Cannabis worth $24.2 million nabbed across northern NSW

The Bellingen Courier-Sun, 5 March 2019:

More than 12,000 cannabis plants have been seized by police as part of this year’s Cannabis Eradication Program in the state’s north.

The CEP is an annual operation, led by detectives from the State Crime Command’s Drug and Firearms Squad, which targets the outdoor cultivation of cannabis throughout Northern NSW.

Detectives were assisted by police from New England, Tweed/Byron, Richmond, and Coffs/Clarence Police Districts, as well as PolAir, the Dog Unit, Rural Crime Investigators, and other specialist units.

During this season’s program, police seized 12,096 plants, with an estimated potential street value of more than $24.2 million.

This includes 4153 plants seized in New England Police District between 19 and 23 November 2018, 1692 plants seized in Tweed/Byron Police District between 4 and 8 February 2019, 3503 plants seized in Richmond Police District between 18 and 22 February 2019, and 2748 plants seized in Coffs/Clarence Police District between 25 February and 1 March 2019.

All the plants were certified by an agronomist and have since been destroyed.

Officers also seized about 30kg of cannabis head and leaf, 1kg of cannabis resin, and various calibres of ammunition.

In total, 25 people were served Court Attendance Notices for various drug and firearms/ammunition offences.

More fish kills predicted along the Darling/Barka River

The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 March 2019:

Residents at Menindee are bracing for a fourth mass fish kill in the Darling River in about three months, as a new paper finds water savings in the Murray Darling Basin may be just one-tenth the amount modelled.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries has warned the arrival of a cold front after another heatwave in the region this week posed a "high risk" of another bout of widespread fish deaths.

Possibly millions of fish, mostly bony herring but also endangered perch and Murray cod, were killed in the three previous events. A sudden drop in dissolved oxygen levels - as blue-green algae died and began decaying - was the prompt for the previous fish kills.

"They're super-stressed. It takes less [to kill the fish]," Graeme McCrabb, a Menindee resident, said on Tuesday. "The numbers of golden and silver perch and the cods got less [during each die-off]."

Separately, a report published in the Australasian Journal of Water Resources by John Williams and Quentin Grafton from the Australian National University found the $3.5 billion spent on water-saving infrastructure - such as concrete canals - may have saved 70 billion litres a year compared with the federal government's estimate of more than 10 times that figure.

Professor Grafton said their analysis showed the average cost of water recovery could be as much as $50,000 per megalitre returned to the Murray-Darling Basin every year, or about 25 times more expensive than buying the water back from willing sellers.

The key issue is the failure to measure and account for so-called return flows - the leakage of water into aquifer that ceases when irrigation becomes more efficient.

"It's a travesty for all Australians," he said. "You've spent billions of dollars and you've not measured what you've got."….

Quote of the Week

"They were openly saying that they would cooperate, but I think you could almost say that the way that they classed their cooperation would be similar to a protester lying on the ground in the middle of the street not resisting the police, but the police would have to pick that person up and drag them off the street. I think that that's the level of cooperation that the Catholic Church gave us."  [Former Detective Sergeant Doug Smith, speaking of Victoria Police Taskforce SANO's investigation into Cardinal George Pell, quoted in ABC News online, 4 March 2019]

Tweets of the Week

Gold. Treasury ticks off the government for verballing it over the effect of Labor's negative gearing policy on house prices.

From tonight's Treasury FOI dump. #ausecon #auspol pic.twitter.com/kfPSmgNjKR

— Peter Martin (@1petermartin) March 1, 2019

Remember when Scott Morrison said he'd change this? Well, he didn't. Children can be expelled and teachers sacked #MardiGras19 https://t.co/5ThKkkxwyU

— Sally McManus (@sallymcmanus) March 2, 2019

Today they posted this notice in Manus #auspol #Manus pic.twitter.com/x11gR6z9Jl

— Behrouz Boochani (@BehrouzBoochani) March 2, 2019

Something to think about - Part One

September 2015 to January 2019

8501.0 - Retail Trade, Australia, Jan 2019  

* All images from Twitter.

Twenty-eight climate scientists, academics & former heads of energy companies tell the world that Morrison and Co are lying to the Australian people

“Proud to be a signatory to this statement from @climatecouncil. Between us, we have devoted 600 years to this issue. Last week's announcements are not enough to get us to meet our lousy Paris Target. That target, by the way, isn't even nearly enough to ensure a safe climate.”  [Tim Baxter, Twitter, 4 March 2019]

Climate Council, 4 March 2019:

JOINT STATEMENT: AUSTRALIA IS NOT ON TRACK TO MEET ITS 2030 TARGET

Dozens of the country’s leading climate and energy experts – including climate scientists, academics and former heads of energy companies – have signed a joint statement stressing that without further action Australia will not meet its 2030 pollution reduction target.

Be A Voice For The Koalas Of The NSW Northern Rivers

In the beautiful Northern Rivers of NSW there is a dark secret.

We can turn this story around for koalas if we act now. Sign the petition and be a voice for koalas 👉 https://t.co/vBHkdxIKD7 pic.twitter.com/Yq8Xbj072P

— Nature NSW (@naturensw) February 27, 2019