Australia 2020: a federation doggerel

"Not everyone has to get on the bus for the bus to leave the 

station. But it is important the bus leaves the station",

There were 8 on the bus when Scotty said

Stay with me, but Westralia said no, feck you & they fell 

out,

There were 7 on the bus when Territorians decided they 

didn’t want to travel,

There were 6 on the bus & Anastasia said, Roll over? Never!

so Queensland tumbled through the door,

There were 5 on the bus but it got too hot in spots &

the Wheatfielders & Victorians decided to jump,

There were 2 on the bus when its wheels fell off …. 

Meet COAG mark 2.

With acknowledgement to Costin Heaps who started this turn at doggerel history

Old Harwood Bridge opening for vessels now formalised to provide certainty for road travellers

New Harwood Bridge across the Clarence River with older Harwood Bridge directly behind IMAGE: www.pacifichighway.nsw.gov.au

Clarence Valley Independent, 2 September 2020:

The new Pacific Highway crossing of the Clarence River at Harwood has prompted the regulation of opening times for the original Harwood Bridge.

Transport for NSW Director Region North Anna Zycki said this will allow the community to plan trips around the times the old bridge is open, allowing vessels to pass through and reduce delays experienced by road users.

“The original Harwood Bridge is a two-lane steel truss bridge which carried the Pacific Highway over the Clarence River from 1966 until late last year, when the new four-lane bridge opened,” Ms Zycki said.

“The original bridge has been kept to maintain access to the local road network including Harwood and Chatsworth Islands.

“Formalising the opening times is the next step in providing residents with more certainty about using the old bridge.”

Bridge openings for vessels will not be scheduled between 7am and 10am and between 2pm and 5pm Monday to Friday. This will not apply in times of flooding.

Special consideration will be given to commercial operators to open the bridge and will be managed on a case by case basis for these vessels.

While the bridge is opened for vessels there is no access for vehicles, pedestrians or cyclists.

Skippers are required to contact Harwood Bridge caretaker on 0412 604 748 between the hours of 9am and 5pm Monday to Friday to book an opening time 24 hours in advance.

For further information and advice, please visit www.rms.nsw.gov.au/maritime/using-waterways/bridge-opening-times.html.

For the latest traffic updates download the Live Traffic NSW App, visit livetraffic.com or call 132 701.

Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese invites Australian voters to "Tell Morrison to fix aged care"

A 31 August 2020 email Opposition Leader and Labor MP for  Anthony Albanese is sending out:

Tell the Morrison Government to fix aged care

Neglect. That’s the legacy of the Morrison Government when it comes to aged care.

People with open sores left unattended. A woman with ants crawling from her open wounds. Aged care residents left hungry, alone in their rooms.

Our most vulnerable Australians are dying without their family by their sides.

Tell the Morrison Government to fix aged care.

You’d think the Government’s response would be to take responsibility?

You’d think the Minister would stick around to answer questions?

But no.

All we see from the Morrison Government is running away, passing the buck, and refusing interviews.

The Morrison Government has no plan to fix the aged care system.

But we do. We want the Government to take these eight steps.

1. Minimum staffing levels in residential aged care
2. Reduce the home care package waiting list so more people can stay in their homes for longer
3. Ensure transparency and accountability of funding to support high quality care
4. Independent measurement and public reporting as recommended by the Royal Commission this week
5. Ensure every residential aged care facility has adequate personal protective equipment
6. Better training for staff, including on infection control
7. A better surge workforce strategy
8. Provide additional resources so the Aged Care Royal Commission can inquire specifically into COVID-19 across the sector while not impacting or delaying the handing down of the final report

Willyou help us call on the Government to fix aged care?

The problems in aged care were around long before the coronavirus. The pandemic has been like an x-ray. It’s shown us what was broken.

Older Australians built this country ­– and they deserve so much better than this.

Thanks and stay safe,

Anthony Albanese

Australian Labor Party 
Authorised by P. Erickson, ALP, Canberra.

Cartoons of the Week

Matt Golding

Kaamran Hafeez

Quotes of the Week

"And, at the ragged and unmasked end of it, he was an old and burned-out magician who’d long ago hocked his cabinet and now was eating his own rabbits for food. By the time he hit the middle-school history textbook peroration of Thursday night’s extended violation of both pandemic safety protocols and federal law, El Caudillo del Mar-a-Lago could barely stand up for falling down.” [Jounalist Charles P. Pierce, wring in Esquire about U.S. President Donald J. Trump, 28 August 2020]

“An economy in historic recession. An aged care minister censured. A national cabinet at an obstinate impasse over borders. A distracting branch-stacking scandal. A COVID death toll of aged-care residents to hit 500. It has not exactly been a banner week for the federal government.” [The New Daily Political Editor Josh Butler writing on 4 September 2020]

NSW Nationals continue to betray the Northern Rivers region when it comes to Berejiklian Government push for coal seam gas mining expansion

Echo Net Daily, September 2020:

An area of the Pilliga Forest where a CSG wastewater
spill occurred in 2011. Nothing has grown back.
Photo David Saunders.

Many of the NSW Chief Scientist’s recommendations on regulating the CSG industry will not be adopted, according to the government response.

Instead, the NSW Liberal and Nationals government claim the ‘state’s regulatory framework for resource projects and the reforms to date ensure NSW is well positioned to develop a safe and sustainable domestic gas industry’.

Of the 17 recommendations by the NSW Chief Scientist, only two are supported.

They are improving transparency of information, and reviewing all new findings in relation to health impacts, which would be included in any new CSG assessment.

The other recommendations are ‘noted’ or ‘supported in principle’ by the government.

In the reply, the government outlined what regulatory improvements had been made since the issue attracted ‘community concern’ in 2011.

The response concludes by saying that existing gas projects are winding down, and the only one ‘in the pipeline’ is the Santos Narrabri gasfield project, which is awaiting determination by the Independent Planning Commission (IPC).

No new areas for CSG exploration have been released, says the government report, ‘And if [that did happen] in the future, it would take considerable time for any potential production projects to emerge’.

As such, the report argues that the Chief Scientist’s recommendations have been achieved.

Yet there was no mention of the gas expansion expected to occur under an agreement struck between the federal and NSW government. SMH (Nine) and other media reported in January that ‘Nearly $3 billion will be pumped into NSW to increase gas supplies’.

Local Nats MLC supports his govt

When asked whether he supported his govenrment’s response, local Nationals MLC, Ben Franklin repeated his government’s justifications for not implementing all the recommendations, while accusing the committee oversight body of ignoring ‘robust CSG-related regulatory controls delivered by the NSW government’…...

Mobile respiratory clinic heading to Maclean during the week beginning 7 September 2020 - bookings required for COVID-19 testing

Clarence Valley Independent, 2 August 2020:

The mobile respiratory clinic heading to Maclean during the week beginning September 7. 

The clinic will take place at the Maclean RSL Sub Branch at 38 River Street. 

For bookings, phone 1800 856 325 or visit www.bit.ly/casino-rc. 

Bookings for the Maclean clinic will be open from Thursday September 3. 

Anyone who develops who flu-like symptoms should not delay getting tested at one of the multiple testing clinics already established throughout the region. 

More information about this initiative can be found on our website at: https://nnswlhd.health.nsw.gov.au/blog/2020/07/03/testing-times-mobile-respiratory-clinic-hits-the-road/