Just because it is beautiful......(13)

Gold Eye Lichen

Teloschistes chrysophthalmus

Native to Western Australia

Photograph at Plantbank.org.au

WATER WARS: The tired old scheme Griffith City Council wants the NSW Baird Government to consider in 2016

Griffith City Council Utilities Committee Business Paper, 12 April 2016, starting at Page 18:

Western Diversion To Become A Reality? - A Scheme to Divert Tributaries of the Clarence River to the Murray...

https://www.scribd.com/document/320932604/Western-Diversion-To-Become-A-Reality-A-Scheme-to-Divert-Tributaries-of-the-Clarence-River-to-the-Murray-Darling-Basin

People Power on the Liverpool Plains: Caroona mine to go - will Shenhua Watermark be next?

Congratulations to the people of the Liverpool Plains. You deserve this victory.

ABC News, 11 August 2016:

The NSW Government will buy back BHP's licence for the Caroona coal mine on the Liverpool Plains, ending a decade-long fight by farmers to shut down the project.

inflation, meaning the total price tag is around $220 million.

The exploration licence was issued in 2006 for underground coal mining covering approximately 344 square kilometres in the Liverpool Plains — an area of prime agricultural land.

The State Government said after careful consideration it determined the mine posed too great a risk to the future of the food bowl and its underground water sources.

The Deputy Premier and Nationals leader Troy Grant said the decision was in the best interests of the local community….

Yahoo News, 7 July 2016:

The Mining Gateway Panel has flagged six deficiencies in BHP Billiton's Caroona Coal Mining Project.
NSW Farmers and local landholders have slammed the gateway's lack of authority to shut the project down.

Hopefully the Baird Government will resist federal government pressure and go on to address the issue of Shenhua Watermark open cut coal mine and associated coal seam gas project.

Only in the self-indulgent, damn democracy, political climate fostered by the Abbott & Turnbull governments.......

Only in the self-indulgent, damn democracy climate prevailing in the lead-up to the 2016 double dissolution federal election would a registered political party have considered endorsing a candidate with this legal history……

Rod Culleton

Photograph: Channel Nine

The Sydney Morning Herald, 8 August 2016:

In Armidale Local Court on Monday afternoon, Magistrate Michael Holmes granted Culleton's application, and annulled the larceny conviction, which was made when he failed to appear in court in March.

Senator Culleton will fight the larceny charge, after pleading not guilty.

Mr Holmes adjourned the case to September 12 for mention to fix a hearing date.

He told the court if the matter "was short" he could deal with it on that day.

Mr Holmes told Culleton to keep in contact with his solicitor, and dispensed his bail, which was granted by police following his arrest.

Mr Holmes told the court he was happy to deal with the matter, and had read all the files.

He also referenced Senator Culleton's "colourful letter" which was sent to the court.

Fairfax Media understands the letter labelled the Armidale court as a "kangaroo court".

It's now expected Senator Culleton's district court challenge against the conviction, set down for next week in Armidale, will be withdrawn.

The Guardian, 8 August 2016:

New One Nation senator Rodney Culleton is in police custody after turning himself in over an outstanding warrant related to his failure to appear in a NSW court to answer larceny charges.

A NSW Police spokesman confirmed a man was being dealt with by police in Armidale and would be bailed to appear before the local court on Monday afternoon.

The West Australian senator was convicted in his absence earlier this year for stealing a tow truck key from a driver who was trying to repossess one of his company cars in 2014.

He's seeking to have that conviction annulled.

Larceny carries a maximum penalty of five years jail, which could deem him ineligible to be a senator.

The constitution says anyone convicted of crime that has a punishment of at least one year's jail can't be a member of parliament.

Senator Culleton is also awaiting trial in WA later this month - the week before parliament begins - after he was arrested and charged for allegedly stealing a car being used by receivers from RSM Bird Cameron as they began foreclosure proceedings at a friend's farm.

The senator won the 11th spot on the WA ballot.

He is expected to appear before Armidale Local Court again after 1400 (AEST) on Monday.

Financial Review, 7 August 2016:

For someone who apparently prides himself on being a defender of the nation's farmers, new One Nation Senator-Elect Rodney Culleton sure has a strange way of showing it.

