Meme of the Week

Jasenberg

Tweets of the Week

This TIME cover is something else. pic.twitter.com/fn406fSVrA

— Amy Siskind 🏳️‍🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) August 7, 2020

Remarkable. The Federal Govt is threatening to take the NSW #RubyPrincess Inquiry to the High Court.

Why? ⁦@ScottMorrisonMP⁩ doesn’t want federal officials to give evidence.

⁦@LucyHughesJones⁩ with the story ⁦@dailytelegraph⁩ 👇#auspol https://t.co/GdeOzy2Ujx

— Kristina Keneally (@KKeneally) August 12, 2020

A conga line of #COVIDIOTS - Part 3

NSW Police, News, 12 August 2020:

• A 23-year-old man was issued a $1000 PIN by officers from Murray River Police District after attempting to enter NSW for the third time without a valid permit.

• A 65-year-old man was issued a $1000 PIN by officers from Barrier Police District after continuing through the Buronga border checkpoint despite being denied entry due to not having a valid permit.

• A 58-year-old man was issued a $1000 PIN by officers from Murray River Police District after entering NSW without a valid permit. The man was stopped on the Hume Highway at Woomargama for the purposes of a Random Breath Test yesterday (Tuesday 11 August 2020). When spoken to by officers, he produced a Victorian licence and an invalid NSW border entry permit. He was issued a $1000 PIN, directed to leave NSW and escorted back to the Victorian border.

What little Koala habitat remaining in NSW is being logged right now

https://youtu.be/3JKA5ZoRDD4

NatureConservation Council (NSW),10 August 2020:

Wildlife rescuer and arborist Kailas Wild shows us evidence of koalas in the middle of a logging operation in the Lower Bucca State Forest on the NSW North Coast.

The bushfires burnt over 2 million hectares of koala habitat and yet the state-owned logging agency Forestry Corporation is right now cutting down unburnt forests that koalas call home.

The NSW Government has the power to stop this destruction. We need to create a groundswell of support for protecting koala habitat. If more people know this destruction is happening and raise their voices in protest, we can work together to ensure our koalas are not forgotten.

Take a stand for koalas. Sign the petition to call on Premier Berejiklian to stop logging now.

NSW Police and racism in the ranks

The Sydney Morning Herald, 11 August 2020:

Jane Williams was at work, half an hour’s drive from her home in Coraki on the North Coast of NSW, in April 2016 when she got a phone call to say the police had picked up her eight-year-old son for throwing rocks at a car with his cousins.

She raced home in a panic, to find no one knew her son’s whereabouts.

Police said he had been taken to his aunty’s place, but there was no sign of him. Her own house was empty.

Williams rushed to the police station to demand answers, only to be told the officer involved had been called to another job. The officer at the station made a phone call to get to the bottom of it.

"He got on the phone and I just knew from the expression,” Williams says.

The officer rushed outside and found the boy in the back of the police truck, where he’d been left unattended for up to two hours.

“I couldn't believe my eyes," Williams says. "My baby ... his cheeks were that red. It was painful to look at him like that."

With the assistance of Grafton lawyer Joe Fahey, the mother-of-two sued NSW Police for damages last year, resulting in an undisclosed settlement.

Months after the incident, according to court documents, the officer who’d picked up her son pulled her over while driving and asked: “You sure you haven’t got anybody in that boot Jane?”

She says the comment was intended to make her feel hurt, shame and embarrassment.

Four years on, Williams says her son is still distrustful of police.

The Black Lives Matter movement has put a spotlight on interactions between Indigenous Australians and the criminal justice system. In the first of a three-part series this month, the Herald examines how these interactions play out in the Northern Rivers of NSW, beginning with the relationship between Aboriginal people and police.

The investigation found allegations of police misconduct from former officers, while a Herald analysis of data obtained under freedom of information laws suggests the police force is struggling to retain Indigenous officers across regional NSW. Despite increasing recruit numbers there are more Indigenous officers leaving, too, which has stalled the proportion of Indigenous operational officers in regional areas at around 1 per cent - or 183 people in a statewide workforce of 17,111.

Fahey says he has handled “easily 30 or 40” cases where Aboriginal clients have successfully sued the police over the past four to five years, mainly for wrongful arrests and related assaults in the towns of Grafton, Coffs Harbour and Casino, with the odd case from Moree or Sydney…. 

A Herald analysis of police data found officers in northern NSW recorded using force, such as restraints and holds, more often than anywhere else in the state during random breath tests from 2014 to 2018. 

 In the same period, officers in the Coffs/Clarence district used force against people charged with offensive language 147 times over the five years - the fourth-highest occurrence in the state.... 

