Australian Federal Election 2016: the lengths to which an Abbott-Turnbull Government will go

As the end of Week Three of the federal election campaign drew near a little plausible deniability was obviously called for………..

News.com.au, 27 May 2016:

THE FEDERAL government has had the nation axed from a UNESCO report on climate change and world heritage sites.

Every reference to Australia has been scrapped from the final version of the 87-page report, which detailed the impact of global warming on 31 natural and man-made world heritage sites around the world.

The initial “World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate” report included a key chapter on the Great Barrier Reef. It also referenced Kakadu and the Tasmanian forests.

But the Australian Department of the Environment made sure every mention of Australia was removed, even though it lists other sites in the Asia Pacific region and says coral reefs are “particularly vulnerable” to climate change.

This means Australia is the only inhabited continent on the planet with no mentions in the report.

In a statement to news.com.au, the Environment Department confirmed it asked for references to Australia to be removed, saying it would have a negative impact on tourism:

“Recent experience in Australia had shown that negative commentary about the status of world heritage properties impacted on tourism.

“The department was concerned that the framing of the report confused two issues — the world heritage status of the sites and risks arising from climate change and tourism……

Here is the Department’s full statement:

The World Heritage Centre initiated contact with the Department of the Environment in early 2016 for our views on aspects of this report.

The Department expressed concern that giving the report the title “Destinations at risk” had the potential to cause considerable confusion. In particular, the World Heritage Committee had only six months earlier decided not to include the Great Barrier Reef on the in-danger list and commended Australia for the Reef 2050 Plan.

The Department was concerned that the framing of the report confused two issues – the world heritage status of the sites and risks arising from climate change and tourism. It is the World Heritage Committee, not its secretariat (the World Heritage Centre), which is properly charged with examining the status of World Heritage sites.

Recent experience in Australia had shown that negative commentary about the status of World Heritage properties impacted on tourism.

The Department indicated it did not support any of Australia’s World Heritage properties being included in such a publication for the reasons outlined above.

The Department of the Environment conveyed these concerns through Australia’s Ambassador to UNESCO.

The Department did not brief the Minister on this issue. [my red bolding]

I’m not impressed Team Turnbull! Not only was it a foolish move when the world's media has been reporting on the effects of climate change on Australia's reef systems - there is no way that a government department is going to pressure the United Nations to alter a report without relevant ministers right up to the foreign minister and prime minister being aware.

Neither was lead author of this United Nations report, Adam Markham, the deputy director of climate and energy with the Union of Concerned Scientists impressed by the Turnbull Government's actions.

He issued this statement on behalf of the UCS:

Australia’s Iconic Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Site at Risk from Global Warming

Adam Markham, deputy director, Climate & Energy Program | May 26, 2016, 3:06 pm EDT

A lot has changed since Captain Cook became the first European to try to navigate the Great Barrier Reef in 1770. It was the reports of Cook and naturalist Joseph Banks on their return to England that first alerted the scientific world to the existence of this biological marvel. The Great Barrier Reef is now one of the world’s most important coastal and marine tourism areas, but its future is at risk, and climate change is the primary long-term threat.

A World Heritage site since 1981, the Great Barrier Reef is one of the world’s most complex and diverse ecosystems, with at least 400 species of hard coral, 150 species of soft corals and sea fans, and more than 2,900 individual reefs and some of the most important seagrass meadows in the world. It teems with marine life of all sorts, including more than 1600 fish species, seabirds, seahorses, whales, dolphins, crocodiles, dugongs and endangered green turtles. The reef extends for 2,300km along the coast of Queensland in Northeast Australia and has evolved over a period of 15,000 years. The region is important for the indigenous heritage of First Australians who are Traditional Owners including Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islander people. Climate change threatens hunting and fishing as well as other traditional and cultural practices. Some sacred sites are also at risk for the more than 70 Traditional Owner groups for whom natural resources are inseparable from cultural identity.

Tourism is an important economic driver

Today, tourism (including touring, diving, beaches, sailing, fishing and cruising) is the most important economic sector in the GBR communities, contributing $5.2 billion dollarsto the Australian economy in 2012 and supporting 64,000 jobs, or about 90% of the total economic activity in the region. Visitors spent nearly 43 million total nights in the GBR region in 2012, of which nearly 2 million nights were on the reef, mainly at Cairns and the Whitsunday Islands. Direct reef-related tourism alone contributes 4,800 jobs. Approximately 500 commercial boats operate bringing tourists out to dive and snorkel on the reef, and there can be negative impacts associated with this, including damage from fuel spills and walking and dropping anchors on fragile corals. Tourism infrastructure, along with other coastal developments, can cause habitat degradation and damaging pollution and sediment run-off. Australia is the world’s fourth largest coal producer and debate currently swirls around the risks embodied in plans to expand coal mining and coal shipping near the Great Barrier Reef.

