The unhappiness over plans to remove Maclean's most prominent trees continues

McLachlan Park, Maclean, November 2014

Letter to the editor in The Daily Examiner 12 November 2014:

Keep the camphors

I HAVE followed the comments about the removal of the camphor laurel trees within the Clarence Valley Council area with great interest.

I am neither a "greenie" nor a "tree hugger," but I think that going to the extreme and wanting to remove all the trees mentioned is a bit radical.

If the people or persons concerned within the Council, and the general public would only step back and view the situation before engaging the chainsaws, they would see that the "old" camphor laurel trees have been around longer than most of them.

If these people were observant enough, they would see that most of the dairy farms had some of these trees as shade for the cattle, horse and farm hands.

Observation number 1: There are very few, if any, seedlings of this particular variety of camphor laurel growing in close proximity. Check the area adjacent to the Boulevard and see for yourself.

Observation number 2: The variety in the Bangalow area is of a different growth habit, namely tall, multi-trunked with larger dark green foliage and tends to produce very readily from seed. Some of these have found their way to the Lower Clarence area, and some have been removed.

So, I say to Council, before you remove any large camphor laurel trees from within the council area, check the variety first, and also send your relevant personnel to a plant identification course.

To think that Port Jackson figs, for one, have been suggested as replacement trees for the Boulevard is absolutely horrendous, to say the least.

Ficus trees in general have very invasive root systems, and would undermine the levy wall as well as up lifting the bitumen street. So once again, Council and councillors, think long and hard about this situation.

It seems that the Council made a mistake in filling the park in the first place and now want to beautify the park at ratepayers' expense.

If the reason for the expensive facelift of the park is for additional parking, then why doesn't the Council purchase the empty block across the street and utilise that as a car park.

Probably wouldn't cost as much as a makeover.

Ken Woods

Maclean

What will be the fate of the Everlasting Swamp?

Letter to the Editor in The Daily Examiner 11 November 2014:

LIving across the other side of the nation, I have just recently been alerted about The Daily Examiner articles on the Sportsmans Creek Weir and the Everlasting Swamp and the discussions about retaining the status quo or returning this wetland to the magnificence it could be and a truly beneficial and highly productive protein source and tourism opportunity for the community. While the original reason for the 1927 construction of the weir had merit a century (almost) ago it has no place in today's world - despite the spurious claims by locals to the contrary. But let's deal with the facts. The weir is no longer needed; it has served its purpose even though, in hindsight, that was probably the incorrect thing to do. What it has done is slowly strangled and damaged Sportsmans Creek and the Everlasting Swamp. However, all is not lost as the creek system and wetland can be revitalised by removing the weir and returning the tidal regime to the upper reaches. The capacity of the Everlasting, if returned to its original state, will deliver far greater protein than using it for marginal grazing and cropping as has been the norm for the past century (Google 'valuing wetlands'). The commercial and recreational fishing industries will be enormous beneficiaries of any rejuvenation - producing fish, prawns and other seafood for the local and regional communities. The resultant boost to fish stocks in the Clarence River from this habitat restoration will deliver significant long-term benefits and profits to those sectors. The 'Everlasting' could be as good as any wetland in Australia, including the renowned Kakadu. I lived in the NT for seven years and know that the jewel of wetlands in the Clarence, the Everlasting, will, if allowed, provide a platform that would emulate if not better that on display in many parts of Kakadu. The increase in people wanting to see birdlife and other attractions like improvement to vegetation, including the return of the impressive saltwater mangrove trees that my Pop told me about, will be enormous. I urge everyone to work out the benefits to the local businesses. The improved habitat for fish stocks and birdlife will deliver many benefits across the community. Holding the government of the day to account on managing the transformation of the Everlasting is essential, but just as essential is the need for the community of the Clarence to accept change. The Darwinian theory of adapt or die comes to mind. So does the great story of "Who moved my Cheese." I urge the community to have the conversation - you may be surprised to see that change is good. 
 
John Harrison, former resident of Weir Rd, Sportsmans Creek; former CEO of the Professional Fishermen's Association on the Clarence; former CEO and President of Recfish Australia; and current CEO of the WA Fishing Industry Council

The Everlasting Swamp National Park will combine an additional 1700 hectares of land 

to the existing Everlasting Swamp State Conservation Area. 

Photo: Terry Deefholts / The Daily Examiner.

