Matt Golding |
Tom Red |
This blog is open to any who wish to comment on Australian society, the state of the environment or political shenanigans at Federal, State and Local Government level.
Daily Telegraph, 2 August 2021:
…..General Manager Clarence Health Service Dan Madden said that on February 19, issues were detected with the steam sterilisers used in the Grafton Base Hospital surgical department.
“Staff identified the affected equipment as part of their usual checking process, rejected them for use, and ceased using the sterilising machines immediately,” he said.
“Technicians began working immediately to examine and repair the machines, including replacing some components…..
However, at the end of April, the health service confirmed the fixes were not working, and approximately 20 per cent of surgery at the hospital had been affected.
“Additional surgical instruments are being sourced to supplement the supply at GBH, and extra capacity is being added at the Lismore Base
Hospital sterilising department to provide support, but some surgical cases are being rescheduled,” NNSWLHD CEO Wayne Johns said.
“We are working with surgeons and waitlist staff to minimise delays and are taking clinical conditions into account when rescheduling cases,” he said.
In May, more community reports of cancelled operations emerged. Claims that items sent away for sterilisation were returning wet, or unclean, led the health service to reveal $1m would be spent on new equipment.
“Two new sterilisers are expected within weeks after safely clearing quarantine, with other equipment on order from Italy,” Mr Jones said
“We wish to assure the community that no affected instruments have been used in any surgical procedures.”
Acting NNSWLHD CEO Lynne Weir said that supply chain issues as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic had delayed the arrival of necessary equipment to upgrade the existing surgical unit inside the hospital.
“These issues are now resolved and it is anticipated work on the surgical unit will be completed by October,” she said.
“Capital works will involve the removal of old equipment, reconfiguration of the internal space and replacement of equipment including a new reverse osmosis water treatment unit to mitigate against any issues with on-site water filtration systems which supply the sterilising equipment.”
The Guardian, 4 August 2021:
The New South Wales government’s plans to have year 12 back to face-to-face teaching by 16 August appear to be in tatters, amid rising Covid case numbers among younger people and resistance from all parts of the school system.
The government is now urgently working on an alternative plan that is likely to involve different approaches for different parts of the greater Sydney region.
For many students the Higher School Certificate trial exams are likely to take place online with priority for returning to school being given to students who need to complete major works or undertake oral assessments.
The premier, Gladys Berejiklian, flagged the rethink at her daily press conference on Wednesday.
“Our commitment, and the outcome remains, that every year 12 student who is a candidate for the HSC, we’ll make sure they get their qualification. We announced that from 16 August there will be some opportunity for some level of face-to-face but we will have more to say about that,” she said......
There have been discussions about possibly using rapid antigen testing at schools, however this option may not be viable as it requires medically trained staff to administer the tests.
The focus is now on trying to facilitate the HSC exams taking place in October, but some level of face-to-face teaching could occur in areas with few cases.
“There is a requirement for public exams to be sat in October, which obviously will take place. Between now and then we need to provide certainty as to what level of face-to-face will exist from 16 August,” the premier said.
Berejiklian said the approach “would not be uniform” and that those who needed face-to-face contact with teachers would be given priority.
A week ago the premier said that year 12 would return to face-to-face learning from 16 August, announcing an urgent vaccination drive for almost 21,000 year 12 students in the eight hotspot local government areas.
Beginning Monday, the NSW government plans to bus 3,000 students to Qudos Bank Arena for Pfizer shots. Year 12 students who live in the eight hotspot LGAs as well as students who attend schools in the eight LGAs will be eligible. This will include schools like The Kings School and other private schools that draw from across Sydney .
About 40,000 Pfizer vaccine doses, which have been approved for children as young as 12, have been redirected from rural NSW and are due to be administered at Homebush.
In regional NSW, where there is no lockdown, schools have remained open with masks recommended for all students in year 7 and above and for all staff.
The plan to reopen in Sydney has been met with deep concern from both the union representing public sector teachers, the NSW Teachers’ Federation, independent schools and Catholic schools.
The NSW Teachers’ Federation president, Angelo Gavrielatos, described the move as “premature”.....
