... you can get everything else on ebay!

ebay = the solution finder

This one popped up in a friend's ebay window.

Looking for female friends around Yamba/Grafton area May 16, 2012 12:44 AM

hi im a 32 yr old female looking for other females around my area to hang out with. No guys as i have one. well you can get everything else on ebay! A reply: I don't live near you but was up that way a couple of weeks back. You live in a beautiful spot!!! Maybe the best way to go is to try and join some local groups or volunteer somewhere to meet other people. Good luck

Singing The Yamba Cycle Way Blues

The disappearing Yamba Road cycle lane

On Monday 9 April I wrote on the subject of changed traffic conditions affecting one section of the dedicated cycle way along Yamba Road. A road on which this small town’s main traffic volume flows.

By 12 May The Daily Examiner was reporting on the same safety issue where the cycle way now ends as the road approaches the Freeburn Street T-intersection and, its article quoted Clarence Valley Council's deputy general manager :

Clarence Valley Council's deputy general manager Rob Donges was aware of Mr Hunt's complaint, however he said that particular section of roadway did not include an officially designated cycleway.

"It's a shared zone and includes car parking," Mr Donges said.

"If it was a designated cycleway, then it would be marked with a solid line."

Mr Donges said the cycleway was, in fact, a shared bikeway/pedestrian pathway and there were signs provided to indicate this.

"Anyone is allowed to ride on the road and must follow normal traffic conditions," he said.

Responding to Mr Hunt's concerns regarding a lack of community consultation, Mr Donges said the pedestrian refuge had been on the drawing table for "a couple of years".

I’m not sure which I find the most offensive; the fact that council management would so misrepresent that particular section of the roadway or the fact that The Daily Examiner (which has a staffed office in Yamba) obviously didn’t bother to sight that same section before it published this quote.

One has to hope that council management displays a higher level of professional discipline when it advises Clarence Valley Council’s traffic advisory committee on this matter later this month and that in future the newspaper does not uncritically accept statements by local government staff.

Here is a segment of the map Clarence Valley Council attaches to its own 2008 Bike Plan and Pedestrian Access and Mobility Plan which clearly indicates that the dedicated regional cycling route (marked with pink broken lines and arrows) extends beyond the Freeburn Street T-intersection with Yamba Road and that the road section in question should be marked as such. That the shared bikeway/pedestrian pathway referred to does not commence until a subsequent T-intersection leading to the gantry wall.

Section of Yamba Map 

Click on image to enlarge

If Clarence Valley Council has varied the provisions in its bike, pedestrian access and mobility planning document, then it has allowed residents and ratepayers to largely remain in ignorance of the fact as it still displays the 2008 plan and maps on its website as principal documents.

Strange coincidence

The stars must have been aligned this week for nit nose pickers. First, Jason Chatfield's Ginger Meggs appeared in Wednesday's Daily Examiner:

Then, Dr Joan Croll had this piece in the letters columns of The Sydney Morning Herald:

Credits: www.gingermeggs.com   The Sydney Morning Herald

Examples of NSW legislators' very own handiwork are cause for concern

If the 2011-2012 Register of Disclosures by Members of the NSW Legislative Assembly, which was tabled in the chamber recently, is anything to go by then there's enough evidence to say that some of those so-called honourable persons should be sitting a NAPLAN-style test of their own to examine their capacity to perform basic literary and numeracy tasks, and thus satisfactorily perform their roles as representatives of their constituents.

Honestly, some of them are struggling to attain primary school levels of attainment.

Take a look at these examples:


That, believe it or not, is the work of a Minister. Phew!
Comment: Pathetic! The Minister has a Masters Degree. Perhaps a ghost writer helped with the Minister's thesis.


That one was submitted by a first term MP who resides on the Government benches in the chamber.
Comment: Must do a lot better. Pay attention in class and complete all set homework.


That, too, is the the work of a Government MP.
Comment: Sympathies are extended to ratepayers in the MP's local government area.

Several MPs have difficulties with their principals and principles (see below).

Those MPs aren't half smart. The effort of another MP has shown them up well and truly - if in doubt, use short-cut method #1.

Or, to throw readers off the trail completely, do something completely different and use method #2.

Okay, so who did what?

