Staff at Grafton Gaol say thank you to Clarence Valley community

The Sydney Morning Herald: Clarence Valley residents picketing Grafton Gaol July 2012

Letter to the editor in The Daily Examiner 10 July 2012:

Thank you

ON behalf of all the staff at Grafton Jail, our wives and husbands, partners, children and grandchildren we would like to thank some people instrumental in getting us where we are now.
Richard Williamson, Mayor of Grafton; Greg Hayes and his staff from Shoppingworld for supplying us with a table and the use of their photocopier - nothing was too much trouble; Jeremy Challacombe from the Chamber of Commerce; all the shop owners who had petitions in their shops and assisted us in collecting signatures; Ron Bell from the radio station for his assistance with radio announcements; Shirley and John Adams for their support in getting petitions signed at Shoppingworld; our union representatives, who have given us the drive to continue with our quest.
We would like to make a special mention of Tony King from Clarence Valley Unions for his unsurpassed efforts and organisational skills.
Without him, we would not have had a chance of organising this rally, and especially for his generosity in introducing our union representatives to the Grafton community.
Most of all, we would like to thank the people of the Clarence Valley.
We have been overwhelmed by their generous support.
We could not imagine working, or living anywhere else, because of the way the community has rallied for us.
You should all give yourselves a pat on the back and be proud of your efforts.
The staff of Grafton Jail is so proud to be part of Clarence Valley community. Thank you.

Staff of Grafton Jail

Tony Abbot under the influence of one of his many political delusions

ABC TV Lateline  6 July 2012:

TONY ABBOTT: Admiral Barrie, along with all other serving members of the armed forces, understands that the armed forces are under the direction of the government of the day. That's what civil control of the military means.

Oh dear, here is Opposition Leader Tony Abbott displaying his ignorance concerning the constitutional implications of the oath set out below.

Because when push comes to shove over turning back the boats, it is convention not law which has naval vessels on operational duty strictly obeying policy directions from the government of the day.

Mr. Abbott would also do well to remember that the Australian Constitution places the Queen’s representative, the Governor-General, as Commander-in Chief of the Armed Forces, not the Prime Minister or any other politician.

Something both Whitlam and Fraser had to come to grips with during their epic battle for control of the Australian Parliament.

DEFENCE (PERSONNEL) REGULATIONS 2002 - SCHEDULE 2

Oath or affirmation for enlistment of member

(regulation 24)

Part 1 Form of oath

I, (insert full name of person) swear that I will well and truly serve Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Her Heirs and Successors according to law, as a member of the

(insert Australian Navy , Australian Army , or Australian Air Force )

(insert

for the period of (number of years) , and any extensions of that period,

or

until retiring age, )

and that I will resist her enemies and faithfully discharge my duty according to law.

SO HELP ME GOD!

(person's signature)

Taken and subscribed before me on (insert date)

(insert signature, name and title of the person before whom the oath is taken and subscribed)

Note The oath may be taken before an officer of the Navy, Army or Air Force, a Warrant Officer of the Navy or Air Force, a Warrant Officer Class 1 of the Army, a Justice of the Peace, a Commissioner for Affidavits or a Commissioner for Declarations.

Part 2 Form of affirmation

I, (insert full name of person) promise that I will well and truly serve Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Her Heirs and Successors according to law, as a member of the

(insert Australian Navy , Australian Army , or Australian Air Force )

(insert

for the period of (number of years) , and any extensions of that period,

or

until retiring age, )

and that I will resist Her enemies and faithfully discharge my duty according to law.

(person's signature)

Made and subscribed before me on (insert date)

(insert signature, name and title of the person before whom the affirmation is made and subscribed)

Note The affirmation may be made before an officer of the Navy, Army or Air Force, a Warrant Officer of the Navy or Air Force, a Warrant Officer Class 1 of the Army, a Justice of the Peace, a Commissioner for Affidavits or a Commissioner for Declarations.

Another ill-informed voter who listened to Abbott & Co?

