Clarence Valley Council Mayor yet to explain why he consented to award Honorary Clarence Valley Ambassador to an individual who was the subject of adverse findings in a Casino Control Authority Inquiry

Excerpts from NSW Casino Control Authority Report of Public Inquiry December 1994 pertaining to Wallace “Wal” King the current Honorary Clarence Valley Ambassador 2013:

Background:

Mayor circles wagons around 2013 Clarence Valley Ambassador Wal King

Has the shine gone off the Abbott Government so quickly?

Elected on 7 September 2013 and sworn in ten days later, the Abbott Government should still have been enjoying a political honeymoon in October.....it isn't.

Excerpts from Essential Report 9 October 2013:

:

Not happy, Minister Macfarlane!

ECHO NETDAILY 7 October 2013:

Metgasco back for revenge

Like the Black Death, Metgasco is returning to our region to teach us tree-hugging anarchists who is boss.

Still smarting from its last attempts to force coal seam gas on an unwilling population, the company is back for revenge and this time they have support.

Deep inside the führerbunker in Canberra, plans are afoot to bring us into line. We must learn that important decisions are not ours to make.

Our opinions don’t count and nor does our vote. We must learn to keep our place in the pyramid of life and accept our position as the substrata upon which more important people stand.

Imaging we have the brains to understand complex things like fracking is ridiculous. Likewise, it is folly to think we have the right to interfere with the massive, short-term gains that will be made at our expense.

Neither the government nor their corporate bum-buddies are accountable to us (or anyone) and all this talk of democracy was never intended to be taken seriously.

Letting us vote every three years while keeping us inoculated in the meantime on a healthy dose of recreational pursuits is a blessing.

We should all be grateful to have flat-screen TVs and a cold tinny to keep us happy.

When the Black Death returns, sorry Metgasco, we will be reminded that war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.

Medieval Europe eventually realised the plague was carried by rats, yet in the modern age we are rapidly learning such calamities can be transmitted by other means.

In this brave new corporate age, environmental disasters are born of silence and compliance.

R J Poole, Lismore

Yamba Triathlon Festival 2013 - Day 2 on 12 October in pictures

A brief look at a wonderful day for competitors and spectators alike. 

From the camera of Vicki James......

Just short of 550 competitors took part in the Yamba Triathlon at the weekend and CEO of Elite Energy Mark Emerton said they'd be back for more next year.... the organiser said Yamba was the "perfect place for an event like this". With a boost to the local economy and another event to add to the yearly calendar, the Yamba triathlon is here to stay..... Mark Emerton said he was overwhelmed by how much support both the event and the competitors received. "All the little cafes had posters in their windows," Emerton said. "And then when we went through Wooloweyah, people were all out on the picnic tables to show their support. "That is the sort of stuff that really makes an event. "The athletes are happy, the community was patient, and that just makes it all work well." [The Daily Examiner 14 October 2013]

Coalition members have nothing to crow about

The next time Coalition members go sounding off about education standards in Australia they might do well to stop and have a good close look at themselves.

An examination of Members' interest statements is quite enlightening.

Here are some samples of the work of Coalition members Christopher Pyne, Julie Bishop, Greg Hunt, Ian Macfarlane, Teresa Gambaro, Warren Entsch and Alex Hawke.

 Spot the school boy/girl howlers.

Prime Minister Abbott decides to second guess the court and medical profession

  

The Telegraph on 4 October 2013 reported that Prime Minister Tony Abbott has decided to second guess the court and the medical profession with regard to an itinerant Australian citizen with a serious psychiatric disability:

Mr Abbott yesterday said government had to keep working with people to determine if they had some capacity to return to work.

He said he would seek advice on the case of Leon Ahern who won a case in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to keep receiving the pension indefinitely while on spiritual retreat in India.

Details of Mr Ahern's case were revealed by News Corp Australia this week.

The tribunal decided India "was home" to Mr Ahern who said attending spiritual teachings of Brahma Kumaris had allowed him to manage his schizophrenia.

He was permitted to claim the DSP indefinitely while living in India instead of being subject to a 13 week limit on claiming pensions while overseas.

"The question here is, is this guy legitimately entitled to a pension and he has got to be seriously incapacitated and that's the issue I think ought to be looked at here," Mr Abbott said....