Higher temperatures and ocean acidification threaten reefs

The biggest threat to the GBR today, and to its ecosystems services, biodiversity, heritage values and tourism economy, is climate change, including warming sea temperatures, accelerating rates of sea level rise, changing weather patterns and ocean acidification. Coral reefs worldwide are being directly impacted by warming waters and ocean acidification, and climate change is exacerbating other localized stresses. Ocean acidification is occurring because of increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. A significant portion of this CO2 is being absorbed by the oceans and the resulting increases in seawater acidity reduces the capacity of some marine life, such as corals, to build their calcium carbonate based skeletons. Significant drops in coral growth rate have been recorded in the last two decades for massive Porites corals on the Great Barrier Reef.

Worst ever coral bleaching

Other significant threats to the reef include coastal development, agricultural run-off pollution, port-based shipping activities, illegal fishing and outbreaks of the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish. Assailed by multiple threats, the status of the GBR has been assessed as being poor and deteriorating. Half of its coral cover has been lost over the last three decades. Unusually high sea temperatures have caused nine mass coral bleaching events on the GBR since 1979, and until this year, the worst had been in 1998 and 2002 (Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority 2012, Steffen et al 2009, Hughes et al 2015). But higher water temperatures and a severe El Nino have been pushing corals into the danger zone all over the world in 2015-16, and the Great Barrier Reef is currently suffering the most severe bleaching episode ever recorded.

Coral bleaching occurs when higher than usual maximum temperatures disrupt the relationship between corals and the photosynthetic zooxanthelae algae that live in their tissues in a vital and mutually beneficial biological relationship. Bleaching can kill corals, but depending on the severity of the impact and local factors they can also recover. The same is true for coral damage from storms, but damaged or bleached corals and reefs need time to recover. All indications are that bleaching events will become more frequent and tropical storms more intense with continued global warming, and that this combined with a continued trend in warming water and ocean acidification will be massively detrimental to the GBR. The current bleaching episode has affected more than 90% of the reef, with the worst damage being in the northern region where surveys have confirmed 50% mortality in some places.

Without global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions coupled with local management responses to increase resilience, current projections suggest that coral cover could decline to 5-10% of the GBR by the early 2020s from 28% in 1985—a potential loss of 80% in just 40 years. Similar fears are associated with one of the other keystone ecosystems of the GBR, seagrass meadows representing 20% of the world’s 72 seagrass species. These shallow-water habitats provide vital nursery areas for fish and shrimps, critical food resources for turtles and dugongs, and act as carbon sinks, sequestering organic carbon in marine sediments. The combination of agricultural runoff, fishery impacts and climate change may exceed seagrass beds’ natural ability to adapt. Sea turtles too are at risk from climate change as high temperatures and sea level rise impact their breeding and nesting beaches.

A need for action

Spurred by the direct evidence of climate change already impacting the GBR, degradation of the reefs and the likelihood of much worse to come, the Australian government has begun to plan and implement actions to reduce the risk of future damage. At the core of the adaptation strategy are efforts to build ecosystem resilience, fill gaps in scientific knowledge, and monitor environmental, social and economic impacts of climate change. Collaborative management strategies are also being developed and tested with local communities, Traditional Owners, as well as with business and industry. The GBR was also the first World Heritage property for which a comprehensive Tourism and Climate Change Action Strategy was developed. The strategy recognizes the vital importance that a healthy GBR ecosystem plays for the Australian economy and that the tourism industry must quickly come to grips with the problem. Recommended actions include reducing direct impacts and greenhouse gas emissions from tourism companies operating on or near the reef; increased training and awareness for guides and operators; helping to raise public understanding of the threat, and; supporting scientific research and monitoring activities. The plan also calls for the industry itself to plan adaptive responses for declining reef conditions and to contribute to risk management strategies for climate disasters.

Despite these measures, international concern has continued to grow, however, that without a comprehensive response more in keeping with the scale of the threat, the GBR’s extraordinary biodiversity and natural beauty may lose its World Heritage values. The World Conservation Outlook 2014 published by IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) assessed the status of the World Heritage values of the GBR as of “high concern” and experiencing a deteriorating trend. The most recent strategy from the Australian government, the Reef 2050 Long-term Sustainability plan addressed this issue head on and has been designed to “ensure the Great Barrier Reef continues to improve on its Outstanding Universal Value every decade between now and 2050 to be a natural wonder for each successive generation to come”.

