Clarence Valley Council asked to explain its latest legal débâcle

In mid-November 2013 Clarence Valley Council General Manager Scott Greensill contacted The Daily Examiner to complain about a letter to the editor written by one John Catesby.

Heaven knows what he had to say about Mr. Catesby's latest letter (below) published on Page 8 of The Daily Examiner on 17 December 2013.

A letter  which had many Lower Clarence residents laughing into their morning coffees - because try as he might the general manager just can't silence debate on this issue and his attempts to control information to date have only resulted in an unleashing off the Streisand Effect.

Questions remain

The article in DEX (Wed 4.12.13) concerning the adjournment of the NSW Industrial Commission hearing of the unfair dismissal application by council's senior ranger against Clarence Valley Council is alarming.

Having dismissed the ranger more than 12 months ago; having engaged in protracted and no doubt very expensive legal process; and having subjected the ranger to what must have been enormous stress, humiliation, and embarrassment, Council has now decided to enter into "negotiations behind closed doors" rather than expose the findings of the Commission to the public.

As your editorial quite rightly suggests, the man's conduct and personal integrity remain in question. Worse, Council's actions could easily be interpreted as malicious, vindictive or incompetent. This is simply not acceptable. Justice has not been seen to be done.

Has this been an act of magnanimity by Council? Has it been an acknowledgment that perhaps the offence was not deserving of dismissal? Or is this an attempt to hide an incident created by a culture of threats and intimidation that has seriously backfired because one man had the courage to speak out?

There are just too many unanswered questions. Why did Council allow this to drag on for 12 months if this outcome appears now to have been not only possible but highly likely? Where did Council get its advice to dismiss the Ranger in the first instance and on what grounds? Who are the people in Council with the expertise in these areas and just what is this "expertise", because from where I stand it doesn't appear to be all that flash.

What is going on in this Council and, in particular, in Council's Industrial Relations and Legal Department? We ratepayers are entitled to the answers.

John Catesby

Maclean

2012-2013 crime statistics covering the NSW North Coast

NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research Media Release:

NSW Recorded Crime Statistics: September 2013 Quarterly Report

Click here for the full report (pdf, 1.1Mb)

Click here for Graph (Ten years of shooting offences in NSW, Oct 2003 to Sep 2013 (pdf, 63Kb)

Release date: Thursday, 5 December 2013

Statewide trends

All major categories of crime in NSW except one either fell or remained stable over the 24 months to September 2013, according to the latest quarterly crime report released today by the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research.

The exception involved fraud offences, which increased by 20.7 per cent. Compared with past years, failing to pay for petrol from service stations accounted for a small percentage (6%) of the total increase in fraud over the last 24 months. Most of the increase came from unauthorized use of credit cards and bank cards.

Eight of the major offences showed significant downward trends. These included non-domestic assault (down 3.8%), robbery without a weapon (down 8.0%), break and enter dwelling (down 6.7%), break and enter non-dwelling (down 7.7%), motor vehicle theft (down 11.2%), steal from motor vehicle (down 3.9%), steal from person (down 10.8%) and malicious damage to property (down 6.4%).

Shooting incidents have now returned to their long term average (see graph on reverse side of media release).

There were sizeable increases in a number of recorded drug possession offences, including possession of cocaine (up 45.3%), amphetamines (up 13.6%) and other drugs (up 23.2%). These increases may be due to more intensive law enforcement rather than increased drug use.

Regional trends

The Statistical Areas of Greater Sydney, Coffs Harbour-Grafton, Illawarra and Richmond-Tweed all experienced substantial increases in the number of fraud incidents over the last two years. Most other parts of regional NSW, however, experienced either stable or falling crime trends in most other categories of crime.

One notable exception to this was for the New England and North West Statistical Area, which experienced a 64 per cent increase in robbery with a weapon (other than a firearm).

The biggest problems within the Greater Sydney Area were fraud and stealing from a retail store. Double digit increases in fraud were recorded in nine out of the 15 Greater Sydney Statistical Areas and similar-sized increases in stealing from a retail store were recorded in five out of the 15 Greater Sydney Statistical Areas.

The only other noteworthy problems in the Greater Sydney Area were in Ryde (non-domestic assault up 28.8%), the Inner South West (sexual assault up 25.5%), the Inner West (indecent assault and related offences up 44.1%), the South West (indecent assault and related offences up 15.3%), Parramatta (robbery without a weapon up 23.8%) and Sutherland (break and enter dwelling up 15.8%).

Further enquiries: Dr Don Weatherburn (02) 9231-9190

Copies of the report: www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au

Click on images to enlarge

A cry for help from Brisbane suburbia

The Federal Liberal Member for Brisbane, Teresa Gambaro, is desperately in need of remedial lessons. Perhaps her colleague Christopher Pyne, Education Minister and Leader of the House, will provide her with the lessons she so desperately needs.

Evidence of Ms Gambaro's need for help is provided in her register of members' interests dated 9 December 2013.

1. For a while Ms Gambaro forgot her spouse has shares in Australian Pacific Coal Limited (AQC)

2. Ms Gambaro doesn't know a real lot about "residential" property or "jewellery".

 

Whale Wars: battle is about to be joined again in Antarctic waters

 Kyodo News 7 December 2013:

Japan's research whaling

Japanese research whaling ship the Yushin Maru leaves Shimonoseki port in Yamaguchi Prefecture on Dec. 7, 2013. Two Japanese whaling ships and a surveillance ship left the port the same day to join the mother vessel Nisshin Maru and hunt up to 935 Antarctic minke whales and up to 50 fin whales through March. (Kyodo)

The Sydney Morning Herald 8 December 2013:

Asked on Monday if Mr Hunt would send a Customs vessel to the Southern Ocean, a spokesman from his office said the Coalition had stated a commitment to monitoring whaling and that commitment stood.

