According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology the risk of the Clarence River flooding this week has passed

Now that is looking more likely that rivers within the Clarence River catchment will be back to normal for the Yuletide season, here is a little local history......

Clarence Valley Council, retrieved 17 December 2020:

From the first cedar-getters and European settlers in 1830 to the commencement of sugar farming in 1868, only relatively small floods topped the natural river banks near the early settlements.

Over the following few decades, however, the security of the floodplain was seriously questioned. Floods overtopping the banks in that period included the great flood of 1890, with a height of 24 feet. This would be equivalent to 7.834 metres AHD (Australian Height Datum).

One of the floods in 1950 killed two people, over 1000 head of cattle and damaged several thousand homes.

The most recent floods have occurred in 2001, 2009, 2011 and 2013 and have reached levels of - 7.70 m AHD, 7.37m AHD, 7.64m AHD and 8.08m AHD respectively.

Since flood records commenced in 1839, Grafton has been subject to over 120 floods - the highest being in January 2013 at 8.08m…...floods occur more often from January – Apri…...[but also have been recorded in every month including on 19 December 1966 when flood waters passed through at below minor level at 1.2m and 16 December 2020 when flood waters reached minor level at 2.29m].

Make no mistake, the Morrison Government intends to set the Australian electoral system up for voter suppression if it can get Murdoch's backing & the numbers in parliament

 

On 29 July 2019 then Minister for Finance & Senator, Mathias Cormann, asked the Joint Standing Committee On Electoral Matters to inquire into and report on the conduct of the 2019 federal election and matters related thereto.

The Committee published an Interim Report in February 2020 and a Final Report on 10 December 2020 with only six sitting days remaining in the parliamentary year.

This is how the mainstream media and a number of concerned citizens see the final report…...

The Age, 10 December 2020:

Federal election rules would be overhauled to limit early voting and require Australians to show photo ID before they cast their ballots under a plan that has been labelled an “outrage” that deprives people of their rights.

A key parliamentary committee revealed the proposal on Thursday in a report that also backed the idea of increasing the number of federal politicians because electorates had grown so large.

The findings, from a Coalition majority on the committee led by Liberal National Party senator James McGrath, included a divisive suggestion to drop compulsory preferential voting in favour of optional preferential voting.

One Labor member of the committee, Queensland MP Milton Dick, said the report should be rejected because it would undermine the country’s compulsory voting system.

"The report that the government members of [the joint standing committee on electoral matters] have produced from the committee’s inquiry into the 2019 federal election is an outrage," he said.

“Instead of proposing considered, sensible electoral reform, the government has used this as just another opportunity to silence its critics, suppress the vote and stop unions and grass-roots campaigners from participating in our democracy."

Labor's spokesman on electoral matters, South Australian senator Don Farrell, said the report was a "window on to a very dark future" under the Morrison government…..

The report has 27 recommendations on voting rules, electronic voting, campaign finance, the size of Parliament and four-year terms…..

The report has 27 recommendations on voting rules, electronic voting, campaign finance, the size of Parliament and four-year terms.

More than 4 million voters cast their ballots early at the last federal election, taking advantage of Australian Electoral Commission booths that opened three weeks before polling day on May 18.

In their majority report, Senator McGrath and his Coalition colleagues call for the early voting period to be cut to two weeks and for AEC officials to ensure voters meet legislated rules on voting early, rather than doing so merely because they want to.

In a sign of frustration over the time taken to count votes on election day, the report raised the idea of sorting the envelopes from 4pm so the count could begin at 6pm.

It also suggested the AEC prepare a timeline for the introduction of an electronic certified roll before the next federal election, and called for changes to the law so voters would have to show photo ID, such as a driver's licence or passport, to vote.

The report suggested the 151-member House of Representatives should be expanded as the population grew in each electorate, but did not make this as a firm recommendation…..

In the same way, it asked the government to consider getting the committee to explore the need for non-fixed four-year terms.

The current Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 can be found here. It has been amended on 48 occasions since 2000.

Given that Prime Minister Scott Morrison appears to take personal and political advice from unsavoury, unreliable and extremely far right ideological quarters, it is almost a given that he will latch onto those aspects in this report which are most dangerous to Australian democracy.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare releases a new report but the problem of homelessness remains

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW), media release, 11 December 2020:

More than 290,000 Australians were assisted by government-funded Specialist Homelessness Services during 2019–20, according to a new report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

The latest Specialist Homelessness Services annual report covers the 2019–20 period, including months before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and is accompanied by updated Specialist Homelessness Services Collection Data Cubes with information on clients assisted in states and territories.

‘Government-funded Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) assist Australians who are experiencing homelessness—or at risk of becoming homeless—with services such as advice, counselling, professional legal services, meals and accommodation, said AIHW spokesperson Dr. Gabrielle Phillips.

‘Between 2015–16 and 2019–20, the number of clients helped by specialist homelessness agencies increased by an average of 1.0% per year from 279,200 to 290,500 people. ‘In 2019–20, about 114,000 clients were homeless when they first presented to services seeking help and 152,300 were at risk of homelessness.’

