further south in the Ballina LGA to include the town of Ballina. This allowed the Committee to unite the Lismore LGA in the Division of Page.

Two renaming proposals on the NSW Far North Coast were rejected by the augmented Electoral Commission:

* Division of Cowper proposed to be renamed Paterson after Andrew ‘Banjo’ Paterson (1864– 1941), Australian author and poet

* Division of Richmond proposed to be renamed Bandler – after Faith Bandler, AC (1918–2015), in recognition of her role as a leader of the 1967 referendum campaign in favour of two constitutional amendments relating to Indigenous Australians. 

Both these proposed changes submitted by electors were apparently rejected because it is policy to retain where possible the names given to electorates at Federation.

Changes in electoral boundaries are expected to be gazetted in February.

Subsequent changes to margins electorates are held by:

Cowper is held by Nationals with a margin of 11.7 – now predicted to be 13.8

Page is held by Nationals with a margin of 2.5 – now predicted to be 3.1

Richmond is held by Labor with a margin of 3.0 – now predicted to be 1.8.

The Daily Examiner, 15 December 2016:

KEVIN Hogan will be the federal MP for all residents of the Clarence Valley from next month after the approval of proposed electoral boundary changes.

Mr Hogan's electorate of Page will now stretch from the Queensland border to Sapphire Beach in the south.

Towns and villages such as Maclean, Gulmarrad, Cowper, Glenreagh, Red Rock and Woolgoolga, that had previously been part of the Cowper electorate, will shift to Page once the change becomes official on February 25. Cowper will now cover the area from Coffs Harbour to Port Macquarie.

The  Australian reporting on some of the implications for the rest of the country, 12 January 2016:

A radical electoral redistribution threatens to neutralise the effect of Malcolm Turnbull’s popularity in NSW, putting at risk at least three Coalition seats and slicing the margin of another.

As Bill Shorten today embarks on a three-week mini-campaign to kickstart the election year, the ­Liberal Party has lashed the Australian Electoral Commission for pushing ahead with its proposed boundaries, ignoring “extensive community concerns” while greatly altering the character of ­affected seats.

The AEC, which is due to finalise the redistribution next month, has received almost 800 objections to the proposed boundary shake-up, which will see almost 20 per cent of electors in NSW transferred to a new federal seat and abolishes the Labor seat of Charlton, south of Newcastle. A new safe Liberal seat of Burt is to be ­created in Western Australia.

In an objection lodged with the AEC, Tony Nutt, the Liberal Party’s former NSW director and now federal director, criticises the commission for “unnecessary elector disruption” arising from the boundary changes that will see some regional local government areas split for the first time.

The proposed changes to reduce the number of NSW electorates from 48 to 47 will see three Liberal Party seats — Barton, Paterson and Dobell — become notionally Labor while the safe seat of Macarthur becomes marginal.

Senior Liberal sources say hopes of a boost to the party’s ­fortunes from the new Prime Minister’s popularity have been dashed, but strategists are confident his rise in the polls will help to contain losses. The party is also ­expected to pick up Burt…..

In its objection to the AEC, the Liberal Party says the commission’s “extraordinary” decision to include inner-city suburbs into the otherwise overwhelmingly suburban Barton, “fails miserably on community of interest grounds”.

“Yet again the committee has failed to recognise the very clear differences and areas of interest that inner-city electors have to electors that reside in more suburban areas,” the objection says. “Divisions that seek to facilitate the representation of both these often opposing communities are destined to fail the community.”

Nickolas Varvaris, who holds the seat of Barton on a wafer-thin 0.3 per cent margin, is almost certain to lose on the proposed new boundaries as the seat becomes a Labor electorate with an estimated margin of 8.3 per cent. Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese is expected to shift from his seat of Grayndler — now seen as vulnerable to the Greens — into Barton to contest the next election.

Scott Morrison has also lodged his “strongest objection” about the effect of the redistribution on his seat of Cook, which he says will split the community of the Sutherland Shire for the first time in 100 years in a move that will affect more than 60,000 electors but has negligible impact on his very safe margin. “The proposed boundaries needlessly disrupt one of our country’s strongest communities of interest,” the Treasurer says.

