Some 160,000 hectares of NSW's rainforests burnt in 2019, the effects were devastating, this video shows the effects on World Heritage listed rainforests of the western Border Ranges.
Monday, 16 March 2020
Sunday, 15 March 2020
Coles supermarkets now have new purchasing rules due to coronavirus panic buying as of 14 March 2020
As the situation around Coronavirus continues to develop, we believe that everyone in the community should have access to their share of grocery items, particularly the elderly.
Following the toilet paper restrictions introduced last week we have seen compassion from customers respecting these limits.
Our team members and suppliers have also been working as hard as possible delivering more products to stores every day and stocking shelves as quickly as possible. I would ask all customers to continue to respect and support our team members, particularly if a product is unavailable or the checkout queues are longer than normal.
To continue to allow everyone the opportunity to purchase staple items, we will be implementing a couple of further changes throughout our stores:
1. From Saturday we will limit the purchase of pasta, flour, dry rice, paper towels, paper tissues and hand sanitisers to 2 items per customer. We will also be introducing some additional limits on certain items in each store. These can vary between stores, so please visit your local Coles for more information.
2. From today we will be temporarily suspending our change-of-mind refund policy to discourage over-purchasing. If you have already purchased additional items you no longer want, please look at donating them to community organisations or neighbours who have been struggling to purchase them during this time.
Further information on Coronavirus can be found at www.health.gov.au
Thanks for your ongoing support and patience in these unprecedented times. We will get through this together!
Best wishes,
Steven Cain
CEO, Coles Group
COVID-19 virus spread in NSW is gaining pace in March 2020
This post is no longer updating.
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| 11 Affected NSW Local Heath Districts, 14 March 2020 |
In the space of fourteen days the COVID-19 virus went from 6 cases in New South Wales to 91 cases.
To date 44.4% of all Australian confirmed COVID-19 cases are in this state.
NSW UPDATES:
48.7% as of 15 March 2020
45.2% as of 16 March 2020
46.6% as of 17 March 2020
47% as of 18 March 2020
45% as of 19 March 2020
41.7% as of 20 March 2020
40.6% as of 21 March 2020
39.36% as of 22 March 2020
41% as of 23 March 2020
44.6% as of 24 March 2020
42.4% as of 25 March 2020
43.5% as of 26 March 2020
Cumulative COVID-19 confirmed infection numbers since the outbreak began in New South Wales*
- 15 January 2020 - 1 case
- 25 January 2020 - 3 cases
- 31 January to 28 February 2020 - 4 cases
- 29 February 2020 - 6 cases
- 2 March 2020 - 9 cases
- 3 March 2020 - 15 cases
- 4 March 2020 - 22 cases
- 5 March 2020 - 25 cases
- 6 March 2020 - 28 cases
- 7 March 2020 - 36 cases
- 8 March 2020 - 40 cases
- 9 March 2020 - 47 cases
- 10 March 2020- 54 cases
- 11 March 2020 - 64 cases
- 12 March 2020 - 77 cases
- 13 March 2020 - 91 cases
- 14 March 2029 -111 cases
- 15 March 2020 - 133 cases
- 16 March 2020 - 171 cases
- 17 March 2020 - 210 cases
- 18 March 2020 - 267 cases
- 19 March 2020 - 307 cases
- 20 March 2020 - 353 cases
- 21 March 2020 - 436 cases
- 22 March 2020 -533 cases
- 23 March 2020 - 704 cases
- 24 March 2020 - 818 cases
- 25 March 2020 - 1,209 cases
- 26 March 2020 - 1,219 cases
On 1 February 2020 Australian Prime Minister & MP for Cook Scott Morrison announced a ban on direct travel from mainland China.
On 29 February 2020 Morrison imposed a ban on direct travel from Iran. However this was a case of closing the stable door after the horse had bolted.
On 5 March he announced a ban on travel from Korea and on 11 March from Italy.
As of 14 March Morrison refuses to consider a ban on travel from the United States of America, even though more people who have entered Australia from the US have been diagnosed with the coronavirus than was the case with incoming flights from Iran.