The issue of returning year 12 to school – and the health advice around it – is set to be aired next week when a parliamentary committee calls evidence from the Department of Education and NSW Health.
Read the full article here.
"The North East Forest Alliance was formed in 1989 as an alliance of groups and individuals from throughout north-east NSW, with the principal aims of protecting rainforest, oldgrowth, wilderness and threatened species. NEFA has pursued these goals through forest blockades, rallies, court cases, submissions, lobbying, and protracted negotiations" [https://www.nefa.org.au/about_nefa]
On 30 July 2021 the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA) lodged its latest case in the Federal Court against the Commonwealth and NSW Governments.
If you live anywhere on the NSW North Coast, want to preserve our unique, biodiverse forests for future generations and are considering making a donation, go to:
https://chuffed.org/project/nefa-is-taking-government-to-court.
NSW Forest Logging Agreement Faces Legal Challenge over Climate, Biodiversity
In a legal first, Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) is heading to the Federal Court to challenge a New South Wales Regional Forest Agreement (RFA).
The North East RFA covers logging in the coastal area between Sydney and the Queensland border. It exempts logging in native forests from federal biodiversity law.
Originally signed between the Commonwealth and New South Wales in 2000, it was renewed in 2018 for another 20 years with rolling extensions that could continue indefinitely.
In the summer of 2019-20, devastating bushfires ripped through native forests in the RFA region, including areas of the World Heritage-listed Gondwana Rainforests of Australia.
On behalf of client the North East Forest Alliance (NEFA), EDO will argue that when the North East RFA was renewed, the Commonwealth did not have regard to endangered species, the state of old growth forests or the impacts of climate change, as the EDO will argue it was required to do.
NEFA is asking the Federal Court to declare that the North East RFA does not validly exempt native forest logging from federal biodiversity assessment and approval requirements (EPBC Act).
NEFA is acting to protect native forests, which provide critical habitat for vulnerable and endangered species such as koalas and greater gliders and to ensure that the laws that regulate logging in these forests are up-to-date and fit for purpose. It is the first legal challenge to an RFA in New South Wales.
Senior Solicitor Emily Long has carriage of this case under the supervision of Andrew Kwan.
EDO is grateful for the assistance of Jeremy Kirk SC and James Johnson and Claire Roberts of counsel who are briefed to appear in this matter.
EDO Chief Executive Officer David Morris said:
“We are challenging the Federal Government over its failure to assess how another 20-plus years of logging, against a background of a changing climate, will impact our forest ecosystems, endangered species and old growth forests.
“The Commonwealth didn’t want to incur the costs of conducting a proper assessment, waving through a 20-year extension of native forest logging without proper scrutiny.
“Under the current system, if a population of koalas is being threatened by a new development, the project needs to be assessed at the Federal level. But if the same population of koalas is being threatened by a logging project, it’s been rubber stamped on the basis of 20-year-old environmental assessments.
“We have known for years that as the climate changes, fires will follow. And yet the North East RFA was renewed without an assessment of how climate change will impact the health and resilience of our native forest ecosystems. Less than 12 months later, fires began ravaging native forests across the region.
“This RFA is a powerful instrument that allows the forestry industry to bypass Federal biodiversity assessments. To be robust, these agreements must be founded on the latest scientific knowledge on climate and the state of our forest ecosystems.”
20-year Extension of Native Forest Logging
Myrtle State Forest Courtesy of NEFA |
Regional Forest Agreements are signed between the Commonwealth and the states, allowing forestry operations to be exempt from assessment and approval under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (EPBC ACT).
There are ten RFAs in force around Australia. The North East RFA is one of three in New South Wales, the others are the Eden RFA and Southern RFA.
Image: NSW Environment Protection Authority |
The North East RFA encompasses a huge area spanning from NSW’s Central Coast to Queensland’s Gold Coast. It encompasses critically endangered ecosystems such as Central Hunter Valley eucalypt forest, New England Peppermint Grassy Woodlands, as well as Lowland and Littoral rainforests.
The ecosystems under the agreement include vital habitat for vulnerable and endangered species such as the grey-headed flying fox, the greater glider, the spot-tailed quoll.
