Metgasco still in share price free fall

 

Still losing friends and influence, coal seam gas exploration and putative production company Metgasco Limited continues its 2013 share price freefall – closing at 0.135 cents on 12 February.

 

ASX 12 month daily line chart for Metgasco Limited

Click on graph to enlarge

Remembering the deeply weird side of Mr. Rabbitt - Part Five

Tony Abbott in The Sydney Morning Herald, 14 June 1977

As usual - Kevin Hogan plays catch up on mining policy

This was published in The Daily Examiner on 12 February 2013:

National Party candidate for the seat of Page Kevin Hogan came out yesterday and said he too was opposed to CSG.

"For some time I have had increasing reservations over CSG mining in our community," Mr Hogan said. "I have come to the opinion that I do not support CSG mining in the Northern Rivers."

Mr Hogan pointed to the scientific risks and socio-cultural impacts the industry would have on the community.

"Last week I toured the gas fields in Tara and Kogan and have seen first-hand the effects of CSG mining on the environment and the community.

"I went to the CSG fields in Queensland with reservations about the industry and returned with grave concerns.

"The infrastructure is incredibly invasive and properties are devalued when CSG is next door.

"Given farms are much smaller in our region the impact would be even greater."

He said he would not like a CSG well on or near his property. But he said it was not enough to "talk the talk".

"I will loudly oppose any attempts to withdraw or water down regulations on the CSG industry, and pledge to support any legislation that will safeguard the Northern Rivers from CSG, including any way we can pause or suspend CSG activities," he said.

"I would cross the floor of Parliament on this issue if necessary."

Member for Page Janelle Saffin did not have time to respond because she was in parliament, but, her office sent through a document detailing her lengthy involvement with the anti-CSG movement.

After publicly supporting the coal seam gas industry and Metgasco Limited in May and again in August 2010, National Party candidate at the September 2013 federal election, Kevin Hogan, has now completely changed his tune.

 

Despite being remarkably silent on the subject of mining and water security until after his second National Party preselection in June 2012 when he paid lip service to widely-held concerns - and still not being seen anywhere near protesting community groups - he has discovered reservations which have conveniently morphed into opposition to coal seam gas mining on the NSW North Coast in time to be included in one of his campaign media releases.

 

And, in a bravura move, Hogan has accused sitting Labor MP Janelle Saffin, of being partially responsible for 44 NSW coal seam gas exploration and production licenses.

Thereby overlooking the fact that Saffin only sat in the NSW Parliament between 25 March 1995 and 28 February 2003 - a period barely represented in either the latest official status report on petroleum licences and applications or in the last list of expired licenses.

This particular spray by Hogan also ignored fact in favour of spin when it came to which tiers of government are responsible during different aspects of petroleum mining approval processes.

That I am not alone in viewing this change of heart as a cynical ploy on Hogan's part is highlighted by The Northern Star on 13 February 2013:

It gives you some idea how far down the totem pole politicians have slipped when a candidate comes out against CSG and no one seems to believe him.
That is the case with the Nationals candidate for Page, Kevin Hogan, who has broken ranks with his federal and state colleagues and voiced his concern about the fledgling CSG industry.
Judging by letters to the editor and comments on our web page, no one is buying it.
The consensus is that Hogan is insincere in his sentiments and, if elected, would be made to toe the party line.....

Perhaps someone should remind Mr. Hogan that his current position is at odds with his as yet unrepudiated support of coal seam gas industry growth via investor tax concessions and his statement:

"Metgasco is good for infrastructure in the area and it's a clean energy project as well"

As well as flying in the face of his previous support in letters to the editor, such as this one in The Daily Examiner on 25 May 2010 when he was happy to join with the unpopular coal seam gas mining company in a bout of federal government bashing:

I met with representatives from Metgasco last week.

They are gravely concerned that the Rudd Government's proposed new Resource Profits Tax will in their words 'seriously impair' Metgasco's Casino project.

They have written a letter to Kevin Rudd expressing their concerns.

Metgasco has invested tens of millions of dollars in the project to date.

It has the potential to offer local jobs and boost the local economy.

It also will offer a supply of 'clean' energy to the Northern Rivers, replacing some of our reliance on coal-powered energy.

This project does not deserve to be killed off by another bad policy decision by the Rudd Government.

Local jobs are more important than Labor taxes to pay for wasteful spending.

Mr. Hogan offers this excuse for his recent change of heart:

"In the last election campaign no one spoke to me about CSG"

A statement which beggars belief, as it asks voters to accept that he never read any locally published letters to the editor during that election campaign, ignored reasons behind the initial call for a state-wide CSG mining moratorium, was unaware that Northern Rivers councils were beginning to openly oppose this industry and, didn't notice that farmers were also voicing concern or that the Coalition was canvassing the possibility of supporting a CSG mining moratorium.