ASIC documents show Culleton has appointed an administrator to his company, DEQMO Pty Ltd, which will have the effect of avoiding a wind-up application to be heard in the NSW Supreme Court today (Monday).

The petitioning party is Armidale farmer and mill owner, Jack Vivers, who says he is owed slightly more than $42,500 by Culleton, a former business associate. Money he will have much harder time getting back now that Culleton has put DEQMO into administration.

This is the same Rodney Culleton, it is worth noting, who took part in a 60 Minutes program last year called "Fighting Back" about his battle to retain his WA property and who describes himself on the One Nation website as a defender of Aussie farmers.

And the same Rod Culleton who may not finally be permitted to take his seat in the Senate pending the outcome of a larceny case, in which he is implicated.

Inside Story, 3 August 2016:

In fact, the circumstances of his offence appear to have been relatively trivial: he was said to have stolen the key of a tow truck – a key worth $7.50 – in an effort to prevent the repossession of a vehicle he was leasing. Moreover, he was convicted in his absence because he failed to appear in court, and an appeal is now pending. Yet, at least until his appeal is heard, he is currently “subject to be sentenced” and is therefore “incapable of being chosen.”

It seems to have been assumed that, once it is recognised that Culleton is “incapable of being chosen,” section 15 of the Constitution will come into play. Under that provision, his Senate seat would be declared vacant. This would create a casual vacancy to be filled by the WA parliament, which would be required to nominate someone from the same political party – that is, another One Nation candidate. In the ballot paper on 2 July, the One Nation ticket listed Rodney Culleton first, his friend Peter Georgiou second, and his wife Ioanna Culleton third. So presumably one of these would be chosen.

But this assumption is wrong. As the authoritative explanation in Odgers’Australian Senate Practice makes clear, the mechanism in section 15 comes into play only when a senator who was validly elected “becomes disqualifiedafter the completion of the election process.” What happens when a senator “is found to have been disqualified at the time of election” is different. The election of that senator is totally void; the relevant seat in the Senate remains unfilled and the failure to fill it must be remedied by a recount.

Again, it seems to have been assumed that in this event, once Culleton was eliminated as “incapable of being chosen,” the votes that had been accumulated for him would simply be transferred down the line to the second candidate on the One Nation ticket, and if necessary to the third. But while this might be a realistic assessment of the probable result, it would not be so easy to achieve that result.

The distribution of preferences in Western Australia meant that the ballot papers had to be counted 539 times; and it was only on the 539th count that Culleton achieved his quota. The other two One Nation candidates had already been excluded much earlier – Ioanna Culleton by count 153, and Peter Georgiou by count 157. Thus, in order to ensure that Rodney Culleton’s votes could be transferred further down the ticket, it would be necessary to rework the entire distribution at least from count 153, and the outcome of such a redistribution could no longer be predicted with confidence.

It happens that Culleton is also awaiting trial in Western Australia on a more serious stealing charge (with a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment). If he were able to take his seat, and was later convicted on that charge, then the procedure in section 15 of the Constitution would come into play. But that is irrelevant to the fact that Culleton is now “incapable of being chosen.”

As it stands, the Australian Electoral Commission has declared a candidate to be elected who is in fact “incapable of being chosen.” Strictly speaking, that announcement is unconstitutional. Presumably it might be possible to avoid such an outcome if the AEC had some mechanism for checking, before the distribution of preferences begins, whether all the nominated candidates are “capable of being chosen.” But there seems to be no such mechanism.

Excerpt from Mills Oakley, Granting yourself a security interest: worthwhile or worthless?, October 2014:

In August 2008 Macquarie Leasing Pty Ltd (Macquarie) entered into a chattel mortgage agreement with Elite Grains Pty Ltd (Elite) for the purchase of a Prime Mover (Truck).

In 2012 Elite defaulted under the agreement, and Macquarie demanded return of the Truck. Elite refused, so Macquarie commenced and was successful in proceedings against Elite and Rodney Culleton (Culleton), the sole shareholder and director of Elite.