The full UNESCO report, World Heritage and Tourism in a Changing Climate, can be read here.

Come to the Climate Change Exchange at Grafton Cathedral grounds, 9am to 1pm Saturday 4 June 2016 & question election candidates about their climate change policies

Come to the Climate Change Exchange

Saturday 4 June 2016

Grafton Cathedral grounds, corner of Fitzroy St and Duke St

9am to 1pm.

Ask your election candidates about their climate change policies

Tell them what you expect of them

Stand on a soapbox and air your own views

Check out the latest on climate change

Enjoy a coffee and cake, or a sausage sandwich

Meet other people who care

Convened by Climate Change Australia (Clarence Branch) 0423 747 468

Australian Federal Election 2016: going down like skittles

In a federal election campaign where all three big political brands have been hustings-ready since March, candidates are still going down like skittles........

The latest are the Liberal candidate Carolyn Currie who was contesting the NSW lower house seat of Whitlam and first-time Labor Senator for the Northern Territory Nova Peris.

Ms. Currie’s rather novel reason for withdrawing from the fray is that she is like a general with no troops because no party rank and file were coming to her support on the election trail.

Senator Peris intiallly failed to give any explanation for retiring from the lists, leaving mainstream media to speculate that she is seeking employment elsewhere. Later she cited family reasons.

Also in the Senate the Liberal’s Concetta Fierravanti-Wells is tettering on the edge of the political gutter with The Canberra Times revealing on 26 May 2016 that:

The preselection hopes of controversial Turnbull government minister Concetta Fierravanti-Wells have been hit by allegations she broke a promise not to employ a key Liberal Party executive and factional ally.

The hard-right NSW senator hired as an electorate officer Nathaniel Smith, a Kogarah councillor and the son of former NSW attorney-general Greg Smith, who also serves on the party's state executive.

Liberal sources accused Senator Fierravanti-Wells of breaking an explicit promise to senior party figures that she would not employ Mr Smith or run a "factional office".

She is also accused of trying to conceal Mr Smith's employment by demanding his removal from her staff list and denying him a parliamentary email address.

As an electorate officer his taxpayer-funded salary would be close to $100,000.

It comes as a spectacular factional battle over preselection for the NSW Senate ticket comes to a head, with the state executive trying to relegate Senator Fierravanti-Wells into sixth place, against the wishes of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull……

Rumour has it that Ms. Fierravanti-Wells' political future may be on the line despite Malcolm Turnbull's support keeping her on the senate ticket.

In 2015 Labor’s then MP for Oxley  Bernie Ripoll announced he would not be standing at the 2016 federal election so as an official retiree he escapes being included in the skittles tally, however Minister for Territories, Local Government and Major Projects & Liberal MP for Bradfield Paul I Know Nothing Fletcher does not and has apparently been caught out sidestepping full disclosure of his wife’s interests in his 44th Parliament Statement of Registrable Interests.

The Australian, 27 May 2016:

Mr Fletcher, a stalwart ally of Malcolm Turnbull, declined to disclose the business interests of his jeweller wife, Manuela Zappacosta, exploiting a rule that only requires MPs to disclose family interests “of which the member is aware”.

Consequently Mr Fletcher’s declaration omits Ms Zappacosta’s directorship and 50-per-cent shareholding in Baba Management, a firm run from an accountancy practice in Albury, southern NSW.

Mr Fletcher wrote in his declaration of interests: “I do not know if Manuela Zappacosta is a director of any other companies and I have not made inquiry.”

A Liberal spokesman said: “Mr Fletcher said his approach was consistent with the approach used other Members of Parliament since at least 1990 and that the Clerk of the House had not raised any concerns about it.”

Mr Fletcher’s position mirrors that of Bob Katter, the independent Queensland MP, whose declaration obscures his wife Susan’s vast wealth as “she regards this as her private business”.

Clerks do not generally raise concern about MPs’ declarations. Liberal senator Chris Back mistakenly filed an essentially blank form in August 2014 that went unnoticed until The Australian brought the oversight to the senator’s attention 11 months later…

Four days earlier Fletcher had been reported as using the completion of multimillion dollar works on Tasmania's busiest section of road as a Coalition election promotion despite the funding being secured by former Labor MP for Franklin Julie Collins.

Tony Abbott’s 2015 captain’s pick in Canning, former army officer and Liberal MP Andrew Hastie, in what looks suspiciously like a desperate throw of the dice is defying the Australian Electoral Commission order to remove corflutes and other campaign material which depict him in military uniform.

Both images of Hastie are old pics – in uniform he looks to be around seven to eight years younger and the babe in his arms in 2015 is now a considerably larger 10 month old.

