Thought of the Week

 

#fightmisogyny

State of Play COVID-19 Pandemic: NSW Delta Variant Outbreak reached Day 31 today Friday, 16 July 2021 and as yet there is no end in sight

 

NSW Health, COVID-19 (Coronavirus) statistics,16 July 2021:

NSW recorded 97 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.

Of these locally acquired cases, 63 are linked to a known case or cluster – 49 are household contacts and 14 are close contacts – and the source of infection for 34 cases remains under investigation.

Forty-six cases were in isolation throughout their infectious period and 17 cases were in isolation for part of their infectious period. Twenty-nine cases were infectious in the community, and the isolation status of five cases remains under investigation.

One new overseas-acquired case was recorded in the same period. The total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic is now 6,527.

There have been 1,026 locally acquired cases reported since 16 June 2021, when the first case in the Bondi cluster was reported. 

There are currently 75 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 18 people in intensive care, five of whom require ventilation.

There were 77,587 tests reported to 8pm last night, compared with the previous day’s total of 58,299.

NSW Health administered a record 22,568 COVID-19 vaccines in the 24 hours to 8pm last night, including 7,392 at the vaccination centre at Sydney Olympic Park.

The total number of vaccines administered in NSW is now 2,907,677 with 1,135,164 doses administered by NSW Health to 8pm last night and 1,772,513 administered by the GP network and other providers to 11.59pm on Wednesday 14 July…..

Of the 97 locally acquired cases reported to 8pm last night, 67 are from South Western Sydney Local Health District (LHD), 14 are from South Eastern Sydney LHD, nine are from Western Sydney LHD, five are from Sydney LHD, one is from Northern Sydney LHD and one is from Nepean Blue Mountains LHD…… [my yellow highlighting]

As of 8pm 15 July 2021 – Day 30 of the Delta variant outbreak - only est. 35.57% of the total NSW resident population have received one or more doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

Because of the highly infectious nature of the Delta variant and the fact that the majority of COVID-19 cases sequenced in the week leading up to 3 July 2021 were identified as the Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351), Gamma (P.1) and Delta/Kappa (B.1.617) variants, it is extremely important that every person within NSW state boundaries obey all public health orders.

UPDATE

NSW Health, media release, excerpt, 17 July 2021:

NSW recorded 111 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.

Of these locally acquired cases, 59 are linked to a known case or cluster – 47 are household contacts and 12 are close contacts – and the source of infection for 52 cases remains under investigation.

Sixty-nine cases were in isolation throughout their infectious period and ten cases were in isolation for part of their infectious period. Twenty-nine cases were infectious in the community, and the isolation status of three cases remains under investigation.

Six new overseas-acquired cases were recorded in the same period. The total number of cases in NSW since the beginning of the pandemic is now 6,644.

Sadly, a man in his late-80s from south-eastern Sydney died yesterday. NSW Health extends its sincere sympathies to his family.

There have been 1,137 locally acquired cases reported since 16 June 2021, when the first case in the Bondi cluster was reported.

There are currently 75 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospital, with 18 people in intensive care, six of whom require ventilation.

There were a record 81,970 COVID-19 tests reported to 8pm last night, compared with the previous day's total of 77,587…… [my yellow highlighting]

Restrictions to further limit the spread of the COVID-19 Delta strain, effective from 11:59pm Saturday 17 July 2021, can be found here:

https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/restrictions-to-further-limit-spread-of-covid-19-delta-strain

Banyam Baigham, the Sleeping Lizard, returned to the Widjabul Wia-bal Traditional Custodians

An excellent example of natural justice for the Widjabul Wia-bal Traditional Custodians and genuine recognition of their connection to country and culture by Lismore City Council. Well-written and empathetic journalism by Eve Jeffrey.

Echo NetDaily, 14 July 2021:

Everybody (almost) hands up! Councillors Vanessa Ekins, Darlene Cook, Elly Bird, Eddie Lloyd, Nancy Casson, Adam Guise and Neil Marks, vote to hand back the Sleeping Lizard to the local mob. Councillor Bill Moorhouse voted against the motion.

In an emotional and historic vote, Lismore City Council last night passed a motion to hand back Banyam Baigham – Sleeping Lizard, known as the North Lismore Plateau, to the Traditional Custodians.

Lismore Mayor, Councillor Vanessa Ekins, spoke at length about the significance of handing back the Council owned land.

Representatives from the local mob including Uncle Mick Ryan, Aunty Marie Delbridge, Aunty Thelma James and Mindy Woods, and North Lismore Plateau Protection Association Inc. spokesperson Dot Moller, took the opportunity to speak in favour of the motion during public access.