On 7 August 2014 the Truck was sold at public auction, and simultaneously DEQMO Pty Ltd (DEQMO), of whom Culleton was the sole director and shareholder, registered a security interest in the Truck on the PPSR, with the effect that Macquarie could not pass clear title to the purchaser.

Macquarie then served an amendment demand on DEQMO pursuant to the PPSA demanding that DEQMO’s registration be removed. No response was received. Macquarie then initiated these proceedings seeking orders that:

DEQMO’s security interest was void;

DEQMO’s security interest be removed from the PPSR;

DEQMO be restrained from re-registering any interest on the PPSR; and

DEQMO and Culleton pay Macquarie’s costs.

Decision

Rein J granted the orders sought by Macquarie. The evidence put forward by DEQMO failed to establish the basis of the security interest, as Culleton was more concerned with the manner in which the Truck was repossessed and the conduct of its sale.

In light of this evidence (or lack of), Rein J found a number of reasons why DEQMO’s claimed interest was invalid. However, the key basis on which Rein J held the security interest was void was that the claimed interest was one given by DEQMO to DEQMO, as a person or company cannot give a security interest to itself, as per section 12 of the PPSA.

Conclusion

This decision highlights the importance of ensuring that any registration on the PPSR has a proper foundation to support it. The judgment of Rein J makes it clear that if a company or person purports to grant a security interest to itself, then such a registration will be invalid. If the security interest is in fact an ownership interest, such registrations do not secure “payment or performance of an obligation” as required by section 12, and can be removed under the provisions in Part 5.6 of the PPSA.

PERMANENT CUSTODIANS LTD -v- ELITE GRAINS PTY LTD [2014] WASC 495

In which a bankrupt Rodney Norman Culleton was involved as second defendant (bankruptcy declared October 2014).

Court transcript here.

Federal Court of Australia, Bankruptcy Guide:

What happens if you are made bankrupt?

If the Judge or Registrar makes a sequestration order a trustee will be appointed to manage your financial affairs. Your trustee will notify you of your bankruptcy in writing. The trustee will explain his or her role and your responsibilities as a bankrupt. The trustee will also give you a statement of affairs which you must complete and file with the Official Receiver (AFSA). Your period of bankruptcy runs for three years from the date you file your statement of affairs with AFSA.

There are several legal outcomes of your bankruptcy; for instance:

*You will be released from responsibility for most of your existing debts. However, the trustee can sell your assets or property to pay your creditors.

*Any house or your share of a house that you own may be sold to pay your creditors. 

*Any assets which you acquire while you are bankrupt may be sold by the trustee.

*You must not obtain credit from another person, or pay for goods or services by cheque for more than a specified amount without telling the person that you are bankrupt. The credit limit is updated quarterly, for an up-to-date figure contact AFSA.

*If you run a business while you are bankrupt you must keep all proper accounts showing your business transactions and financial position.

There are other consequences of becoming bankrupt. 

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA CONSTITUTION ACT - SECT 44

Disqualification

                   Any person who:…….

 (iii)  is an undischarged bankrupt or insolvent;……

shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a senator or a member of the House of Representatives.

ASIC Insolvency Notices, 2013:

NOTICE OF APPLICATION FOR WINDING UP ORDER

Company details

Company:	Elite Grains Pty Ltd
ACN:	091 599 941

An application for the winding up of Elite Grains Pty Ltd was commenced by the plaintiff Jameson Farm Pty Ltd and continued by Komatsu Forklift Australia Pty Ltd on 03/05/2013 and will be heard as set out below.

Singing the post-Census 2016 blues

One would have to live in a deep sink hole in the middle of Australia not to have heard of the mishandling of the 2016 national census, now not so fondly known as #CensusFail.

First the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) decides to keep census participants' names and addresses (without informed consent) for between four years or until after death– whichever takes its fancy.

It does this so it can match the individual with other records held by government departments to create a super database packed to the brim with sensitive information.

This information goes beyond who you are, where you live and the makeup of your household – it's also how much you earn, how much tax you pay, what illnesses you have been diagnosed with, what prescription drugs you take, how many times you visit the doctor, how many speeding fines you paid, if you have been brought before the court, the sentence you received and, much more.

