The NSW Government's response to coastal erosion and land recession - create a fee and deny responsibility

With climate change impacts beginning to knock at the door of coastal communities, the policy and legislative response of the NSW State Government has been astonishing to say the least.

It continues to green light urban expansion in regional coastal zones and vulnerable estuaries, while progressing amendments to the Coastal Protection Act 1979 in a pretence at action in relation to predicted changes in the nature and/or degree of coastal hazards due to climate change.

Creating a seven member Coastal Panel as a response to predicted climate change impacts and risk. In effect putting in place a smoke screen for continuing ministerial endorsement of urban expansion in the coastal zone.

The coastal zone encompasses the interface between land and sea. It is a zone of interaction between terrestrial and marine systems and processes. Within this zone there is a wide variety of landscapes and habitats, including beaches, headlands, rock platforms, dunes, foreshores, estuaries and marine waters. For the purposes of this guideline, the NSW coastal zone is defined in the Coastal Protection Act 1979 [Draft Guidelines for preparing Coastal Zone Management Plans, August 2010]

Further the NSW Government encourages local government coastal management plans which will inevitably be skewed in favour of the expressed wishes of beach/riverfront landowners, allows councils to levy an annual fee on residential/commercial lots (subject to possible sea water intrusion/storm surge damage and erosion) many of which should never have been granted development consent in the first place and, gives a green light to the ad hoc creation of emergency fortifications as well as the establishment of permanent sea walls it obviously fully expects will lead to further erosion elsewhere.

In a bid to protect the interests of influential developers the NSW Government apparently intends to don the mantle of Canute and pursue a risible policy of encouraging never-ending beach nourishment as a way of holding back the relentless effect of wave action and increased tidal pull. The cost of which will inevitably be borne by local councils and ratepayers.

This is what the Keneally Government admits to, without the political will to bite the bullet and stop further urban expansion in vulnerable areas:

Sea level rise will exacerbate the impact of coastal hazards. It will affect each of the coastal hazards in a different way as identified below:

Beach erosion – climate change is expected to alter storminess which will in turn alter beach erosion. Scientific understanding of the projected changes to storminess is still developing, and there is insufficient evidence to provide direct advice on how to consider changes in storminess at the present time.

Shoreline recession – sea level rise will result in higher water levels on the open coastline. This will correspond with an increased rate of shoreline recession.

Coastal lake or watercourse entrance instability – sea level rise will result in changes to dynamics of berm heights and break-out conditions.

Coastal (oceanic) inundation – sea level rise will result in increased still water levels. In most instances, dunal systems are sufficiently elevated that the episodic threat from oceanic inundation due to wave run-up and overtopping of coastal dunes or barriers is negligible. Notwithstanding, the threat of oceanic inundation along the open coast in the vicinity of low-crested dunal barriers (less than 5 m AHD) should be considered where this is relevant. Coastal (estuarine) inundation – around lower-lying estuarine foreshores, the threat from tidal inundation will be significantly exacerbated with a projected rise in mean sea level. The interaction between this issue and catchment flooding is particularly important for coastal councils and has been considered in the Flood Risk Management Guide –Incorporating sea level rise benchmarks in flood risk assessments (DECCW 2010b).

Coastal cliff and slope instability – in many cases the base of coastal cliffs are protected from direct wave action by rock platforms. However, under sea level rise projections, these rock platforms may be submerged on a permanent or temporary basis resulting in direct wave action on the base of cliffs. This in turn will have the effect of undermining cliff stability, depending on the relative strength of the geology of the cliff.

Additionally, the NSW Government in addressing risk assessment allows the possibility of infrastructure/property damage or loss, fatalities, injuries and population displacement as consequences of erosion or land recession. However in the past it has been careful to assert that it is exempt from any legal responsibility and now wants to increase exemptions to liability on the part of state government departments/agencies and local government.

On a scale of 1 to 10 the Keneally Government gets -5 for its policy and legislative response to predicted climate change impacts. But then from the time Keneally became NSW Planning Minister planning instruments began to contain so much wriggle room that developers and commercial interests could almost do as they willed in certain coastal LGAs or bypass them completely in pursuit of their aims. It is worth noting that in the past developers' pockets have proven to be deep when it comes to political donations and the Election Funding And Disclosures Amendment (Property Developers Prohibition) Act 2009 was quietly repealed on or about 15 December 2009 - twelve days after Keneally ousted Rees as NSW Premier.

Coastal Protection Service Charge Guidelines
These statutory Minister's guidelines will describe how a council should calculate the coastal protection service charge to be levied on land under the Local Government Act. It will include how councils should calculate the reasonable costs of providing a coastal protection service and how these costs should be apportioned between the various parcels of land subject to the charge. It will be similar in concept to the Stormwater Management Service Charge Guidelines published by the (then) Department of Local Government in 2006. Draft guidelines will be released for comment by councils and other stakeholders in September before they are approved and issued by the Minister.

This month DECCW will also release Guidelines for assessing and managing the impacts of seawalls.

Australian National Goanna Pulling Championship, Wooli 3 October 2010

From goannapulling.com.au

2010 celebrates the 25th Anniversary of Goanna Pulling at Wooli

This NSW North Coast event will be held Sunday 3rd October 2010 at Wooli Sports Ground from 9am to 4pm.