Around Newcastle, where the seats of Dobell and Paterson are now notionally Labor, the Liberal Party is urging the committee revisit the draft boundaries in their entirety. The seat of Dobell, held by Karen McNamara, switches from a Liberal marginal seat of 0.7 per cent to a notional Labor seat with a margin of 0.3 per cent, while Bob Baldwin’s seat of Paterson is more radically altered, changing from a Liberal seat with a margin of 9.8 per cent to a marginal Labor seat of 1.3 per cent.

Macarthur, held by Russell Matheson, has its margin slashed from 11.4 per cent to 2.8 per cent.

The party has also slammed the decision of the AEC to move the locality of Camden and its surrounds out of Macarthur and in to the regional seat of Hume, held by one of the government’s rising stars, Angus Taylor. While the seat becomes safer for the Liberal Party under the new boundary, Mr Taylor is concerned the character of the rural Liberal seat will be “substantially different”. 

Yass Tribune, 15 January 2016:

PROPOSED federal electoral boundary changes issued on Friday will see Hume lose large parts of its rural west.

MP Angus Taylor says he’s extremely disappointed to lose the towns of Yass, Young, Cootamundra, Harden, Grenfell and Cowra…. 

Mr Taylor said while pundits predicted change in the the State’s north, nobody had anticipated the scale of the AEC’s proposed boundary shifts in southern NSW, not even the Liberal Party.

The Guardian, 15 January 2016:

Figures published by the ABC’s election analyst, Antony Green, suggest the number of notionally Coalition seats in NSW will decline from 30 to 27 after the boundaries take effect, a development that is causing nervousness in Liberal ranks. The number of notionally Labor seats will increase from 18 to 20.

* AEC Media Release Augmented Electoral Commission decides names and boundaries of federal electoral divisions in New South Wales, 14 January 2016.

Classic Australian Irony: Song for Cardinal George Pell

https://youtu.be/WTi6nVO5VZc

Come home soon we miss you, Cardinal Pell

Commonwealth Ombudsman Annual Report 2014-2015 with a sidedish of Shorter Commonwealth Ombudsman

Wading through annual reports can be a bit of a chore so I give you some highlights from the Commonwealth Ombudsman Annual Report 2014-2015 with a Shorter Ombudsman cheat sheet for those unable to find time to read the full document:

Department of Human Services & Centrelink

In 2014–15 we received 8116 complaints about DHS programs. This represents a 21.5% increase against the 6682 complaints we received in 2013–14, largely as a result of the 26.5% increase in the number of Centrelink complaints. Complaints about the Centrelink program made up 77.4% of complaints about DHS, followed by 18.1% about the Child Support program. Of the remaining complaints, most were about Medicare and the early release of superannuation benefits programs…..

In 2013–14 DHS paid out $159.2 billion to customers in respect of programs across the Australian Government and ‘touched the lives of around 99 per cent of Australians’ through the delivery of payments and services.1 It is inevitable that errors and delays will occur in an operation of this scale. However, the potential for these errors to impact on the lives of a significant number….

In 2014–15 we received 6280 complaints about Centrelink, an increase of 26.5% on the 4966 we received in 2013–14. This increase follows two years of reduced complaints about Centrelink. While it reflects a greater number of complaints across the board, there has been a particular increase in complaints about difficulties accessing DHS services and its own phone and online complaints mechanisms. These issues are discussed in greater detail below under Implementation of recommendations in Centrelink Service Delivery report. During 2014–15 we investigated 8.7% of all finalised Centrelink complaints compared to the 10.7% we investigated during 2013–14. This reduction is largely explained by two factors; namely, an increase in the number of referrals to the DHS Feedback and Complaints service where a complainant has not already accessed it, and ‘warm transfers’ to DHS’s internal complaint service for resolution where a complainant is vulnerable or requires assistance to communicate their complaint. This ‘warm transfer’ process allows DHS the opportunity to resolve the complainant’s concerns in the first instance without the need for investigation by our office. At the time of transfer the complainant is invited to contact the Ombudsman again if they are dissatisfied or do not hear from Centrelink within the agreed timeframe.

Shorter Commonwealth Ombudsman: Centrelink service delivery sucks but don’t expect our department to do much about it.

Department Human Services & Department Veterans’ Affairs

From 1 July 2014, as part of ongoing reforms to the aged care system, the arrangements for calculating residential aged care fees changed, with DHS taking over responsibility from DSS for assessing those fees.