ABC News 12 November 2014:

NSW MINISTER for the Environment, Rob Stokes, has announced the Government has purchased 1,700 hectares of Everlasting Swamp, a shimmering wetland in the Clarence River floodplains, to establish a new National Park. The newly acquired land will be combined with the existing Everlasting Swamp State Conservation Area.

In a press release, Mr Stokes said: "The Everlasting Swamp and the adjacent Imersons Swamp form one of the largest coastal floodplain wetlands remaining in NSW and an intact ecosystem of this size is extremely rare and globally significant."

The minister first announced the creation of the new national park at the annual general meeting of the National Parks Association of NSW on Monday night. Mr Stokes was applauded when he listed a string of "significant acquisitions" that would be added to national parks and reserves in the state's wetland, coastal and mountain areas.

Kevin Evans, CEO of National Parks Association of NSW said: "This is an exciting and significant addition to the national park estate. Everlasting Swamp National Park will ensure the protection of this internationally critical wetland area and the many threatened species that rely on it — including iconic species like the jabiru and brolga. We commend the government for persevering with the negotiations necessary to secure this fragile wetland."….

Dr Greg Clancy, an ecologist and birding and wildlife guide who has been visiting the Everlasting Swamps since the late 1970s, said he was "over the moon" to hear that it will become a national park.

"The Everlasting Swamp is really important for the brolgas," said Dr Clancy. "We've had up to 100 brolgas in that area and that's very rare in New South Wales. And there's a whole range of other waterbirds like whiskered terns, which come in their hundreds, and glossy ibis. The abundance and diversity is just incredible."

Because many wetlands in the Clarence have been drained, the Everlasting Swamp has become increasingly important as a habitat for birds. But Dr Clancy notes it is not pristine. Parts of the swamp have been invaded by feral pigs, weirs have been built to prevent salt water flowing in and cattle have turned some areas into temporary dustbowls. "It's going to be an interesting management challenge," said Dr Clancy.

"Now that it's a national park, I would certainly be keen to take tourists or birdwatchers into the area."

Are you aware that Clarence Valley Council is recording the conversations of staff and members of the public at its Grafton and Maclean chambers?

Security cameras are so ubiquitous in modern public building landscapes that most people hardly give them a second thought and so rarely, or never, wonder about how sophisticated the surveillance systems are that operate them.

So when the Link Security Group posts this on its website, the uninitiated like myself are none the wiser unless they delve deeper:

Link has recently assisted Clarence Valley Council, in the deployment of Milestone Systems XProtect Video Management Software, together with Axis Communications Cameras. In the past the Council had tried several other manufactures and ultimately deciding on the Milestone Systems and Axis Communications combination. ¹

This month I had cause to look beyond those two sentences above, when I became aware (and Clarence Valley Council confirmed) that its surveillance regime at both Grafton and Maclean chambers involved not just recording and storing video footage but the recording and storage of audio as well.

The video and audio surveillance appears to target front counter staff and members of the public who enter the main foyer and front desk areas.

Apparently recording the conversations residents and ratepayers have with front counter staff has been occurring for some time, but it is only this month that Council management has thought fit to alert the general public to this intrusive level of surveillance and then, only after it became aware that this state of affairs was possibly about to become common knowledge.

Notice sticky taped onto the front glass wall of the Maclean council chamber as at 12 November 2014:

A surveillance camera in Maclean council chamber foyer:

Indeed, it appears that Council may also only have officially informed its front counter staff sometime within the last six weeks that their conversations were being recorded and stored for at least 30 days.

It is not yet clear if all Clarence Valley’s elected councillors were, or are now, aware that audio surveillance is occurring and that audio is allegedly being actively monitored in real time by management on occasion.

One has to wonder if council management informed Centrelink of this audio surveillance when this federal government agency was setting up a self-service Access Point  in the foyer of the Maclean council chamber.

The access point (with a direct telephone link with Centrelink staff) in the Maclean chamber foyer:

Because the surveillance system being used by council is capable of being configured to pick up audio anywhere in a 180 to 360 degree range and is not impeded by small partitions, it is possible that private conversations clients might have with Centrelink staff over the phone or with an accompanying spouse/partner/parent/friend whilst using this access point could be either accidentally or deliberately recorded via the nearest audio microphone.

This is an unacceptable privacy risk in what has become a multiple use foyer space and, one that should have been anticipated by council management – but did it?

