Individual wealth in the NSW Northern Rivers region

Richmond and Page federal electorates in the Northern Rivers region ranked 24th and 112th respectively when it come to net wealth per capita and median net wealth by the end of 2019.

In Richmond half the individual interviewees had net wealth of $325k or less and in Page half had $175k or less.

The highest indivdual average net wealth was unsurprisingly found in the electorates of Wentworth (Liberal MP Dave Sharma), Warringah (Independent MP Zali Steggall), Bradfield (Liberal MP & Minister Paul Fletcher), North Sydney (Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman), Mackellar (Liberal MP Jason Falinski) and Cook (Liberal MP & Prime Minister Scott Morrison).

The current COVID-19 pandemic is likely to significantly change net wealth across many electorates in this table.

Roy Morgan, 1 May 2020

24 months to December 2019, average 12-month sample, n = 50,431

Personal Net Wealth is calculated by subtracting debt from assets, predominantly equity in owner-occupied homes, plus superannuation.

Healthy surfing rules during COVID-19 pandemic

Surfing Australia, April 2020:

Surfing is fun, and a great way to get your daily exercise. It’s also non-contact and easily done by yourself whilst following the physical distancing rules, if we all adjust a few things together. 

EIGHT STEP SURFING ADVICE 

1. Surf the spot closest to your home ONLY. 

2. Wax up and prepare at home. Put on your wetsuit, boardies and other gear at home before driving to the beach. 

3. Follow physical distancing at all times coming and going to the beach. For example, if you have a narrow path to the beach wait an extra minute for it to clear before you walk down. 

4. Have a surf and leave immediately, don't chat with mates in the car park. Call them on your phone. 

5. If the surfing spot is overcrowded - don’t go out 6. 

Don’t paddle next to someone like you would normally. Give them more space. 

7. CRITICAL CHANGE – take it in turns. Do not paddle back over to the peak after catching a wave. Wait your turn patiently on the shoulder. 

8. Don’t change in the parking lot. Wrap your towel around yourself & go home. 

SPECIAL NOTE: Some beach closures have been a direct result of the public not making an effort to follow social distancing rules. Not all beaches are equal as it relates to observing social distancing rules and regulations. A local council's decision to close a beach is made up of multiple factors outside of 'surfing as exercise'. These decisions need to be respected by the surfing community.

By 24 April 2020 there were 1,346,172 unemployed people across Australia, at least 500,000 of whom had lost their jobs due to the pandemic

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics in January 2020 there were est. 778,700‬ people of workforce age who were unemployed in Australia and, est. 207,200 (26.6%) of these were New South Wales residents.

By 24 April 2020 there were est. 1,346,172 unemployed people (between the ages of 15 to 64 years) spread across the nation and, it is likely that unemployed people in New South Wales then exceeded est. 224,700 individuals.

The national figure represents an additional 567,472 unemployed people between January and late April - with an est. 500,000 of this number out of work due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Initial results in a Monash Univerity ongoing study suggests that 90% of those who lost their jobs due to COVID-19 public health restrictions/changed economic climate were given less than one week's notice and of those 44.7% received no notice at all.

Processing unemployment benefit applications for over half a million extra Australians in need is taking time and, est. 317,597 applications were still outstanding on 24 April.

Apart from an initial $750 economic support payment for those receiving Jobseeker (previously Newstart), no enhanced unemployment benefits or JobKeeper* subsidised wage payments commenced until after 27 April 2020, with some payments not due to be received until 11 May [See Senate Select Committee on COVID-19, public hearing transcript, 30 April 2020, p.22]. 

Which means that, commencing on 28 February, between est. 20,320 to 249,875 Australian citizens had been without income support** and those single people on unemployment benefits had been struggling to live on as little as est. $18-$40 per day.

According to a Senate estimates hearing on 30 April, est. 400,000 more people are expected to lose their jobs by September 2020, at which time the unemployment rate is predicted to be around 13 per cent.

Goldman Sachs analysts are reportedly predicting an effective unemployment rate*** of 19 per cent by June-July.

Prime Minister & Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison is adamant that once the pandemic crisis passes all enhanced unemployment benefit rates will return to pre-pandemic levels - he is less clear about where the est. 1.74 million out of work Australians will be able to find a job.