Twitter becomes too intrusive?

 

Two bright sparks have a page on their website which displays photographs of the geolocation from which selected tweets were sent.

What will haunt Nationals candidate Kevin Hogan during the 2013 federal election campaign?

 

In September 2011 The Sydney Morning Herald reported this:

 

The disgraced state MP Steve Cansdell resigned from Parliament days after a former staff member complained to the corruption watchdog that he misused a parliamentary entitlement to help a Nationals colleague, Kevin Hogan, contest the federal seat of Page.

 

It is over three months since The Sydney Morning Herald further reported:

 

Allegations that the former NSW MP Steve Cansdell rorted a staff allowance to benefit a Nationals colleague were referred by corruption authorities to the Speaker of the Legislative Assembly a year ago but not investigated.

 

Last month the same newspaper stated:

 

After that Hancock, who is also the Liberal member for South Coast, promised that parliamentary officers would ''review the material'' sent by the ICAC. This included a spreadsheet containing the dates on which Palmer alleged Cansdell submitted claims for the allowance that differed from the days she worked. That was last October.

What has happened since then? Hancock passed the matter to the executive manager of the Department of Parliamentary Services, Rob Stefanic, who responded that he was ''unable to reach any conclusions regarding the veracity of the claims made by the former electorate officer''.

 

Now the O’Farrell Government, along with the state and federal Liberal and National parties may think they have managed to brazened this matter out. Kevin Hogan may think he is no longer involved as the 2010 federal election campaign is long past.

 

Perhaps they should think again. It’s an open secret that there was more than one MP and one worker involved in alleged rorting and more than one election involved.

 

The exact date that the second MP’s staffer allegedly began working for Cansdell on his own re-election campaign is well known in the electorate – and not just by word of mouth.

 

The NSW North Coast Nationals appear to have turned staff swapping in election campaigns into an art, along with keeping allegedly dubious indirect political donation records.

So what else might be found out about serial candidates like Kevin Hogan if the delving goes deep enough?

Yambaman gets caught out by a hoax

 

An email has been doing the rounds since at least March 2012.

 

Sometimes it is titled A Short Tony Abbott Resume, other times it's headed Who is Tony Abbott? and sometimes it has no title or tag at all.
 

Often it is attributed to author unknown and sometimes to a former Labor Leader of the Opposition Mark Latham.

 

It turns up in online forums, blog posts and even in one comment under a North Coast Voices post.

 

By unthinkingly putting the email on one particular forum alh helped him/herself along the way to a six day suspension.

This is what the real Mark Latham wrote about Abbott in the Financial Review on 11 October, 25 October and 20 December 2012:

* The pampered childhood, in which no boundaries were placed on young Tony’s adventurism. His time at Sydney University hectoring lesbians and vandalising public property in the name of conservatism. His struggles as a trainee priest in conforming to the vows of celibacy and the culture of St Patrick’s seminary. Then his turbulent period in the early 1990s, ostensibly working for the Liberal leader, John Hewson, but acting as an agent for John Howard....Under his leadership, we are witnessing the moral decline of Australian conservatism.

* My theory on Abbott is that he is a habitual exaggerator, an attention seeker who will say or do anything to inflate the perceived sins of his opponents.

* Tony Abbott is a flawed character, a habitual exaggerator, deeply unpopular with the Australian people. There is no surging public sentiment to make him prime minister.

 

However, Yambaman obviously didn't check the email, was caught by the hoax and eagerly posted it at Topstocks:

 

3 Grade(s)Awarded yambaman One for the Abott haters 2013-01-10 08:35:38 Forum: Politics Post #875242 Read: 594 times IP Address 124.171.xxx.160