Come 28 and 29 May and there was another foolish rabbit in the headlights over at The Sydney Morning Herald

A Liberal candidate's bid to gatecrash one of Bill Shorten's campaign events has backfired spectacularly with a car-crash media interview.

Chris Jermyn found himself unable to articulate the Coalition's health policies before declaring his hatred for journalists and beating a hasty retreat.

The Liberal candidate for the Victorian seat of McEwen showed up at Mr Shorten's event at the Sunbury Community Health Centre on Saturday. Mr Shorten shook his hand on his way in, joking that at least he was getting to see one leader this election...... [http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2016/election-2016-liberal-candidate-chris-jermyn-implodes-at-bill-shorten-event-20160528-gp6536.html]

Coalition candidate Chris Jermyn was involved in a notorious student politics conference in which his fellow Young Liberals proudly chanted about being racist, sexist and homophobic.

But Mr Jermyn insists he was there in an official capacity and did not participate in any protests or chants.

Television footage of the 2005 National Union of Students conference in Ballarat shows Mr Jermyn, then a Melbourne University student and active member of the Young Liberals, walking through a raucous crowd.

This was the same conference where a group of right-wing Young Liberals wearing black T-shirts emblazoned with the words "Shut the f--- up" sang this chant: "We're racist, we're sexist, we're homophobic."

That was followed by "Glory, glory Liberal students"…..

[http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2016/liberal-candidate-chris-jermyn-at-conference-involving-racist-sexist-homophobic-chant-20160528-gp695g.html]

Then ABC News and other mainstream media outlets delivered a body blow to the Liberal Party image on 30 May 2016:

NSW Police have charged a Central Coast man over allegedly posting racist comments on the Facebook page of outgoing Northern Territory Labor senator Nova Peris.

Woy Woy-based chiropractor and osteopath Chris Nelson, 64, was arrested at his business this afternoon.

He has been charged with using a carriage service to cause offence.

Nelson has denied he is responsible, saying his account was hacked.

At the time the comments were posted, Nelson was a member of the Liberal Party's NSW division.

A spokesperson for the Liberal Party has confirmed that Nelson has been stripped of party membership over the allegations.

The comments included several instances of profanity.

"You were only endorsed by Juliar because you were a black c***," the comments read.

"Go back to the bush and suck on witchety grubs and yams."

On her own social media accounts, Ms Peris labelled the comments as "racist and vile hatred".

Just when the Liberal Party thought things could not get any worse along came The Kelly Gang and this was reported in The Sydney Morning Herald on 30 May 2016:

Liberal MP Craig Kelly, one of the most vociferous supporters of Tony Abbott before and during the challenge by Mr Turnbull in September, has been handing out election flyers that contain his wish to "contribute to a Coalition government under Tony Abbott".

Liberal MP Craig Kelly, one of the most vociferous supporters of Tony Abbott before and during the challenge by Mr Turnbull in September, has been handing out election flyers that contain his wish to "contribute to a Coalition government under Tony Abbott".

Fairfax Media has obtained a copy of the flyer, which was being handed out by personally by Mr Kelly at Sutherland railway station on May 20.

"When talking to people across Hughes, it is clear they want a government that will reduce cost of living pressures, support local jobs and small businesses," the flyer states.

"I want to continue my fight to protect the way of life we have all worked hard to build and am looking forward to having the opportunity to contribute to a Coalition government under Tony Abbott."

Mr Kelly insisted on Monday that the brochure was not a bizarre factional call-to-arms but rather a clerical stuff-up……

Meanwhile, much earlier in May the Greens candidate for Grayndler Jim Case, accidentally shot himself in the foot from a distance of years when old YouTube footage surfaced which recorded him in 2014 seated next to Greens member for Melbourne Adam Bandt and NSW Greens senator Lee Rhiannon while expressing a preference for Mr Abbott’s re-election.

Around the same time Arfur came back on the radar one more as reported in the Brisbane Times:

Cabinet secretary Arthur Sinodinos has been referred to the powerful Senate privileges committee to determine if he is in contempt by refusing an order to attend an inquiry into political fundraising bodies.

The Senate on Wednesday resolved to refer Senator Sinodinos for an inquiry into whether he "disobeyed a lawful order of the Senate without reasonable excuse" and "whether any contempt was committed in that regard".

It follows Senator Sinodinos' refusal last week to appear before an inquiry into the controversial Free Enterprise Foundation and similar fundraising bodies, despite the Senate directing him to do so.....

