Saffin continues to demonstrate her commitment to the Page electorate

On the NSW North Coast it would be hard to find an elected representative in any of the three tiers of government who is as committed to her electorate as the obviously hardworking Labor Federal Member for Page Janelle Saffin MP.

The Punch 7 April 2011:

There were 14,234 cases diagnosed in 2007 (the latest national data). One death for every three cases diagnosed. Bowel cancer has not, as yet, captured the public’s imagination. It does not have a legion of popular ambassadors at its front. There are no supermodels, pop stars or sportspeople selling the bowel cancer story. We are told by journalists: “It’s not a story for breakfast”. There is no ribbon for bowel cancer; there is no agreed colour to unite the cause. And, most importantly, there is no national screening program.

Currently, one in five bowel cancers is diagnosed at stage four, the most advanced stage, when the cancer is often terminal. This is particularly tragic given bowel cancer is easy to treat when detected early. It is a double blow to those dying of the disease to learn there is a simple $30 test that can pick up the cancer early.

Excerpt from Ms. Saffin’s 8 April same day email response to one resident in her electorate who expressed concern that the National Bowel Screening Program winds up at the end of this financial year and, asked for her representation on his behalf at ministerial level:

Please be assured I shall do so personally for you and that I have made representations already. I am aware of the programme and its worth to many of us.

Regards Janelle

Anti-whaling warrior the Bob Barker in the Clarence for maintenance

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society’s MY Bob Barker quietly slipped into the Clarence River last Saturday so that it can be repainted at the at the Harwood Slipway over the next two weeks.

The Society states:

Our “black ships” have served their purpose. Since 2002, our ships have been painted black with the objective of driving the Japanese whaling fleet from the waters of the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

The color black served four purposes for the Sea Shepherd fleet. First, it’s an intimidating color, and up against the superior number of ships in the whaling fleet, I felt we should be as intimidating as possible. The black ships, coupled with our own Jolly Roger, lent an air of intimidation. Secondly, the color black absorbs heat and this helped conserve energy in an environment with 24-hour sunlight, but a close to zero degrees climate.

Added to intimidation and keeping warm, we had a third factor…the black ships have long been a part of Japanese culture signifying change. In Japan, the term “black ships” has a specific meaning. First, with the black fleet of the Portuguese that brought Catholicism and Western trade to Japan, and then with the black fleet led by American Admiral Matthew Perry, that brought Japan out of centuries of isolationism in 1854. Our objective was to stop Japan from whaling, and we succeeded. We drove the Japanese whalers from the Antarctic waters…hopefully for good. If they return, we will return, but the prospect is very good that they will not.

Our fourth factor was to symbolize mourning for the death of so many whales due to Japanese harpoons in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary.

Meanwhile we have other challenges to deal with including shark finning, tuna poaching, and the slaughter of seals, sea turtles, and small cetaceans. And with campaigns before us in the Mediterranean, Palau, Galapagos, and across the Indian Ocean, Equatorial Africa, and the South Pacific, the color black is not the most comfortable. We now need to reflect heat instead of absorbing it. The Gojira will be painted metallic silver,…….

Photograph from The Daily Examiner

In defence of free speech and the rights of First Peoples

On 8 April 2011 North Coast Voices embedded a Vimeo video made by the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation here on our blog.

Since then Crikey has published this:
Lawyers representing Fortescue Metal Group (FMG) and CEO Andrew Forrest have sent legal letters to a video hosting website requesting they take down a controversial clip of a native title meeting held in Roebourne last month despite issuing a denial to Crikey yesterday that they'd been in touch with Vimeo.
In an email from FMG's legal team to Vimeo, Fortescue say the video is defamatory, misleading, "incites racial hatred" and is "designed to intimidate."
Uploaded by Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation, the video attracted 12,000 plays in nine days before being removed on Tuesday by the New York-based video hosting site in response to the threats.
The video has since been uploaded to YouTube and has been the subject of heated discussion on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.
A spokesperson for Vimeo confirmed that the videos had been taken down for legal reasons. Fortescue spokesman Cameron Morse told Crikey yesterday his company had not had any contact with Vimeo about the controversial video. When contacted by Crikey this morning, Morse declined to clarify his comments.
Michael Cheah, legal counsel representing Vimeo, says the video was removed after the hosting site received correspondence from lawyers for FMG and Forrest alleging that the video contained defamatory and misleading statements about them.

