Three cheers for the ferryman!

The Daily Tele on 10th August 2012:
“THEY say everyone needs a hobby. For one Northern Rivers local it means printing up anti-Kyle Sandilands stickers to hand out to your pals.
That's what former Clarence River ferry operator Lawry Duff has done, making up a batch of "Honk If You Hate Kyle Sandilands" stickers, such is his loathing for the 2Day FM radio announcer who once again topped the Sydney breakfast ratings this week….
“I’m going deaf from the honking,” he chuckled.”

This type of unlawful behaviour by NSW North Coast police is not acceptable

One instance of NSW North Coast police assaulting a person in their custody has broken free from the hidden pool of local knowledge and made it into the full light of day.

Magistrate David Heilpern yesterday released the damning security footage of the attack, saying it clearly showed officers had lied about being assaulted by Aboriginal man Corey Barker.
Officers had previously told the court that the footage was unavailable as it was damaged - only for the court to ultimately ''repair'' it and play it to the hearing.


http://media.smh.com.au/news/national-news/police-bashing-in-ballina-cell-3541663.html

David Heilpern is to be commended for supporting the citizen's right to know how state institutions and their personnel conduct themselves.

The Australian Wheat Board scandal continues to play out

After all the lies the Howard Government told, including Tony Abbott…….
BloombergBusinessweek 8th August 2012:
“MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A former managing director of an Australian wheat exporter has been fined 100,000 Australian dollars ($106,000) and banned from being a company director for two years for his role in paying $200 million in kickbacks to Iraq's former dictatorship under the discredited UN oil-for-food program. Andrew Lindberg, former head of the now defunct monopoly wheat exporter AWB Ltd., was sentenced Thursday for breaches of Australian corporate law. It was part of a plea deal with corporate regulator Australian Securities and Investments Commission that ends a case that began in 2007. Justice Ross Robson said Lindberg had failed to act "with the degree of care and diligence a reasonable person would exercise" in his role.”

Clarence Valley LGA Election 2012 Candidate Scorecard: Week One

Candidates standing for the nine councillor positions at the 8 September 2012 Clarence Valley Local Government Election are being rated on their individual campaigns to win over voters.

The score range is -10 to 10. Every candidate starts at zero (0)

Candidate nominations closed last Wednesday and ballot paper positions were assigned, so one could say that all candidates are now on the blocks.

This week degrees of separation (or lack thereof) come to the fore on nomination forms.

Name                       Designation            Running Score

Rod Morrison        Independent            0

Margot Scott          Independent           0

Paul Parkinson                                  -3 for being unable to decide exactly where he lives, for not supplying local media with a photograph so voters can ‘see’  who it is that is asking for their votes, referring to himself online as an “indigenous white fella” when he admits he has no claim to culture or country  

                                                                                 

Craig Howe            Independent          -1 with a LOL for informing the world on his nomination form that he won’t be born until 12 days after election day – thereby creating what would have to be the world’s first in utero candidate

Andrew Baker       Independent            0

Ursula Tunks        Independent             0

Joy de Roos                                       -1 for not mentioning on her nomination form that she belonged to a political party (ALP)

Jim Simmons         Independent           0

Greg Clancy           Independent           1 for being a only candidate with professional training/background which will be directly relevantif elected to council

Jane Beeby            Independent          -3 for taking down her election campaign Facebook page before the week ended and for trying to spin the reason for doing so

Sue Hughes           Independent            0

Karen Toms                                        1 for being a candidate who stated on her nomination form that she belonged to a  political a party (NATS)

Michael McIvor       Independent           0  

                                                                           

Jeremy Challacombe Independent       0.5 + -2  = -1.5 for mentioning on his nomination form that he was a member of a political party but ignoring the fact being an office holder in that party is also relevant (NATS) and then deciding it was a good idea to have his nomination form witnessed by a staffer working for Andrew Baker’s former business partner Nationals MP Chris Gulaptis 

                                                                                

Richie Williamson                               1 for mentioning on his nomination form that he belonged to a political party (NATS)

Margaret McKenna  Independent          -2  deciding it was a good idea to have her nomination form witnessed by a yet another staffer working for Andrew Baker’s former business partner Nationals MP Chris Gulaptis       

Jason Kingsley        Independent           1 for being a candidate who stated on his nomination that he belonged to a  political party (ALP) 

Councils across Northern NSW resolving to oppose CSG mining

From Mid North Coast Greens a list of Northern NSW local governments opposing Coal Seam Gas mining and the date decisions were taken:

Northern Rivers
Tweed 01-Apr-11
Byron 12-May-11
Lismore 01-Nov-11
Kyogle 20-Dec-11
Clarence Valley 21-Feb-12
Ballina 28-Apr-12
Richmond Valley 15-May-12

Mid North Coast
Greater Taree 01-Dec-11
Great Lakes 10-Apr-12
Coffs Harbour 26-July-12

Hunter / Newcastle
Cessnock 01-Oct-10
Gloucester 21-Dec-11
Port Stephens Dec-11 (Security of Water)
Newcastle 5-Jun-12 (Security of Newcastle's Water)

The Northern Rivers region can be justifiably proud of the fact that every one of its local government areas are on this list.

And you thought your local government election ballot paper was going to be unwieldy?

Pity the poor voters in Lismore LGA who cannot possibly separate the wheat from the chaff in this paddock absolutely chocka with candidates for the 1 mayoral and 10 councillor seats on offer.