By Saturday morning, 14 March 2020 there were 197 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Australia with 3 deaths and 27 fully recovered, according to an Australian Dept. of Health health alert on the same day. This left 167 confirmed active cases of COVID-19.
That figure changed later on Saturday, as New South Wales, Western Australia and South Australia reported additional cases, bringing the national count to 223 confirmed cases with three deaths and 27 fully recovered.
AUSTRALIAN UPDATES:
As of midnight 14 March 2020 the national count stood at 250 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
As of 8:82pm 15 March 2020 the national count of COVID-19 cases is 251.
As of 11am 15 March 2020 the national count is 273 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
As of 15 March 2020 the COVID-19 national death toll has reached 5 persons.
As of 16 March 2020 the national count is 378 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
As of 17 March 2020 the national count is 450 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
As of 18 March 2020 the national count is 568 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
As of 19 March 2020 the national count is 681 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
As of 20 March 2020 the national count is 846 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
As of 21 March 2020 the national count is 986 confirmed COVID-19 cases. As of midnight on 21 March the national count was 1,073 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 7 deaths.
As of 22 March 2020 the national count is 1,354 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
As of 23 March 2020 the national count is 1,717 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
As of 24 March 2020 the national count is 1,831 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
As of 25 March 2020 the national count is 2,423 confirmed COVID-19 cases.
As of 26 March 2020 the national count is 2,799 confirmed COVID-19 cases - the number of deaths has now reached 13.
During this last week, despite federal or state governments refusing to outright ban large gatherings of over 500 people (and only offering recommendations for many types of gatherings) and the prime minister encouraging people to turn up at sporting events, actual event organisers and businesses began to make their own decisions to either cancel events or run them without audiences.
By Friday, after the general public discovered that at least one federal cabinet minister had tested positive for COVID-19, Scott Morrison altered his stance and advised all "non-essential, organised gatherings" of 500 people or more be cancelled from Monday to limit the spread of COVID-19.
Mainstream media reported that Mr. Morrison refused to be tested for the virus and, extended this exemption to all of his ministers, stating none needed to be tested or needed to self-isolate.
It seems that there is one rule for the general population based on proven epidemiology protocols and one special rule for Scott Morrison and his political mates.
Luckily for the people of New South Wales someone in the Berejiklian Government had a different perspective on political privilege and, the Sydney offices used by Morrison and certain other cabinet ministers - along with various state /territory ministers and departmental staff - were promptly cleaned.
Note:Government offices in Sydney being cleaned by people in hazmat following Peter Dutton’s positive test. @9NewsAUS pic.twitter.com/bB25XMvj69— Chris O'Keefe (@cokeefe9) March 14, 2020
* Official numbers are not updated on Saturday or Sunday. However, looking at the exponential growth to date, by Monday 16 March 2020, the state of New South Wales may have entered the point of no return if it has not completely banned all large gatherings.
See: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/news/Pages/2020-nsw-health.aspx for latest NSW statistics. Please be aware that the original statistics show 1 interstate resident diagnosed in NSW, who by protocol is listed under state of residence, so has been deducted by me from the NSW total.
It appears that an est. 16,593 people in NSW have been tested for the virus to date, with 14,665 returning a negative result.
Saturday, 14 March 2020
Friday, 13 March 2020
Lismore City Council withdraws plan to increase rates due to community backlash and concern over potential COVID-19 economic impact
The discovery that Southern Cross University campus at Lismore had been exposed to the COVID-19 virus in early March 2020 and news that weeks before that a number of workers on the Pacific Highway upgrade had also been exposed, indicates that this virus is now in the Northern Rivers region.
LIsmore City Council took that into consideration, along with the impacts of recent drought and bushfires, at its ordinary monthly meeting on 10 March 2020.
The Northern Star, 12 March 2020:
Lismore City Council will be withdrawing its controversial plan to increase rates by 24 per cent over four years, partly due to growing concern over the impact of coronavirus.