Of the 290,000 clients who were assisted in 2019–20, 60% (174,500) were female and 29% (85,000) were aged under 18 years.

About 119,000 clients assisted by Specialist Homelessness Services had experienced family and domestic violence, up from 116,000 clients in 2018–19. Ninety per cent of adult clients who had experienced family and domestic violence were female and over half (51%) of clients aged under 18 years had experienced family and domestic violence.

About 88,300 clients accessing services in 2019–20 reported having a current mental health issue which was almost 1 in 3 of all SHS clients (30%).

‘People with current mental health issues is one of the fastest growing client groups, increasing by 22% since 2015–16,’ Dr. Phillips said.

‘Various factors, including increased identification, community awareness and reduced stigma, may have had an impact on the increase in self-identification and reporting of mental illness among Specialist Homelessness Services clients.’

About $68.7 million in financial assistance was provided to clients in 2019–20, up from $61.1 million in 2018–19. This included $32.3 million used to help clients establish or maintain existing tenancies and $21.9 million to provide short-term or emergency accommodation, some of which was related to COVID-19 responses.

Clients supported each month can be found in our SHS monthly data product; the latest release includes preliminary data for the June–September 2020 time period.

In New South Wales in 2019-20 homeless agencies provided 70,400 individuals with a a service – 41% of these people were in regional areas, 1% in remote areas and 58% in major cities.

At least 38,334 of these individuals were homeless when they first presented (around 3,066 having no shelter or improvised shelter) and the majority of these homeless people appear to have been female.

Given that 1.6 million women in Australia are thought to have experienced sexual and/or physical violence from a partner it should come as no surprise that family or domestic violence was one of the top three reasons given by those seeking assistance.

The services offered by homeless agencies could have been information only, referral to another agency, overnight accommodation, short-term accommodation, advocacy in an effort to obtain permanent accommodation pr retain existing accommodation - or no assistance was able to be given at the time so that the individual walked out as homeless as when they entered the agency. On average 25 requests for assistance went unmet each day.

The 2016 national census revealed that across Australia 116,000 people were experiencing homelessness on census night. It also revealed the NSW Northern Rivers region was no stranger this homelessness. In the Richmond Valley – Hinterland 57.5 persons out of every 10,000 were homeless, in Richmond Valley – Coastal it was 53.9 persons per 10,000, the Tweed Valley 48.6 persons and Clarence Valley 44.8 persons.

In 2020 it was reported that local police believed that up to 400 women were sleeping in tents or cars in the Byron Bay area and it is thought that over 200 people may be sleeping rough in the Clarence Valley.

National DNA Program for Unidentified and Missing Persons has been established at the Australian Federal Police laboratories in Canberra

ABC News, 13 December 2020:

Each year, around 38,000 people are reported missing.

Most are found quickly — perhaps they are visiting relatives, or seeking some solitude, or on a drug-induced bender.

But at any one time, there are around 2,600 Australians who remain stubbornly unfindable, leaving in their wake trails of grief and confusion.

Less well known are the 500 sets of anonymous bones languishing in police archives across the country…….

This year, a national DNA database has been launched in the hope it will be a game-changer.

The $4 million National DNA Program for Unidentified and Missing Persons has been established at the Australian Federal Police laboratories in Canberra.

Program director Jodie Ward says it will apply world-class forensic science techniques to the backlog of unsolved cases in a methodical way…..

Until now, DNA sampling has been patchy and, crucially, not coordinated across the states and territories.

That means human remains found in New South Wales in the 1990s could belong to a person reported missing across in Victoria in the 1980s, with DNA samples from the bones and remaining relatives never having been compared.

State and territory police are auditing their DNA archives and collecting samples from the relatives of historical missing persons where needed.

They will be submitted to Professor Ward’s team along with DNA or bone samples from unidentified remains…..

Missing Persons In NSW

The Missing Persons Registry (MPR) was established in July 2019 and not only oversees every Missing Persons report in NSW, but also the unidentified bodies and human remains. Although the MPR is made up of a team of detectives and analysts, it does not usually investigate Missing Persons, instead it reviews each report and provides a supportive role to the police in the field.

In 2019 there were a total of 10,212 reported Missing Persons across NSW, averaging 28 missing people every day. Most people are located almost immediately however around 1% go on to become Long Term Missing Persons.

As of June 2020 there have been a total of 3,430 reports of Missing Persons, with 62 persons currently outstanding.

The MPR not only oversees the investigation of new reports but also historical Missing Persons dating back to 1945. There is currently 769 outstanding Long-Term Missing Persons across NSW however this number does vary slightly each day. 

The National Missing Persons Co-ordination Centre database can be viewed at:

https://www.missingpersons.gov.au/view-all-profiles.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison's arrogance brings Australia closer to an all out trade war with China

 

China is said to account for around one-third of Australia's export income. 

This may not continue into the future.

Given the growing tension between Australia and China, caused in great measure by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison acting as US President Donald Trump's annoying little barking dog snapping at the heels of Xi Jinping, it is possible that in 2021 Australia could face over $105 billion in lost trade with China.

