There was a time when the Lower Clarence thought it had its own crocodile, according to The Courier-Mail on 5 January 1940.
Click on image to enlarge
Tuesday, 8 May 2012
The Hon. Dr. Peter 'Waste of Space' Phelps MLC
A native of southern Africa, this grass was probably first introduced to Australia by accident as a contaminant of pasture seed. Different cultivars of this grass have also been used as a soil stabiliser in erosion-control situations.
African lovegrass has been planted in different locations throughout south-east Queensland and has naturalised in all Australian states in acidic, red and especially sandy soils.
African lovegrass produces vast quantities of seeds, which quickly develop into a large viable seed bank, making the plant very difficult to eradicate. It is extremely competitive with other pasture species and is an aggressive invader, quickly overtaking sparse, overgrazed or poor quality pastures, particularly in sandy soils.
African lovegrass can form dense monocultures up to 1.2 m high. This can create large fuel loads in the dry months, posing a fire hazard and creating competition with native species regeneration.
The NSW Industry and Investments website states that overall carrying capacity is reduced when there is dense African Love Grass infestation.
So what does NSW Legislative Council Government Whip Peter Phelps MLC have to say in the 1 May debate on the Noxious Weeds Amendment Bill 2012 when lovegrass gets a mention? Why he asks; Can you smoke it?
Monday, 7 May 2012
It would appear that NSW Nationals MP for Clarence, Chris Gulaptis, doesn't respect the CSIRO, BOM, NASA or any reputable climate scientist
One of the worst kept secrets on the NSW North Coast is that NSW Nationals MP for Clarence, Chris Gulaptis, is a climate changer denier.
The latest evidence of this is his claim; that no tidal measurements had been taken over time to prove that sea levels were actually rising
The Lower Clarence Valley, which knows this former shire councillor and land developer better than most, would be unsurprised by this claim – given that he is already anecdotally famous for stating words to the effect that removing mature trees from riverbanks would reduce or eliminate erosion of said banks.
What his latest claim about sea levels clearly demonstrates is that Chris Gulaptis either hasn’t bothered to read authoritative reports on the subject, does not understand the science or refuses to respect the science.
To illustrate the political ignorance that is being displayed by the parliamentary representative of an electorate with such a long coastline, here are some quotes.
This is what the Australian CSIRO stated in 2011 about sea level impacts:
Sea level rise will be felt both through changes in mean sea level, and, perhaps more importantly, through changes in extreme sea level events. Even if there are no changes in extreme weather conditions (for example, increases in tropical cyclone intensity), sea level rise will result in extreme sea levels of a given value being exceeded more frequently. This change in the frequency of extreme events has already been observed at many locations. The increase in frequency of extreme events will depend on local conditions, but events that currently occur once every 100 years could occur as frequently as once every few years by 2100.
Global Mean Sea Level increased by 210mm between 1880 and 2009, and is continuing to rise at a fairly steady rate of just over 3mm/year. This rate of rise is undoubtedly contributing to the flooding problems of low-lying island states like Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Maldives.
This is exacerbated in some areas (e.g. Gippsland, Victoria and the Gulf coast of the U.S.) where large-scale land subsidence causes a rate of rise relative to the land which is substantially higher.
Correspondingly, some areas have seen less impact because they are rising. Australia is rising at about 0.3-0.4mm/year due to Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA), but is still starting to feel the effects.
In addition, the continuing rise in mean level causes a corresponding increase in the frequency of extreme events, as detailed on the next page…..
The effect of rising mean sea levels will be felt most profoundly during extreme storm conditions when strong winds and falling pressure bring about a temporary and localised increase in sea level known as a storm surge. Storm surges occurring on higher mean sea levels will enable inundation and damaging waves to penetrate further inland increasing flooding, erosion and the subsequent detrimental impacts on built infrastructure and natural ecosystems. In the tropics storm surges are caused by tropical cyclones while elsewhere mid-latitude storms and their associated cold fronts are the main cause of storm surges.
This is what the Australian Bureau of Meteorology states in its State of the Climate Report 2012:
State of the Climate 2012 also highlights the increase in global sea level and notes sea-level rise around Australia since 1993 is greater than, or equal to, the global average. Our observations show that sea-surface temperatures around Australia have increased faster than the global average.
This is what the United States NASA was saying in 2011 about sea levels:
Like mercury in a thermometer, ocean waters expand as they warm. This, along with melting glaciers and ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, drives sea levels higher over the long term. For the past 18 years, the U.S./French Jason-1, Jason-2 and Topex/Poseidon spacecraft have been monitoring the gradual rise of the world's ocean in response to global warming.
This is what NASA’s Chief Scientist states in 2012:
Sea level rise is one of the most readily recognizable manifestations of climate change, because it is directly observable without the aid of instrumentation, with very visible effects. Sea level rise is not as rapidly variable as many of the other indicators of climate change, such as temperature or precipitation. Rather it evolves relatively slowly and presents a clear expression of the integrated elements of our changing climate [ Statement of Dr. Waleed Abdalati, Chief Scientist, National Aeronautics and Space Administration before the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources United States Senate,19 April 2012]
A public dental services federal funding boost the NSW North Coast will welcome
The Age 6 May 2012:
HALF a billion dollars will be injected into dental care for the poor, while families with schoolchildren will receive cash payments in two of the few big-spending measures in Tuesday's austerity budget.
The Sunday Age can reveal that 400,000 Australians stuck on the public dental waiting list because they can't afford a private dentist will be targeted for help in a $345 million blitz on the public backlog, starting on January 1.
