Racial profiling in the Northern Rivers - an unpleasant odour lingers in APN media

It is less than two months since the unlamented departure of Peter Chapman from the editorial helm of The Daily Examiner, so it is perhaps overly optimistic to expect all the bad journalistic habits he fostered with such relish to have disappeared into thin air.

However, it is more than unfortunate that one bad habit which appears to linger is a tendency to report the racial characteristics of persons accused of a crime.

Last Saturday an individual before the court accused of aggravated sexual assault, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and related charges was described in The Daily Examiner's lead story as Caucasian in appearance.

What alleged racial appearance has to do with such a crime remains a mystery to me and can only be considered a gratuitous mention that this newspaper would be better served by deleting from future editions.

It's been 70 days since an uncontrolled toxic oil leak began from the Montara rig in the Timor Sea

Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Thailand’s PTT Exploration & Production Pcl delayed a fourth attempt due today to plug an Australian well that may have spewed 27,000 barrels of oil into areas inhabited by dolphins, sea turtles and humpback whales.
“We’ve got an environmental disaster unfolding,” Gilly Llewellyn, Sydney-based conservation manager at WWF-Australia, said by telephone today. Dolphins, birds, sea snakes and other marine life have been seen swimming in a slick from the field off the northwestern coast, the group said in an Oct. 23 report.
PTTEP, Thailand’s only publicly traded oil explorer, has failed in three attempts to plug the leak that started Aug. 21. It has estimated the well has been spilling 300 to 400 barrels of oil a day into the Timor Sea. The Australian resources and energy department’s estimate is “in line” with that, said Michael Bradley, spokesman for Energy Minister Martin Ferguson.

Bangkok-based PTTEP said today a bid to intercept a 25 centimeter diameter steel well casing 2,600 meters (1.6 miles) below the seabed was now likely later in the week, after drilling equipment became stuck on Oct. 24 and caused a delay. On Oct. 25, PTTEP said it planned to make the attempt today.
The Thai company met yesterday with rival oil companies in a bid to find a way to stem the Montara field leak, the Perth-based West Australian reported, without citing anyone. Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Apache Corp. and Texan oil-well firefighting specialist Boots & Coots, were among those at the meeting, the paper said. Woodside offered in late August rigs, boats and experts to assist PTTEP.

Times Online slide show of oil spill

A question for Not Evil Just Wrong: where exactly are are the 31,000 scientists who say there is no climate change crisis?

Not Evil Just Wrong (NEJW) is a documentary on DVD allegedly revealing the dangers of global warming hysteria.

These dangers apparently being clearly seen by 31,000 scientists around the world if the Internet promotion is to be believed and, presumably these so-called scientists are the same grab bag of signatories to the old, discredited Global Warming Petition Project.

In an effort to lay the astroturf wall-to-wall the promoter/s of this documentary are paying AU$5 to certain blogs featuring the NEJW flashing badge.
Even the Australian Libertarian Society blog is bragging about getting a slice of the profits to promote freedom in Australia.

Tiffany McElhany is the front person in this film and is described on the associated website as a mother and wife, living in Vevay, Indiana. Tiffany's husband, Tim works in a local plant making mufflers for Toyota and, Fred Singer is listed also as a contributor to the site along with a number of other climate change denial supporters.

However, what was a surprise is to find James E. Hansen listed as a contributor to this anti-Gore, anti-global warming website.

Now Dr. Hansen is almost as far from a climate change denialist as one could get (as his April 2009 draft letter to the Australian Government demonstrates) and, is committed to the idea of mitigation measures.
To make it quite clear this is what Dr. Hansen stated in The Sword of Damocles:

Over a year ago I wrote to Prime Minister Brown asking him to place a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants in Britain. I have asked the same of Angela Merkel, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd and other world leaders. The reason is this – coal is the single greatest threat to civilization and all life on our planet. Our global climate is nearing tipping points. Changes are beginning to appear, and there is a potential for explosive changes with effects that would be irreversible – if we do not rapidly slow fossil fuel emissions over the next few decades.

So what on earth is he doing on the very short list of NEJW website contributors and, what is environmental activist Ed Begley Jnr doing up there along with him when as late as the time of writing this post Begley was not lisitng NEJW as a group he was associated with?

Uh oh...........seems like the NEJW group have a lot more questions to answer than those it raises in its own documentary.