In late 2014 we received a cluster of complaints about delays in processing of fee assessment applications. People also complained about fee assessments that were affected by errors and instances where people were sent multiple but contradictory assessment letters.

The impacts of these issues varied. Some people were advised by the aged care facility that they were unable to secure a permanent place until they had received notification of an aged care assessment determination, while some were charged higher respite care fees until they received their assessment. Others paid a much higher fee to the provider than they were ultimately assessed to pay in their corrected assessment.

Many complainants raised concerns that the higher fees depleted their funds, forcing some to make hard decisions about as whether their loved one could remain in the aged care facility. They also complained about out-of-pocket expenses incurred from juggling finances while trying to meet the higher fees, pending receipt of a corrected assessment notification and subsequent reconciliation process with the aged care facility. Overpaid fees meant people needed to negotiate a refund with the provider, sometimes encountering resistance because providers were not prepared to review their fees until they had received advice from DHS of the possible refund amount.

Our investigations, and information provided at DHS briefings, highlighted issues with the quality and timeliness of the fee assessments and with the transfer of what we do COMMONWEALTH OMBUDSMAN ANNUAL REPORT 2014–2015 31 data relevant to the assessment.

Both DHS and DVA have been affected by system issues. DHS became aware of the issues shortly after implementation and applied a manual quality-checking process for every automated assessment letter it produced, replacing incorrect letters with manual letters.

At the time a lack of established communication protocols between DHS and DVA also added to the delay in resolving complaints and led to customers’ frustration as they ‘bounced’ between departments. Multiple aged care phone lines maintained by all three departments (DHS, DVA and DSS) further complicated complaint resolution. Our office met with DHS several times, and with DVA, to discuss the complaint issues.

Those discussions centred on the errors made, the fixes they had applied and the strategies DHS and DVA had put in place to rectify the communication barriers and establish interdepartmental complaint-handling processes.

We suggested that the departments invite any customers in that position to make a claim under the Compensation for the Detriment caused by Defective Administration (CDDA) scheme. DHS has agreed to include information about the CDDA scheme in its letters to affected customers. We also suggested that a comprehensive review into the multiple causes of the problems be undertaken so as to ensure they do not occur again in respect of this program or others. DHS has confirmed review processes were undertaken and that this information will be used to feed into future changes.

It has also committed to continue to engage with this office to support future change processes.

Shorter Commonwealth Ombudsman: When the Abbott Government changed the federal department responsible for processing aged care fee assessments things went pear shaped, but we fixed it.

Department of Human Services

Our last two Annual Reports mentioned the arrangements DHS has available to impose service restrictions on some customers to manage the way they interact with DHS. We are satisfied that in many cases this is a sensible practice, which aims to protect staff and other customers from risks presented by physical or verbal abuse.

However, we continue to receive complaints, albeit at a reduced rate, from DHS customers who are unhappy that their access to DHS services has been limited. Our investigations of these matters indicate that DHS generally manages these cases well. However, we consider that some areas of DHS’s administration of these arrangements could be improved. For example, recent complaints indicate that staff do not always clearly communicate the reasons and terms of the restrictions to customers, or record these in detail on DHS’s records.

Shorter Commonwealth Ombudsman: We are definitely not going to say that there may be some sly payback by Centrelink staff occurring from time to time.

Child Support

In 2014–15 we received 1468 complaints about Child Support, only a slight increase on 2013–14 when we received 1426. We classify the issues in the complaints we receive about Child Support according to whether the complaint was made by a payee (the person entitled to receive child support) or the payer (the person assessed to pay child support). As in previous years, we received just over twice as many complaints from payers (67.2% of all Child Support complaints) as from payees (30.7%).

During 2014–15 the proportion of complaints we investigated about Child Support dropped to 16.6%, compared to 18.4% in 2013–14. This continues the downward trend seen in past years resulting from our focus on encouraging complainants to allow DHS the opportunity to resolve their concerns in the first instance, either via complaints directly to DHS or via having their complaint warm transferred to DHS for priority response.

Shorter Commonwealth Ombudsman: We really wish that men behaving badly were not our problem.

Department of Employment

During 2014–15 our office saw a 53.1% increase in complaints about the Department of Employment with 344 complaints received this year compared to 224 in 2013–14. The majority of these complaints were recorded as being about the actions or decisions of job service providers.

