Talking of trees and local councils......

The perennial arbor fight between residents and council workers continues as this report from The Daily Examiner online 22 February 2010 indicates:

CLARENCE Valley Council stirred up a hornet's nest when its workers removed a 15-year-old flame tree from outside Matt Clark's Bacon Street residence last week. Mr Clark, a National Parks and Wildlife Service ranger and an acknowledged expert in the identification and propagation of native flora, is furious with the council over what he says is a stupid decision that flouts council regulations and due process.

My sympathies are with Matt Clark as I have seen the former Maclean Shire Council insist that two mature trees (not blocking the footpath or invading drains and definitely not impeding overhead powerlines of which there were none or impacting on visibility for passing motorists) be removed from a property/footpath boundary of an elderly neighbour - only to have the same council return two to three years later and plant other trees on the footpath as part of a street tree planting program. Those two new trees of course did not thrive and later died so that section of the street remains treeless to this day.

The Daily Examiner is to be congratulated for bringing this attitude to street trees to the forefront.

Stat dec to Clarence Council published in that newspaper.

(This is an accurate account of a conversation between George Nowak CVC, and myself on the 27th August 2009, transcribed on the afternoon of his departure & the following morning, without embellishment or fabrication. This is my statement for a statutory declaration I am providing Mr Nowak's supervisor).

Sometime in late July 2009 during roadworks on corner of Villiers & Bacon St, a CVC employee noticed the street trees outside my house. George Nowak subsequently telephoned me on 26 August & left a message identifying himself and said "I need to organise a meeting with you about your house at 78 Bacon St". He then visited me at home on the afternoon of 27 August 2009. He commenced the conversation by saying: "Those trees out the front, they've got to go."

I said "Why? It's a nature strip isn't it? Trees are part of nature & they provide food and habitat for all the birds around here."

He said "They're not approved by council, you shouldn't have planted them".

I replied "well since the council leaves it to the residents to maintain, this is how I choose to maintain it. It's better than mowing it."

He talked on about that area being Council land and I shouldn't have planted the trees.

I responded that at least one, possibly two were planted by CVC about 15 years ago, just like all the others up & down the street. I only bought the place in November 2006, complete with Council certification, and the trees beautify the area which was one of the attractions for me buying the place, so it's a bit late now."

He replied "They're impeding the drainage. They've got to go."
I said "I don't know who told you that George, but that's not correct, they're not a problem". He then repeated his claim about the drainage and added "we need to get a machine in there to clean the drains out."
I said "the drain is only a foot wide, you can do that with a shovel."
He said "no-one cleans drains with a shovel anymore. It has to drain from the street. We have to use a machine"
I said "Well I do, I've been cleaning it out with a shovel since I've lived here. I make sure the drains aren't blocked, the water flows, and any ponding at the culverts here is no worse than any ponding anywhere else in the street – come around after rain and see for yourself if you want to claims like that. Have you ever been here after rain? And anyway, Council's done no maintenance on the drains here for at least 15 years, they don't to, because they work perfectly."

I went on to say "How about this, as long as I own this place, I undertake to keep the drains clear and flowing." [which I have done]

Mr Nowak then said "They're going to grow into the powerlines."
I replied, "No they're not, let's go down and have a look."
He pointed to a number of trees, saying "those ones have got to go, you shouldn't have planted them".
I said "I didn't plant them, look at the size of them, I've only been here about two and a half years, some of them would have to be 10 years old. I admit, I wouldn't have planted that one in that spot, but it doesn't affect the drainage, and it's not going to grow into the powerlines. It's a Tristianopsis laurina or water gum – but it's not a gum tree." Then I added, "In the Newcastle City Council area, where I used to work, they actually plant them as street trees now, because they found they only need to be lopped or pruned once and they change their shape forever. They're actually great for under the lines. We did some planting for them back in the mid-90s"
He then pointed at 2 others and said "that's a Tuckeroo and that's a lilly-pilly, they've got to go, they'll both grow into the lines."
I replied, "No George, you're wrong on both counts – that one's Arytera divaricata, common name Coogera; and that one's Cryptocarya laevigata or glossy laurel. I selected them because they're both small, bird-dispersed local rainforest trees that will never reach the lines. This is the sort of trees that everyone should be planting to help beat the bird-dispersed weed problems like we've got on Susan Island. This is what you guys at Council should be doing everywhere around town, not planting weeds like that one over there." [being golden rain tree – Koelreuteria elegans].
He said "Cryptocarya laevigata. That's one of the ones they recommend to plant as replacements for camphor laurel."
I said "do you mean that species list in the camphor laurel control kit?
He said "yes"
I said "Well, I wrote that. There's actually several species of Cryptocarya, and that is the smallest of them. The only similarity it has is that it produces fruit for birds." I showed him a nearby tuckeroo (planted prior to my purchase of the property), and said "this is a Tuckeroo, see the difference? There's actually two Tuckeroos here, I'll take both of them out, as well as all those two (pointing to Alectryon coriaceus) they're all coastal species, I wouldn't have planted them here." He asked what species a few of the others were, and I agreed that only one (Livistonia australis – cabbage tree palm, offset from the lines by 2m) might have the potential to get that big. I then said, "but even if that were to happen George, we won't have to worry about it cause it will take about 50 years, it's the slowest growing one of the lot. I actually planted that one, not just because it's a local fruiting species for the birds and the flying foxes, but because the drunks had ripped out some by the roots a few times & I thought if they wanted to rip that one out in the dark, it' will fight back. Just a way of protecting them from vandals."

