Supreme Court of QLD found that Wagner brothers have succeeded in their defamation claim against Alan Jones, 2GB, and 4BC . Awarded a total of $3.754m. Read summary and judgment here, https://t.co/zze75fWRnn— Supreme Court of QLD (@SupremeCourtQLD) September 11, 2018
Saturday 15 September 2018
Tweets of the Week
* Between 28 October 2014 and 20 August 2015, 2GB Radio and
Alan Jones published 30 broadcasts. Twenty-seven of these broadcasts conveyed
76 defamatory imputations of and concerning the Wagner brothers according to
the Court*
Labels:
defamation,
law,
libspill,
Malcolm Bligh Turnbull,
radio,
Supreme Court
Friday 14 September 2018
NSW Far North Coast keeping an eye out for Yellow Crazy Ants
The yellow crazy ant is
listed as one of the top 100 worst invasive species by the IUCN and the Global
Invasive Species Database. They are a category three restricted pest under
the Biosecurity Act 2014. As such, all citizens have a general biosecurity
obligation to minimise the risk of further infestation.....
Lismore local
government area residents are reminded that the Crazy Yellow Ant infestation has not yet been completely eradicated
and are asked to report any sightings to the Biosecurity hotline 1800 680 244.
Labels:
biosecurity,
noxious pests
Dutton doubles down in a very public fight
“Grooming is when someone builds an emotional connection
with a child to gain their trust for the purposes of sexual abuse, sexual
exploitation or trafficking. Children and young people can be groomed online or
face-to-face, by a stranger or by someone they know - for example a
family member, friend or professional.” [National
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, 2018]
The
Canberra Times,
11 September 2018:
Home Affairs Minister
Peter Dutton has dramatically escalated his attack on Roman Quaedvlieg,
claiming the former Border Force commissioner "groomed" a woman 30
years his junior.
Mr Dutton also said Mr
Quaedvlieg – who has emerged as a key figure in the high-profile saga
surrounding the Minister's interventions in visa matters – was Labor's
Godwin Grech, a reference to the former Treasury official whose misleading
evidence in the "Utegate" scandal helped destroy Malcolm Turnbull's
first stint as Liberal leader.
On Tuesday, amid ongoing
scrutiny of Mr Dutton's conduct, Fairfax Media reported he pressed Mr
Quaedvlieg in 2014 to help
two Queensland policemen get jobs in the newly formed Border Force.
In response to questions
from Labor in question time, the Home Affairs Minister said Mr Quaedvlieg was
spreading lies.
"This smear is
coming from the former Australian Border Force commissioner, a man who was, as
commissioner, sacked from his position. He was a man who had groomed a girl 30
years younger than himself. He is discredited and disgraced," Mr Dutton
said.
Mr Quaedvlieg,
53, was sacked from Border Force earlier this year after he was found to
have helped his younger girlfriend, Sarah Rogers, reportedly 22 years old, get
a job within the agency.
"He is somebody
that the Labor Party should not rely on. A lot has been promised to the Labor
Party but it's clear to me that Roman Quaedvlieg is your Godwin
Grech."
Mr Quaedvlieg
immediately responded to the attack, saying they were "curious,
stuttering, rambling comments". He noted Mr Dutton was making the comments
under parliamentary privilege, protecting him from legal action.
"Grooming? Are you
serious? That has a legislative meaning. Is that what he meant?" he said
on Twitter.
Quaedvlieg has since written to the Speaker of the House of Representatives complaining that Dutton has abused parliamentary privilege.
The Dutton allegations......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhPorZ3tWoo
Quaedvlieg has since written to the Speaker of the House of Representatives complaining that Dutton has abused parliamentary privilege.
The Dutton allegations......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhPorZ3tWoo
Thursday 13 September 2018
Australia has a prime minister who rejects realitiy and embraces idiocy
Scott Morrison with a coal specimen supplied by the Minerals Council of Australia ABC News, 9 February 2018 |
During an interview
with the ABC 7.30 program on 11
September 2018 Prime Minister & Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison declared he is “troubled” by the politics of envy in
Australia and has “a very strong view” on what fairness means.
His version
of “fairness” is a redefinition far removed from the contents of any dictionary
wherein it is usually taken to mean impartial and just treatment or behaviour
without favouritism or discrimination.
His expresses
his version of fairness as “those that have a go get a go” or “a fair go for
those that have a go”– phrases that are inherently judgemental.
It seems that in Morrison's world only individuals who are already capable of helping themselves in some fashion will deserve
assistance from others.
Morrison
again refused to say why the parliamentary Liberal Party changed leaders and in the interview sought to divorce himself from both the spill process and outcome, as though he
wasn’t a participant in those rolling leadership ballots.
But what
caught the attention of a numbers of viewers was his response to two questions.
The first response contained Morrison's assertion that he had separated climate/ environment and energy policies and admissions that he was removing climate change targets from future energy policy and was giving no guarantee of future funding for greenhouse gas emissions reduction.
The first response contained Morrison's assertion that he had separated climate/ environment and energy policies and admissions that he was removing climate change targets from future energy policy and was giving no guarantee of future funding for greenhouse gas emissions reduction.