Councillor Candidates Lismore City Council

Local Government Elections 2012 - Saturday, 8 September 2012

Draw Status: Not Complete

Candidate Ballot Name	Locality	Party Affiliation or Independent
BATTISTA Gianpiero	GOONELLABAH	Independent
BENNETT Greg	NIMBIN
CLOUGH Simon	LISMORE HEIGHTS	Our Sustainable Future
DOWELL Jenny	GOONELLABAH	Country Labor
GRINDON-EKINS Vanessa	LISMORE HEIGHTS	The Greens
LARSEN Peter	TUNTABLE CREEK
MARKS Neil	GOONELLABAH	Independent
MEINEKE Graham	EAST LISMORE	Independent
OLIVIERI Kate	GOONELLABAH	Independent
SCHEIBEL Mathew	GOOLMANGAR	Independent
YARNALL David	TERANIA CREEK	Independent
BATTISTA Rebekka	GOONELLABAH	Independent
BEOHM Katrina	KEERRONG	Independent
BONNER Marny	SOUTH LISMORE	Our Sustainable Future
CHANT John	EAST LISMORE	Independent
GRAHAM Kel	WYRALLAH	Independent
MATHEW Angela	GOONELLABAH	Independent
MURPHY Paul	CANIABA
RODEN Tony	TUNTABLE CREEK	Independent
SMITH Isaac	EAST LISMORE	Country Labor
STOCK Susan	NIMBIN	The Greens
BATEMAN Clive	NIMBIN
BORDIN Adrian	TULLERA	Independent
DARDENGO Denis	GOONELLABAH	Independent
HARLOW Ruth	LISMORE	Our Sustainable Future
HOUSTON Ray	GOONELLABAH	Country Labor
KAVANAGH Catherine	GIRARDS HILL	Independent
O'NEILL Paul	LISMORE	Independent
SALMON Shae	SOUTH GUNDURIMBA	The Greens
SYMONS Scout	EAST LISMORE	Independent
VERARDO Sante	SOUTH LISMORE	Independent
ALBERTINI Angela	MODANVILLE	Independent
CASSON Nancy	GOONELLABAH	Independent
COLES Marilyn	WYRALLAH
DAVISON Leigh	TERANIA CREEK	Our Sustainable Future
JOHNSTON Shanelle	THE CHANNON	Independent
LAWRENCE Terry	LISMORE	Independent
MCDOUGALL Ross	NUMULGI	Independent
PILATI Anthony	NORTH LISMORE	Independent
RITCHIE Glenys	GIRARDS HILL	Country Labor
SHELLEY Beth	BOOERIE CREEK	The Greens
BARNES David	TUNTABLE CREEK
BELL Kevin	REPENTANCE CREEK	Country Labor
BREASLEY-SMITH Vicki	TERANIA CREEK	Independent
BRUCE Matt	LISMORE	Independent
DEEGAN Paul	GOONELLABAH	Independent
FINDLAY Vicki	NORTH LISMORE	Independent
GUISE Adam	LISMORE	The Greens
HENRY Brian	GOONELLABAH	Independent
KIA Annie	THE CHANNON	Our Sustainable Future
MILLER Dusty	NORTH LISMORE	Independent
ANDERSON Stuart	TUNTABLE CREEK	Our Sustainable Future
GORDON Andrew	GIRARDS HILL
KING Amanda	EAST LISMORE	The Greens
MARKS Deborah	GOONELLABAH	Independent
NOTT Belinda	TUCKI TUCKI	Independent
PEARCE Brendan	GOONELLABAH	Independent
WOODHAM Nick	EAST LISMORE	Independent
WORRALL Naomi	NORTH LISMORE	Country Labor
ROBINSON Barry	EAST LISMORE	Independent

One of the painful truths many on the North Coast and the rest of NSW have to live with

Being a NSW region high on the aging demographic tree and lower on the average weekly household income scale, with a consistently higher than national or state unemployment levels, there is often real pain attached those quarterly electricity bills for many local people.

So it was good to see the Prime Minister articulate the some of the difficulties faced,  in her keynote speech to the Energy Policy Institute at a gathering of the worst power industry price gougers at the Sydney Intercontinental Hotel on 7 August 2012:

People are paying a lot more – in some states, bills have gone up almost a thousand dollars in just a few years.

It is very clear that working Australians, pensioners, the sick, the aged, people who need the most help, the people Labor Governments are elected to represent. These are the people who are feeling the most pressure.

Meanwhile, some states, like New South Wales and Queensland, are doing very well out of this financially and their revenue from some electricity assets is growing much faster than in the private sector.......

As a recent AGL Energy review noted, while wealthier households can cut power costs through more efficient devices and solar panels, the poorest customers are exposed to the full cost of the increases.

As a Labor Prime Minister, I feel very deeply concerned about the plight of pensioners and poorer families who spend a greater proportion of their income on power.

The less disposable income you have, the harder it is to manage large lumpy bills, like power bills.

And buying clean energy appliances – everything from new and more efficient whitegoods to rooftop solar panels – is plainly easier if you earn more........

Fifty per cent price increases in many states over four years – linked to demonstrable inefficiencies in resource allocation in the market.

Or in this state, New South Wales – nearly seventy per cent increases.

With half the extra cost due to increased network charges.

People are paying much more for the so-called “poles and wires” – not to produce electricity but just to move it around the system.

A long term trend of price increases like this cannot be sustained.

Not economically, not socially. No market can sustain this, let alone a market which delivers one of the essentials of life.

It’s a huge cost to our economy.

Full transcript of the Prime Minister's speech is here.

Premier Barry O'Farrell, Energy Minister Chris Hartcher et al may huff and puff all they like, but Julia Gillard is speaking a solid truth