Insecticide poisoning caused the death of 15 Satin Bowerbirds found at Modanville, near Lismore in recent weeks

Echo NetDaily,  September 2019:

Insecticide poisoning caused the death of 15 satin bowerbirds found at Modanville, near Lismore in recent weeks, investigators have revealed.

A Satin Bowerbird. Source: Wikipedia

Investigations conducted by North Coast Local Land Services have confirmed that the bird deaths were caused by the banned insecticide Fenthion.

The Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is now seeking assistance from members of the public in a bid to determine how the poisoning occurred.

As the responsible regulator for pesticide use, the EPA is exploring the possibility that the birds, which are a protected native species, may have been deliberately targeted.

No other bird species is known to have been impacted.

EPA Manager Regional Operations North Coast Benjamin Lewin said the killing of native birds, whether through intentional or reckless pesticide misuse, was a serious offence.

‘We are encouraging anyone with information on these deaths, or anyone who may have seen some activity that could be related to this illegal baiting, to contact the EPA as soon as possible,’ Mr Lewin said.

Fenthion, which was banned from use in 2014 with a phase out period of one year, is a broad-spectrum organophosphorus insecticide.

It is extremely toxic to birds and substantial penalties exist for its possession and use.

The chemical was widely used in the past for insect control on a broad range of fruit crops and for external parasite control on livestock.

NSW land clearing for agriculture now thought to exceed 27,100 hectares annually

The Guardian, 13 September 2019:

A highly secret government-commissioned review into skyrocketing rates of clearing of native vegetation for farming in New South Wales has been completed and is likely to add to simmering tensions between the Liberals and Nationals within cabinet.

The review, which was triggered when land clearing exceeded 20,000 hectares in less than a year, has been undertaken by the NSW Natural Resources Commission, an independent body, and is soon to be considered by cabinet.

It is investigating clearing rates since the new Biodiversity Conservation Act began in August 2017 and whether the Act is working to preserve biodiversity.

The NRC’s chief executive, Bryce Wilde, confirmed his agency had been asked by the premier to do the review on 14 January, just before the state election, and had handed the findings to the government six weeks ago.

It did not seek any public or industry submissions, although Wilde said the NRC had sought expert input from consultants, who signed confidentiality agreements.But the mention in an estimates committee on Friday was the first time it had become public. The NRC said the review was “cabinet in confidence” and had sought information from departments only.

The review – and what to do about the escalation of land clearing in NSW – will add to the tensions between the Liberals and Nationals over stewardship of the environment.

The Coalition partners are already at loggerheads over key policies including management of wild brumbies in national parks, water policy and calls by the Nationals to allow logging in the River Red Gum national park on the Murray.

This week the agriculture minister, Adam Marshall, whose seat covers much of northern NSW where the land clearing is occurring, flagged introducing a “regional code” for clearing in the north-west of NSW, saying the current laws were not working well for large-scale farming enterprises.

This was interpreted as a plan to further relax the rules for when farmers can clear without a permit – at least in this region.

Regional codes were foreshadowed in the Biodiversity Conservation Act and a pilot is being run near Walgett.

But the secret NRC review is likely to bolster the arguments of the environment minister, Matt Kean, and the senior portfolio minister, Rob Stokes, who are known to be deeply concerned about the rapid escalation of land clearing and its impact on biodiversity......

Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has toned down hollow bragging lately

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has toned down his bragging about economic recovery lately, with the Financial Review on 3 September 2019 reporting that:

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg concedes the nation's economic growth for last financial year will be poor but believes activity will pick up in the September quarter because of cuts to income taxes and interest rates.

Fearing a growth number as low as 1.4 per cent for year ending June when GDP figures are released tomorrow, the Treasurer blamed several factors for what will be a sluggish quarter, including the election campaign.

He blames everyone but the federal government of which he is a senior cabinet minister for the following........

On 4 September 2019 the Australian Bureau of Statistics released its 5206.0 - Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, Jun 2019.

The opening lines of its media release stated: 

The Australian economy grew 0.5 per cent in seasonally adjusted chain volume terms in the June quarter 2019 and 1.4 per cent through the year, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today.

Chief Economist for the ABS, Bruce Hockman, said: “The external sector drove GDP growth this quarter, while growth in the domestic economy remains steady”.

The National Accounts release was accompanied by this graph which shows that, despite this June quarter 2019 growth, GDP growth is the lowest it has been in the last eleven June quarters:

And the decline in GDP growth between June 2018 and June 2019 looked like this:

GDP1
Infogram

Interactive graph from https://www.michaelwest.com.au

It is hardly a coincidence that GDP growth  has a sharp downward trajectory, given that once Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison became prime minister he spent most of his time between August 2018 & May 2019 in continuous election mode whilst presiding over a virtual policy vacuum.