In order for an RFA to exempt native forest logging from the usual federal biodiversity assessment and approval requirements, when the Commonwealth enters into an RFA it is legally required to have regard to assessments of environmental values – including endangered species and old growth – and the principles of ecologically sustainable management. EDO will argue for NEFA that when the North East RFA was renewed in 2018, the Commonwealth was required to, but did not assess climate change, endangered species or old growth forests.
In the subsequent 2019-20 bushfire season, the Black Summer bushfires devastated these ecosystems and the species that call them home, changing native forests in these regions beyond recognition.
According to the Natural Resources Commission 2020 report, 2019-2020 Bushfires: Extent of impact on old growth forest2, 28% of the Upper North East section of the North East RFA was fire affected, with over 65% of the forest canopy in that area being either totally or partially burnt. 23% of the Lower North East section of the North East RFA was fire affected, with 52% of the forest canopy in that area being either totally or partially burnt.
On behalf of NEFA, EDO will argue that the lack of crucial assessments before the 2018 renewal means the decision to extend the North East RFA was not made in accordance with the relevant legislation. As a consequence, the Federal Court should find the North East RFA does not lawfully exempt logging in the north east RFA region from federal biodiversity assessment and approval requirements.
"On 2nd July 2021, National Cabinet agreed to formulate a National Plan to transition Australia’s COVID response. The plan consists of four phases defined by achievement of vaccination thresholds broadly expressed as a percentage of the eligible population (aged 16+ years)."
This is the report on that plan by the The Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity:
Doherty Modelling Report for Australian National Cabinet 30 July 2021 by clarencegirl on Scribd
https://www.scribd.com/document/518563585/Doherty-Modelling-Report-for-Australian-National-Cabinet-30-July-2021
Telstra Exchange, Telstra News, 3 August 2021:
I know payphones are also a lifeline for thousands of vulnerable Australians – the homeless, the isolated, those escaping domestic violence – and often provide their only link to critical support services and those that care about them.
Last year alone Australians made 11 million calls on payphones, including more than 230,000 calls to vital services like Triple Zero, so there’s no doubt payphones are already often the lifeline that’s there when it’s needed most.
Telstra’s purpose is to build a connected future so everyone can thrive. To deliver on this ambition we want to contribute to a better, more caring and more inclusive Australia, an Australia where people can reach out for help if and when they need to, or just connect if they feel like it.
The payphone network that we’ve been maintaining since the 1880s is a key part of that, and I’m delighted it’s now free for everyone to make calls anywhere in Australia.
Andrew Penn
CEO Telstra
This television production company, the aptly named Cavalier, is apparently happy to inflate property prices in an area already plagued with a lack of affordable housing.
Echo NetDaily, 28 July 2021:
Plans by reality television TV show, The Block (Nine), to base an upcoming series on Sunrise Boulevard in Sunrise, Byron Bay, has upset an elderly neighbour.
Resident, Dorothy May, says she was offered well above market value for her home, but refused to sell.
Dorothy is 74, and a cancer patient in palliative care.
She told The Echo she was asked to sell by agents representing the company, but has refused.
She says her house is located in the middle of five homes that are pegged for the TV show, and is located on a busy road behind SAE.
‘All are under negotiation with offers of $500,000 over market value’.,,,
She also said it is ‘Morally wrong that a reality TV show can come and do this to a community’.
Dorothy says she is concerned that her amenity will be adversely impacted while five homes around her are partly or mostly demolished, and rebuilt, with a constant stream of filming and tradespeople.
‘I was told there was a distinct possibility for these new homes being built as two storey’, she said.
If that happens, she fears it will block her solar access.
‘I was also told, if the production and DAs were approved, they would work throughout the night, providing there were no power tools used’.
Schedule
She says she was told, ‘Demolition would start in February, they would start filming in April and go through till September with an auction possibly in October’…...
Hi! My name is Boy. I'm a male bi-coloured tabby cat. Ever since I discovered that Malcolm Turnbull's dogs were allowed to blog, I have been pestering Clarencegirl to allow me a small space on North Coast Voices.
A false flag musing: I have noticed one particular voice on Facebook which is Pollyanna-positive on the subject of the Port of Yamba becoming a designated cruise ship destination. What this gentleman doesn’t disclose is that, as a principal of Middle Star Pty Ltd, he could be thought to have a potential pecuniary interest due to the fact that this corporation (which has had an office in Grafton since 2012) provides consultancy services and tourism business development services.