I then explained to him that contractors from Asplundh (a vegetation management company contracted by Country Energy) were here only 2 weeks ago, and we inspected the plantings together, and I asked their opinion. They made it quite clear that they didn't think they were a problem, and even added comments along the lines of "we're not worried about those, and even if they're going to be a problem, they've got a long way to go yet and they're pretty slow growing. We'll be coming around each year anyway. Country Energy has contract with us to maintain the lines." I then said, "it doesn't even sound like its Council's problem to me. Country Energy pays these people to do it, and as far as they're concerned it's not a problem. They even delivered all that woodchip mulch for free [about 1 tonne] a couple of days after their inspection!"

Despite that, Mr Nowak then said, "Well I wouldn't like you to come home and find all your trees gone."
I replied "That should never happen George. I doubt they'll ever be a problem, but anyway, if it keeps you happy, just like the drains, I undertake to maintain all of these trees while ever I own this place to make sure they don't foul the lines."

After further brief conversation I added "I know trees. I chose them because they're local species & because of their characteristics. They're not a problem." I then asked him "what about the Koelreuteria over there? The golden rain trees that Council planted, they're one of the weediest species around and have been on the national weed Red Alert list for at least 15 years. When are you going to take them out? I get hundreds come up in my yard each year, and so does everybody else around here. It's about time you removed them isn't it?"
He replied "we've got other weed priorities."

Mr Nowak then said, "And what about the parking? You've lost a parking space."
I said "well, that's my problem, I'm not worried about it, there's still plenty of parking around here – enough for 4-5 cars and that is only one parking space. Like I said, there were already plenty of trees here when I bought the place. No-one's parked there for 10 years."

Mr Nowak then said, "And then there's the issue of pedestrian safety." (!!!!!)
I said "Interesting that you should mention that George, because one of the reasons I planted these two here & that Lomandra is because a friend who came around to visit me nearly broke his leg when he stepped off the side into that drain just on dark one time. It's a two foot drop! I thought if I planted these things here, that would never happen again, so don't talk to me about pedestrian safety when there's no footpath, and no street lights on this side of the street. That's ridiculous!"
He said "no, safety for people walking past."
I said "what do you mean?"
He said, "Assaults. We had an incident in a South Grafton street recently where someone was hiding in the bushes and ambushed a pedestrian."
I replied, "Well, streetlights would fix that."
He said, "No it happened in broad daylight. Someone could hide in there."
I said, "If someone wanted to do that, there's plenty of other places they can hide around here. I think you're clutching at straws."

After further brief discussion I promised to "thin them out, and take all the coastal stuff." Within thirty minutes of Mr Novak's departure, I had removed 5 trees (3 tuckeroos & 2 beach birds eyes), as well as pruned the Lomandra back to ground level. I never heard from Mr Novak again, and naturally assumed he had been satisfied with the work I completed, as we agreed.

Graphic from Google Images

Tall tales and true from the legendary Land of the Free and Home of the Brave - litigation gone wild

It has to be true if Justia lists it on the U.S. court dockets - this month an obviously intelligent, articulate American woman living in an extended-stay hotel and who does not appear to be currently employed is suing the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Affiliates, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense, Pentagon, Barrack Obama, Michelle Obama, Office of Inspector General, Federal Reserve Board, United States Congress, George Bush, Jr., Laura Bush, Joshua Bolten and Police and Trooper Departments of the United States in a civil rights application over what she insists is the overuse of virtual technology to access living beings, as well personal harassment by littering, being video monitored at the direction of a government agency etc., and is seeking $950 trillion in damages.