President of the Casino Chamber of Commerce, Luke Bodley, lends his support to proposed environmental vandalism on a large scale

Des Euen and ‘friend’ on the Iluka side of the Clarence River mouth at an unspecified date

There is obviously one born every minute somewhere in the world and on 26 May 2016 it was the turn of the National Party's Luke Bodley of Realo Group Pty Ltd to step into the limelight and be recognised .

Here he is on Facebook promoting a proposal to destroy existing environmental, cultural, social and economic values in the Clarence River estuary:

And who is he doing this promotion for? Why for a $1 shelf company, with no apparent business address (instead using the address of the Minter Group), no listed business phone number and, most importantly,  no local, state or federal government support.

A phantom-like company which states it has had international development funding approved for five inter-related projects est. to cost $42.7 billion in total.

Projects which appear to still be mere sketches on the back of envelopes if this plan for a large industrial port is any indication:

Figure 1 shows a port precinct which covers an est. 27.2 % of the entire Clarence River estuary, 
www.aid-australia.com.au/project-1/

According to Mr. Euen the indicative timeline will see Stage 1 of this approx. 36 sq km super-port operational sometime in 2018 - even though not one of the required in-depth reports has been generated to date by AID Australia, no planning application has been submitted yet and no comprehensive surveying undertaken. He laughably states the entire proposed port infrastructure will be completed in around twelve years.

I wonder if Mr. Bodley has ever puzzled over the fact that there is no roar of support emanating from the Clarence Valley for these personal projects of former Queensland truck driver Desmond John Thomas Euen?

Has he thought about why an infrastructure 'plan' that has been hawked around the country for at least the last four to five years has been unable to gain official support in all that time from either local, state or federal governments?

Or wondered why Euen isn't holding his "summit" in the area covered by the lynch-pin in his grandiose plan, the Lower Clarence?

Perhaps this Google Earth snapshot of what the lowest section of the Clarence River estuary looks like today might give him a hint:

What this image shows is a river from the mouth to Harwood which has been held under Native Title since 2015 and an approach to the river partially blocked by a culturally & spiritually significant coffee rock reef which is the indigenous ancestor Dirrangun.

It shows the base for the largest commercial river & offshore fishery in NSW (generating in excess of an est. $92M output and $15.4M annual income) which supports a fleet moored on both the Iluka and Yamba sides of the river and as far up as Maclean.

There are also oyster leases and aquaculture ponds within the estuary.

This snapshot covers part of the range of one of only two river-dwelling dolphin pods on the east coast of Australia and one which successfully co-exists with the tourism-reliant small towns of Yamba, Iluka and Maclean, as well as with the many domestic and international yachts and other pleasure boats which use the lower river.

The green is this image predominately comprises cane farms, extensive national parks, dedicated foreshore nature reserves and one of this country’s few World Heritage areas, a 136 ha remnant of the ancient Gondwanna subtropical rainforests proclaimed by the United Nations in 1986.

In 2006-07 the people of the Clarence Valley successfully fought off a Howard Government proposal to dam and divert water from the Clarence River catchment for the benefit of mining, agricultural irrigation and land development interests in the Murray Darling Basin and southern Queensland.

That fight was part of the reason why Australia’s federal government changed in 2007.

As late as 30 May 2016 Nationals MP for Clarence and Parliamentary Secretary for the North Coast, Chris Gulapatis, has this to say in response to Euen's scheming:

While even Des Euen himself recently told The Daily Examiner that it is NSW Government policy to direct import-export sea freight to the major ports of Port Jackson, Port Botany, Port Kembla and the Port of Newcastle.

UPDATE

North Coast Voices received this email today:

North Coast Voices Blog - Correction of information required

From: redacted [mailto:redacted@gnfrealestate.com.au]
Sent: Wednesday, 8 June 2016 1:59 PM
To: northcoastvoices@gmail.com
Cc: Darren Perkins
Subject: North Coast Voices Blog - Correction of information required

Good afternoon,

With regard to the below blog link for North Coast Voices, Luke Bodley ceased employment with GNF Real Estate Pty Ltd on the 28^th April 2016. We request that the mention of George & Fuhrmann Real Estate be removed from the article.

http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/2016/06/president-of-casino-chamber-of-commerce.html

Regards

Darren Perkins

Managing Director

George & Fuhrmann

However Luke Bodley was still listed as part of this real estate company's Casino staff as at 2.28PM on 8 June 2016:

When there is public evidence online that Mr. Bodley is no longer associated with this company the mention will be removed from the body of the post, but the correspondence and comment will remain.