From 1 July 2014 the Government commenced a phased process for ‘strengthening the jobseeker compliance framework’.

This process implemented arrangements to place a greater onus on jobseekers to engage with employment service providers and to impose more stringent consequences where they failed to complete these engagements without a good reason.

As part of these reforms, employment service providers have been empowered to recommend to DHS that a jobseeker’s income support payment be suspended where they have failed to attend an appointment without a good reason.

While the provider makes only a recommendation, as long as the jobseeker is in fact receiving an income support payment and is required to participate in job services, the DHS ICT system will then automatically apply the suspension.

During the past six months we have seen a spike in complaints about employment service providers where a jobseeker has their payment suspended as a result of a failure to attend an appointment, and then experiences difficulty in identifying whether DHS or the provider is responsible for assisting them to reconnect….

from 1 July 2015, job services providers are also able to recommend that DHS impose a financial penalty (in the form of a reduced income support payment) where a jobseeker has failed to attend an appointment….

We will be monitoring complaints in this area closely into 2015-16 to understand the practical implications for jobseekers, and will also engage with the Department of Employment and DHS to discuss their respective approaches to the new compliance arrangements.

Shorter Commonwealth Ombudsman: Trying to implement Abbott Government policy was a bit of a nightmare all round  – we  will follow closely on Prime Minister Turnbull’s watch.

Department of Social Security

The National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS), which commenced in 2008, is a partnership between the Commonwealth, state and territory governments which aims to increase the supply of new affordable rental housing and reduce rental costs for low and moderate income households by offering incentives to invest in dwellings.

The scheme is administered by DSS. Approved participants are entitled to an annual incentive in respect of each dwelling that satisfies certain NRAS requirements, such as letting the property at 20% or more below the market rent value.

The incentive is either a cash amount or a tax offset certificate that is issued to the Approved Participant and then distributed to the individual investor who owns the property. Approved Participants are usually property developers, not-for-profit organisations or community housing providers.

NRAS is designed so that DSS has a direct relationship with the Approved Participants, but not with individual investors.

In early to mid-2014 DSS became aware that its administration of the scheme was not consistent with the regulations.

DSS also assessed that a high proportion of the Approved Participants’ claims for the 2013–14 NRAS year were likely to be refused.

Shorter Commonwealth Ombudsman: Ooopps!

OH, WHAT A FEELING!: vandalising a beach just for the fun of it

It happens on the NSW North Coast in holiday periods. Dragging the weekly shopping out to the car you suddenly notice the number of big, sleek, brutal looking four-wheel drive vehicles with well-known brand names and number plates which indicate they might be holidaymakers.

Every year somewhere along the coastline the drivers of these vehicles prove the relationship between images from car advertisements like this…..

Image from Toyota “Top to Bottom” ad campaign

And stories like this….

Echo NetDaily, 7 January 2016:

 A white Toyota 4WD is speeding straight for me. Collision course. But I’m not moving. I’m staring it down, like it’s a charging rhino.

Don’t blink. Don’t move. Mind over metal.

Toyota may be the go-to vehicle for your working man or jihadi terrorist – an unstoppable lump of heavy machinery – but I’m not budging.

You see, I’m on a beach. Yes, a beach. I’m not on a slippery building site wearing a hard hat, or in a desert storm wearing a kalishnokov, I’m on a beach in a national park. I’m a bloke in a sarong and I’m standing my ground against this pippi-crushing mechanical monster. I’m angry…..

Rest of the story here.

Rather hard for the Turnbull Government to keep justifying cuts to safety-net health & welfare when statistics like these keep surfacing

According to the OECD report, Pensions at a Glance 2015, thirty-six per cent (36%) of Australian pensioners are living in poverty ie had less than fifty per cent (50%) of the median household income (adjusted for size) in 2014:

The report, released last month, found the Australian government contributes less to old-age benefits than other OECD countries. The Australian government spends 3.5 per cent of GDP on the pension, below the OECD average of 7.9 per cent.

The weirdness that was the Abbott Government continues in the Turnbull Government

New Zealand offers to take 150 asylum seekers off Australia’s hands each year from 2014-15. 

The Abbott & Turnbull Governments could have saved anywhere between $35M and $60M a year on the back of this offer, but what did these two coalition federal governments do?

They said “No!”.

