The Grafton Knitting Nannas Strike Again! Making testosterone-fuelled Metgasco a running joke

 

This time a NSW Police vehicle gets a peaceful makeover in Knot The Gate Yellow on 7 January 2013…..

 

http://knaggrafton.blogspot.com.au/

What are those crazy women doing? - Better call the cops, they're just around the corner. - I'm a bit worried, Stu, they've got fluffy toy chickens and knitting.

Looking, looking, looking - for evidence that Abbott isn't telling another whopper

 

Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott explains his historical position on reproductive technology in January 2013:

 

In the run-up to the 2005 budget, more concerned than ever to rein in Medicare costs, the government proposed to increase safety net thresholds and to limit older women’s access to IVF. It’s a matter of record that I considered resignation over the safety net decision. Perhaps not going ahead with the IVF restrictions was my colleagues’ way of atoning for a decision I deplored.

 

"My attempt to excuse the then government's misguided intention, once it had been leaked, has given rise to a persistent myth: that I'm against IVF," Mr Abbott writes. "In fact, during my time as health minister, the number of women accessing IVF and Medicare support for IVF rapidly increased. I have never been opposed to IVF.

 

Really? So all I have to do is look for supporting documentation, right?
Unsurprisingly what I found did not reflect Abbott's fractured version of events.

 

This is Tony Abbott for the record on a number of occasions in April 2005:

 

Abbott used ABC radio to press home his point about the financial side. There was "some evidence", he said, that doctors had substantially lifted their charges and action would be taken if "profiteering" was found. The Government should name the clinics where rates had shot up. Abbott went on to claim the safety net had resulted in "a lot more money going into the pockets of people getting IVF treatment".

ALEXANDRA KIRK: Does the Health Minister's reasons for limiting the number of Medicare funded IVF treatments extend to other procedures?
TONY ABBOTT: There needs to be some restraint when it comes to the availability of taxpayer funds for non-essential procedures.
ALEXANDRA KIRK: So are there other procedures apart from IVF that you'd apply the same logic to?
TONY ABBOTT: None that you've raised with me?  

 

Then came Tony Abbott's explanation that a cut would be legitimate given that IVF was an elective rather than life-saving treatment. "If non-essential treatment is funded endlessly, medical costs blow out endlessly, and responsible governments have to try to ensure that we give good value to taxpayers, as well as good value to patients," he said.

 

Liberal Party women have demanded the government dump its plans to limit access to Medicare-funded IVF treatments, telling Canberra to stay out of the nation's bedrooms.

The NSW Liberal Women's Council said the government had no right to intervene in such a personal issue as a woman's right to have a child.

The council's 100 members unanimously passed a motion calling on federal cabinet to rethink plans to limit IVF access.

The government is considering placing a cap on the number of Medicare-funded IVF treatments to a total of three for women over 42 and three a year for women under that age.

The move would save the government just $7 million a year.

Health Minister Tony Abbott defended the planned cutbacks, saying the government could not afford to fund elective procedures.

"IVF treatment is not - it's very important, obviously - but it's not life saving treatment,"….

 

Mr. Abbott in May 2005:

 

Health Minister Tony Abbott has blasted the Victorian Law Reform Commission's call for single women and lesbians to be given access to IVF, saying it casts doubt on the wisdom of "expert" committees.

Is Metgasco ignoring the Clarence Valley total fire ban in its drive to sink an exploration well at Glenugie?

 

According to the NSW Rural Fire Service; For public safety, a Total Fire Ban is declared for days when fires are likely to escape and be difficult to contain. This is caused by a combination of dry vegetation and hot, dry, windy weather.

 

Such weather conditions were occurring in the Clarence Valley the day before yesterday, yesterday and again today and, total fire bans have been in place.   

As responsible citizens and caring members of our community the vast majority of Northern Rivers residents take note of these fire bans and limit our outdoor activities appropriately.

 

However, mining companies do not have to obey the same rules as local residents if they do not wish to do so and, on 10 January 2013 Metgasco began to drill an exploration well on farm land at Glenugie in the Clarence Valley.