Clarence Valley taken down a peg by IPART in 2016

Clarence Valley Council website, accessed 24 May 2016:

At the 24 November 2015 Extraordinary Council meeting (Item 12.060/15), Council resolved to apply for a Section 508A SRV of 6.5% p.a. (including the rate peg limit) for 5 years commencing 1 July 2016, which is a cumulative increase in ordinary rates of 37% by year 5 (2020-21) of the SRV (with the cumulative increase permanently built into the general rate after the 5 year SRV period has ceased). Council notified IPART on 25 November 2015 of its intent to make an SRV application of that nature. The additional income from the SRV above the rate peg as per Item 12.060/15 is to be spent on roads and roads related infrastructure renewals and maintenance to address the significant infrastructure backlog and maintenance gap for this group of assets.

In May 2016 Clarence Valley Council submitted an amended application to the Independent Pricing And Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) for this special rate variation (SRV) which was to be permanently retained in the rate base and also applied for a minimum rate increase (MR).

This table formed part of the council application:

Clarence Valley residents made at least 169 submissions to council on this proposed rate increase and sent in a 115 signature petition. Only 3 submissions were in support of the rate increase. While IPART received 56 submissions (including one petition with around 2,000 signatures and 268 online submissions) opposing Clarence Valley Council’s application.

On 17 May 2016 IPART announced approval of  the application for a SRV increase for the 2016-17 financial year only. This represents a 4.7% rise above the rate peg.

Council’s MR application was not approved. On 1 July 2017 the rate increase will be removed as per IPART’s instructions and therefore average rates will decrease.

According to the IPART Determination:

The application was not approved in full because it did not satisfy criteria 1 and 2 of the Guidelines. The council did not adequately justify the extent of the need for the proposed special variation, as the effects of additional revenue and cost savings previously adopted by the council were not included in the IP&R documents (or presented to the community). Secondly, the annual and cumulative cost impacts of the proposed rate increases were not adequately communicated to the community…..

The council’s ‘Base Case’, in its adopted IP&R documents, understates the available revenue and therefore overstates the financial impact of, and the need for, the special variation…..

The increased income from user charges and fees were included in the LTFP adopted by the council on 23 June 2015 and should have been included in the ‘Base Case’ used for community consultation on the special variation (in August and September 2015). Similarly, the efficiency cost savings adopted by council on 24 November 2015 should have been included in the ‘Base Case’ included in the Revised LTFP adopted 9 February 2016, which formed the basis of the special variation application.

The council amended its application to IPART in April 2016 and May 2016 to include these measures in its ‘Base Case’, however this followed the completion of the community consultation process. In excluding the additional user charges and fees and efficiency savings from the ‘Base Case’, the council did not adequately inform and make the community aware of the financial impact of the proposed special variation…..

In 2015 the council reviewed its IP&R documents in consultation with the community. It clearly explained the purpose of the proposed special variation and provided reasonable opportunities for community feedback. However, we are not satisfied that the community was provided with:

* adequate opportunity to consider the need for the special variation, as a result of the positive effects of the additional revenue and cost savings previously adopted by the council, which reduce the need for, and extent of, the rate increase required to achieve financial sustainability, and

* adequate information about the extent of the annual and cumulative financial impact of the proposed rate increases over the five years of the special variation….

IPART’s decision means that Clarence Valley Council may increase its general income in 2016-17 by an estimated $1.8 million including the rate peg.

Out of the ten councils who applied for rate increases this year, Clarence Valley Council was the only one which didn’t get all it asked for.

Perhaps that will tell this particular council something about how inadequate is its approach to community consultation and revenue raising.

Though I am quite sure that ratepayers across the valley are hugely relieved that it was found to be so inadequate by the folk in Sydney.

Of course Clarence Valley Council can apply for a special rate variation again in 2017-18 and perhaps the next time around management will allow Council in the Chamber a chance to consider its final formal written application to IPART before it is submitted.

Summoning up "the old Malcolm"

For some reason certain commentators and voters appear to believe that Malcolm Bligh Turnbull had to fundamentally change in order to be elected Prime Minister of Australia by the Liberal Party.

Nothing Turnbull has done since 1 December 2009 when his party dumped him as opposition leader indicates that any change has occurred.

Basically what one sees is what has always been there – a hugely egotistical man, driven by ambition, who believes the misleading ' poor boy' backstory he created about his own life and who has little to no knowledge of the hopes, dreams, concerns and daily lives of ordinary people and cares even less.

In other words, we see this…….

 Maltony Bligh Turnbull

Courtesy of Robbo

Australian Federal Election 2016: polling at the beginning of Week 4 of the campaign

News.com.au, 28 May 2016:

Three weeks into the two-month campaign, the 7News-ReachTel poll, released on Friday, has Labor ahead 52-48 on a two-party preferred basis.