Another $170 million will be used to lay the groundwork for a national dental scheme, funding more graduate training places and paying dentists to relocate to remote areas.
''Improving our dental health system has been a priority for me since I first became health minister and this package delivers hope to those who have waited too long on public dental lists,'' Health Minister Tanya Plibersek said. ''It will lay the foundation for a new way of providing dental services that will ensure that those most in need will get care when and where they need it.''…..
Hopefully the Gillard Government will so tightly constrain state governments in relation to this funding that they are unable to take this money into their coffers to swell their own budgetary bottom lines and, then stall implementing any real improvements to public dental health services.
Sunday, 6 May 2012
"Please don't piss in my pond" by Richard Gates
This is a good news story.
In 2005 a long-running environmental campaign came to a head. A once pristine wetland had become a de facto extension of the Evans Head Sewerage Treatment Plant. Watch what happens when a massive fish and bird kill galvanises a community to pressure authorities to clean up their crap.
This video was created as part of an ABC Open NSW North Coast workshop for the project "Water Is..."
Watch the video here.
Credit: Thanks, Dr Richard Gates, your local community has much to be very proud about.
Christopher Pyne, Mal Brough & James Ashby - the plot thickens
Liberal Party frontbencher and Manager of Opposition Business Christopher Pyne protesting his ‘innocence’ in The Sydney Morning Herald on 2 March 2012:
Mr Pyne had gone to the Speaker's office to see Mr Slipper, but he was in the chamber. Mr Pyne was then invited for a drink with Mr Ashby and another staffer while he waited.
Mr Pyne said in a statement that he had met Mr Ashby three times, twice in the Speaker's office and ''once when he came to my office to collect wine being given to a former Coalition staffer as a farewell gift''.
He said that ''on no occasion did he raise the matters canvassed in the Federal Court'' and that he had never had any telephone contact with Mr Ashby.
Earlier yesterday, he said that, as manager of opposition business, he had more contact with the Speaker's office than other MPs, and it was not unusual for him to socialise with Mr Slipper's staff in his absence.
He said he was ''simply passing the time of day. We had a beer and a political discussion.'' But he said: ''I don't remember ever having asked for Mr Ashby's number.''
One voter writes a letter to the editor to the Brisbane Times which is published on 3 May 2012:
If Christopher Pyne was drinking with Mr Ashby in the Speaker's office while Parliament was in session, I can think of at least three questions that Mr Pyne should be asked: who was paying for the booze; was he (Mr Pyne) drinking while at work; and, isn't drinking during working hours a dismissable offence (''Pyne caught up in Slipper scandal'', May 2)? Over to you, Chris.
Trevor Nayler
Ermington
Now The Australian on 5 May 2012 reports that Slipper’s arch-rival became involved and Pyne finally outed for an email to Ashby he originally denied:
After a Gillard government campaign to link federal opposition MPs to the court action that led Mr Slipper to step down as Speaker, Mr Brough yesterday revealed he was briefly a confidant to Mr Ashby, even organising him legal advice, in the weeks before the adviser launched his explosive law suit against his then boss.
Mr Brough, who is standing for pre-selection in Mr Slipper's Queensland seat of Fisher at the next federal election, rejected speculation the Liberal National Party turncoat had been snared in a "honey trap" set by Mr Ashby with the backing of senior Coalition figures.
The one-time indigenous affairs minister in the Howard government, who lost his seat in the 2007 election landslide, revealed his role in Mr Ashby's court action as Labor stepped up its bid to tie Tony Abbott and Liberal frontbencher Christopher Pyne into setting up the Speaker.
In an exclusive interview, Mr Brough outlined the chain of events that led Mr Ashby to file his legal claim in relation to the sexual harassment he alleges to have suffered at Mr Slipper's hands, as well as the veteran MP's alleged misuse of taxi dockets, now the subject of an Australian Federal Police investigation…….
Mr Brough, who waged a two-year campaign in the LNP branch to oust Mr Slipper as candidate at the next election, said he had had little interaction with Mr Ashby before the "distressed" parliamentary adviser approached him. ….
Mr Abbott yesterday admitted that Mr Pyne, manager of opposition business, had sent an email to Mr Ashby after the pair had drinks in the Speaker's office on March 19. But Mr Abbott said Mr Pyne had not made further contact with Mr Ashby.
The Yass Tribune on went on to state on 5 May:
THE man who has accused Peter Slipper of sexual harassment and fraud, James Ashby, was undermining his boss's re-election even as he continued to work in the Speaker's office.
Mr Ashby was promoting one of Mr Slipper's potential rivals for the seat of Fisher in a series of YouTube videos while he was a media adviser to the Speaker……
The subject of two videos compiled by Mr Ashby is the Sunshine Coast businesswoman Peta Simpson who, with Mr Brough, plans to nominate as the Liberal National Party candidate for the seat of Fisher, now held by Mr Slipper.
Are some of us complaining a little too loudly these days?
Australian household income is outpacing the cost of living over the longer term, with disposable incomes increasing 20% over the last 27 years, according to the latest AMP.NATSEM Income and Wealth Report.
Couples with children have seen their income grow by 37%, single parent incomes have grown 34% and working families 22%. The smallest increase was rental households who experienced only 11% growth. On average, households are $224 per week better off than in 1984.
The highest income households are spending around 30% on basic necessities and 45% on discretionary items, while the lowest income households devote 30% to discretionary items.
Overall households are spending a greater proportion of income on services such as private schooling, restaurant meals, childcare and tertiary education.
May 2012 full report here.
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