Unfortunately I haven't access to Pacer, however the Denver Westword carries details of the story here and links to an original court document here.

Here is a teaser of what is reported to be in the twenty-six page complaint:
I believe the Department of Justice and affiliates listed above permit overuse of virtual technology to access living beings. This is to control information, behavior, physiology, reproduction (DNA cloning), longevity, conduct harassment, conduct punishment through controlled life conditions that act as a virtual court of law, discriminate that defines life destiny, access intellectual property to control thought and innovations, conduct investigations that lead to a defamation of character, manage daily operations of living capital to secure the globe with the intent to condition the Federal Reserve when in fact their activity erodes societal values, privacy and precipitates a global recession.
Examples of virtual technology utilized:
Hidden camera
exposed camera
DNA-based brainstem software
Infrared technology
Thought monitor
Emulating software
Thought monitor
Telephonic eavesdropping and controls
Nerve Center
Probe.....
Manipulate body temperature to create cold hands and feet to precipitate peripheral vascular disease
Administer a conference bridge on my brain as a forum for 2 years in spite of my constant written and verbal requests to permanently disconnect it
Insert/force pictures and/or video of dysfunctional pictures in my brain

Apparently in America one is almost never seen as a frivolous or vexatious litigant because earlier in the year the same woman filed against U.S. Bancorp, Wells Fargo and Company, JPMorgan Chase and Company and American Express Company in another civil rights application and in 2009 appears to have lodged at least three civil rights actions one of which had to do with colours and patterns.

The application against the DoJ et al speaks volumes about how dysfunctional the American system of justice has become, when it will seriously docket for consideration a case where reality has left the room in relation to the complaint and, an damages claim amount is also listed which exceeds the 2009 U.S. Gross Domestic Product and must be perilously close to exceeding the combined annual GDP of the world's principal national economies.

It appears to be a worthy successor to that other classic piece of delusional litigation UNITED STATES ex rel. Gerald MAYO v. SATAN AND HIS STAFF, 54 F.R.D. 282 (1971) except that in this present case the plaintiff is obviously in great distress and probably not receiving appropriate assistance elsewhere.

Want to know Abbott's 2010 election campaign battle plan?

Tony Abbott only has one endearing character trait from this blogger's perspective - he loves to talk a lot.

So long before he actually looked like winning party leadership and becoming Leader of the Coalition Opposition he virtually told the Australian electorate that it could find his basic election campaign tactics and principal policy intentions within the covers of his book Battlelines.

Excerpts from Tony Abbott's National Press Club notes when puffing up his about to be released book in July 2009 [my emphasis]:

The Howard era should be the yardstick against which the Rudd government is judged but it won't be the blueprint on which the next Coalition government is modeled. Under Howard, there were 2.2 million more jobs, real wages grew by over 20 per cent and Australians' individual wealth doubled. This happened, not because of the China boom, but because Peter Costello's first budget sliced almost one per cent of GDP from public spending so that government would live within its means. It happened because workplace relations reform reduced third party-interference in how businesses worked, making them more productive and more rewarding for their employees. It happened because the former government understood that the world owes no one a living so expected people to work for a wage or to work for the dole. The former government didn't talk about tough decisions; it made them. It didn't borrow against the future to line people's pockets now but funded lower taxes and higher spending from the proceeds of a strong economy. Still, the Coalition won't deserve to win the next election if it is merely a tepid version of the Howard government.

Because "governments lose elections, oppositions don't win them", the principal obstacle to the Rudd government's reelection will be the government itself. The opposition's challenge is to make the government's conduct the issue, not its own, and then to persuade voters that it has some sensible policies that address their problems and are based on their values. In Battlelines, I put forward some proposals which could form the basis of the Coalition's future appeal. They tackle the biggest problems facing Australia in ways which reflect the values of the Coalition parties and, in my view, can touch a chord with the Australian people.

If the prime minister's political agenda is any guide, apart from good economic management, voters' principal concerns are health and education.....

