Tuesday 17 May 2022

The Perrottet Coalition Government just won't give up on a bad tourism idea for the Clarence River estuary


North Coast Voices readers may recall that in March 2017 Lower Clarence River communities became aware that Liberal MLA for Willoughby and NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and members of her Cabinet were considering expanding the uses that the Clarence River estuary and the Port of Yamba could be put to.


By November of that year it had firmed into future plans for Yamba to become a cruise ship port and destination with a waterborne trojan horse to be delivered into the estuary in October 2018.


The Yamba and Iluka communities were not amused by both the NSW Government's plans and its lack of consultation.


These communities got loud. The Berejiklian Government went quiet and the named international cruise ship company decided to bypass the Port of Yamba. 


There appeared to have been no specific development activities in 2019 or in 2020 when the global pandemic reached Australia.


However, this was, and under Liberal MP for Epping NSW Premier Dominic Perrott still is, a government which doesn't like taking a decided "No" for an answer.


So this is still appearing on a current tourism website set up under the auspices of the NSW Government.









Note: All webpage snapshots were taken on 16 May 2022 at

https://www.visitnsw.com/travel-information/cruise/yamba


Monday 16 May 2022

Nightcap Oak (Eidothea hardeniana): seeds of hope being planted in the Nightcap & Jerusalem districts

 

 


BACKGROUND



ABC News, 15 June 2020:

A stand of Gondwana-era trees ravaged by bushfire last year is showing what it takes to be one of nature's great survivors.

The critically endangered nightcap oak has survived in the rainforests of northern New South Wales since the Eocene epoch, about 40 million years ago. The species Eidothea hardeniana first emerged when Australia and Antarctica were a single land mass and it has thrived through climatic extremes and across the aeons as its habitat drifted slowly northwards. But late last year its damp forest home experienced something new. After a prolonged period without rain, lightning strikes set fire to the rainforest around Mount Nardi in the Nightcap National Park, eventually burning a total of more than 6,000 hectares.....

There are only 125 fully grown nightcap oaks, all located in a small area of rainforest in northern New South Wales......

Official numbers from the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service record less than a fifth of the total population was killed by the bushfire.....

Dr Kooyman said despite the positive signs, only time would tell whether Eidothea hardeniana's initial response to fire would result in its long-term future survival. 

He said a drying landscape and increased risks of fire were now the biggest threats to the trees.....

Scott Morrison's personal war on the poor and vulnerable continues unabated, using all available tools including attacks on the status of charities

 

The Coalition Government’s war on charities began in 2017 when Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison was Treasurer and hiding behind his Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar began to introduce certain amendments to the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 and regulations.


This war continued under Scott Morrison as Australian Prime Minister, with the passing of Electoral Legislation Amendment (Political Campaigners) Bill 2021 which appears intended to apply a 'chilling effect' on advocacy by registered charities as "significant third parties" and is incorporated in the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 where advocacy by charities apparently falls under provisions 4AA  Meaning of electoral matter.


Also in 2021, again through Michael Sukkar, Morrison introduced the Australian Charities and Not‑for‑profits Commission Amendment (2021 Measures No. 3) Regulations 2021 in order to alter certain governance standards relating to charities' engagement in or promotion of what Morrison & Co characterised as "unlawful activities". This move was unsuccessful when the Senate baulked.


However, it appears that Morrison found a 'workaround'. He uses the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission as his arm's length bully boy.


The Saturday Paper, 14 May 2022:


On March 11 [2022], an email landed in the inbox of Carolyn Frohmader, the longstanding chief executive of Women with Disabilities Australia. The email was from the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC). It indicated the commission was conducting a “review” of charities that were registered to receive tax-deductible donations.


The commission demanded extensive information from the charity to determine whether it “meets the requirements” to be listed as a public benevolent institution, a particular subtype of charity whose main purpose is to relieve poverty, sickness, suffering or disability. The commission warned that “an organisation that provides awareness raising, research and advocacy services to the whole or part of the community may not meet the requirements for a PBI as these types of activities may not be considered to be the provision of relief”.


The email contained an interesting take on the law that applies to a public benevolent institution’s ability to conduct advocacy, recently clarified in a ruling by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. The statement from the regulator was at best misleading and at worst wrong.


More worryingly, the email gave the charity 14 days to meet the commission’s demands, stating that failing to do so “may have consequences for your charity’s registration and its eligibility for tax concessions” and “we can also issue penalties for failing to comply with obligations”.


Frohmader didn’t know it at the time but her organisation had been caught up in the Morrison government’s war on charities – a war designed to intimidate them into silence by prosecuting the incorrect claim that certain charities in receipt of tax-deductible donations cannot engage in “advocacy”.


Advocacy is the heartbeat of change for the better in our world. The idea that we would silence voices because they are connected to a charity is incredibly destructive, not only for our democracy, but for the country.”