In June quarter 2019 new and used dwelling investment continued to decline, the household saving ratio fell to the lowest its been since 2008, while the small growth in household consumption was the second lowest its been in the last eleven June quarters. 

Although mining activity picked up, mining gross value added as a percentage of  GDP was almost half of what it was in 2014 and mining investment in dollar terms was the lowest it had been since the June 2011 quarter.

If it wasn't for government expenditure between April and June 2019 then GDP growth would be even slimmer. Even then, neither Prime Minister Morrison nor Treasurer can claim expenditure figures as entirely the result of federal spending because it was state and local governments which did most of the heavy lifting. 

Over 110 brands walked away from advertising on 2GB radio due to Alan Jones' misogynistic and violent language

The Guardian, 13 September 2019:

Faced with an advertiser exodus of more than 110 brands, Macquarie Media has written to advertisers promising a review of Alan Jones’ program, which it says failed to meet community standards.

Jones apologised last month to the New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, for his comments that Scott Morrison should shove a sock down her throat, but this failed to stem the flow of advertisers, and 2GB and 4BC have continued to haemorrhage revenue.

The chairman of Macquarie Media, Russell Tate, wrote to advertisers on Friday to apologise for the comments about Ardern and “any disruption caused to your company as a result of remarks made by him”.

Alan and I are happy to talk and meet with as many of our advertisers as possible over the next two months to hear your views on how we can best serve your business, but in the meantime, I would be very interested to hear any comments or thoughts which can help us do that.

Jones is already on a final warning after Tate took the unprecedented step of scolding him publicly last month.“This incident has brought into sharp focus the need for all Macquarie Media broadcasters to ensure that the debate they bring to the microphone and the words they use are, at all times, respectful and reflect the standards expected today by our listeners, our clients, and the wider community,” he said......

Good grief! Its 2002 meets 2007 in the Northern Rivers region during 2019

Clarence Valley Independent, letter to the Editor,11 September 2019:

Ed,

Good grief! Its 2002 meets 2007 in the Northern Rivers region right now.

This month we learned that there was an approx. 40 degree Celsius sudden warming in the upper atmosphere over Antarctica which will extend the current eastern Australia drought into the foreseeable future. With the Bureau of Meteorology stating that the last time a similar event occurred was in 2002 when the country experienced one of its driest years on record.

Readers might recall that 2002 was smack bang in the middle of the millennium drought. A drought which at one point saw the Orara River cease to run and at another, the Nymboida Weir unable to do more than supply two weeks of drinking water for the Clarence Valley before the pumps would no longer be able to draw any water up at all.

Last month we discovered that wannabee water raiders from the Murray-Darling Basin were back with another bid to divert water from the Clarence River system so that they could get a larger, less expensive dam built to order and, these four local councils – one in NSW and three in Queensland – can then undertake the intended expansion of their their urban and industry footprints.

Just as in 2007 they come at a time when the Clarence Valley is in drought and water flow in the upper reaches of the Clarence River is low, demanding we supply irrigation and drinking water – this time for an additional est. 236,984 people.

And just as in 2007 the media reports that at least one of the councils has already been talking with the federal Minister for Water Resources about their cross-border water diversion scheme and is pursuing a meeting in Canberra [The Chronicle, 3 September 2019, p.5 ].

The only difference between 2002, 2007 and 2019 is that the Clarence Valley acted on the lessons learnt between 1996 and 2010. Something Tenterfield, Toowoomba, Southern Downs and Western Downs failed to do.

Clarence Valley and Coffs Harbour City expanded their original water sharing arrangement by building the Shannon Creek Dam to future proof as much as is possible the water supply for a est. combined total population of 128,198 people.

Now these four Murray-Darling Basin councils want the Clarence River system to supply water for a new total combined population of 365,182 people.

I wonder if now is the time to remind those politicians who may be thinking of supporting this push to build a 20,000 to 30,000 megalitre dam and pipeline that, the last time an attempt was made to grab Clarence water willy nilly, Clarence Valley communities helped bring down a federal government.

Judith M. Melville, Yamba

Tweet of the Week

Here’s Peter Dutton, to the tune of DMX, advertising a car dealership. pic.twitter.com/Rv6PlxrXek

— SBS News (@SBSNews) September 6, 2019

No stranger to criticism, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has appeared to have embraced the title "the baddest MP". Mr Dutton features in a new online video for a Brisbane car dealership which resembles a music video, blasting US rapper DMX's X Gon' Give It To Ya in the background.

Cartoon of the Week

Cathy Wilcox