Death took a national half-holiday in Australia in 2007 but not on the NSW North Coast. Make a memo, Premier Rees & Health Minister Tebutt

While you and your ministers are riding your party towards factional ruin, Premier Rees, please spare a thought for the fact that NSW Government health policy is also shuffling our family members off this mortal coil faster than we would like here on the NSW North Coast.
Nationally it seems that for every birth around two minutes later there's a death, but I remember some years where total births and deaths were running neck and neck in places like the Clarence Valley, so I expect that the North Coast has a higher number of older people than many other parts of the state and therefore we might expect some differences to show.
However I have to class it as passing strange that.......
In 2007 when the nation was enjoying longer life expectancy and a decline in the crude death rate with record low numbers for three years in a row, the Clarence Valley's death rate rose to 476 souls out of a population of about 50,542, taking it above the national standardised death rate.
Deaths also rose in the Byron, Coffs Harbour, Richmond Valley, Tweed and Kyogle areas.
That's more people falling off the perch in 6 out of 8 North Coast council areas than had died in the previous year according to this ABS spread sheet.
Not something to be proud of Premier, when your North Coast Area Health Service had been relentlessly cost-cutting and downsizing over those very same years.
From what I can gather, the national death rate is on the increase once again this year and (along with the fact that lower socio-economic status means worse health outcomes and this region certainly has more people per capita on low incomes than the big cities) that doesn't bode well for our local communities.
Now The Daily Examiner tells us that Maclean District Hospital right in the middle of a retiree belt has just lost 6 more beds reducing overall bed numbers to 36 beds:
"The surge model allows beds to be closed during periods of low demand and reopened when needed.
But the doctor said that was not how the system was working last week, the problem being that the staff needed to attend those six beds were not rostered on and therefore the beds could not be used.
"We've always understood that surge beds could be subject to open time to time but on Friday we were told they were gone forever and we should consider ourselves a 36-bed hospital," the doctor said.
While he acknowledged the hospital had a high number of spare beds for a couple of days, he said that was part of the normal turnaround and patient numbers could fluctuate greatly.
Even still, he said the 11 spare beds was an exception and usually the hospital was full.
He said Maclean was an area experiencing significant population growth and the hospital needed more beds, not less, and the real motivation behind the move was to cut staff.
While that may be okay for a large hospital, for a small community hospital it was deadly, he said.
"We're operating on a skeleton crew as it is and it's dangerous. We've already been cut to the bone - we don't have any fat left to cut," he said.
He said he was only speaking out because he was angry cost-cutting was being put before the needs of patients and the community.
"We are there to service the community and how can we do that when we are turning people away?"
Not a great position to be in, Premier, and one that's getting many of us a bit hot under the collar up here on the NSW North Coast and just itching to front a polling booth.

"Managing our coastal zone in a changing climate: the time to act is now" - October 2009 report to Australian Parliament [full report download]

This morning the Australian media has picked up on the threat to coastal communities of rising sea levels and climate change generally, as set out in an October 2009 final report to the Australian Parliament's House Standing Committee on Climate Change, Water, Environment and the Arts.

This report makes forty-seven recommendations which clearly show that Australia is underprepared to deal with; a) natural disasters resulting from climate change-induced adverse weather events; b) continual sand/land erosion: c) widespread seawater inundation of urban areas; d) sustained flood events; e) mass evacuation of populations; f) contamination of water supplies; g) private and public insurance risks; h) loss of coastal land value and potential no-go zones for human occupation; i) inadequate building codes; j) biodiversity degradation; k) loss of indigenous heritage sites and l) loss of large offshore islands/territory.

Essentially these problems are well-known to all tiers of government, as there have been a number of previous climate change impact assessment reports containing recommendations which for the main have languished on departmental desks for want of political nerve.
The level of inaction at state and local government levels (both of which have direct responsibility for coastal land and how it is used) is quite frankly astounding at times.

Shire councils such as Clarence Valley Council continue to support large-scale unsustainable development proposals, like the move to place over 2,000 extra residents on flood-prone land in the Clarence River estuary which is already beginning to feel the first effects of climate change.

State Governments such as the NSW Rees Government actively encourage this global warming myopia, create coastal policy documents with the aim of transferring liability while still allowing development and fail to move decisively against such inappropriate development as the West Yamba proposal currently before its Planning Minister, Kristina Keneally.

Download Managing our coastal zone in a changing climate: the time to act is now:

Single chapter version downloads

Consolidated version download (PDF 5.3 MB)

Update:

Clarence Valley coastal zone has worst erosion in decades this year

North Coast businesses on NSW Food Authorities Name and Shame List

The NSW Food Authority publishes lists of businesses that have breached or are alleged to have breached NSW food safety laws.

The lists gives consumers more information to make decisions about where they eat or buy food.

Individuals and businesses may receive either a penalty notice for their alleged offence or be prosecuted before a court.

These North Coast businesses are on the list.