The samples have been taken from the disclosures by:

1. The Hon. Donald Loftus PAGE, BEc, MEc, DipRurAcctg MP

Member for Ballina

Minister for Local Government, and Minister for the North Coast
Member of the The Nationals

2. Mr (Chris) Christopher Stewart PATTERSON, MP

Member for Camden

Member of the Liberal Party

3. Mr (John) Giovanni Domenic BARILARO, MP

Member for Monaro

Acting Speaker
Member of the The Nationals

4. The Hon. Linda Jean BURNEY, HonDEd, DipEd MP

Member for Canterbury

Deputy Leader of the Opposition, Shadow Minister for Planning Infrastructure and Heritage, Shadow Minister for Sport and Recreation, Shadow Minister for the Hunter, and Shadow Minister for the Central Coast
Member of the Australian Labor Party

5. Again, the work of Mr Barilaro who is, quite obviously, a serial offender.

6. Ms Tania MIHAILUK, BEc, LLB MP

Member for Bankstown

Shadow Minister for Fair Trading, Shadow Minister for Healthy Lifestyles, and Shadow Minister for Volunteering and Youth
Member of the Australian Labor Party

7. And, who were the smarties?

#1. Mr John ROBERTSON, MP

Member for Blacktown

Leader of the Opposition, Shadow Minister for Western Sydney, and Shadow Minister for the Illawarra
Member of the Australian Labor Party

#2. Ms Clover MOORE, MP

Member for Sydney

Independent

Sources:

1. 2011-2012 Register of Disclosures by Members of the NSW Legislative Assembly

2. MPs' profiles shown on the NSW Parliament website

Cripes! Andrew Stoner - rapidly elevated and staged a political takeover

Seems Andrew Stoner is now Australia’s Acting Premier and Minister for Trade and Investment. Well, that's what an international publisher for the exhibition, conference and events industries is saying.

Read it for yourself:

AUSTRALASIA - Australia’s Acting Premier and Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Stoner will be the inaugural Patron of Business Events Sydney’s (BE Sydney) Ambassador Programme, a business development programme that helps to secure international events for Sydney and the state of New South Wales.

The publisher is aptly named. It's Mash Media. Perhaps Stoner provided MishMash with the information in the first place.

Richmond Valley Council declares moratorium on new coal seam gas projects. When will Clarence Valley Council do likewise?

Today's Northern Star reports:

Richmond Valley Council has joined the growing list of Northern Rivers councils to declare a moratorium on new coal seam gas projects.

Councillors voted to approve the moratorium (Stuart George, who works for Metgasco, and Charlie Cox excluded themselves from the vote) despite previously having opposed a moratorium.

NSW Greens MLC Jeremy Buckingham, who is the party's spokesman on mining, said it was clear the coal seam gas industry "has not got a social licence to operate in NSW".

"Local government is acting to fill the void left by the state government's failure to implement a moratorium on coal seam gas," he said.

"Santos Chief Executive David Knox's assertion that opposition to coal seam gas has 'peaked' is just wishful thinking. We saw a massive rally in Sydney recently, and 7,000 people marched through Lismore just last weekend. Community understanding and concern continues to grow.

"Last week Marrickville Council voted against allowing coal seam gas at St Peters, and Dart Energy canned their plans to drill. Narrabri Council is considering a motion to stop coal seam gas; Lismore Council has a moratorium; Moree Council, Leichhardt Council, Kyogle Council, Tweed, Byron, Wollongong Council, Camden, Campbelltown and Wollondilly have all expressed concern.

"There is nothing like a looming election to focus the mind of elected officials, and Councillors across NSW are recognising that the community wants to protect their land and water from the threat of coal seam gas.

"Congratulations to Richmond Valley Council for standing up for their community and a healthy environment."

Oh what a difference a day or two (doesn't) make in the media

The Daily Examiner Letter to the Editor on 11 May 2012 alerted regular readers to a problem in the veracity of its reporting:

Too much info is barely enough

IT WOULD appear that too much information is never enough for some in regards to the Education Tax Refund (or the new Schoolkids Bonus).

It has been reported (DE 8/5/12) that some families will be worse off under the new scheme, however, this is difficult to reconcile with the information provided regarding both the old and new scheme. Under the old scheme, parents were able to claim 50% of eligible expenses, irrespective of how much they spent during the year. For a primary school student, this meant that in 2011/12 under the ETR a parent could claim a maximum of $409 in rebate, which would mean they had incurred $818 or more in eligible expenses. If Ms. Franklin-Hentscher intended to claim 50% of her $2100 in expenses, for a single primary school-aged child, she would still only have received $409, which is the maximum allowable refund. She also suggests that tuition fees are claimable, which according to the ATO website is also incorrect.

Under the new scheme, Ms. Franklin-Hentscher will be eligible for $410 in rebates, and will not have to produce a single tax receipt to do so. Unless there is more information regarding this individual situation that has not been reported, to suggest that this change is "a kick in the teeth" is quite bewildering.