The Guardian, 11 January 2016:

In a deal brokered between prime ministers Key and Julia Gillard in 2013, New Zealand agreed to accept 150 refugees from Australia’s offshore processing centres each year from 2014-15.

The quota remains in New Zealand’s forward planning for humanitarian resettlement.

But when the former Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, was elected he effectively scrapped the deal at the Australian end, saying it would be called upon only “if and when it becomes necessary”.

“Our determination is to stop the boats and one of the ways that we stop the boats is by making it absolutely crystal clear that if you come to Australia illegally by boat you go not to New Zealand but to Nauru or Manus and you never ever come to Australia,” he said.

The Coalition government is loath to have refugees resettled in New Zealand as it is seen as undermining a fundamental tenet of the policy: that boat-borne asylum seekers will never be settled in Australia.

Refugees resettled in New Zealand can apply to become citizens after five years. New Zealand citizenship would give those people the right to travel and work in Australia.

The prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, said he believed resettlement in New Zealand would be an incentive for asylum seekers to board boats.

Canberra Times, 12 January 2016:

The time asylum seekers spend in Australian detention centres has blown out to a record high under the Turnbull government, leaving men, women and children languishing behind wire, facing an uncertain future.

The latest statistics from the Department of Immigration and Border Protection show that in December, people in onshore immigration detention had been there for an average 445 days. In November, the figure was 446 days.

The average detention period has increased steadily since May last year and is now the longest since the government took power. It is more than double the 200-day wait four years ago under the Labor government.

Australian Government DIBP Immigration Detention and Community Statistics Summary 30 December 2015:

At 30 December 2015, there were 1,792 people in immigration detention facilities, including 1,647 in immigration detention on the mainland and 145 in immigration detention on Christmas Island.

On that date there were also 537 asylum seekers (including 68 children) in detention in the Republic of Nauru and 922 adult asylum seekers in detention on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea.

Refugee Action Coalition Sydney (RAC):

Detaining a single asylum seeker on Manus or Nauru costs $400,000 per year. Detention in Australia costs $239,000 per year.

Last week Michael Pascoe started the 2016 political year off with his tongue-in-cheek and gave readers a good belly laugh

The Age newspaper along with Fairfax journalist & BusinessDay contributing editor Michael Pascoe deserve a hearty round of applause for this effort on New Year’s Day 2016, Crystal ball reveals 2016's highs and lows in business:

January

Senator Eric Abetz declares a Day of Shame over Tony Abbott not being named Australian of the Year. "Monckton warned me – it's the United Nations World Government again," the Tasmanian senator says.

At his first official function as Ambassador – an Australia Day barbie – Joe Hockey lauds the McDonald's all-day breakfast as the sort of innovation Australia needs. Embassy staff quietly ask guests not to tell him it's already available here.

February

After the year's first RBA board meeting, governor Stevens says "chilling out" is working well for the economy by reducing speculation. To assist, the RBA board will only meet quarterly.

The UN General Assembly declares thermal coal a hazardous substance. Environment Minister Greg Hunt says: "If coal's a hazard, all you have to do, to get rid of it, is burn the stuff."

March

The Bureau of Meteorology says 2016 is already on track to take 2015's Hottest Year Ever title.

Under instructions from Minister Hunt, BoM apologises to Alan Jones for using alarmist language and re-scales expectations for 2016 to perhaps be Least Coldest Year.

Missing person report is filed for Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.

April

ASIC and ATO jointly announce a royal commission into banking/finance/superannuation industry and promise a no-holds-barred crackdown on executive expenses rorting and multinational tax dodging.

The sharemarket plunges. An ASIC spokesperson asks why no journalist noticed the date on the release, April 1. "This was a perfect example of "if it's too good to be true, it probably isn't true".

After six months of holding his head with a slight tilt to the left, while smiling beneficently through media conferences, Prime Minister Turnbull experiments with a slight tilt to the right. "Innovation is what we're all about," he says.

May

RBA governor Stevens announces "chilling out" policy is being replaced by "hanging loose". RBA board meetings are to be bi-annual.

Treasurer Morrison's first budget solves spending and revenue problems by privatising and outsourcing e.g. ABC is to be sold to Foxtel, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet to the IPA, the Health Department to a consortium of tobacco and drug companies, the Defence Department to Donald Trump; Centrelink clients will be auctioned off for body parts.

