What will haunt Nationals candidate Kevin Hogan during the 2013 federal election campaign?

 

In September 2011 The Sydney Morning Herald reported this:

 

The disgraced state MP Steve Cansdell resigned from Parliament days after a former staff member complained to the corruption watchdog that he misused a parliamentary entitlement to help a Nationals colleague, Kevin Hogan, contest the federal seat of Page.

 

It is over three months since The Sydney Morning Herald further reported:

 

Allegations that the former NSW MP Steve Cansdell rorted a staff allowance to benefit a Nationals colleague were referred by corruption authorities to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly a year ago but not investigated.

 

Last month the same newspaper stated:

 

After that Hancock, who is also the Liberal member for South Coast, promised that parliamentary officers would ''review the material'' sent by the ICAC. This included a spreadsheet containing the dates on which Palmer alleged Cansdell submitted claims for the allowance that differed from the days she worked. That was last October.

What has happened since then? Hancock passed the matter to the executive manager of the Department of Parliamentary Services, Rob Stefanic, who responded that he was ''unable to reach any conclusions regarding the veracity of the claims made by the former electorate officer''.

 

Now the O’Farrell Government, along with the state and federal Liberal and National parties may think they have managed to brazened this matter out. Kevin Hogan may think he is no longer involved as the 2010 federal election campaign is long past.

 

Perhaps they should think again. It’s an open secret that there was more than one MP and one worker involved in alleged rorting and more than one election involved.

 

The exact date that the second MP’s staffer allegedly began working for Cansdell on his own re-election campaign is well known in the electorate – and not just by word of mouth.

 

The NSW North Coast Nationals appear to have turned staff swapping in election campaigns into an art, along with keeping allegedly dubious indirect political donation records.

So what else might be found out about serial candidates like Kevin Hogan if the delving goes deep enough?

Yambaman gets caught out by a hoax

 

An email has been doing the rounds since at least March 2012.

 

Sometimes it is titled A Short Tony Abbott Resume, other times it's headed Who is Tony Abbott? and sometimes it has no title or tag at all.
 

Often it is attributed to author unknown and sometimes to a former Labor Leader of the Opposition Mark Latham.

 

It turns up in online forums, blog posts and even in one comment under a North Coast Voices post.

 

By unthinkingly putting the email on one particular forum alh helped him/herself along the way to a six day suspension.

This is what the real Mark Latham wrote about Abbott in the Financial Review on 11 October, 25 October and 20 December 2012:

* The pampered childhood, in which no boundaries were placed on young Tony’s adventurism. His time at Sydney University hectoring lesbians and vandalising public property in the name of conservatism. His struggles as a trainee priest in conforming to the vows of celibacy and the culture of St Patrick’s seminary. Then his turbulent period in the early 1990s, ostensibly working for the Liberal leader, John Hewson, but acting as an agent for John Howard....Under his leadership, we are witnessing the moral decline of Australian conservatism.

* My theory on Abbott is that he is a habitual exaggerator, an attention seeker who will say or do anything to inflate the perceived sins of his opponents.

* Tony Abbott is a flawed character, a habitual exaggerator, deeply unpopular with the Australian people. There is no surging public sentiment to make him prime minister.

 

However, Yambaman obviously didn't check the email, was caught by the hoax and eagerly posted it at Topstocks:

 

3 Grade(s)Awarded yambaman One for the Abott haters 2013-01-10 08:35:38 Forum: Politics Post #875242 Read: 594 times IP Address 124.171.xxx.160