The council last year decided to apply to IPART to implement a staggered increase of 7.5, 9.4, 3.9 and 3.2 per cent over four years to fund an infrastructure and roads backlog.
But after community backlash and further lengthy discussions within council, councillors voted in favour Tuesday night to withdraw its application to IPART.
The fear of coronavirus, mentioned by community members and councillors, was added to the list of reasons why many people considered imposing the rate rise was the wrong decision for the region.
Councillors also discussed at length the usual concern about the financial burden on ratepayers, the ongoing recovery from natural disasters and the low-socio-economic demographic of the region.
Councillor Nancy Casson, who put forward the motion to withdraw the IPART application, said unless the council acted smarter, a significant rate rise would hike up the amount of homelessness and create further financial hardships on ratepayers......
According to the NSW Dept. of Health there have been 78 cases of COVID-19 in the state as of 1pm on 12 March 2020.
Out of these cases, 3 people died and at least 4 have fully recovered, leaving est. 71 people still infected.
A further 11,040 people have been tested for COVID-19 and been excluded, while another 1,181 people are under investigation in the state.
Media reports state that Australia-wide there have been 140 cases since the start of the virus outbreak.
Thursday, 12 March 2020
A reminder that the NSW Nationals do not have the best interests of Northern Rivers communities at heart
Echo Net Daily, 21 February 2020:
A recently announced bilateral energy deal between the NSW and federal coalition governments – which includes expanding the gas industry – has the full support of local Nationals MLC Ben Franklin.
Franklin replied to the question of whether he was supportive of the expansion of the gas industry, despite it contributing to anthropogenic climate change.
He said, ‘The bilateral deal on energy signed between NSW and the federal government is a wonderful step forward’.
‘As the minister for energy and the environment Matt Kean says, “It is the single biggest state-based financial commitment to emissions reduction in the nation’s history and represents a massive Green deal for NSW”.’
It’s a statement rejected by The Greens and environmental groups.....
* Photograph from www.parliament.nsw.gov.au
Topsoil loss during 2020 flooding in the Clarence Valley
The Daily Examiner, 9 March 2020:
Anyone
travelling around the recent flood-affected areas of the Valley,
including along the Clarence River itself, couldn’t fail to notice
the chocolate brown colour of those floodwaters.
The
Orara River was particularly bad, and after the floodwaters had
receded, council needed to use a front end loader to scrape thick
layers of deposited mud off some roadways and bridges. The paddocks
alongside creeks were likewise buried beneath a thick layer of mud.
This
was always to be expected if torrential rain occurred soon after the
bushfires, especially with ash washing off the bare ground into
waterways.
But
these floods brought more than ash. This was topsoil, something that
is in short supply across much of the Australian continent. We are
told that globally, some 24 billion tonnes of topsoil are lost
annually through erosion, and Australia’s contribution is shameful,
given we are a supposedly developed country with sufficient resources
to protect this precious commodity.
Wind
and water are the two main forms of erosion.
Both
can be significantly mitigated simply by maintaining a good
vegetation ground cover. Without that cover there is nothing to hold
the soil, and this past season has highlighted that fact.
Firstly
there was drought, and overgrazing to the point where only bare soil
remained, resulting in one huge dust storm after another for months
on end.
Then
the bushfires destroyed what vegetation the livestock had left. Then
came the floods, ripping apart fragile unprotected stream banks, and
washing them downstream to the ocean.
Even
without bushfires we lose far too much soil to erosion, and again,
poor livestock management is largely to blame.
Many
Australian rivers and creeks have no adequate vegetation to buffer
against erosion and fewer still are fenced to exclude cattle.
As
a result, these animals congregate along waterways, trampling banks,
and browsing any available vegetation, so their impact is even
greater than fire.
Landowners
have a responsibility to manage erosion on their properties and to
consider what they are leaving for future generations. If we are to
solve the erosion problem, livestock management must be a focus
point.
JOHN
EDWARDS, Clarence Valley Conservation Coalition
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