All this is gathered under a unique Statistical Linkage Key (SLK-581) which follows you forever through census after census after census.

This is what these keys look like:

How do I know that this is what an SLK looks like?

Because an SLK is generated according to a standard formula and the Australian Government not only helpfully lets everyone know what that formula is, it even provides an online open access key generator for our use.

Now one would think that because most people were being manoeuvred into encouraged to fill in the Census form online on 9 August 2016 that the platform ABS was using would be very secure.

However, it turns out that in order to allow people with older versions of Windows on their home computer to access the census form online the ABS decided to have the website support the SHA-1 hashing algorithm long considered to be insecure.

Leaving it vulnerable to man-in-the-middle encryption downgrade attacks which can make it easier to intercept data being sent.

Here is a breakdown of website vulnerabilities from High Tech Bridge, 
www.census.abs.gov.au SSL/TLS Security Test on 29 July 2016:

The server does not prefer cipher suites providing strong Perfect Forward Secrecy (PFS). We advise to configure your server to prefer cipher suites with ECDHE or DHE key exchange.

The HTTP version of the website does not redirect to the HTTPS version. We advise to enable redirection.

The server does not send the HTTP-Strict-Transport-Security. We advise to enable it to enforce the user to browse the website in HTTPS.

The server does not send HTTP-Public-Key-Pinning header. We advise to enable HPKP in order to avoid Man-In-The-Middle attacks.

TLS_FALLBACK_SCSV extension prevents protocol downgrade attacks. We advise to update your TLS engine to support it.

Preferred cipher suite for each protocol supported (except SSLv2). Expected configuration are ciphers allowed by PCI DSS and enabling PFS:

TLSv1.0 TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHAMisconfiguration or weakness

TLSv1.1 TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHAMisconfiguration or weakness

TLSv1.2 TLS_RSA_WITH_AES_128_CBC_SHA256Misconfiguration or weakness

Third party content (such as images, JavaScript, or CSS) is loaded from external resources. Despite that for some web applications it can significantly improve loading time, it may also put website visitor's privacy at risk, as information about website visitors become accessible to these third-party content providers. ​Moreover, a third-party content delivered via HTTP and not HTTPS channel may also expose your privacy.

HTTP methods (or verbs) that are allowed by the server. Some may be dangerous if not handled properly by the application.

Then other security issues raised their heads including the fact that census answers may not always be encrypted for the entire journey from the keyboard to IBM on the SoftLayer cloud.

By then the Australian Bureau of Statistics was on social media telling people they will be fined if they refuse to answer all the questions on the census form.

Doubts also began to pop up as to whether stream10.census.abs.gov.au would be able to handle the millions of people logging in on Census Night.

Predictably it couldn't and suddenly there is multiple choice blame being handed out.

It's all the fault of:

a) evil hackers;

b) malicious furriners mounting denial of service attacks;

c) lazy people not filling out their online forms out days ahead of time; or

d) political plotters wanting to embarrass the Turnbull Government.

Reddit user mykro76 via @Qldaar on 10 August 2016 is probably closer to the mark:

The call is now going out to ditch the 9 August Census and try again at a later date if the government demographers can get their act together.

This is one example:

Nominations now closed for the 10 September 2016 Clarence Valley local government elections - final candidate list

There are nine elected councillor positions being contested at this Clarence Valley local government election and twenty-one candidates vying for a seat in the council chamber.

This is the list of names which will eventually appear on ballot papers on Saturday, 10 September:

Baker, Andrew – Harwood, land and property developer, incumbent councillor, standing as Independent

Bates, Keith – Grafton, self-employed, former journalist & internet marketer

Clancy, Greg - Coutts Crossing, ecologist, small business owner, stood as candidate at 2012 local government elections, now standing as The Greens candidate

De Roos, Joy – Ilarwill, former age care worker, stood as candidate at 2012 local government elections

Ellem, Peter – Wooloweyah, former editor at The Daily Examiner, former Labor candidate at Clarence state by-election receiving 28% of  the vote, standing as Independent