Given that surveillance systems such as that being used by Clarence Valley Council are capable of being hacked or hijacked one wonders what the decision makers were thinking when they decided to add an audio function to council’s security system.

As for why it was thought necessary to monitor staff and resident/ratepayer conversations in the first place - perhaps that is a question our elected representatives should be asking the General Manager through the Chair at the next ordinary monthly meeting.

With Council already the subject of one rather unflattering review report by the NSW Information & Privacy Commission, councillors may not want another complaint on the record if a member of the public decides to approach the Commissioner over this issue.

Council appears to be relying in part on its own 2006 Electronic Communication Policy for the 'right' to snoop at will, but this policy is silent about the right to privacy of third party users of council premises and, says nothing about audio surveillance of the front counters at Maclean and Grafton chambers.

1. Details of Milestone Systems XProtect can be found here and Axis security camera models here. A simple Google search will bring up installation and operating systems information for both Milestone and Axis products. YouTube will obligingly provide the curious with how-to videos on using this publicly available information to assist in accessing individual passwords and entering the backdoor of surveillance systems.

UPDATE

Clarence Valley Review 17 November 2014:

The conversations of people who attend Clarence Valley Council’s foyers in Grafton and Maclean are being recorded in conjunction with the council’s CCTV surveillance.
A ratepayer, concerned that their privacy could be invaded, brought the issue up with the Review.
Not all conversations, particularly at Maclean, where the space incorporates a Centrelink access point, are necessarily between council staff and the public.
Clarence Valley Council’s general manager, Scott Greensill, responded to the Review’s October 30 enquiry in a written statement on Monday November 3.
He said CCTV (audio and video) surveillance has been undertaken at council foyers in Maclean and Grafton since late 2011......

Sometime between Tuesday November 4 and Tuesday November 11, a new sign (pictured), which replaced a sign that only referred to video surveillance, was taped to the window adjacent to the entrance at Maclean.
The Grafton foyer displayed a sign warning that both video and audio were being recorded at the time of the Review’s enquiry.
The Review lodged a further enquiry with the NSW Department of Justice, regarding which legislations were applicable: “The Workplace Surveillance Act 2005 does not apply to audio surveillance,” the department wrote.
“The Surveillance Devices Act 2007 prohibits the audio recording of private conversations without consent.
“‘Private conversations’ are defined to mean those where the circumstances reasonably indicate that the people having the conversation desire that it only be listened to by themselves, or by other persons with their consent.
“A conversation which occurs in circumstances where it can be reasonably expected that it will be overheard is not a private conversation.
“Private conversations can be recorded in some situations with the consent of a principal party [perhaps the council in this situation] to the conversation for specified purposes, for example, protecting the lawful interests of that principal party.

“The Surveillance Devices Act 2007 does not prohibit the recording of any conversation that is not private.
“Whether or not a conversation is private will depend on the factual circumstances of the individual matter.
“The Attorney General cannot however provide legal advice or comment in relation to the particular matter referred to in the request.”

It would appear that Clarence Valley Council is admitting that it has been surreptitiously taping conversations occurring in council chamber foyer areas for the last three years and that this taping began after Scott Greensill became general manager.

It would also appear that every Centrelink client who has ever used the access point in the Maclean council chamber foyer may have had their privacy breached.

Hand up, the one person in Australia who didn't see this coming?

According to The Sydney Morning Herald on 11 November 2014:

Treasurer Joe Hockey has declined to deny independent analysis indicating a $51 billion hole in his budget, blaming tumbling iron ore prices for putting pressure on the bottom line….

The mid-year economic update is due to be released in December.  It is likely to contain some new government spending measures and further cuts to the ABC and SBS's funding.

Only two months into the government’s first term Hockey admitted in December 2013 that an increase in Abbott Government borrowings had increased Australia’s national debt. See MID-YEAR ECONOMIC AND FISCAL OUTLOOK 2013-14 (MYEFO)

From day one the Abbott Government has spent like a drunk on payday and borrowed like there was no tomorrow, so it comes as no surprise to find that the its first budget is now terminally ailing.

BACKGROUND

So how is Federal Coalition Treasurer Joe Hockey handling Australia’s national budget?

Where is Australian Federal treasurer Joe Hockey sourcing his financial advice?

So how much budget pain is the Abbott Coalition Government inflicting on Clarence Valley residents?