By Mark LATHAM, Former Leader of ALP. Just for IgnorAnt and MH. Overheard last week: "It's such a shame there isn't someone other than Tony Abbott as alternative Prime Minister. We think the Gillard government is bad for the country, but it would be better if we had another Opposition leader to vote for." It caused me to ask why that view might exist given Abbott's background, and I wondered if it might be that people do not know his history. So, I have put together some information which might help get a better understanding of the man. Abbott graduated from the University of Sydney with degrees in Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and Bachelor of Economics (BEc). Then he became a Rhodes Scholar at Queens College Oxford UK in Politics and Philosophy. He also won a boxing blue at Oxford. He married Margaret in 1987 and has three daughters. He is a member of the congregation of the Catholic Church. He was involved in student politics, but beyond that, biographer Michael Duffy, wrote that during his student days he "........saved a child who was swept out to sea. Another time, he helped save children from a burning house next to a pub where he was drinking. On each occasion he disappeared before he could be properly thanked". He is a member of Manly's Queenscliffe SLSC, and a member of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, both of which he joined before it was politically expedient to do so. He spent several weeks teaching in remote Aboriginal settlements in Cape York in an effort 'to familiarise himself with indigenous issues'. If you are wondering where some of the negativity attributed to Tony Abbott comes from, go on to the Net and have a look at the comments which followed, 2 years ago, when he was asked by the Women's Weekly "What advice would you give your three daughters on sex before marriage?" He told the magazine: "I would say to my daughters, if they were to ask me this question .... it is the greatest gift you can give someone, the ultimate gift of giving and don't give it up to someone lightly." Yet, if you were to read many of the comments on the Internet and the print media at the time, you could be forgiven for thinking he was attempting to impose his will on all females in Australia, had ranted against women, had argued for Muslim like chastity, and so on..... See for yourself - Google it! Gillard's response was to accuse Abbott of "lecturing women"??? I have also included a video of Abbott where he commented on, in what seems to me to be quite a balanced fashion, "climate change" yet the title of the video suggests he has been extreme in "denying climate change and advocating carbon tax". See what you think. http://youtu.be/oPpQisoZqx4 Then have a look at the longer interview from which this original excerpt was taken http://youtu.be/ZoCKhNr8Atk. Abbott has had a history of being told by 'ABC types' that he lacks compassion, does not understand homosexuality or homosexuals, avoids situations where he might need to face up to gay relationships, and so on. Again, because he was not prepared to reveal personal issues of others (ethics, principles?), he did not speak about his own sister's lesbian relationship and the part he played in supporting her. It would have been an easy defence for him, but in line with his principles and values, he chose not to use it. Granted, he is not a super smooth, off the cuff speaker, and does not fit the orator mould. But when he is compared to the glib tongues and untrustworthiness of Gillard, Rudd, Swan, etc., it is not difficult to determine which attributes are more important for the leadership of Australia. After Abbott completed his studies, he became a journalist for The Bulletin and also the Australian. For a time he was plant manager for Pioneer Concrete, then became press secretary for the then Opposition Leader, Dr John Hewson. He was elected to Parliament in 1994 at a bi-election. He has held various Ministerial posts and his actions in those roles are a matter of public record . His work ethic is unquestioned. He was dismayed at the policies of former leader Malcolm Turnbull relating to ETS, and following widespread disaffection with Turnbull's stance among Liberal Party members, threw his hat into the ring, as did Joe Hockey, for leadership of the Liberal Party. Abbott was successful. At the time, the polls were running strongly against the Liberal Party (in the 40% approval range), while Kevin Rudd enjoyed figures around 60%. Within a short space of time, with Abbott as leader, those figures changed to such a degree that Rudd was replaced in the now infamous "faceless men" coup which installed Gillard. Since that time, Abbott has maintained constant focus on the ever widening circle of disasters associated with the Gillard government to the stage where support for that government now hovers around the 30% mark. Abbott, strikes me as a person of integrity, he has values in which I too believe, and ethics based on his Christian beliefs. I would much rather place my trust in someone who, in his actions, has shown he is what he says, rather than someone who will say anything to gain a prospective advantage for themselves. ------------------------------------------------ Now what do you have to say to that IgnorAnt and MH, and please don't dismiss Latham as a loonie.

 

Glenugie Coal Seam Gas Protesters in Grafton Court

Eighteen persons charged with offences associated with the protest against Coal Seam Gas at the Glenugie site to the south of Grafton appeared in Grafton Local Court today. Pleas of not guilty were entered in relation to the vast majority of the charges.

Protester Benny Zable

It was somewhat ironic that an over-full court house necessitated about a dozen of the accused persons to be seated in the jury box. Supporters of the protesters packed the court room to the rafters; both the ground floor and upper level public galleries were chock-a-block with a crowd estimated to be about 100.

Magistrate David Heilpern ordered the prosecution to prepare briefs of evidence in relation to the accused persons by Monday 4th March and adjourned the matters until Monday 11th March at the Grafton Court when they will be listed for mention. The Magistrate excused those with legal representation from appearing in person on March 11th.