Michael Clark

Grafton

Editor's note: We acknowledge an error in reporting of this story and issued a correction in our online version. Mr Clark is correct and the error was based on an assumption during an interview that was not checked properly, needless to say the reporter in question was a little embarrassed.

The Daily Examiner 8 May 2012 article in question:

Not all parents better off with Schoolkids Bonus

SOME families will be worse off under the Government's proposed Schoolkids Bonus which promises an annual payment of $410 (for primary students) and $820 (for high school kids).

Those who spend more than $820 on their primary school child's education or more than $1640 on their high school child would be better off under the existing Education Tax Refund which gives parents 50% of costs back through the tax system.

Maclean mother Nicole Franklin-Hentscher, who worked out yesterday she claimed half of the $2100 she spent on claimable education items this year, described the policy change as a kick in the teeth and "the last nail in Julia Gillard's coffin".

Nicole's daughter Indiana attends St James Primary School, Yamba, and while her school fees were not claimable, tuition fees, uniforms, books, internet and other resources were.

"Julia Gillard has lied to us and given us a mining tax that wasn't meant to be there and a carbon tax that wasn't meant to be there, why not kick us a little more," she said.

She said parents who could prove they were spending the money on education were being penalised and this new handout method removed that incentive.

Others, including South Grafton mum Amy Morgan, welcomed the news.

"This seems to be great considering how much cost goes into uniforms each year and by doing it twice a year helps parents with summer and winter uniforms," she said.

Ms Gillard said the ETR had not been working as families were forgetting to keep receipts or could not find the cash to buy necessary equipment in the first place.

About 1.3m families will benefit from the bonus which will be introduced in parliament next week.

Sources in Canberra said the Schoolkids Bonus would be paid for out of the 2011/12 budget alongside the ETR.

The online ‘corrected version as of 5.06 pm 11 May 2012 differed only in the headline,
Bonus doesn't benefit everybody (which continued the published untruth), and rider at its end:

Terry Deefholts has taken responsibility for an error in reporting above. The Education Tax Refund can be claimed for 50% of specific education costs and is capped to a maximum of $794 for primary kids and $1588 for high school kids. The article above suggests that larger amounts be claimed therefore parents would be worse off under the new Schoolkids Bonus - this is incorrect. The Examiner apologises oversight.

Further information: http://www.educationtaxrefund.gov.au

Unfortunately both the letter, www.educationtaxrefound.gov.au and the 2012-13 Budget Papers clearly demonstrate that the online ‘correction’ itself is misleading in that there is still an implication that large amounts had been claimable in the past - without pointing out that the cited $794 (primary) and $1,588 (high school) caps only ever resulted in tax refunds of $397 and $794 respectively in 2010-11.

Because the federal government website states; The Education Tax Refund provides up to 50% back on a range of children's education expenses.

For the 2010–11 tax year refunds may be as much as $397 for every child at primary school, and up to $794 for every child at secondary school. The amount of the refund increases each year by the Consumer Price Index. In the 2011-12 tax year your refund could be as much as $409 for primary kids and $818 for secondary students.

While Budget Paper No. 2 states; From January 2013, every family with a child at school will be guaranteed $410 per annum for each primary school student and $820 per annum for each secondary school student. All eligible families will receive the full rate of payment and will no longer need to keep receipts as proof of expense, or wait until tax time. Eligibility for the payment will remain open to families with children enrolled and attending school who are in receipt of Family Tax Benefit Part A (FTB A) or other qualifying income support payments or allowances under a prescribed educational scheme that precludes the family from receiving FTB A. [my red bolding throughout]

What is clear is that the entire premise of both these articles in The Daily Examiner is incorrect and should never have been written and then published under those headlines. Both types of rebate rise and are to be paid at the maximum rate for each child attending school.

What makes the situation worse is that an opinion piece in the newspaper's 11 May issue appeared to assert that although the journalist could be trusted to spend the Schoolkids Bonus wisely, others might spend some of it on "booze, pokies, plasma TVs, remote control cars - anything but education" and that this bonus was "not healthy". Effectively dumping on at least a million families across the country. One could almost believe that APN's Grafton masthead belonged to the Murdoch media stable.

In all fairness, the erroneous premise of the original story should have been questioned from the start by the newspaper's editor and the blame lies squarely in that quarter when it comes to allowing publication.

As for Ms. Nicole Franklin-Hentscher who so unreasonably feels cheated by the Gillard Government - there are no words to describe the level of silliness being displayed.

Unfortunately bungled reporting has a life of its own and the Internet now owns this misinformation in all its glory.