Tasmanian Senator Abetz declares Tony Abbott a genius. "The budget proves my leader is actually running the government from his hideout in the Brindabellas," he says. "Morrison is his puppet."

June

The Queensland government agrees to a take-or-pay contract with Adani in order to secure a Galilee Basin coal mine. Every Queenslander is to be guaranteed a monthly coal ration of 10 tonnes, delivered to their door.

Read predictions for the second half of the year here.

Sixteen parternalistic buybodies delivered a report to the Turnbull Government which may change your relationship with your GP

The Daily Telegraph, 4 January 2016:

LAST year was the year we avoided a $7 GP fee and a $5 prescription medicine price hike but six major reviews are plotting other major changes to the health system for 2016.

Primary health care, Medicare rebates, private health insurance, prescription medicine payments, mental health care and electronic health records are all slated for major changes under these reviews.

These and other health reforms, to be rolled out from 2016, will push up the cost of blood tests and scans, change your relationship with your GP, see you dragooned into an e-health record and increase your private health insurance costs — but might save you $1 on your prescriptions.

Seven million Australians with chronic and complex illness like diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, asthma and mental illness will be asked to enrol with a single GP practice.

The practice would receive an annual budget to keep them well under major reforms to primary health care being considered by the government.

The government is also considering changing the way GPs are paid.

The current fee for service model might only apply for acute health problems like visits for the flu or accidents.

Doctors might receive a fixed budget to treat chronically ill patients and could be paid for performance on reducing hospital admissions or improving blood sugar, blood pressure or cholesterol readings in patients.

A new class of salaried care co-ordinators could be paid to help patients navigate the health system under the system proposed and reduce the red tape burden on doctors.

The government’s Primary Health Care Advisory Group, headed by former Australian Medical Association chef Steve Hambleton, which proposed these measures handed its report to government early this month…… [my red bolding]

Who on earth came up with the damn stupid notion that my choice as both a patient and consumer should be limited or removed by tying me to using one particular medical practice? A practice which in all likelihood will not receive maximum recompense from the federal government unless it also strong arms its patients into staying in the opt-out eHealth system.

Ah yes, it was these sixteen paternalistic busybodies.

I refuse to have my personal medical data inserted into digital government records vulnerable to hackers, I need a care co-ordinator like a hole in the head and, I want to retain the freedom to change doctors without delay if I so wish and without a mountain of paperwork to negotiate before I do.

So Prime Minister Malcolm Bligh Turnbull and Minister for Health & Aging Sussan Ley, I don’t want what you you will try to spin as the best thing to happen to the health system since antibiotics. It’s just too Orwellian for me.

Primary Health Care Advisory Group Discussion Paper [August 2015] here.

A Trans Pacific Partnership negotiated for Australia by the Coalition Government? Well, what did you expect!

It seems that the Australian Liberal-Nationals Federal Government laboured to bring forth a puny bundle of little joy.....

World Bank, Global Economic Prospects, January 2016:

On October 4, 2015, 12 Pacific Rim countries concluded negotiations on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the largest, most diverse and potentially most comprehensive regional trade agreement yet. The 12 member countries are Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, United States, and Vietnam.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 11 January 2016:

Australia stands to gain almost nothing from the mega trade deal sealed with 11 other nations including United States, Japan, and Singapore, the first comprehensive economic analysis finds.

Prepared by staff from the World Bank, the study says the so-called Trans-Pacific Partnership would boost Australia's economy by just 0.7 per cent by the year 2030.

The annual boost to growth would be less than one half of one 10th of 1 per cent….

Since sealing the deal in October the Australian government has been reluctant to commission an economic analysis of its effects, turning down an offer from the Productivity Commission.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull described the deal as a "gigantic foundation stone", saying it would deliver "more jobs, absolutely".

It opens up trade between members but makes trade more difficult with non-members through a process known as "cumulative rules of origin" where members lose privileges if they source inputs from countries outside the TPP.

The Productivity Commission has been strongly critical of the provisions saying that they turn so-called free trade agreements into "preferential" agreements.

The Partnership also requires members to sign up to tough intellectual property provisions and to submit to investor-state dispute settlement procedures administered by outside tribunals.

World Trade Online says the negotiating parties are planning to sign the agreement in New Zealand on February 4. It says Chile has confirmed the date and some trade ministers have already made arrangements to travel to Auckland, but it says New Zealand has yet to issue formal invitations.