Most of the defendants' court appearances were relatively brief. However, two had somewhat lengthier appearances. 

John Wyborn, who appeared in custody as a consequence of refusing to sign bail forms, was released after Magistrate Heilpern acknowledged the protest site at Glenugie was no longer active and revised Wyborn's bail conditions.

Another protester Benny Zable, who represented himself, told the court the charges were lies and distortions and he had DVD evidence to support his claims. He told the court that he is a performance artist with performances existing on the world stage and the charges were damaging his work.

Magistrate Heilpern explained to Zable how he (Zable) could make representation to the police to have the charges against him dropped. However, Magistrate Heilpern advised Zable to obtain legal advice about taking that course of action and providing the DVD evidence to the prosecution because it could impact detrimentally on other matters associated with the protesters that are before the court.

Does the Grafton office of the NSW Environmental Protection Agency have poor communication skills or was it being obstructive?

 

In a letter to the editor published by The Daily Examiner on 12 January 2013 Michael Franklin of Glenugie complained:

As a local landowner and cattle producer located on the head of the Coldstream River, I have become concerned about CSG extraction. Albeit the current drilling process is downstream of my location, I consider it is relevant that I express my concerns with the current activities regarding CSG extraction in our local area, as I believe the drilling for CSG will expand in this area and eventually have a far greater impact on local landowners in the Clarence.

Recently I paid a visit to the Grafton EPA Office to source information and documented protocols that I assumed would be in place regarding CSG extraction. I was informed by the local EPA that CSG extraction was signed off in Sydney and that it has nothing to do with me. I was provided no information and left their office in total disbelief.

What government agency is overseeing the CSG extraction process?

And where do we as local landowners locate information regarding to our rights?

 

If Michael is correct in how he remembers his conversation with the Grafton office of the NSW Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), then that agency was less than forthcoming.

 

It would have cost local staff little in time or effort to point him in the direction of Metgasco’s 2010 REVIEW OF ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS – a public document which sets out the proposed exploration drilling program for PEL 426 and one which should be on record with the EPA as the Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services refers environmental impact assessments associated with CSG exploration to the EPA for comment.

 

In addition, under provisions of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act if Metgasco commences commercial production it will probably have to hold an environment protection licence which would be administered by the EPA.

EPA staff could also have referred Michael to the agency’s own coal seam gas webpage or the Department of Trade and Investment, Regional Infrastructure and Services.

Balfastards All!

People of the NSW Northern Rivers don't need any extra words to go with this pic - it shows BALFASTARDS ALL! 

A tick of approval for Northern Rivers folk

 
Letter to the Editor in The Daily Examiner  6 February 2013:

Thanks, Yamba

I would really appreciate if you would afford me a few lines to thank a few people in the Yamba area following an accident that my son, Charlie aged 10 years, suffered a couple of weeks ago.
My family and I first started coming to Yamba about 10 years ago.
At first it was just a stopover visit on the way to the Gold Coast but from the moment we stayed our first night in Yamba we knew that it was a special place that hopefully one day we could call home. We have been coming here for three weeks in January ever since, never missing a year. A recent bit of misfortune highlighted some of the reasons why we think this town is special and why we will keep coming back.
Our son Charlie, who is 10, was hit by a car after only a couple of days of being here on holiday in Yamba. He sustained a broken tibia and fibula in his right leg. He was immediately taken by ambulance to Maclean Hospital from where he was taken to Lismore Base Hospital for emergency surgery.
With Charlie not being able to travel back to our home town of Bourke after a couple of days at Lismore Hospital we returned to our holiday destination Yamba for the remainder of our holiday, with Charlie bedridden for the first week before being able to get about in a wheelchair.
The great work done by the local ambulance officers and police officers at the scene was terrific. The care and attention that we got from both Maclean and Lismore Hospital was exceptional. On returning to Yamba and where we were staying at the Moby Dick Resort, the managers Rod and Leanne and the owners, Russell and Belinda, have been nothing short of amazing with Charlie and all our efforts in looking after him.
Rodney and all his staff at BP servo and all shop owners as well as many locals have been very supportive; often going out of their way to help us and make Charlie's holiday enjoyable!
You have a very unique and friendly town with some VERY SPECIAL people in it. We look forward to many many more visits and one day a more permanent move from Bourke to Yamba.

Tanya Farrell

Bourke