Ellem, Trevor – Grafton, former Ulmarra Shire councillor

Hagger, John - Waterview Heights, creator of The Clarence Forum, standing as Independent

Hughes, Sue – Yamba, President Yamba Chamber of Commerce, incumbent councillor, standing as Independent

Kingsley, Jason - Great Marlow, incumbent councillor, standing as Independent

Lysault, Arthur – Grafton, former general manager Grafton District Services Club, only candidate in 2015 council by-election so elected unopposed without a vote by the electorate, incumbent councillor, standing as Independent

McKenna, Margaret - South Grafton, accountant, small business owner, incumbent councillor, standing as Independent

Novak, Debrah - Yamba, freelance photograper, community activist, standing as Independent

Riggall, John – Maclean, real estate agent, small business owner, Maclean Chamber of Commerce president, standing as Independent

Rogers, Peta - The Whiteman, standing as Independent

Saunders, Ian – Maclean, former council employee, secretary Greater Maclean Community Action Group, standing as Independent

Simmons, Jim - Maclean, accountant, incumbent councillor, standing as Independent

Tibbett, Brett - Lanitza, CEO Grafton Ngerrie Local Aboriginal Land Council, standing as Independent 

Toms, Karen – Yamba, small business owner, incumbent councillor, standing as Independent

Tunks, Ursula - South Grafton, former police officer, standing as Independent 

Wells, Marty – Grafton, member Clarence Valley Cultural Committee, attempted to crowd source funding election campaign at https://pozible.com/project/marty-wells-for-cvcouncil, standing as Independent

Williamson, Richie - Coutts Crossing, 2GF radio presenter, incumbent councillor and current mayor

UPDATE

Now the ballot draw is over, this is the ballot paper will look on 10 September, according to Marty Wells posting on the Clarence Forum:

Clarence Valley Local Government Elections 2016: Peter Ellem throws his hat in the ring

Peter Ellem posting on The Clarence Forum, 8 August 2016:

OK, the ink had not dried on my nomination for Clarence Valley Council before conservative trolls got to work on another Facebook group. For the political pygmy who couldn't wait to question my ethics, I post my media release:

Peter Ellem, 'fighting for us' in the Clarence Valley

YAMBA resident Peter Ellem, a Walkley Award-winning journalist and former Federal policy adviser, has nominated as an independent candidate for the Clarence Valley Council election on September 10.

Mr Ellem edited The Daily Examiner and Coastal Views newspapers from 2001 to 2007 before becoming the Grafton-based policy/media adviser to the former Federal Member for Page Janelle Saffin from 2007 to 2013.

In November 2011, Mr Ellem gained further political experience by standing as Country Labor's candidate in a by-election for the State seat of Clarence. He is running as an independent candidate for CVC and funding his own campaign.

Mr Ellem said his forebears had helped pioneer the Clarence Valley from the 1860s, and he was motivated by a desire to serve all local communities to make the Valley the best possible place for families and individuals to prosper.

Mr Ellem and his wife Susan have raised three daughters Zoe, Tess and Lily here in the Valley.

“Clarence Valley Council is our largest employer and its staff do a lot of good work in the community, but its long term financial position is unsustainable and should be of concern, particularly to ratepayers, but to all residents,” Ellem said.

“As an editor, I led the popular Not A Drop campaign against moves to dam and divert the mighty Clarence River westward, and campaigned for the Grafton Base Hospital redevelopment, fast tracking of the Pacific Highway upgrade and second Grafton bridge crossing.

“I managed multi-million dollar budgets for a top 100 company, and I would bring the same common sense approach to the real challenges facing the council.

“As a public servant, I liaised with five Northern Rivers councils to successfully lobby for major infrastructure projects and grant programs, and to keep capital works projects on track and to budget.

“CVC needs some new blood – progressive councillors who will try to ensure good governance and greater transparency wherever possible.

“We need to encourage appropriate development under existing planning controls to protect and create local jobs. However, growth should not be at the cost of our wonderful environment or existing industries like tourism, fishing and farming.

“This is why I will fight to stop the proposed mega-port from swamping and destroying the Lower Clarence. I have also consistently opposed coal seam gas exploration and mining in the Valley and the wider region.”