Tony Abbott makes a joke

This has to be former prime minister Tony Abbott displaying a sense of humour or him well on the way to becoming the butt of another joke.

The politician who could never enunciate a genuine plan to “repair the budget” is now giving advice to the current prime minister. *cue laughter*

Australian Financial Review, 6 January 2016:

Liverpool Plains community getting the "Wrong Mine, Wrong Place" message out to China

https://youtu.be/5SUwTLIOjAE

The people of the Liverpool Plains in NSW Australia have a message for the Shenhua Group in China, who want to build a massive coal mine in the middle of their farmland.

The LPP community have spent $750,000 fighting this madness so far! There are more battles to come before we can save our water and precious Ag land – for more information on how you can add your support, visit: http://www.friendsoftheliverpoolplain... and help us win this fight.

Music by Luke Vassella
Shot/directed/edited by David Lowe and Eve Jeffery
Produced by Cloudcatcher Media

Help us make more cool stuff by chucking something in our tip jar! http://www.cloudcatchermedia.com/tip-...

North Coast Voices looks back on this day for the last three years......

On this day last year North Coast Voices was commenting on…….

*  the fact that the Liberal Party rank and file were beginning to detest Tony Abbott:

Letter to the Editor in The Sydney Morning Herald on 24 December 2014:

Tony Abbott will never learn. His harsh and inhumane policies on refugees, young people, the unemployed and so on have already (and deservedly) earned him acute unpopularity. Now he appoints his henchman Morrison to apply his blowtorch to all social welfare recipients.

One thing he can be sure of – he heads a one-term government. The untrustworthy Bill Shorten, of all people, is destined to become our next prime minister by absolute default.

Having once been NSW and federal president of the Liberal  Party I have to say shame on you Abbott, Morrison and Hockey. You three may get your just desserts. But in the process you will have dumped on the entire Liberal Party community.

John Valder 

Bayview

* assertions that there was a greatest area of need for people with a disability left unmet by Australian Minister for Social Services Scott Morrision:

Greatest area of need for people with disability left unmet by Government’ said Matthew Wright, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO) and spokesperson for the disability peaks.

Responding to claims in The Australian newspaper by Minister for Social Services, Scott Morrison that the new peaks funding ‘supports the area of greatest need’, Matthew Wright said “The department has cut or not provided funding to the highest population groups of people with disability in Australia’.

Both the NDIS quarterly report and Disability Support Pension (DSP) statistics show consistently that intellectual disability, autism (also the fastest growing disability), mental illness and physical disability are the four most prevalent types of disability.

‘All of these groups including the National Council on Intellectual Disability, Autism Aspergers Advocacy Australia (A4), and Physical Disability Australia have not been funded as part of this process’…..

This day two years ago the comments were about…….

* Senator Bernardi's book reviews:

It seems the masses are not exactly queueing up to purchase Senator Bernadi's book. 

Perhaps reviews like those below explain why.

Dorothy Parker wrote:
This is not a novel to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force. Will be a welcome addition to any bookstore's remainder bin. 

The thoughts of Joshua MacLennan:
 From the front bench to the back bench, they're funny, they're thick, they are the Liberals! One man's lonely fight against everything since the Enlightenment. Lurching from one piece of buffoonery to another, Corey proves yet again he is not fit for the 21st century. So shrill you can hear the lump of coal in his butt being converted to a diamond…..

* Tony Abbott’s sense of entitlement & taste in rugs:

On 8 January 2014 News Ltd informed the world that the Prime Minister’s official Sydney residence Kirribilli House was getting a taxpayer-funded $12,915 family room rug from Milgate interior designs.

Now the only floor coverings carried by Milgate appear to be of either English or French design, materials and manufacture.

If the Abbott family’s taste in carpets matches its political sense of entitlement, one wonders what the family room will look like.

Perhaps something to match his plans for a $250 million VIP jet?

This day three years ago when…….

* Margot Kingston went three rounds with The Government Gazette

Margot Kingston 8 January 2013:

* Coal seam gas explorer Metgasco Limited’s shares were in free fall:

Coal seam gas exploration and production company Metgasco Limited’s unwanted intrusion into the NSW Northern Rivers region sees its ordinary share price, as traded on the Australian Stock Exchange, continue its decline…..