The authority and standing to speak for Country

Uncle Mick Ryan said he had both the authority and standing to speak for that country.

‘At the outset, I say to you all that tonight is an historic moment. Grasping this monumental opportunity is a real positive action, more than just empty words.

‘This is a very big step by our community for justice and reconciliation. For all of us, Aboriginal and non-indigenous alike.

‘Not supporting this hand back will just be a continuation of all the injustices people have suffered through massacre, dispossession, stealing of their children in the 200 years of the discriminatory policies enacted by colonial, state and Commonwealth governments.

‘What happens tonight will reflect not only on the Council but the wider community.

‘I believe it will not only be a tragedy but an opportunity lost. There is no question the land to be handed back has been identified as containing some of the most significant and sacred sites within the Bundjalung nation.

‘My responsibility as a senior elder of the Bundjalung nation is toward the protection of ancestral lands and all the animals, plants and people who dwell within.

‘Let’s commence this process of reconciliation and recognition in a meaningful way to right the great injustice, for Council to listen carefully to what I have said and did a proper thing.

‘We Aboriginal people have a strong tradition embedded in our culture of sharing and caring and welcoming.

‘Go beyond the personal politics and point-scoring.

‘All of you see the demand for supporting this historic occasion and supporting the hand back of our sacred land to the rightful landowners,’ said Mr Ryan.

A deep affinity with particular areas of land

Also speaking for the Bundjalung was Mindy Woods who said that Traditional Custodians have a deep affinity with particular areas of land. ‘Much of our sense of identity is derived from it,’ she said.

‘One area is not exchangeable for another, unlike those of Western land systems. We recognize the cultural, spiritual and historical significance of Banyam North Lismore Plateau.

‘This land is steeped in our history, our culture, our spirituality, and our very existence. This is your history.

‘We support and hope to celebrate the motion that custodianship of Council-owned land on North Lismore Plateau be returned to the Widjabul Wia-bal clan group.

For you, our Councillors, this is a significant decision, but a small and vital step to a long journey towards genuine recognition, reconciliation, protection and celebration of our history,’ she said.

‘We extend our thanks and extend our hand to join you on this journey.’

The Sleeping Lizard

Cr Ekins, who moved a motion that Council hand back Council-owned land on the North Lismore Plateau to the Traditional Owners, was very passionate in her address to the chamber, imploring all councillors to vote in favour of the motion.

‘This is a pretty important decision that we’re making to heal Country.

‘We’ve been talking about the North Lismore Plateau and development on it for 20 years. We’ve spent many years in consultation with the Aboriginal community about the significance of that land. And we know that the site is really significant to the Aboriginal community. It’s Sleeping Lizard Hill, it’s well documented and known to us.

‘We need to hand back Council-owned land to the Traditional Custodians. It’s a really small but significant gesture. And it links Lismore with the National Native Title process that’s going on around us everywhere.

‘A Native Title claim was lodged in 2013, and what that claim has done for the Widjabul Wia-bal Custodians, it has recognized that there is connection for Widjabul Wia-bal people to the North Lismore plateau, going back time immemorial.

Cr Ekins outlined the distant and recent history of the land and concluded that the best use for that land is that it be handed it back to the care and control of the Widjabul Wia-bal Traditional Custodians. ‘It’s a pretty easy decision tonight Councilors, we just decide to hand it back.

‘We can’t use this land. We haven’t used it for 40 years, and we’re unlikely to use it for another decade, but it’s really important to the Widjabul Wia-bal Traditonal Custodians. They can protect it and manage it.’

Just hand it back

‘I’m just asking you to make the decision tonight. Just to hand it back,’ said Cr Ekins.

The motion was passed with votes in favour from Crs Ekins, Lloyd, Bird Marks, Cook, Casson and Guise with only Cr Bill Moorhouse voting against.

Northern Rivers Feral Deer Alert : Bambi is cute inside a picture book but not so loveable in the bush

 

The Richmond River Times, 7 July 2021

If you live in or are visiting in the Richmond, Tweed, Kyogle or Lismore local government areas – when out driving, bushwalking or working in your own paddocks - and see a deer please contact the local council and report the sighting.