 The Monthly, 15 December 2020:

…..Beijing appears to have officially blacklisted Australian coal for the foreseeable future. The Chinese government sure knows how to hit where it hurts. Australian coal exports to China were worth $14 billion last year, and, for the many coal-lovers in the Coalition, the one argument for the industry’s continued existence – the financial one – has just been crushed. It was hard enough justifying a project such as Adani’s Carmichael mine before; now it looks ridiculous. Trade Minister Simon Birmingham has urged China to clarify the reported ban, calling it unacceptable and discriminatory, while Scott Morrison somewhat hopefully called the reports “media speculation”, and warned that a blacklisting would “obviously be in breach of WTO rules and our own free-trade agreements, so we would hope that it is not the case”. It’s a lot more than media speculation, of course. And it’s hardly coincidental that this news has arrived hard on the heels of the stoushes over Australian iron ore. Where is all this heading?

Australian businesses are going to suffer, and people are going to get hurt. Journalist Anna Krien has been tracking a terrible situation involving sailors marooned off the coast of China, on ships full of Australian coal. For up to eight months, these ships have been unable to offload their cargo into Chinese ports due to an informal government ban. “China doesn’t want it. The seller won’t leave. A game of chicken except these men’s lives are at stake. Three are on suicide watch,” Krien reported via Twitter. “Their medicine has run out. The water they are being supplied with is bad – causing rashes that won’t heal and [are] pus-filled. They have families. One sailor’s father back home in India has died, his mother is dying.”

Some of the stranded seafarers haven’t been allowed to disembark for 20 months due to COVID-19. Do Birmingham, Morrison, Canavan, Pitt and Payne care about these workers? Does the Minerals Council? Let alone the hundreds of thousands of workers in the other sectors hit by China’s abrupt strikes on Australian products…...

Polluting the Pilliga was never a good idea - and unfortunately the NSW Berejiklian Government spurred on by Deputy-Premier & Nationals Minister for Regional New South Wales, 'Barracuda' Barilaro, is likely to make the Pilliga a template for rape of the Northern Rivers - from the Clarence Valley to the NSW-Qld border region

 

https://youtu.be/igv-9EWdK5M

Elders and Widjabul Wia-bal people: ‘We are tired of being ‘consulted’ and then ignored. Enough is enough.’

 

Echo NetDaily, 14 December 2020:

Widjabul Wia-bal traditional owners of the area between Dunoon and the Channon have told Rous County Council not to follow Rio Tinto with the destructive Dunoon Dam.

They have told the General Manager of Rous County Council, Phil Rudd, that they will not accept the building of the proposed dam, which would inundate ancient burial sites and extensive evidence of occupation in the past and in recent times.

John Roberts, a Senior Elder of the Widjabul Wia-bal said, ‘I was one of the stakeholders consulted in 2011 about the impact of the Dunoon Dam on cultural heritage.

‘In the 2011 Cultural Heritage Impact Assessment prepared for Rous, we stakeholders said with one voice that no level of disturbance was acceptable to us. We still say that. Nothing has changed. There is no need for another study. Our opinion has not changed.

‘Our cultural heritage is a direct connection to our ancestors. We have been here for thousands of years. These sites provide us with a link to our traditions, our land and our living heritage. They allow us to educate our young ones in their history.’

Unanimous decision

A unanimous decision of Elders and Widjabul Wia-bal people was given to the Rous County Council General Manager last Tuesday, December 8th.

The group insisted that Rous abandon plans for the Dunoon Dam.

‘So many of our cultural sites have been destroyed. To destroy more is unacceptable to the traditional owners,’ said Mr Roberts.

‘We are tired of being ‘consulted’ and then ignored. Enough is enough.’

The Widjabul Wia-bal collective insisted that Rous County Council no longer deals with individuals. They said in future Rous must consult with the whole stakeholder group.

Rous have agreed to provide all correspondence between Rous and the Widjabul Wia-bal representatives since the dam was first mooted in 1995……

Rous County Council, meanwhile, have issued a statement saying they will table their plan to future-proof the region’s water supply at their next ordinary meeting, on 16 December 2020.

Channon Gorge, threatened by proposed Dunoon Dam. Photo David Lowe.

The statement said, ‘The combination of solutions set out by the Future Water Project 2060 include:

• Utilisation of the Marom Creek Water Treatment Plant for the increased use of groundwater from the Alstonville area.

• Further detailed investigations into the viability of the proposed Dunoon Dam.

• Ongoing water conservation and demand management.

• Pioneering investigations into water reuse.

‘Councillors will carefully consider the plan in light of the outcome of a 10-week public exhibition of the Future Water Project 2060. Council acknowledges the community’s concerns and aspirations and greatly appreciates the time invested by those who made a submission.’

Rous have asked people who wish to find out more about the Future Water Project 2060 to please visit www.rous.nsw.gov.au/futurewater.

Dunoon local Jill Hawthorn responded on social media by saying, ‘When the experts say we need back up options for dry times coming – and 30% of our water system should be not rain dependent. This means we need to look seriously at water reuse and solar powered desalination – can you hear your community Rous?