 

Well, here’s one receptionist who is probably rueing the day she ever listened to the carbon tax nonsense being spouted by Tony Abbott and his mates:
“A CEMETERY has admitted it was a mistake to blame the carbon tax for an increase in the price of a burial plot.
A receptionist at Springvale Cemetery in Melbourne's eastern suburbs reportedly told the Maliki family last week that a $55 charge would apply to a family burial because "even the dead don't escape the carbon tax".
The Opposition and some funeral industry figures have previously suggested cremation prices would rise due to the carbon tax, a claim refuted by the Gillard government.
The communications manager of Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust, which administers Springvale Cemetery, told The Australian Online the suggestion to the Maliki family was a mistake.
"It absolutely was in error," Rebecca Atkins said. "Internally, we're going to have to find out who made that comment.
"There is no price increase due to the carbon tax. Our fees go up every year on 1 July and that's in line with CPI and they have done for 30-odd years.
"It's just the timing, I guess. That's where the confusion lies."

Strawweight Gulaptiz as useful as pockets in a singlet

Clarence Valley community members have every reason to remain well and truly p*ssed off with their local MP, Chris Gulaptiz ( note: spelling is intentional, it indicates he's past his use-by-date).

IF, the Nationals have the temerity to ever again nominate a candidate in Clarence they should at least ensure that person has graduated and is no longer on trainer wheels.

It's all very well and good for Gulaptiz to join the picket line at Grafton Jail, although party line dancing seems to be a format he's more acquainted with, and jump up and down telling anyone who'll listen to him about how "disappointed" he is with the Government and Premier about their refusal to budge.

But, at the end of the day, Gulaptiz is absolutely useless.

End of story!

Clarence Valley Community to rally again tomorrow, Tuesday 10 July 2012

Greg Hunt is in error, is in error, is in error.................

On 29 June 2012 ABC online published what appears to have been a media release from Coalition spokesperson for Climate Action, Environment and Heritage, Greg Hunt.

In this release Mr. Hunt specifically named two companies and one industry as included in the listed 294 big polluters directly paying a carbon ‘tax’ from 1 July 2012.

Intrigued by these claims, I went looking for the proof.

This following is what one of the named companies, Mackay Sugar Pty Ltd,  has told government, shareholders and the Australian Stock Exchange over the years.

Mackay Sugar on average produces about 850,000 tonnes of raw sugar. The company sells primarily to Sugar Australia (for its Racecourse sugar mill) with any excess sugar product being exported. It also produces 180,000 tonnes of the by-product molasses annually which is mostly sold on the domestic market.

The company has also diversified into electricity production from cane by-product. It is currently expanding its renewable energy investment by constructing a 36MW renewable electricity plant at the Racecourse site which will supply about 30% of the Mackay district’s growing electricity needs. As a renewable energy generator/user, the impact of the carbon price on Mackay Sugar’s milling operations will be managed.

In other words, it is highly likely that Mackay Sugar (although listed as a liable entity) will have little or no exposure to direct payment for its greenhouse gas emissions and, therefore there should be a correspondingly small risk that the sugar Clarence Valley shoppers pick up from local supermarket shelves will contain a price increase attributable to Mackay Sugar’s Clean Energy liabilities in 2012-13.

Mr. Hunt also mentioned that Kraft Australia Holdings Pty Ltd (of Vegemite fame) will be raising prices because it is one of those identified big polluters. Unfortunately for Mr. Hunt this multinational company is not on the Federal Government list of liable entities for this financial year. So one has to suspect that he has been taken in by the multinational's lobbying in the media for grant monies/tax relief.

Finally, Mr. Hunt included an entire Australian industry as one of these big polluters liable to directly pay for its carbon emissions. Again, he is on shaky ground because neither dairy farmers nor dairy manufacturers are liable entities this year according to both the Federal Government and the Australian Dairy Industry Council Inc.

He also neglected to mention that corporations and local governments can stay off the list of liable entities by altering production/ business practices and/or switching to higher levels of renewable energy use through co-generation/biomass schemes and the like.

Any price increases on electricity or groceries due to carbon pricing will be directly attributable to lazy companies, that failing to address their own greenhouse gas emissions, expect their wholesale/retail customers to subsidise this folly though those very same increases being passed on to local consumers of the final product in the supply chain.

I’m sure Greg Hunt is well aware of all these points and has taken advantage of the gullibility of hard-pressed mainstream editors to create a little political mischief.

Proud to be tackling climate change