A religion & local government musing: On 11 October 2017 Clarence Valley Council has the Church of Jesus Christ Development Fund Inc in Sutherland Local Court No. 6 for a small claims hearing. It would appear that there may be a little issue in rendering unto Caesar. On 19 September 2017 an ordained minister of a religion (which was named by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in relation to 40 instances of historical child sexual abuse on the NSW North Coast) read the Opening Prayer at Council’s ordinary monthly meeting. Earlier in the year an ordained minister (from a church network alleged to have supported an overseas orphanage closed because of child abuse claims in 2013) read the Opening Prayer and an ordained minister (belonging to yet another church network accused of ignoring child sexual abuse in the US and racism in South Africa) read the Opening Prayer at yet another ordinary monthly meeting. Nice one councillors - you are covering yourselves with glory!
An investigative musing: Newcastle Herald, 12 August 2017: The state’s corruption watchdog has been asked to investigate the finances of the Awabakal Aboriginal Local Land Council, less than 12 months after the troubled organisation was placed into administration by the state government. The Newcastle Herald understands accounting firm PKF Lawler made the decision to refer the land council to the Independent Commission Against Corruption after discovering a number of irregularities during an audit of its financial statements. The results of the audit were recently presented to a meeting of Awabakal members. Administrator Terry Lawler did not respond when contacted by the Herald and a PKF Lawler spokesperson said it was unable to comment on the matter. Given the intricate web of company relationships that existed with at least one former board member it is not outside the realms of possibility that, if ICAC accepts this referral, then United Land Councils Limited (registered New Zealand) and United First Peoples Syndications Pty Ltd(registered Australia) might be interviewed. North Coast Voices readers will remember that on 15 August 2015 representatives of these two companied gave evidence before NSW Legislative Council General Purpose Standing Committee No. 6 INQUIRY INTO CROWN LAND. This evidence included advocating for a Yamba mega port.
A Nationals musing: Word around the traps is that NSW Nats MP for Clarence Chris Gulaptis has been talking up the notion of cruise ships visiting the Clarence River estuary. Fair dinkum! That man can be guaranteed to run with any bad idea put to him. I'm sure one or more cruise ships moored in the main navigation channel on a regular basis for one, two or three days is something other regular river users will really welcome. *pause for appreciation of irony* The draft of the smallest of the smaller cruise vessels is 3 metres and it would only stay safely afloat in that channel. Even the Yamba-Iluka ferry has been known to get momentarily stuck in silt/sand from time to time in Yamba Bay and even a very small cruise ship wouldn't be able to safely enter and exit Iluka Bay. You can bet your bottom dollar operators of cruise lines would soon be calling for dredging at the approach to the river mouth - and you know how well that goes down with the local residents.
A local councils musing: Which Northern Rivers council is on a low-key NSW Office of Local Government watch list courtesy of feet dragging by a past general manager?
A serial pest musing: I'm sure the Clarence Valley was thrilled to find that a well-known fantasist is active once again in the wee small hours of the morning treading a well-worn path of accusations involving police, local business owners and others.
An investigative musing: Which NSW North Coast council is batting to have the longest running code of conduct complaint investigation on record?
A fun fact musing: An estimated 24,000 whales migrated along the NSW coastline in 2016 according to the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and the migration period is getting longer.
A which bank? musing: Despite a net profit last year of $9,227 million the Commonwealth Bank still insists on paying below Centrelink deeming rates interest on money held in Pensioner Security Accounts. One local wag says he’s waiting for the first bill from the bank charging him for the privilege of keeping his pension dollars at that bank.
A Daily Examiner musing: Just when you thought this newspaper could sink no lower under News Corp management, it continues to give column space to Andrew Bolt.
A thought to ponder musing: In case of bushfire or flood - do you have an emergency evacuation plan for the family pet?
An adoption musing: Every week on the NSW North Coast a number of cats and dogs find themselves without a home. If you want to do your bit and give one bundle of joy a new family, contact Happy Paws on 0419 404 766 or your local council pound.