He said beyond that commitment, the Coalition would not pre-empt nor discuss operational activities.

Business Insider 9 December 2013:

Japan plans to hunt 935 minke whales and 50 fin whales until about March.

There is still a question over whether Australia will send a surveillance vessel, as indicated by the Coalition during the election campaign.

The Southern Ocean patrol vessel, the ACV Ocean Protector, was reported to be near Christmas Island, a long way from the Antarctic.

ABC radio reports that Sea Shepherd’s chairman, former Greens leader Bob Brown, says:

“The Minister for the Environment Greg Hunt promised in May this year in the run to the election that if the Japanese whaling ships went south there’d be Customs vessels from Australia going south. So we need to hear from the Prime Minister that that promise to the Australian people will be kept.”

Sea Shepherd Australia 18 December 2013:

This morning friends, family and supporters gathered at Sea Shepherd Australia’s Operations Base in Williamstown, and at Elizabeth Street Pier in Hobart to bid a fond farewell to crews of The Steve Irwin, The Sam Simon and The Bob Barker as the ships depart for Sea Shepherd’s tenth Antarctic Defence Campaign, Operation Relentless.

Last year, the Sea Shepherd Fleet was successful in shutting down the poaching operations of the Japanese whaling fleet, saving the lives of 932 whales. In the nine previous Antarctic Whale Defence Campaigns, Sea Shepherd has saved over 4,500 protected whales from illegal slaughter.

Quote of the Week

Holden told the commission it cost twice as much to make a car in Australia as in Europe, and four times as much as in Asia.

Holden never needed to close that gap. The deal it had struck with the Gillard government (that the Abbott government reneged on) wouldn't have closed the gap, but it would have closed it somewhat, enough to make it worth staying. [Peter Martin,The Sydney Morning Herald,15 December 2013]

Canberra Times caught out in historical error

This was the Canberra Times boast on 22 November 2013:

Canberra learned of the assassination of US president John F. Kennedy exactly 50 years ago - after a whole edition of The Canberra Times was overhauled and reprinted in the early hours of what otherwise would have been an unremarkable Saturday.

It was the only newspaper in Australia to report the story on November 23, 1963. Journalists and printers were called back to work when a taxi driver happened to ask editor David Bowman for news of the 46-year-old leader's possible assassination in Texas.

The boast was duly reported in the December 2013 Australian Newspaper History Group [ANHG] newsletter:

75.4.11 Reporting the assassination of JFK

A whole edition of the Canberra Times was overhauled and reprinted in the early hours of Saturday, 23 November 1963. The Canberra Times has claimed (22 November 2013) it was the only newspaper in Australia to report that day the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy. Journalists and printers were called back to work at the Canberra Times when a taxi driver happened to ask editor David Bowman for news of the 46-year-old leader’s possible assassination in Texas. Just hours before, Kennedy’s motorcade had flashed past huge crowds in downtown Dallas and into the range of assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, perched on the sixth floor of the Texas School Book Depository.

Ian Mathews, a subeditor at the newspaper in 1963 and later the editor-in-chief, said: “The print run at the Mort Street office and printery would have been about 2am or 3am … The main body of printers, apart from those who had headed home, gathered in the bindery for their ritual Friday night-Saturday morning poker game.” The news was reported just after 4.30am, prompting only momentary shock from Bowman and chief subeditor Frank Hamilton who snapped to action. ‘‘The radio was switched on; AAP, who supplied the newspaper with foreign news, was called; the single teleprinter was turned on again. And the news began to flow,’’ Mathews said. ‘‘To print a new edition Bowman needed printers and he found them playing poker. On any other night it would have been different.’’

Returning for a shift on the subeditors’ desk on Sunday afternoon, Mathews helped fit news of the tragedy into a Monday edition, alongside weekly fixtures including local sport results and the television guide. ‘‘As usual we ran late. This was fortunate because just after 3.30am Canberra time, [nightclub owner] Jack Ruby shot Harvey Oswald – and once again we rushed to produce a second edition,’’ he said. [Trove does not have the second edition of the Canberra Times of 23 November 1963.]

Then the letters began to arrive at ANHG and according to Rod Kirkpatrick the boast was shot down in flames:

Ken Sanz wrote: 

I am glad you used the word “claimed” in the Canberra Times article on the death of JF Kennedy, and being the only paper printed with this news on Saturday.

It may have been the only morning newspaper to print this, but it was not the only paper to print this news on the Saturday 23 November 1963. Both the Daily Mirror and The Sun usually went out at 10am each Saturday. Admittedly they were only 16 pages tabloid, but on this day they produced their first editions at 9 a.m. and followed this during the day!

My source for this is my memory because I was there as an apprentice for the Sun-Herald and when I arrived at 8 a.m. the Sun compositors and editorial were already on duty and rushing about to get the paper out early to beat The Daily Mirror. I checked this with Gavin Souter’s “Company of Heralds” page 523.

I also suspect that the Saturday early editions of the Saturday night and Sunday newspapers also printed on Saturday from before 6 pm of this news for country readers.

Kim Lockwood wrote: 

Meanwhile, the Canberra Times cannot be allowed to get away with its claim that it was "the only newspaper in Australia to report that day [22/11/63] the assassination of US President John F. Kennedy".

I know for a fact the Melbourne Sun News-Pictorial put out a late edition, having recalled several staff from home. And what does the Times have to say about the afternoon papers across the country (Saturday afternoon papers were still printed in the capitals)? The Herald, Melbourne, splashed with two decks on the front:

PRES KENNEDY

ASSASSINATED

Others did something similar.