The second involved his belief that there was a need for additional legal protections of religious freedoms when none were being threatened.......The moment @ScottMorrisonMP condemned my great grandchildren to death. @abc730 #auspoll #climatechange pic.twitter.com/eKlhfEY7jc— Fr Rod Bower (@FrBower) September 11, 2018
For Scott Morrison the primary fear of a majority of the Australian population is less important that demonstrating his missionary zeal to institutional Christianity and his unwavering support to the fossil fuel industry.Sales: "Can you give me an example at the moment where people's religious freedoms are being impinged?"— Greg Jericho (@GrogsGamut) September 11, 2018
Morrison: "That's not the point. Australians want to be sure that in the future those things won't be"
oh dear #abc730
Blatant water theft by miners being allowed under Berejiklian Government rules?
IMAGE:
Ros Druce. Maules Creek Mine, January 2016 in New Matilda
ABC
News, 10
September 2018:
A New South Wales coal
mine is being accused of inappropriately taking more surface water than it is
entitled to.
A review of Whitehaven
Coal's Maules Creek Mine near Narrabri by the campaign group Lock the Gate
showed it captured 1,800 million litres (ML) of surface water in 2016, despite
being licenced to take 30 million litres.
Surface water is water
that is collected from rainfall and run off.
An examination of
surface water licences in New South Wales has been unable to find any other
surface water licences held by the mine to justify the additional water.
"It does appear
that the take is much higher than the licence they have explained to the
community," Maules Creek farmer Lochie Leitch said.
Whitehaven Coal declined
to be interviewed.
The company issued a
statement saying it was in compliance with its water licences, and the use of
rainfall and runoff is permissible under legislation.
Farmers whose properties
neighbour the mine have joined forces with the campaign group, Lock the Gate
Alliance, to lodge a complaint with the state's new water watchdog, the Natural
Resources Access Regulator.
The NRAR was set up in
April 2018 following a review of water management and compliance which was
prompted by a story
by the ABC's Four Corners.
The farmers are worried
that the alleged collection of this extra surface water is affecting the
environment.
"[It's] simply
capturing too much water that would otherwise be recharging groundwater and
flowing into surface water systems," Maules Creek farmer Sally Hunter
said.
Labels:
mining,
sustainability,
water wars,
water policy politics
Wednesday 12 September 2018
Yet another opportunistic mining exploration company has the Clarence Valley in its sights: Public Meeting 2.30pm on 13 September 2018 at Grafton Regional Library
Having received approval from the NSW mining regulator in June 2018 Castillo Copper Limited (CCZ) has
proceeded with its exploratory drilling program with a view to establishing an
open cut mine at Cangai in the Clarence Valley.
Castillo Copper Limited image |
This small West
Australian base metal exploration company may be operating on a shoestring
budget and currently trade at only $0.039 per ordinary share, however an open
cut mine so close to the Mann River means that the greed of Messrs. Peter Meagher, Peter Smith And Alan
Armstrong has the potential to severely damage the Clarence River system.
2 hrs ·
Goodbye Mann and Clarence Rivers if this gets approval. The plan is to
open cut mine and that involves removing a large hill and metal extraction
usually involves highly polluting chemicals. This is no win for the Valley. It
is a disaster. A meeting is being held at the Clarence Regional Library in
Grafton at 2.30 PM on Thursday September 13 to discuss this threat to the
Rivers. All welcome.
Labels:
Clarence Valley,
environmental vandalism,
mining,
pollution
Assistant Minister for Regional Development and Territories & Liberal MP for Farrer Sussan Ley shows her true colours
"This is an industry with an operating model built on animal suffering" [Sussan Ley, 21 May 2018]
Recently
welcomed back into the Coalition ministerial fold after being forced to resign
as health minister due to her expense scandal, Assistant Minister for
Regional Development and Territories & Liberal MP for Farrer
Susan Ley, placed her lack of moral
compass on full display this week when she abandoned her commitment to limit the
cruel trade in live sheep.
Compare her present actions with her description three months earlier of the live sheep trade which she then condemned in no uncertain terms.
Compare her present actions with her description three months earlier of the live sheep trade which she then condemned in no uncertain terms.
The
Sydney Morning Herald,
10 September 2018:
They threatened to cross
the floor to stop the trade they felt was so heinous. But when it came to a
vote on Monday, Liberal MPs Sussan Ley and Sarah Henderson staged a change of
heart and used their deciding votes to prevent a debate on a ban on the live
animal export trade.
As backbenchers the pair
led a government backlash against the live export trade after horrific footage
showing the deaths of thousands of sheep en route to the Middle East last year
emerged. They even proposed their own bill to stop the trade.
That was within grasp on
Monday, when a private member's bill sponsored by the Greens and crossbenchers
to stop the trade passed the Senate 31 votes to 28.
Just two votes were
required to approve it in the House of Representatives but Ms Ley and Ms
Henderson, who were recently elevated to the outer ministry in Scott Morrison's
reshuffle, voted against moves to bring it on for debate.
To cross the floor, they
would have needed to quit their ministerial positions.
The pair then also
rejected Labor attempts to bring on a debate in the House on their own bill.
Their two votes made the difference with the bill going down 70-72.
Labor's agriculture
spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon said the pair had put their political interests ahead
of animal welfare.
“Sussan Ley and Sarah
Henderson sponsored a bill to phase-out the live sheep export trade and made
passionate speeches in support of their proposal," Mr Fitzgibbon said.
"But today they put
their own political careers ahead of their policy convictions.
"Given the 72-70
result, their votes were the difference."
Both bills now disappear into history and the issue of cruelty to exported livestock remains unresolved.
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