Earlier in the week Newspoll and Essential had Labor leading the coalition 51-49 per cent, reversing the Fairfax-Ipsos result from the previous weekend.

For those who place more faith in the punters here are Sportsbet markets covering NSW Northern Rivers at 8am 29 May 2016:

Sitting Nationals MP Kevin Hogan since 2013 vs Labor candidate Janelle Saffin

Sitting Labor MP Justine Elliot since 2004 vs Nationals candidate Matthew Fraser & The Greens Dawn Walker

Sitting Nationals MP Luke Hartsuyker since 2001 vs candidate “Any Other” & Labor’s Alfredo Navarro

Australian Federal Election 2016: oh the pain, it burns!

I’m sure there is more than one voter on a low income who is chortling about what went down in Week Three of the federal election campaign.

This has been the state of play for members of the Australian Parliament since 1999.

Excerpts from TR 1999/10 Taxation Ruling Income tax and fringe benefits tax: Members of Parliament – allowances, reimbursements, donations and gifts, benefits, deductions and recoupments:

10. Members commonly receive the following types of allowances, in addition to their Parliamentary ‘salaries’ (see paragraphs 42 to 45). Particular allowances may vary depending on the Parliament in which a Member serves.

• Committee allowance

• Daily expense allowance

• Electorate allowance

• Expense or entertainment allowance

• Opposition spokespersons’ allowance

• Postage allowance

• Printing and stationery allowance

• Private vehicle allowance/motor vehicle allowance

• Telephone allowance

• Travel allowance.

These allowances, like MPs and senators parliamentary salaries, are considered assessable income by the Australian Taxation Office.

Second property not used as a Member’s residence: A deduction is allowable for expenses of a non-capital nature, and for depreciation of plant, where the property is not properly regarded as a second residence. However, the deduction is limited to the extent to which the expenditure is incurred in respect of a property that is used by a Member for work-related travel purposes on overnight stays away from his or her residence, and the expenditure is not private or domestic in nature (paragraphs 328 to 336).

Second residence expenses: A deduction is not allowable for the costs of maintaining a property that is used as a second residence (paragraphs 337 to 343)……

These two sections of the ruling appear to allow parliamentarians to double-dip at the ordinary taxpayers expense – first using the overnight travel allowance to pay down the mortgage on a Canberra residence if it’s not owned outright and then claiming tax deductions including mortgage interest, rates, insurance and utilities on the same residence.

Then this cosy little arrangement became public knowledge…….

News.com.au, 22 May 2016:

TAXPAYERS are helping to pay the mortgage and the rent for federal MPs who are raking in $1000 a week to sleep in Canberra and then, on top of that, claiming a big tax deduction for rent, rates, electricity and mortgage.

In a little-known tax ruling, MPs who rent can also claim a tax deduction for a second residence including “lease payments; rent; interest on borrowings used for the acquisition of the property; rates; taxes; insurance; general maintenance of the building, plant and grounds’’.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, charged with cracking down on budget waste, is just one of the MPs double-dipping by claiming a $273-a-night travel allowance (which, bizarrely, is not regarded as taxable income) and scoring a tax deduction as well….

The rules state that an MP “may choose to rent or buy a property rather than stay in a hotel or other commercial establishment when travelling. A deduction is allowable for expenses, that are not of a capital, private or domestic nature, in respect of such a property where it is used by a Member for accommodation when he or she is undertaking work-related travel.

“Such expenses include: lease payments; rent; interest on borrowings used for the acquisition of the property; rates; taxes; insurance; general maintenance of the building, plant and grounds.’’

The Guardian, 22 May 2016:

The finance minister, Mathias Cormann, has defended politicians receiving both a $273 a night travel allowance and tax deductions for mortgages and rents for properties in Canberra.

Speaking on Insiders on Sunday, Cormann said the remuneration tribunal granted the travel allowance and the tax office allowed deductions for politicians’ accommodation expenses.

Federal politicians receive $273 a night to stay in Canberra, a travel allowance they can claim even when they stay in a property that they or their partner own.

Reports have revealed that on top of the allowance, MPs who rent or buy a property to stay in during work-related travel can also claim tax deductions for rent, interest on borrowings used for the acquisition of the property, rates, taxes, insurance and general maintenance.

The first report indicates that some federal politicians may be under the impression that a travel allowance paid for a presumed expense was not taxable income.

Then came this painful revelation……

ABC News, 23 May 2016:

Tax Commissioner Chris Jordan stressed that members of Parliament had to abide by the same standards as everyone else.

"The rules are the same for every taxpayer, regardless of their occupation," Mr Jordan said in a statement.