Read full article here.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 June 2020:

An Aboriginal teenager is suing the state of NSW, alleging that he was assaulted by police in an incident caught on video, which appears to show an officer striking the boy in the head as he was walking home at night in Casino last year.

A statement of claim filed in the Lismore district court described the alleged incident as "abhorrent and racist" and an "oppressive abuse of police powers"....

The Bundjalung teenager, then 17, claims he was walking home at around 12.30am last September in the Northern Rivers town of Casino when he was approached by three police officers.

The recording that emerged shortly after the incident shows police following him for about half a block and then surrounding him and questioning the teenager, who can be heard repeatedly saying "I'm going home."

One officer, who the boy's lawyers allege in the statement of claim to be Senior Constable Benjamin David Chivers, appears to shove the boy in the chest as he attempts to walk away.

Another officer puts their hand on the boy's arm and the boy appears to push his hand away.

The first officer then strikes the boy in the head, knocking his hat off. After police are alerted that the incident is being filmed, the first officer begins asking the boy, "Why'd you have a swing at him?", gesturing to his fellow officer.

The boy replies he didn't "take a swing".

The statement of claim alleges: "Police officers targeted an Aboriginal boy, for no reason whatsoever, and then proceeded to degrade and humiliate him in the most cynical way."

It accuses the officers of acting "in stark indifference" to their duties as guardians.

"The conduct complained of demonstrates a failure by the Richmond Local Area Command to properly train, discipline and educate its police officers to prevent them from racially vilifying young Aboriginal males in the Casino area," the statement says.....

https://youtu.be/R3n9DAIvF7o

Rous County Council extends deadline to comment on proposed Dunoon/Channon dam until 9 September 2020

Proposed Dunoon Dam site. Google Earth overlay. Image: Echo NetDaily, 14 July 2020 

In July 2020 Rous County Council announced the proposed Future Water Project 2060 – a $245 million plan the county council states will future-proof the community’s drinking water supplies.

The revival of the concept of a second dam on Rocky Creek, near Dunoon, sparked debate across the Northern Rivers and the Dunoon Dam Proposal Action Group was formed.

Local of 25 years Carol Shipard founded the Dunoon Dam Proposal Action Group after being involved in successful protests to ward off unconventional gas at Bentley. She’s concerned about the impacts on the area below Whian Whian Falls and on indigenous cultural sites,including a burial ground, and many endangered species of flora and fauna.

The Daily Telegraph, 11 August 2020, p.11:

A community group opposed to a possible dam in Dunoon have continued their push to raise public awareness surrounding the issue.

The proposed 50 gigalitre Dunoon Dam is part of Rous County Council’s Future Water Project 2060 but has caused controversy, with the group concerned about the project’s impacts on sacred Aboriginal sites and The Channon gorge.

The group held a stall at The Channon Markets on Sunday — the first time they held an official activity against what they describe a “destructive dam”.

“People need to be aware that it’s happening here, it’s like (800m) from the bridge near here,” group member Terri Nicholson said.

The group is urging Rous County Council to investigate alternative water conservation methods.

“Some of the alternatives are strong demand management, use purified, recycled water, water tanks to name a few,” Ms Nicholson said.

On Friday, the proposal’s submission timeline was extended until September 9 by Rous County Council for the public to have their say.

Details on where to send a submission can be found here.

Clarence Valley & Lismore City were recognised for their achievements at NSW Local Government Week 2020

Last week was NSW Local Government Week 2020.

Clarence Valley and Lismore City councils received recognition.

Excellence in Communication - Division B - population between 30,000 and 70,000: 

Winner Clarence Valley Council 
Communicating in Recovery 

Judges' comment 

Outstanding. An amazing example of innovative and responsive best practice that is informed by the community and also specialised sources such as Red Cross and NY post 9/11. As someone who was directly impacted by bushfires last summer and is involved in community led recovery, this is a fantastic example of how to implement a disaster recovery engagement plan within existing resources. 

Excellence in Leadership Award - Division B - Outstanding Individual Contribution: 

Highly Commended Clarence Valley Council 

Des Shroder for Strong Leadership in times of Crises 

Judges' comment 

Des demonstrated leadership in dealing with the important issue of high youth suicide in the area; he proactively sought solutions to improve the mental health and well-being of the community and his hard work and commitment facilitated delivery of important services to provide for the needs of young people.

Innovation in Special Events - Division B - population between 30,000 and 70,000: 

Highly Commended Clarence Valley Council 
Introduction to Surf Safety for non-English Speakers 

 Projects - Division B - population between 30,000 and 70,000: 

Highly Commended Lismore City Council 
Dungarimba Wandarahn (Lismore place of learning)