So in the interests of free speech, North Coast Voices again embeds the video - this time in two parts from YouTube.





YINDJIBARNDI PRESS RELEASE: Vimeo forced to delete “FMG’s Great Native Title Swindle” video after legal threats from FMG and CEO Andrew Forrest.

Black Caviar-gate

My second cousin, who's a nephew of the late Clarence the Clocker, was at Royal Randwick when Black Caviar donkey-licked her opposition and won the Group 1 T.J. Smith Stakes over 1200 metres last Saturday.

But, here's the rub. Officially, a crowd of 25,368 was reported to have turned up to see her. However, my second cousin says he's prepared to take London-to-a-brick-on odds about the crowd being closer to 35,000 and not the reported 25,000.

So, who tickled the till? Who helped themselves to the gate takings? Nothing less than a Royal Commission is required to get to the bottom of this scandal. 

Credit: Image of BC from formguide.cyberhorse.com.au

Wahluu: Australia's premier car racing circuit

While much debate continues to rage about how to pronounce the name of the NSW city that hosts Australia's premier car racing event, Aboriginal man Bill Allen is pushing for Mount Panorama at Bathurst to be given duel names in order to recognise its Wiradjuri name, Wahluu.

Mr Allen will be taking his case to the local naming authorities and is hoping for a positive decision by October when the city hosts the NSW Aboriginal Rugby League Knockout, just prior to the next Bathurst 1000 motor race.

Speaking on ABC North Coast local radio, the Koori Mail's Darren Coyne remarked that people readily acknowledge Wollumbin and Mt Warning are one and the same thing.

So, there shouldn't be a problem using Wahluu and Panorama in the same breath, should there?

All that's needed will be an educational program for television and radio broadcasters, especially those from the Old Dart (and their cronies), to add Wahluu to their lexicon. Admittedly, that task will be a bit difficult, but not impossible.

Source: The Koori Mail

Help Yamba Go Plastic Free

Live in Yamba? Visit on weekends? Holiday there?

Then you can help Yamba keep its environment litter free by spurning plastic shopping bags in favour of the environmentally friendly variety. Bring your own or buy them in the town.

Since 2009 the Yamba Chamber of Commerce and a committee of concerned local residents (in conjunction with Clean Up Australia, Australian Retailers Association and the Australian Government) have been promoting sustainable shopping by selling hemp shopping bags.

These large, durable, attractive cloth bags sell for $5 each and, money raised will be used to purchase more of these bags for sale in the town.

For more information email: info@yambaNSW.com.au

SAY NO TO PLASTIC

PCEHR opt-in provision expected to allay privacy concerns. Pull the other one!

Sometimes I wonder exactly where on the globe this LaLa Land pollies live in is to be found.
Because no-one could seriously believe that the e-Health initiative (laughing called the voluntary Personally Controlled Electronic Health Record (PCEHR) System) that Roxon and Co are intent on saddling Australia with is not part of a national database which will be packed with inerasable and sometimes error-riddled records.
A system which will allow every nosey parker, from police through to the local chemist, access to someone else's personal information if they decide to class their data crawl as an 'emergency' request.
To make the entire situation a little more bizarre; it seems that if an emergency request goes in on someone whose does not yet have a digital health record in this system (and perhaps never wanted to opt-in) then one is created without that individual's knowledge or consent.
Once created this new record can be hidden from view but can't be eradicated.
Even death won't see your record disappear; so be prepared for the possibility that eventually these records will turn up in the National Archives for your great-grandkids entertainment. Just as anyone can now find out if their dead Anzac grandpa contracted the clap on the way to the front in WWl by looking at a copy of his military record online.
And apparently this e-Health system can be accessed after July next year by Roxon's nosey parkers on the move using iPhone and Blackberry.
The potential for abuse is enormous.