"Any taxpayer who has had to travel overnight for work is entitled to deduct the costs of meals and accommodation under our tax laws.

"However, given that there are clear misunderstandings of how the ruling is applied, we will undertake to review the 1999 ruling to give greater clarity for all taxpayers on the treatment of allowances they may receive from their employer to cover the costs of work related travel."

The ATO said the returns of all taxpayers, including MPs were scrutinised, and that any taxpayer should not be claiming deductions for travel expenses unless they have declared the allowance as income in their tax returns.

In 1999, the ATO issued a ruling about how it assesses travel allowances and tax deductions for MPs.

That ruling will now be reviewed in light of the issue being thrust into the campaign spotlight.

Gillian Mears July 1964 - May 2016, a Clarence Valley girl

Old Copmanhurst by the late great author Gillian Mears in Meanjin Volume 71 Issue 1 2012

Much exclamation occurs when people realise Foal’s Bread is my first novel in sixteen years. Sixteen years ago I was about to turn thirty-one. From this distance that seems inconceivably young and I was inconceivably bewildered that only horses understood that something horrible had begun to happen in my legs and feet.

I can clearly remember how for that birthday I rode my brown mare Bellini down as usual to my father’s letterbox on Old Copmanhurst Road. Although the advance author copies of The Grass Sister had arrived early, far from any feeling of luck that they’d landed in the letterbox on my birthday, only dismay was sweeping through me. Whereas a few weeks before I could’ve vaulted back onto my horse with my backpack full of mail, on that day it had become a difficult scramble.

The multiple sclerosis that would defy diagnosis for another seven years was slowly but surely taking away my ability to ride even the quietest pony, let alone Bellini, my loveliness Wind of Song ex-barrier rogue, rescued by my eldest sister Yvonne from the brutality of a Brisbane track for me to purchase.

I felt a growing sorrow that as the mystery progressed, less and less chance existed for those moments when my own soul could meet my mare’s through a long pair of favourite old leather reins. My grief at seeing her sold wasn’t unconnected to the fact that whatever was happening in my body was inexorably also severing my links with my own horse-loving family….

On 1 January 2009 the realisation dawned that Yvonne might never send out her book. I could wait no longer. My wholehearted attempts to write first a play and then a wisdom cat fable had, against all expectation and effort, utterly failed. Now I felt in a race with myself. In honour of Stow’s claim that fuelled by pork pie he wrote all his novels fast, I resolved to have a final draft of Foal’s Bread finished by the first day of spring. Memories of that kind of Newton Boyd country west of Grafton but before the Great Dividing Range, informed my writing days.

Even though I was thousands of miles away from the Clarence River, ghosts of horses of the past seemed to walk right into my writing room. When I’d typed the draft of each week’s chapter onto my computer I even developed the habit of throwing a cloth over it and the printer, as if they were horses to be rugged before nightfall. Then I could practically feel the warmth of a horse. I could feel that I really was clipping up the back legs straps of a rug as a cold wind sprang up off the river….

Read the rest of the story here.

* Photograph: The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 November 2012

It's not just the Clarence Valley that harasses its bats

Environment East Gippsland EEG

21 May 2016

Greg Hunt MP has granted a sthn NSW Shire council exemption from Australia's enviro law (EPBC) so it can harass/kill/burn/disperse the migratory colony of threatened wildlife - notably the Grey-headed Flying Fox. What precedent does this set for every other town along the east coast to demand an OK to mass kill this threatened species because a handful of people are frightened of bat poo. This is hardly 'in the national interets'. 
Flying foxes are a 'keystone species'; they play a vital role in our ecosystem, a species upon which many other plants and animals depend.
'Ecosure' is the most experienced flying-fox management consultancy in Australia and has been involved in numerous dispersal programs. Their report to the government on this said it is the highest risk dispersal scenario they have assessed...
Dispersal activities have unpredictable outcomes, are very costly, require ongoing commitment and maintenance, are often not successful and rarely achieve desirable outcomes for all stakeholders. Dispersal also often leads to flying-fox stress, injuries or fatalities, and may lead to increased human and animal health risk...
Removing their protection is an act so remiss in its duty of care to vulnerable species that it will one day be referred to as “catastrophic".
https://www.change.org/p/protection-of-the-vuln…/u/16625192…
and here @GregHuntMP proudly tells the world he is happy to see thousands of threatened Flying Foxes harassed, stressed and killed off to stop 'residents suffering' from the bat's happy chatter and droppings.
http://www.greghunt.com.au/…/Coalition-Plan-To-Tackle-Batem…

NOTE: The Grey-headed Flying Fox is listed as Threatened in Victoria, Vulnerable in New South Wales and Rare in South Australia.