The Coalition should especially beware of sloganeering against so called middle class welfare. A universal payment to families with children is not middle class welfare but a tax cut for kids. The consequence of the campaign against middle class welfare has been to trap people on social security where they are an economic burden on others rather than to facilitate lower taxes. Being against middle class welfare means being in favour of means tests. In a tightly targeted system, these often ensure that welfare recipients trying to get ahead face effective marginal tax rates in excess of those faced by highflying businessmen. It's not surprising that the Labor Party, now as much a welfare party as a working class one, should tolerate such arrangements. The Coalition, by contrast, should not put any structural obstacles in the path of people trying to better themselves. Trying to ensure that at any given level of income and in any household type, people keep a reasonable proportion of any extra income they earn should be the Holy Grail of Coalition policy.......

....my position has shifted from philosophical federalist to pragmatic nationalist as experience has trumped intellectual prejudice....... Notional bulwark against improbable tyranny, the states may well be but, in Australian practice, they are far more often a handbrake on effective government.....

In Battlelines, I propose a mechanism for actually bringing this about. It's not to abolish the states or readily to interfere with the way they do things. Rather, it's to give the national parliament much the same power over the states that it currently has over the territories.

So there we have it. The thumbnail plan appears to be to offer the electorate a return to Howard-era middle class welfare handouts at each federal budget while quietly cutting public spending, possibly lowering taxes for a few sometime in the future, doing something not yet specified about health and education, curtailing workers rights to a fair pay for a fair day's work, making life difficult for people receiving welfare benefits (with the exception of old age pensioners) and a more centralised form of federal government which overrides state decisions on anything and everything as the whim takes it.

Think I'll go down to my local library and order in the updated copy of Abbott's book to see how else he intends to make life difficult if he were to win government in 2010.
I'm sure the introduction of hanging judges, forced pregnancies and public whippings of single mothers, re-education camps for the homeless and unemployed and chemical castration of undesirables and atheists are probably in there somewhere! [wink,wink]

An edited extract from Battlines published in The Australian on 27 July 2009 here.
Transcript of 7.30 Report interview with Tony Abbott on 27 July 2009.

A 'drowning in a sea of cutes' moment

In unison the blogosphere sighs; Aawww!

Beautiful Declan - a Clarence Valley 2010 baby captured by the camera of Daniel Deefholts and found in last Saturday's The Daily Examiner

More NSW North Coast babies from Photography Unlimited Grafton here.

Not the way to woo female voters, Tony

Australian Liberal Party Leader Tony Abbott is on the woo trail again and this little nugget was thrown into the media mix yesterday with a view to possibly making him seem more human; "And it [sex] is one of life's great pleasures."

Eeeewww! Way too much information and not the type of political transparency most females would be looking for as they weigh up ballot paper options.

This is not the first time that Mr. Abbott has attempted to flirt with the electorate and it is going down like a lead balloon with many women.

From the top of his shiny balding pate right through to those stringy thighs there is nothing about Abbott to set the average voter's heart racing - the yellow lycra, red budgie smugglers and rampant chauvinism are all real turn-offs and these contrived true confessions coyly offered to female journalists are frankly risible.

Tony Abbott is a stud hunk alpha male political legend only in his own mind. Perhaps his wife should remind him of that fact next time he comes home.

Cartoon by Murray Webb

Update:

Patricia WA commenting on a Larvatus Prodeo thread concerning the media interview had this to say:
Nothing new to get excited about here. All Tony’s transgressions have been on the public record for yonks. I guess putting them in the context of the Ten Commandments makes them headline worthy, but more privately in the confessional we can only imagine what his Mea Culpa might consist of.
I have worshipped as my god John Winston Howard.
His image is graven on my heart, and I daily worship at his altar, promoting his word and his Church of the Liberal Party of Australia.
I have taken thy name in vain and been generally foul of tongue.
I have profaned the sabbath, disporting myself near naked on the beaches of Manly.
I have lived an adulterous youth and still lust after carnal satisfaction.
I have stolen the rank and rewards of my colleague Malcolm Bligh Turnbull.
I daily bear false witness against Kevin Michael Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia.
I covet his Lodge though not his ass, nor his wife who is of too independent temper.
I confess that the opportunity for his assassination has so far eluded me.

Luke 'don't let truth get in the way' Hartsuyker on the National Party 2010 federal election campaign trail

Montage of cardboard cut-out incident manufactured by the Opposition in 2008

from Google Images

Not content with making a mockery of the House of Representatives during his first few months on the Opposition benches and refusing a lawful order from The Speaker's chair to remove himself from the chamber, spending the intervening years doing little more than rolling interjections - now the shadow spokeperson for small business and small minds has seized a protected species and begun wielding it as a weapon in the hope of holding onto his very marginal federal seat of Cowper.