Women will bear the brunt of the Abbott government's budget cuts
Hockey accused of punting with taxpayer dollars
Australia pays a high price for MH370 search

Now Abbott wants to spend an est $250 million on his own VIP air transport
G20 Brisbane: $100 million to protect world leaders

Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey in danger of becoming a walking talking sovereign risk

Earth Matters Presentation: Osprey Banding in NSW, 5.30-7pm on 17 November 2014 at Grafton Public School

EARTH   MATTERS

Monday 17th November

Osprey Banding in NSW

Presented by Dr Greg Clancy

The Eastern Osprey Pandion cristatus is a rare bird in New South Wales and is listed as a 'vulnerable' on the Threatened Species Conservation Act (1995). It is generally confined to coastal areas from the Queensland border to Lake Macquarie but breeds along the larger North Coast rivers to the limit of tidal influence. Non-breeding birds occur further south and in recent years nesting has been attempted on the Central Coast, at Narrabeen Lake (successfully) and at Ulladulla, on the south coast. Colour banding has been carried out since 1990 with a total of 122 birds, mostly nestlings, having been banded.

The presentation will be held in the Staffroom at Grafton Public School, Queen Street, Grafton from  5.30 – 7 p.m.

There will be ample opportunity for questions and discussion.

Refreshments will follow.

For further information, contact Stan Mussared on 66449309

Organised by the

CLARENCE VALLEY CONSERVATION COALITION INC

Po Box 1015 Grafton NSW 2460

and the

CLARENCE ENVIRONMENT CENTRE

Skinner Street South Grafton NSW 2460

Retired Members of the Australian Parliament: b#gger pensioner concessions - give us OUR travel entitlements!

The Abbott Government may have removed pensioner rebates and public transport concessions without allowing submissions from pensioner groups on the social and economic values of these concessions, but any thought that retired members of the Australian Parliament must give up Lifetime Gold travel passes without their being able to put their case was obviously not going to be entertained.

Submission to Parliamentary Entitlements Legislation Amendments Bill 2014

Gas and petroleum exploration and production licences cover 80% of the entire Australian Great Artesian Basin

The Australian 7 November 2014:

IT is one of the world's largest underground water reservoirs, covering an area bigger than Iran. But a new report has found that the Great Artesian Basin's pumping power comes from an area smaller than Tasmania.

A scientific review has raised questions about the basin's cap­acity to withstand water extraction necessary for coal-seam gas mining.

The concern is not the impact on the basin's volume, but the pressure that keeps bores flowing from Cape York to Coober Pedy.

The report, to be presented at today's meeting of the NSW Great Artesian Basin Advisory Group, has found the reservoir's "recharge" area is about a third as big as previously thought, covering less than 10 per cent of the 1.7 million sq km basin. The area where the basin is topped up by more than 5mm a year — the minimum needed to keep the basin pressurised — is about a quarter of this.

The report says just 0.2 per cent of the basin provides recharge waters in excess of 30mm a year. Most of this is in north-western NSW's Pilliga region, where energy giant Santos is conducting exploratory drilling for a controversial CSG project. "The significance of the recharge zones is not so much as an immediate water supply, but that they provide the pressure head required to drive the water to the surface," says the report, by soil scientist Robert Banks.

Excerpts from GREAT ARTESIAN BASIN RECHARGE SYSTEMS AND EXTENT OF PETROLEUM AND GAS LEASES, SoilFutures Consulting Pty Ltd, October 2014:

The Great Artesian Basin (GAB) of Australia extends over 22% of the Australian continent where it is the only reliable groundwater or surface water source. The GAB contains 65 000 km3 (or 115 658 Sydney Harbours) of groundwater which is released under pressure to the surface through natural springs and artesian bores across its extent (QDNRM 2012).

Much of the groundwater held in the GAB is very old, having taken thousands to many hundreds of thousands of years to reach its current position in the basin from the recharge beds which are predominantly around the margins of the basin. Modern recharge is not thought to add significantly to the volume stored in the basin however it provides the crucial pressure head to keep the artesian waters flowing to the surface across this massive expanse of land. In most areas, the bulk of the GAB has a recharge value of less than 0.1 mm/yr…..

The following description of the Great Artesian Basin (GAB) is given in Ransley and Smerdon (2012).

The GAB contains an extensive and complex groundwater system. It encompasses several geological basins that were deposited at different times in Earth's history, from 200 to 65 million years ago in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. These geological basins sit on top of deeper, older geological basins and in turn, have newer surface drainage divisions situated on top of them (e.g. the Lake Eyre and Murray-Darling river basins). In this context – as a groundwater basin – the GAB is a vast groundwater entity underlying one-fifth of Australia.