Note:

* As of 28 April 2020 an est. 540,000 businesses have registered for the JobKeeper wage subsidisation scheme. The est. 3.3 million workers in these businesses are considered employed. JobKeeper wage payments to workers are subject to tax which is witheld by employers before payment is made.

** This last figure does not take into consideration unemployed non-citizens on student or work visas who are ineligible to apply for unemployment benefits.

*** An effective unemployment rate takes into consideration those who have had their hours of paid worik reduced, those who have given up looking for work since they lost their jobs and, those receiving JobKeeper payments but whose employer has temporarily ceased operating or is not operating at full capacity and therefore they are not going to work.

Pandemic bullies come in all shapes & sizes

The shrivelled soul of small business in Australia was on view in April 2020.....

Image found on Twitter

The Sydney Morning Herald, 28 April 2020:

A chamber of commerce on Sydney's north shore has been forced to back down from comments demanding local businesses refuse entry to customers and staff who had not downloaded the COVIDSafe tracing app. 

Ku-ring-gai Chamber of Commerce secretary Peter Vickers said he emailed between 1500 to 2000 businesses across its local government area on Monday directing them to ensure their customers had downloaded the app....

But Mr Vickers followed this email with another in the early hours of Tuesday morning, after some of the email's recipients informed him that such a direction was illegal.  

The federal rules governing the app's operation state that a person must not coerce another into downloading the app, or refuse them entry or services on the grounds they have not done so. 

Mr Vickers clarified in the subsequent email that businesses should only encourage people to install the app, while also taking aim at federal Health Minister Greg Hunt's decision to make the app voluntary. 

"In fact he (Mr Hunt) should have ordered Apple and Android to compulsorily download the app to all phones in Australia," Mr Vickers wrote. 

"The government forced businesses to close and even had the police chase sunbathers down the beach. They should be using the same force to open up again."..... 

He said the fact the app was optional should give businesses the right to refuse service. 

"You don't have to download the app but businesses should have the freedom to say we don't want infected people coming into our businesses."

A reminder that in the middle of a pandemic the old problems remain for land & climate

On 24 April 2020 the NSW Dept. of Primary Industries recorded that 64.6 per cent of the NSW North Coast is still in drought, 21 per cent is drought affected and 14.1 per cent no longer in drought.

This is the Clarence Valley showing by sector In Drought (light ochre to dark orche), Drought Affected (light to darker grey) and Non Drought (green tones):

Clarence Valley LGA outlined by sector
Data current to 24/4/2020 (AEST)

Analysis by NASA shows the NSW fires emitted about 195m tonnes of CO2 from 1 August to December 2019.

Permissions for logging in 2019-2020 firegrounds have been granted by NSW Berejiklian Government.

Cartoons of the Week

David Pope

Eric Löbbecke

Coastal freighter torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in WWII has been discovered off Crescent Head NSW

During World War Two 19 merchant vessels were sunk in NSW coastal waters.

On 27 April 2020 it was announced that the wreck of one of these ships - sunk by torpedo with only 5 survivors out of a crew 37 - had been found off Cresent Head.

The Wollongbar II was a single screw steamship owned by the North Coast Steam Navigation Company Ltd. At 2239 tons and 87 metres in length, the vessel had been built at Lithgow’s Ltd shipyard at Port Glasgow, Scotland in 1922. Wollongbar II was built to replace an earlier steamer of the same name wrecked at Belongil Beach, Byron Bay in 1921. IMAGE: NSW Government Premier & Cabinet information sheet.

The Daily Examiner, 29 April 2020, p.5:

A coastal freighter torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in WWII has been discovered off Crescent Head. 

Acting Minister for Veterans Geoff Lee said the SS Wollongbar II was confirmed by archaeologists from Heritage NSW after it was reported by the local community. 

“In 1943 a Japanese submarine, the I-180, destroyed the freight vessel with two torpedos killing 32 people on board,” said Mr Lee..... 

Director of Heritage Operations at Heritage NSW Tim Smith OAM said the discovery would reveal some amazing stories. 

“We want relatives of those who sailed on the SS Wollongbar II to get in contact, so we can share findings of the survey conducted by our archaeologists,” Mr Smith said.