Competition takes place on Goanna Mountain where men and women compete for the honour of Australian Champion in their respective categories.

Winners receive the Yearly Championship belt and a cash prize and the Australian "Open" Champion has his/her name engraved on the perpetual shield.

Competition Categories

Men's Heavyweight - 95kg and Over.

Men's Middleweight - 82kg to 95kg

Men's Lightweight - 63kg to 82kg

Tyro - under 63kg

Ladies - over 70kg

Ladies - under 70kg.

Some of the other events on the day

Woodchop events; Underhand Handicap, Standing Handicap, Standing Block and Championship Underhand, and Woodchop - Boys. Cash prizes for all events.

A.T.O.W.A. Registered Professional Tug-o-War.

Did Bennie really say that?!

"Even in our own lifetime, we can recall how Britain and her leaders stood against a Nazi tyranny that wished to eradicate God from society and denied our common humanity to many, especially the Jews, who were thought unfit to live..."

Yup, you heard it from il papa's own mouth.

It wasn't centuries of entrenched anti-semitism in European society and institutionalised anti-semitism in both Catholic and Protestant mainstream religions which allowed the Nazis to plough politically fertile ground as they first demonised, physically isolated and then attempted wholesale eradication of Jews both before and during World War Two. Oh, no.

Apparently it was teh godless in society who encouraged and supported the Third Reich in this endeavour. An argument that's a bit rich coming as it does from a former member of the Hitler Youth.

I suspect that next Bennie will be blaming atheists for the fact that (according to him) paedophile priests have no free will when in a position of power over a child.

Is it any wonder that the Catholic Church's reputation is all but beyond repair?

One thing's for certain - Robert Bruce and that Knox laddie will be spinning in their graves about now.

"Mass Attendance in Australia" 2008

Pic of il papa in his glory days from Google Images

Live or work in the Clarence Valley? Hang up on Telstra!

In The Daily Examiner on 16 September 2010:

TELSTRA could lose millions of dollars worth of business from the Clarence Valley if it proceeds with plans to close its Grafton call centre, putting 108 workers out of jobs.
Yesterday Member for Page Janelle Saffin said if the Telstra plan went ahead, businesses across the Valley should reconsider their phone carrier.
She said if Telstra decided to abandon the Valley, we should consider abandoning it.
Today we launch a concerted campaign – 'Hang up on Telstra' – to encourage people to change carriers, but only if the Telstra plan proceeds.
Daily Examiner general manager Judy Lewis said she would consider dropping our Telstra account, worth about $5000 a month, and Clarence Valley Mayor Richie Williamson said he would be asking his council to consider something similar. The council account is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Send Telstra a message it understands – money.
Ms Saffin yesterday launched a petition calling on Telstra CEO David Thodey to intervene immediately and halt any plans to axe the jobs of its 108 Grafton workers.
For the first time in anyone's memory, there was a queue of people in Grafton's main street waiting to sign the petition.

Grafton fights call centre closure

Contact Ms. Saffin's electoral office at 3/55 Prince Street, Grafton Ph: 6642.8507 to find out where petition can be signed.

Five short words for Mick Keelty

Keelty to tell court Rush was a minor player

Too little, too bluidy late!

Oakeshott as Speaker of the House?

If Rob Oakeshott were to become Speaker of the House of Representatives 2010 may yet go down in Australian history as the year of the most theatrical 'dragging to the chair' on record.
Indeed probably the most undignified installation since the 13th century.

Seventeen minute rulings on points of order during Question Time might become the norm. With hammed softshoe segues for the benefit of the visitor's gallery.

It would be hard to imagine anyone less likely to be able to manage a fractious Lower House or preside over Department of the House of Representatives .
Harry Jenkins' jaw must have dropped when he first heard of Oakeshott's ambition to replace him.

Still Oakeshott would easily live up to an early description of the office of speaker - The Mouth.

However, it may be a position Labor wants Oakeshott to fill in the hope it will lessen the chance that he will recant his support of the Gillard Government.

Being of a cynical turn of mind I recall that The Speaker receives an additional salary and expense of office allowance (slightly more than those of the majority of Ministers) in addition to salary and allowances as a Member of Parliament.

Power, extra money and on camera every day the House is sitting. Aaahh......................

The Australian online poll on 15 September 2010

Hartsuyker shuffled into yet another minor shadow ministry

No matter which way you look at it the Nationals Luke Hartsuyker has lost out in the gravitas stakes in Tony Abbott's shadow ministry reshuffle - leaving him tagging yet another minor ministry.
He's still chasing the snake's tail as Shadow Minister for Sport and Youth with Spokesperson for Regional Communications tacked on, which follows on from the minor Shadow Consumer Affairs, Financial Services, Superannuation and Corporate Law position he previously held.
Obviously Luke doesn't yet have the full confidence of his leaders outside of the one area in which he sometimes excels - creating havoc on the floor of the House as Deputy to 'Poodle' Pyne's Manager of Opposition Business.
I predict that Malcolm Turnbull is going to find his colleague something of an embarrassment whenever he opens his mouth on regional communications.