 

According to Metgasco; The rig commenced drilling at 11 o'clock last night and continued to drill until this morning.

 

If this drilling did encounter coal seam gas Metgasco may flare such gas on site despite the fire risk.

 

Flare line at Talma, Richmond Valley NSW

 

Excerpt from Metgasco Limited, 2010, REVIEW OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS, For proposed Exploration Drilling Program Clarence Moreton Basin, New South Wales.

(Petroleum Exploration Licence No 426) Grafton-Exploration Drilling Program:

 

At the sites, an area of up to 110 by 110 metres will be temporarily fenced for the period of drilling and testing activities and all such activities will be contained within the fenced area. Appropriate signage relating to restricted entry, fire hazards, protective clothing, etc. will be prominently displayed.

Equipment on site will include the drilling rig, air compressors, support vehicles and transportable buildings for drill equipment storage. There will be minimum physical disturbance at each site beyond the drilling of the well itself (including cellar). It is expected that the drilling operations will be zero release at the well site, and all drilling fluid will be contained within on-site tanks. However, if it is deemed necessary for safe drilling operations, up to three small sumps, (3m x 3m x 2m), two large sumps (10m x 10m x 2m) and a smaller flare pit at the end of the flare line may be dug on site. Sumps will be lined with high density polyethylene (HDPE) 200 μm poly liner. It may also be necessary to grade the area where the rig base will sit on the site…..

Because the proposed drilling comes under the Petroleum (Onshore) Act 1991, the wells may be fitted with blow out prevention (BOP) equipment which will be installed on casing cemented to at least 10% of the anticipated final depth.

Prior exploration suggests that the composition of the gas encountered may be predominately methane with minor nitrogen (N2) and carbon dioxide (CO2). Any methane gas produced on site will be flared if necessary, utilising a flare line and flare pit at a safe location away from the well so as to minimise

hazards. Although it is flammable, methane (the principal component of natural gas) is not poisonous. [my red bolding]

 

When I woke this morning there were still a number of bushfires listed as active in the Clarence Valley and this was part of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology predictive temperature mapping:

 

Click on map to enlarge

 

Ashby lodges a tit for tat appeal in Ashby v Commonwealth & Slipper

 

James Hunter Ashby and his new legal team finally files his appeal in Ashby v Commonwealth & Slipper – asserting that the Rares judgment which found the original proceedings were an abuse of process was in error.

 

Chris Gulaptis forgets where he was born

NSW Nats MP Chris I will not will let you down Gulaptis was born in West Australia and now lives in Maclean in the Clarence Valley.
Two facts which shoulld be firmly fixed in his 57 year old noggin by now.
So what's this doing on his Facebook page? Is he saying he was born in The Scottish Town?

Metgasco Limited's share price begins 2013 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…..

As of close of trading 9 January 2013 – two day after it took sixty police to escort Metgasco’s drilling rig onto PEL 426 in the Clarence Valley at Glenugie - the ordinary share price has again fallen to 16c. The share price remained the same on 10 January.

On 13 December 2012 the Northern Rivers Echo reported that; Metgasco's shares plummeted to an all-time low of 15.5 cents this week.

In August 2012 Ethical Investments Limited confirmed the reasons for divesting itself of exposure to the coal seam gas sector:

While there is extensive knowledge around the structure and formation of coal seams, there remains uncertainty about the permeability and interconnectedness of coal seams and groundwater resources. CSG critics point to concerns that extracting large volumes of water from a coal seam may result in pressure differentials with surrounding water-bearing seams, resulting in potential drops in water levels and contamination of aquifers.
Australian Ethical’s Chief Investment Officer, David Macri says "meetings with CSIRO reassured us that our analysis and understanding of the issues was on the mark, but also confirmed our concerns about the long-term impacts of large-scale water extraction on the Great Artesian Basin."
With negative impacts that are potentially irreversible, or at least would take lifetimes to reverse, we are concerned about any company’s capacity to appropriately manage this risk. Origin Energy was divested in late 2011, thus ending our exposure to the CSG sector. [my bolding]