A tale of old trees which matter to a small community

Some of the people who opposed the removal of landmark camphor laurel trees from McLachlan Park.

Photo from the Independent

The Daily Examiner 1 May 2015:

Majority view

Mayor Williamson and the councillors who failed to support the motion to save the trees should never be voted into office again.

They have blatantly ignored the wishes of a significant number - possibly a majority - of residents simply so the mayor can push through his plan for McLachlan Park, a plan which, according to him, will be "magnificent".

The mayor wouldn't know magnificence if he tripped over it as clearly neither he does not consider giant 100-year-old trees to fall under the definition of "magnificent".

According to figures available from the Australian Bureau of Statistics from the last national census "... the population of Maclean in 2011 was 2612, living in 1202 dwellings with an average household size of 2.25."

Let's allow for growth over the past four years, be generous and round that up to a population of 3000 for 2015.

To quote from your article (by Tim Howard) in Tuesday's edition of the Daily Examiner: "Councillor Williamson is not convinced the group of protestors [1500 signatures on a petition to save the trees] reflects the view of the whole of Maclean....."

So, Mr. Mayor, let's do the mathematics:

Population = 3000

Of that total it would be safe to assume, based on the figure of 2.25 per household, that at least a third would be of voting age, i.e. 1000 ratepayers.

Number of signatures on the petition to not destroy the camphor laurels = 1500.

One doesn't need to be a rocket scientist to see that the response to the petition certainly DOES reflect the view of the whole of Maclean.

In addition to the above, if our esteemed mayor wishes to spend ratepayers' money on the removal of noxious weeds why not follow up on information I supplied to the Invasive Species Officer in Grafton last June regarding a prickly pear infestation in Orion Drive, Yamba?

This information was passed on to the council (who handle the actual eradication) and, over a month later, they sent someone who poisoned one, ONE, of the more than dozen plants I reported. All the others are still there and thriving.

The sooner a new council is elected the better.

Bruce Kennewell

Yamba

University of Western Australia comes to its senses and boots Bjorn out the door

Bjorn Lomborg

Google Images

ABC News 8 May 2015:

The University of Western Australia has cancelled the contract for a policy centre that was to be headed up by controversial academic Bjorn Lomborg …..

In a statement, UWA Vice Chancellor Paul Johnson said the creation of the centre had attracted "mixed reactions" from staff, students and the general public.

"The scale of the strong and passionate emotional reaction was one that the university did not predict," he said…..

Mr Johnson said he had on Friday spoken to the Federal Government and Dr Lomborg, advising them of the university's decision to cancel the contract and return the money to the Government.

He last month said the Federal Government had approached the university to set up the centre.

The Federal Government funding had attracted strong criticism from the Opposition, who described it as politically motivated, something Mr Pyne strenuously denied.

UWA Academic Staff Association vice president Professor Stuart Bunt said the move was not censorship.

"This isn't about censorship at all ... Lomborg is not a climate [change] denier; he believes the scientific evidence which overwhelmingly shows that climate change is happening, he just debates the economics of how we should deal with it," Mr Bunt said.

"The difficulty is he is neither a scientist or an economist, he's a political scientist.

"Once you become attached to a university, you're given a kind of credence by that university; people would expect an adjunct professor at UWA to be working in a professional manner and that their statements would be evidence-based.

"Lomborg would be using the name of the university, to put what are largely political opinions, rather than evidence-based statements, using the university's name."

Greens Senator Rachel Siewert said UWA made the right decision.

"It was very clearly the Government's design to get someone in place that was running a different argument on climate change, to try and suggest that climate change isn't as significant an issue as it is," Senator Siewert said.

"It was bad science, and I'm pleased that UWA has realised that.

"[The Federal Government] clearly had a political agenda, and it was a mistake for the University of Western Australia to go along with it."…..

How much can a koala bear before he needs a doctor?

This koala appears to have entered accident & emergency department of a public hospital in the Western District Health Service in Victoria:

https://youtu.be/itq1kAuYFgs

Most intriguing opening line in a blog post this week

As I explained in the Inforrm article that prompted Sir Alan Moses to invite me for a brief visit to his office before his terse invitation to depart it, the touchstone both of whether IPSO has any independence from the press industry and whether it will therefore be an effective regulator is on the issue of prominence. [Inforrm’s Blog, 1 May 2015]

The fate of one whistleblower whose evidence was presented to the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse

Extract from Australian Newspaper History Group May 2015 newsletter:

82.1.1. Jewish newspaper and a whistleblower

The Australian Jewish News (AJN) has made a senior journalist redundant after he passed on information that helped a royal commission and led to the resignation of Australia’s most senior Rabbi (Australian, Media section, 2 March 2015). Adam Kamien, who had worked for AJN since 2006, became the only person in the newsroom to be made redundant following an internal investigation into how text messages ended up being used by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The text message, sent from the Rabbi Meir Kluwgant to the editor of the AJN, Zeddy Lawrence, and read out at the royal commission, described the father of an abuse victim as a “lunatic” who neglected his children. “Zephaniah is killing us. Zephaniah is attacking Chabad. He is a lunatic on the fringe, guilty of neglect of his own children. Where was he when all this was happening?” Under intense cross examination, Rabbi Kluwgant said he sent the message to Lawrence during the commission evidence of Zephaniah Waks, father of victim and whistleblower Manny Waks. Soon after admitting to the text, Rabbi Kluwgant resigned as president of the Organisation of Rabbis of Australasia.

Yeshiva College sex abuse victim Manny Waks told the Australian Kamien was a whistleblower who courageously ensured that justice was done. “In my view it’s clear that the journalist was effectively dismissed for disclosing to me a vital bit of evidence for submission to the royal commission,” he said. “Had the text message not been disclosed, Rabbi Kluwgant would probably still have his senior leadership positions and victims and their families would still be accused of exaggerating the intimidation. The journalist’s disclosure ensured the truth was told. It vindicated us fully.”

The AJN launched an internal investigation into how the text message found its way to the royal commission and Kamien was suspended on full pay pending the outcome of an investigation. A few days later the AJN confirmed it had concluded its investigation and would “take no further action in relation to the matter”. But on Friday, 27 February, group general manager Rod Kenning sent an email to staff saying that Kamien’s position as senior journalist had become redundant as part of a restructure of the editorial team.

A must read for every Clarence Valley resident and ratepayer

Clarence Valley Council has placed a Draft Unreasonable Complainant Conduct Policy on public exhibition on its website here.

Every resident and ratepayers should read this 16-page draft and accompanying documents because under its provisions the general manager and senior staff will get to decide that you should be considered an unreasonable complainant and denied a service or services if, amongst other things, they consider you to be putting a complaint to them that is based on incomprehensible, false or inflammatory, trivial or delirious argument or based on a conspiracy theory or one that even dares to suggest that you may be a victim of past procedural unfairness on council's part (pages 2 & 3 of the draft).

You may also be placing an unreasonable demand on local government if you commit the following sin: Insisting on talking to a senior manager, a Director or the General Manager personally  if said person considers such a conversation is not appropriate or warranted (page 2).

Oh, and by the way, the General Manager Scott Greensill and his staff don’t want you to seduce them either (page 2).

Excerpt from Ombudsman New South Wales publication Managing unreasonable complainant conduct practice manual (2nd edition), 7 May 2012:

If you read nothing else, read this page

The approach and the strategies suggested in this manual are based on the clear understanding that:

• They are equally relevant and applicable to all staff within an organisation including frontline staff, supervisors and senior managers.

• All complainants are treated with fairness and respect.

• In the absence of very good reasons to the contrary, all complainants have a right to access public services.

• All complaints are considered on their merits.

• Unreasonable complainant conduct does not preclude there being a valid issue.

• The substance of a complaint dictates the level of resources dedicated to it, not a complainant’s demands or behaviour.

• Anger is an understandable and, to some degree, an acceptable emotion among frustrated complainants as long as it is not expressed through aggression or violence.

• Staff safety and well-being are paramount when dealing with unreasonable complainant conduct.

• The decision to change or restrict a complainant’s access to services as a result of their behaviour, will only be made at a senior management level and in accordance with clearly defined policies and procedures. See Unreasonable Complainant Conduct Model Policy available at: www.ombo.nsw.gov.au.

• Senior managers will ensure relevant systems, policies and procedures are in place to manage complaints and UCC and that all staff who interact with complainants will receive training, guidance and direction about using the strategies suggested in this manual.

* Cartoon found at /www.sensiforous.com

U.K. General Election 7 May 2015 - live links for Australian political tragics

BBC News Election 2015 - results will appear on the website from 10pm on Thursday 7 May, London time (7am on Friday 8 May 2015 Sydney time)

BBC The World Service - radio election special.

U.K. Electoral Commission - electoral data can be found here.
Twitter on the night - @ElectoralCommUK.

Sky News Election 2015 Decision Time - news stories & live blog.

Huffington Post U.K. - expected general election seat declaration times here.

The Guardian U.K. - live bloggers here.

Election Forecast U.K. - updating forecasts on the website and on @Election4castUK as the results come in during the early hours of Friday morning London time.

Antony Green - in London and tweeting on @AntonyGreenABC on the night.

ABC News 24 Australia - updates on the night here from 7am AEST on Friday 8 May 2015.

CNN International - U.K. Election 2015 cover on the night d'écume.