Discharge from the GAB aquifers occurs naturally in the form of concentrated outflow from artesian springs, vertical diffuse leakage from the Lower Cretaceous-Jurassic aquifers towards the Cretaceous aquifers and upwards to the regional watertable and as artificial discharge by means of free or controlled artesian flow and pumped abstraction from water bores drilled into the aquifers.

For the GAB, like many other semi-arid to arid zone aquifers around the world, the current rate of recharge is significantly less than discharge. Groundwater currently stored in the Cadna-owie – Hooray Aquifer and equivalents is a legacy from higher recharge rates that occurred during much wetter periods in the early Holocene and Pleistocene age (essentially the last 2.6 million years).

The significance of the recharge zones to the GAB is not so much as an immediate water supply to central parts of the basin and natural discharge areas, but that they provide the pressure head required to drive the water to the surface. Removal of this pressure through water abstraction associated particularly with Coal Seam Gas (where local drawdown of in excess of 1000 m can be experienced around gas fields) risks removing the driving force of many of the free flowing artesian bores and springs in the GAB…..

Concern regarding CSG extraction is raised in Ransley and Smerdon (2012) in the following quote. "CSG production in the Surat Basin targets the Jurassic Walloon Coal Measures. The main CSG producing fields are located in the northern Surat Basin in a broad arc extending from Dalby to Roma. For gas to be harvested, the coal seams need to be depressurised by pumping groundwater from tens of thousands of wells intersecting the Walloon Coal Measures. Drawdowns of several hundred metres will be generated by the depressurisation and significant volumes of groundwater are to be pumped from the Walloon Coal Measures –averaging about 75 to 98 GL/year over the next 60 years (RPS Australia East Pty Ltd, 2011). This process will induce drawdown in overlying and underlying GAB aquifers, the amount of which will depend on the leakiness of the system."…..

In NSW the recharge areas of higher than 5 mm/yr are almost entirely contained within the east Pilliga area……

The above results show that:

 Recharge along the Jurassic to Cretaceous margins of the GAB is crucial to providing hydraulic head which drives the whole system.

 Significant recharge to the bulk of the GAB is much more limited in area than

previously thought.

 Although approximately 30% of the GAB is mapped as recharge, only 9 – 10% of the GAB is effective recharge which maintains the pressure head on the bulk of the GAB (excluding the Carpentaria basin).

 Only 2.3% of the GAB has effective recharge of greater than 5 mm/yr.

 Only 0.2% of the GAB has effective recharge of 30 – 79 mm/yr.

 In NSW, the main occurrence of recharge >30 mm is in the east Pilliga between

Coonabarabran and Narrabri.

 Draw down of many hundreds of metres is reported in Ransley and Smerdon (2012) for the northern Surat basin coal seam gas fields where coal seams are being

dewatered to release gas.

 Draw down of in excess of 1000 m is proposed in the Pilliga in the south eastern Surat Basin (ICSG Forum, 2014).

 Both of the Pilliga and the northern Surat gas fields or license areas occur in the very limited high recharge (>30 mm) areas of the GAB.

 Excessive draw down of pressure heads in the recharge zone of the GAB associated with gas extraction, has the potential to reduced pressure heads on artesian waters across much of the GAB, and potentially stopping the free flow of waters to the surface at springs and bores.

 Gas and petroleum exploration and production licenses cover 80% of the entire GAB.

 Gas and petroleum exploration and production licenses cover 79% of the critical

higher recharge areas of the GAB……

Consideration should be given to a basin wide approach to the management of the GAB with respect to minerals and natural resources, particularly with respect to potentially wide ranging activities such as gas and petroleum production where groundwater from below the GAB is drawn down and produced as an excess or waste byproduct of such development. In particular, serious thought needs to be given to the management of the few high recharge zones within the GAB and how these might interact with future water supplies…...

The East Pilliga area between Narrabri and Coonabarabran in NSW has Soil and Land Capability Classification (SLC) of between 4 and 6, meaning that there are no contiguous areas of Biophysical Agricultural Land (BSAL) in the area. BSAL is defined as Classes 1 to 3. This means that currently no special consideration which includes landscape function is given with regard to CSG and Mining applications in the high recharge zone areas of theGAB within the East Pilliga……