By Mark LATHAM, Former Leader of ALP. Just for IgnorAnt and MH. Overheard last week: "It's such a shame there isn't someone other than Tony Abbott as alternative Prime Minister. We think the Gillard government is bad for the country, but it would be better if we had another Opposition leader to vote for." It caused me to ask why that view might exist given Abbott's background, and I wondered if it might be that people do not know his history. So, I have put together some information which might help get a better understanding of the man. Abbott graduated from the University of Sydney with degrees in Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and Bachelor of Economics (BEc). Then he became a Rhodes Scholar at Queens College Oxford UK in Politics and Philosophy. He also won a boxing blue at Oxford. He married Margaret in 1987 and has three daughters. He is a member of the congregation of the Catholic Church. He was involved in student politics, but beyond that, biographer Michael Duffy, wrote that during his student days he "........saved a child who was swept out to sea. Another time, he helped save children from a burning house next to a pub where he was drinking. On each occasion he disappeared before he could be properly thanked". He is a member of Manly's Queenscliffe SLSC, and a member of the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, both of which he joined before it was politically expedient to do so. He spent several weeks teaching in remote Aboriginal settlements in Cape York in an effort 'to familiarise himself with indigenous issues'. If you are wondering where some of the negativity attributed to Tony Abbott comes from, go on to the Net and have a look at the comments which followed, 2 years ago, when he was asked by the Women's Weekly "What advice would you give your three daughters on sex before marriage?" He told the magazine: "I would say to my daughters, if they were to ask me this question .... it is the greatest gift you can give someone, the ultimate gift of giving and don't give it up to someone lightly." Yet, if you were to read many of the comments on the Internet and the print media at the time, you could be forgiven for thinking he was attempting to impose his will on all females in Australia, had ranted against women, had argued for Muslim like chastity, and so on..... See for yourself - Google it! Gillard's response was to accuse Abbott of "lecturing women"??? I have also included a video of Abbott where he commented on, in what seems to me to be quite a balanced fashion, "climate change" yet the title of the video suggests he has been extreme in "denying climate change and advocating carbon tax". See what you think. http://youtu.be/oPpQisoZqx4 Then have a look at the longer interview from which this original excerpt was taken http://youtu.be/ZoCKhNr8Atk. Abbott has had a history of being told by 'ABC types' that he lacks compassion, does not understand homosexuality or homosexuals, avoids situations where he might need to face up to gay relationships, and so on. Again, because he was not prepared to reveal personal issues of others (ethics, principles?), he did not speak about his own sister's lesbian relationship and the part he played in supporting her. It would have been an easy defence for him, but in line with his principles and values, he chose not to use it. Granted, he is not a super smooth, off the cuff speaker, and does not fit the orator mould. But when he is compared to the glib tongues and untrustworthiness of Gillard, Rudd, Swan, etc., it is not difficult to determine which attributes are more important for the leadership of Australia. After Abbott completed his studies, he became a journalist for The Bulletin and also the Australian. For a time he was plant manager for Pioneer Concrete, then became press secretary for the then Opposition Leader, Dr John Hewson. He was elected to Parliament in 1994 at a bi-election. He has held various Ministerial posts and his actions in those roles are a matter of public record . His work ethic is unquestioned. He was dismayed at the policies of former leader Malcolm Turnbull relating to ETS, and following widespread disaffection with Turnbull's stance among Liberal Party members, threw his hat into the ring, as did Joe Hockey, for leadership of the Liberal Party. Abbott was successful. At the time, the polls were running strongly against the Liberal Party (in the 40% approval range), while Kevin Rudd enjoyed figures around 60%. Within a short space of time, with Abbott as leader, those figures changed to such a degree that Rudd was replaced in the now infamous "faceless men" coup which installed Gillard. Since that time, Abbott has maintained constant focus on the ever widening circle of disasters associated with the Gillard government to the stage where support for that government now hovers around the 30% mark. Abbott, strikes me as a person of integrity, he has values in which I too believe, and ethics based on his Christian beliefs. I would much rather place my trust in someone who, in his actions, has shown he is what he says, rather than someone who will say anything to gain a prospective advantage for themselves. ------------------------------------------------ Now what do you have to say to that IgnorAnt and MH, and please don't dismiss Latham as a loonie.

 

Glenugie Coal Seam Gas Protesters in Grafton Court

Eighteen persons charged with offences associated with the protest against Coal Seam Gas at the Glenugie site to the south of Grafton appeared in Grafton Local Court today. Pleas of not guilty were entered in relation to the vast majority of the charges.

Protester Benny Zable

It was somewhat ironic that an over-full court house necessitated about a dozen of the accused persons to be seated in the jury box. Supporters of the protesters packed the court room to the rafters; both the ground floor and upper level public galleries were chock-a-block with a crowd estimated to be about 100.

Magistrate David Heilpern ordered the prosecution to prepare briefs of evidence in relation to the accused persons by Monday 4th March and adjourned the matters until Monday 11th March at the Grafton Court when they will be listed for mention. The Magistrate excused those with legal representation from appearing in person on March 11th.

Most of the defendants' court appearances were relatively brief. However, two had somewhat lengthier appearances. 

John Wyborn, who appeared in custody as a consequence of refusing to sign bail forms, was released after Magistrate Heilpern acknowledged the protest site at Glenugie was no longer active and revised Wyborn's bail conditions.

Another protester Benny Zable, who represented himself, told the court the charges were lies and distortions and he had DVD evidence to support his claims. He told the court that he is a performance artist with performances existing on the world stage and the charges were damaging his work.

Magistrate Heilpern explained to Zable how he (Zable) could make representation to the police to have the charges against him dropped. However, Magistrate Heilpern advised Zable to obtain legal advice about taking that course of action and providing the DVD evidence to the prosecution because it could impact detrimentally on other matters associated with the protesters that are before the court.