Crime rates: who's up and who's down on the Northern Rivers

Surfing the Net this week I was greeted with a call for more police to tackle crime from Tweed Nationals MP Geoff Provest in the Far North Coaster.
At the same time The Daily Examiner had police boasting about a fall in the local crime rate and Police Minister Tony Kelly announcing a state-wide reduction in crime.
So how are we actually doing?
Well, it seems the North Coast can still preen its feathers when it comes to how we compare with the rest of NSW.
Overall we've either half the state crime rate (or are holding steady on low percentages) for robbery with any sort of weapon, stealing from a person or fraud.
Although there were low numbers of reported sexual assaults; unfortunately in the Kyogle and Richmond Valley areas sexual assaults were above the state average in 2008, with rates for all reported forms of sexual assault in the Richmond Valley at least doubling.
There were five murders last year on the North Coast (although that's one up from 2007) and our biggest incident numbers were for malicious property damage, but even that was roughly the same as last year.
And when you look at individual council areas it was obvious that malicious damage had fallen in Ballina and Coffs Harbour and assaults had fallen in the Clarence Valley and Ballina.
Break and enters did not grow last year either across the North Coast, though that doesn't lessen the shock for those who found that they'd been burgled.

The exception to this was Byron Bay - where stealing from a dwelling appears to be something of a growth industry.
As for Richmond-Tweed; its physical assault numbers were down on the previous year's figures also, but its break and enter dwelling rates were at least double the state average.
Combined with the 2008 sexual assault rate, this isn't a good look for the area.
So perhaps Geoff Provest has a case for calling on NSW Police to consider beefing up its presence there or at least reviewing local practice.
The fact remains of course that the North Coast overall crime rate hasn't really grown between 2007 and 2008.
The full gen for the whole of NSW is here.

Meet the MP for Page Janelle Saffin

Photograph from www.janellesaffin.com

Federal MP for Page Janelle Saffin will be at Ballina Markets on Sunday 19 April (10am) and at Casino Markets (11am) on Sunday 26 April 2009.

Go along and say hello. Bend her ear about your area.
If you don't tell her what you think she'll never know.

Ms. Saffin will also be hosting a forum on proposed changes to how meat quality is assessed and labelled at the Lismore Workers Club on Friday 8 May (2pm-4pm).
Phone her Lismore office on 6621 9909 to register an interest.

Lismore Lantern Parade, Satuday 20 June 2009

It is only a couple of months until that wonderful spectacle the Lismore Lantern Parade.

To remind everyone of how special it is to enter the parade or watch from the sidelines, here are some photographs by Tapperboy of the 2008 parade found at Flickr.

Hopefully Tapperboy will be snapping away this year as well.

Lantern making workshops are being held this month starting on Saturday 18 April and going to 30 May.

You can get details or book a place by phoning 6622 6333 or 6621 2464.

Clarence Valley whodunnit

Snapshot from Media Watch

Courtesy of Clarrie Rivers

Ever since ABC TV Media Watch featured The Daily Examiner editor Peter Chapman's ill-fated foray into gender politics, some Clarence Valley residents have been wondering who sent off that copy of Chapman's "Comment" article.

One person caused a smile by suggesting that it would be impossible to tell whodunnit due to the number of those already annoyed with Chapman and that "the perp could've come from a cast of thousands".

While on the subject of The Daily Examiner, this was sent to me yesterday as an example of advertising thinly disguised as news. Something which appears to be cropping up too frequently under Chapman's editorship.

Click to enlarge image

So you want to look through my medical records?

Seems that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Health Minister Nicola Roxon and Human Services Minister Joe Ludwig think it's a beaut idea to have faceless Medicare bureaucrats trawling through the local doctor's patient records just in case he or she is trying to defraud the Commonwealth.
Matching everything (from that brush with the kid's head lice, those uncomfortable haemorrhoids, that dose of the clap, problem with alcohol or recent unplanned pregnancy) to a Medicare billing form with your name on it within 2 years of the date on the audit notice.

But that's not all!
The local hospital, medical specialists and corporate practices can also be asked to hand over your medical records on demand, as well as aboriginal health workers; audiologists; clinical psychologists; diabetes educators; dieticians; exercise physiologists; mental health nurses; occupational therapists; psychologists; socialworkers; and speech pathologists.
Wait there's more!
Not only does Medicare get to look at all those medical records - it gets to take away and keep the originals.
Which means that your confidential records are in yet another government data base.
The doctor's solicitor can also obtain a copy of removed records, so there's yet another person keeking at your maladies.

As to which practitioners will be audited - well it's all a bit of a lottery really because at the moment the government is sorta promising (with fingers crossed behind a few backs) that there will only be 2,500 of these snooping expeditions each year.
Retaining any form of patient confidentiality? Well it's easy to recall those times when Centrelink staff or police officers have been caught out snooping on relllies or selling information from government data bases.

Joe Ludwig expects to have this hunt 'n' hound firmly in place by July this year.
If you want to have a say in all this go to this page on the Department of Health and Aging website for details of the draft legislation which turned up very quietly last Thursday.
You have under 24th April to make a submission.

Copenhagen versus Heartland 2009

The Climate Change International Scientific Congress was held at the University of Copenhagen in March 2009 and, according to its media release it was attended by more than 2,500 delegates from around 80 countries and received approximately 1,600 scientific contributions from researchers.
A synthesis report will be published in June 2009.

Also in March The Heartland Institute held its International Conference on Climate Change and About 800 scientists, economists, legislators, policy activists, and media representatives attended the event which had 80 presenters. The Institute promises videos and power point presentations as they become available.

Now who would have the weaker hand here, I wonder?
Hmm...., think the climate change denialist's offer of dinky little power point presentations gives some indication.