Richmond Valley Council (02) 6660 0300 or email council@richmondvalley.nsw.gov.au

Tweed Shire Council 02 6670 2400

Kyogle Council 02 6670 2400 or email

council@kyogle.nsw.gov.au

Lismore City Council (02) 6625 0500

Pathetically low fines for non-compliance with rules enforced by the Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) leaves Murray-Darling Basin irrigators in NSW laughing all the way to the bank with those dollars earned from what is essentially water theft

 

https://www.mdba.gov.au/importance-murray-darling-basin/where-basin

The State of New South Wales is currently not in drought. However, its rivers often have highly variable water flows so it was not surprising to find the morning of Tuesday 13 July 2021 revealing that WaterNSW State Overview real time data record showed that 14 of the state's rivers were flowing at less than 20%. While 15 of the state's principal dams registered volume levels at between 31.4% and 95.9% of capacity, with another 3 registering over 100% of recommended capacity.

Some of those rivers and dams fall within Murray Darling Basin boundaries.

Apparently - even in time of relative water plenty - healthy rivers, environmental water flows and intergenerational equity are not part of the business plan for many of the irrigators growing cotton, almonds, rice, fruit, vegetables, grape vines and other food & pasture crops - how else does one explain this?

The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 July 2021:

Nearly half of the biggest irrigators in NSW have made no effort to install meters that comply with new water laws more than six months after they became mandatory, an audit has found.

The NSW Natural Resources Access Regulator found that 45 per cent of large pumps that draw from rivers and creeks were not using compliant meters to measure how much water was taken, contrary to new laws designed to prevent water theft.

Only 23 per cent were fully compliant with a further third on their way to compliance based on evidence provided by way of invoices, product orders and emails confirming validation appointments.

NRAR’s chief regulatory officer Grant Barnes said there had been “a positive shift” in compliance rates since its desktop audit in April, which found two-thirds of irrigators were non-compliant, but there was still more work to be done with those water users who had neither installed the meters nor made an effort to do so.

“For us, this is about ensuring those water users who have done the right thing and have complied with the regulations get a fair go, and so these results will be disappointing to those people,” Mr Barnes said. “[Compliance] is also important to those who recognise the importance of a social licence for irrigators.”

Individuals who have shown no effort to comply face fines of up to $750 and irrigation companies face $1500 fines.

“The pumps in question here are gigantic, half-meter diameter straws that have the capacity to suck the lifeblood out of our rivers.”

Independent MP Justin Field

The meters were a central recommendation from the 2017 Murray Darling Basin Compliance Review, which found irrigator compliance in NSW and Queensland was “bedevilled by patchy metering, the challenges of measuring unmetered take and the lack of real-time, accurate water accounts”…...

Read the full article here.

News Corp's The Daily Examiner continues to die the death of a thousand cuts

The Clarence Valley had a resident population of est. 51,730 souls in 2020.

Up until mid 2020 it was home to three print newspapers, The Daily Examiner, Coastal Views and the Clarence Valley Independent. 

Only the 'Independent' remains as a print newspaper with a dedicated website, as the other two were part of a media purchase made by foreign-owned News Corp Inc. and these print mastheads have been allowed to wither and die.

In July 2021 News Corp boasts The Daily Examiner has a digital Facebook following of est. 20,747 people (presumably worldwide), an Instagram following of 1,806 and, a Twitter account showing one published tweet from 2009 with a following of only 105.

There is of course no longer a print circulation or a presence on Press Reader because Rupert Murdoch quickly killed off this newspaper which had been the purveyor of news from 1859 to mid 2020. Even its dedicated web address now redirects to a section of The Daily Telegraph website called “Grafton News”. 

One is left to wonder when the ghost of The Daily Examiner masthead will fade from the Internet completely. 

The corporate planned lingering death of a news outlet is sad to witness.

COVID-19 State of Play: Progression of NSW Delta Variant Outbreak up to 12 July 2021

NSW Health, media release, 12 July 2021

Sometime between 17-18 June 2021 it is highly likely that it became obvious to state authorities that the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 which causes a highly infectious form of COVID-19 was now loose in New South Wales.

At that point the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in the state stood at 5,442 people, including interstate residents in NSW health facilities.

On 26 June 2021 the Berejiklian Government issued public health orders - eventually locking down Greater Sydney, Blue Mountains, Wollongong, Shell Harbour and the Central Coast.

By 8pm on Sunday 11 July 2021 the percentage of COVID-19 infections acquired in the community had grown to est. 92% of all confirmed new cases from all infection sources recorded since the Delta variant outbreak began in the state.

"NORMAN SWAN: This graph tells the story. The number of people who have been infectious while in the community keeps rising - day in, day out." [ABC “7.30” program, 12 July 2021]

To date there has only been one confirmed death in New South Wales due to COVID-19 infection since the new outbreak began on 17 June 2021.

NOTE:

See "2021 media releases from NSW Health" at

https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/news/Pages/2021-nsw-health.aspx 

UPDATE

NSW Health, media release, 13 July 2021