* ASIAN FEAST 45/95 DIADEM ST LISMORE 2480
(8/12/2008) Fail to display potentially hazardous food under temperature control - hot food displayed below 49C, and staff did not check temperatures Penalty $330.00

* BARAKA FOODS 71 BANKSIA DRIVE BYRON BAY 2481
(10/12/2008) Did operate a food business without a license - manufacture of cheese Penalty $660.00

* BLUE SEAS BAKERY 212 RIVER STREET BALLINA 2478
(20/11/2008) Fail to maintain food premises, fixtures, fittings, equipment in a good state of repair and working order having regard to their use - coolroom door, coolroom door seal, and conveyor belt of dough rolling machine in state of disrepair Penalty $330.00

* CURRY & KEBAB KING SHOP 2/164 CANTERBURY STREET CASINO 2470 (25/2/2009) Fail to take all practicable measures to eradicate and prevent the harbourage of pests - A cockroach infestation was observed on the premises Penalty $330.00

* GOURMET GENIE 60 CULLEN STREET NIMBIN 2480
(25/11/2008) Failed to display for sale potentially hazardous foods under temperature control - Lasagne had a core temperature of 35C and no thermometer present on the premises Penalty $330.00

* HENRY'S BAKERY 87 KEEN STREET LISMORE 2480 (25/8/2009) Sale of unsuitable food - rodent bait pellet found baked into bread, open pellets observed in foil trays near baking trays Penalty $1100.00

* IN THE PINK BYRON BAY GELATI COMPANY 1/76 BALLINA STREET LENNOX HEAD 2478
(30/10/2008) Fail to maintain food premises and equipment in a clean condition Penalty $330.00

* JITTERBUGS TAKEAWAY 40 ADAMS STREET CORAKI 2471
(4/3/2009) Food for sale past its use-by date Penalty $330.00

* NOODLE BOX 2/38 BALLINA ROAD LISMORE 2480
(24/4/2009) Permitted a live animal in food handling areas, other than seafood or other fish or shellfish - a small dog was permitted in the front and kitchen areas Penalty $660.00

* NORTH COAST MINI MART 99 QUEENSLAND ROAD CASINO 2470
(14/1/2009) Fail to maintain food premises to the required standard of cleanliness - There was an accumulation of food waste, grease and grime on walls, floors, and ceilings Penalty $330.00

* PIONEER TAVERN 53 SIMPSON AVE WOLLONGBAR
(28/10/2008) Fail to take all practicable measures to eradicate and prevent the harbourage of pests on the food premises - damaged back door and evidence of pest activity Penalty $660.00

* RAINBOW SEAFOOD 8 JONSON STREET BYRON BAY 2481
(4/3/2009) Fail to display potentially hazardous food under temperature control - fish displayed at a temperature of 12C Penalty $330.00

* RAINBOW SEAFOOD 8 JONSON STREET BYRON BAY 2481
(4/3/2009) Fail to ensure that persons undertaking or supervising food handling have necessary skills and knowledge Penalty $330.00

* SEDGERS REEF HOTEL BISTRO 74/80 QUEEN ST ILUKA 2466
(3/10/2008) Fail to maintain fixtures and fittings in a clean condition - accumulation of food, grease, cockroaches Penalty $330.00

* SOPHIES RESTAURANT (THE CECIL HOTEL) 100 CENTRE ST CASINO 2470 (14/10/2008) Fail to take all practicable measures to eradicate and prevent the harbourage of pests on the food premises - mice droppings found and blow flies present Penalty $660.00

* TRIDENT FISH BAR PACIFIC HWY BALLINA 2478
(16/7/2008) Fail to maintain food premises in a clean condition - unclean walls, display cabinet and exhaust canopy Penalty $330.00

* WOODBURN EVANS HEAD RSL 11-13 MCDONALD PLACE EVANS HEAD 2473 (4/8/2009) Fail to maintain easily accessible hand washing facilities on the food premises - handwash basin obstructed by a bucket in the basin and a garbage bin in front Penalty $660.00

* ZHEN ZHEN VAN LOI HOT BREAD 167 RIVER STREET BALLINA 2478
(14/11/2008) A person must not sell food that is unsuitable - A loaf of bread sold contained a cockroach Penalty $550.00

NSW Electoral Commission changes its mind and Page electorate loses voter numbers

From a 23 October 2009 Australian Electoral Commission media release:

The augmented Electoral Commission for New South Wales today announced the outcome of the deliberations on the boundaries and names of the 48 federal electoral divisions in New South Wales, in accordance with a requirement of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918.
The presiding member of the augmented Electoral Commission for New South Wales, the Hon. Peter Heerey QC, said that it had adopted the proposal of the Redistribution Committee for New South Wales, published on 7 August 2009, with some changes.
The augmented Electoral Commission considers that its proposal is not significantly different from that proposed by the Redistribution Committee. Therefore, a further objection period and further hearing are not required.
The formal determination of the boundaries and names of the electoral divisions will be gazetted on 22 December 2009.

This means that the NSW North Coast Page electorate currently held by Federal Labor MP, Janelle Saffin, will shrink back from its originally proposed new boundaries.

The Poll Bludger gives more details in the post Redraw redrawn.

Click on map to enlarge