Here is the Nationals' Luke Hartsuyker in full flight in The Daily Examiner last Friday, with the Liberal candidate for Page riding in his wake for the photo opportunity:

FEDERAL Cowper MP Luke Hartsuyker had more than flying foxes in his sights at Maclean yesterday.

The MP wants a flying fox colony removed from near Maclean High School and is intent on seeking a solution in Federal Parliament.

Yesterday he slammed the Maclean Flying Fox Working Group as a 'bureaucratic con'. He described Federal Page MP Janelle Saffin as a fence-sitter who had not been genuine with the high school's P&C committee.

Mr Hartsuyker went on the attack at the launch of his petition supporting the removal of the Maclean bats.

Mr Hartsuyker told a small group of media and residents outside the Maclean High School gates that a private member's bill was being drafted. If passed it would provide emergency powers to the Federal Minister of the Environment for the removal of the bats because they posed a public health risk.

"This petition will send a clear message to the Minister and will provide the Clarence Valley with a voice," Mr Hartsuyker said.

"It is outrageous that our school students are exposed to diseases of the third world. Co-existence is not working, disperse the bats now."

Now Mr. Hartsuyker knows full well that there has never been a case in this country where the vulnerable protected species the Grey-headed Flying Fox has directly transmitted Hendra or Nipah viruses to humans. There is of course a vaccine available for the Lyssavirus which is transmitted by a bite/scratch from an infected mammal, but the incidence of this virus is extremely rare and there have only been two cases in the whole of Australia.

He also would be well aware that an properly constructed application to the NSW Government would allow a limited period bat dispersal license to be issued as has happened in the past (it would be interesting to discover just who has been advising Maclean High School P&C to go down the rather torturous joint application route it has taken).

Yet the lack of rampant disease in the playground and an easier alternate route to bat dispersal permission does not stop our doughty, disaster peddling Coffs Harbour politician from holding forth - thereby making Labor MP for Page Janelle Saffin appear very balanced and genuinely constructive in comparison.

Distribution of the species within the Northern Rivers Catchment

Previous North Coast Voices posts concerning bats.

When a quote is not a quote in 2010

Tim Lambert posting about climate change denialism reminded me that there are any number of misquotes and absolutely false quotes found on the Internet these days.
Snopes carries examples of some classics which are primarily sourced from America.

However, if one wants to see blatant misquotes and bogus paraphrasing at work in Australia one can do no better than look through Hansard courtesy of Open Australia where complaints about misrepresentation are not uncommon.

This little exchange was set off by that arch word-twister, Tony Abbott:

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) My question is to the Prime Minister. Does the Prime Minister agree with his finance minister that the Home Insulation Program, which has contributed to the deaths of four Australians, was a program where the government could not be expected to dot the i's and cross the t's?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Mr Speaker, on a point of order: it is not in order for the Leader of the Opposition to verbal the finance minister in a question. Therefore the premise of the question is incorrect and therefore the question is out of order.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) The Leader of the House will resume his seat. The chair is not in a position to vouch for the accuracy of quotes contained within questions. On all occasions, these matters are left in the hands of the person that is asking the question, and the remedial action open to any aggrieved party is well known by members of the House.

Lindsay Tanner (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) Mr Speaker, I wish to make a personal explanation.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Does the honourable member claim to have been misrepresented?

Lindsay Tanner (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) I do. And it has just been repeated in the most recent statement.

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Please proceed.

Lindsay Tanner (Melbourne, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Finance and Deregulation) In question time today, the Leader of the Opposition stated that I had said yesterday that the government could not be expected to dot its i's and cross its t's with respect to the administration of the insulation program. As those who are listening might have noted in what was just read out by the member for North Sydney, I was asked a specific question about delaying decisions with regard to the government stimulus matters, and the question related to: why didn't the government deal with issues such as the risk association with metal fasteners at the time it made these decisions? My answer was: these are matters for implementation, rightly to be dealt with by the minister and the department, and this was not a reason for delaying those decisions. So the interpretation that is being placed on my statement by the member for North Sydney and the Leader of the Opposition is totally false.

House of Representatives Hansard transcript for 11 February 2010

Audio of Tanner interview which includes the dotting the i's and crossing the t's quote, courtesy of that excellent resource Malcolm Farnsworth's audio clips.