The latest front in this war has been a series of reviews carried out into the operation of individual charities, requesting large amounts of compliance material with extremely short time frames for response. These reviews are arbitrary and are not based on any suspicion of a violation. Some argue their purpose is to discourage charities from even considering advocacy, for fear of being tied up in an audit…..


Most recently, in 2021, the Morrison government introduced new regulations that would have given the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission sweeping powers to deregister charities for speaking out on behalf of the communities they serve. This was despite unanimous opposition from the charity sector and a confirmation from the charities commissioner himself, Dr Johns, that the laws addressed an issue that did not exist. A report in Pro Bono Australia noted that, “amid the Morrison government’s push to crackdown on the issue of ‘activist’ charities, the charities commissioner says current data does not suggest this is a problem”.


It was an attack on civil society, free speech and our democracy. And charities fought back,” says Ray Yoshida, co-ordinator of the Hands Off Our Charities alliance. “The alliance co-ordinated a multifaceted response that put a spotlight on the issue in the media and galvanised charities and their supporters to call on federal politicians on all sides to oppose the regulations.”


On November 25 the senate voted 24-19 in favour of independent Senator Rex Patrick’s disallowance motion, meaning that the regulations would never come into effect. But that hasn’t stopped the commission from pursuing the same objectives through more surreptitious means.


Speaking on background because they are not authorised to discuss individual cases, charity lawyers tell The Saturday Paper that Women with Disabilities Australia is not alone. They are assisting numerous organisations that have received similar “belligerent” and “over-reaching” letters.


They argue the regulator is not acting according to its own principles and is not following a hierarchy of enforcement actions. It is possible the commission is running against the principles of the 2013 Charities Act, which calls for “regulatory necessity”, “reflecting risk” and “proportionate regulation”.


Lawyers in the sector have told The Saturday Paper that many charities have simply complied with the letters, fearing repercussions from the regulator if they speak out or rock the boat. This week, however, Women with Disabilities Australia filed a formal complaint with the commission about its treatment.


One eminent charity law expert told The Saturday Paper the fact that the commission accepted $1 million a year from the Morrison government to undertake these reviews as part of the government’s “reform” program could be seen to put the regulator’s independence at risk as it suggests the government is “directing” its activities.


Krystian Seibert, one of the architects of the commission’s regulatory framework and a charities regulation expert at Swinburne University, says the correspondence he’s seen makes him “very concerned” about what the commission is doing. “It’s inconsistent with the intent of the ACNC legislation and the objects of the ACNC Act.”


Seibert says the commission was never intended to be an “overbearing regulator” and the objects in the act were specifically drafted to make this clear. In these cases, that appears not to have been followed. “There are no allegations of misconduct, however the charity is having demands put to it to provide very detailed breakdowns of spending on its activities in very short time frames, the bare minimum amount of time required under legislation.”


I can certainly understand how this would be intimidating,” Seibert adds. “There’s real potential for such a compliance approach to have a ‘chilling effect’ on advocacy, with charities being less willing to undertake legitimate advocacy activities for fear of being reviewed in such a manner.”…..


Read the full article at: https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2022/05/14/new-front-coalition-war-charities/


Sunday 15 May 2022

Sydney-based Dunghutti artist Blak Douglas wins 2022 Archibald Prize with portrait of Wiradjuri artist Karla Dickens standing "knee-deep in floodwater in her hometown of Lismore flanked by foreboding rain clouds, one for each day the rain fell and drowned the Northern Rivers"


The Sydney Morning Herald, 13 May 2022:


Sydney-based Dunghutti artist Blak Douglas painted 14 dark, flat-bottomed clouds hovering around the fierce face of Karla Dickens for this year’s Archibald Prize-winning portrait. A signature element of his art, he normally draws his clouds “white and fluffy, just like our governments”.


But for Moby Dickens, Dickens is portrayed knee-deep in floodwater in her hometown of Lismore flanked by foreboding rain clouds, one for each day the rain fell and drowned the Northern Rivers.


Archibald Prize 2022 winner, Blak Douglas ‘Moby Dickens’.
CREDIT: BLAK DOUGLAS


In its 101 years, the Archibald Prize has regularly managed to capture the zeitgeist but with Moby Dickens Douglas has painted one of the most politically charged portraits in recent memory. Highly recommended was Jude Rae for her portrait of scientist, engineer and inventor Dr Saul Griffith who argues rapid electrification is Australia’s path to net-zero.


In the midst of an election campaign, both paintings carry powerful messages to politicians to act on climate change. More explicitly, Douglas says his portrait of his dear friend stands as a call to vote out the Morrison government.


This painting stands to represent the irony that under the Coalition government the arts is continually kicked in the guts,” Douglas told this masthead. “Here we’ve got the winner of the greatest prize on the continent, which gets all the adulation and media attention, speaking about the importance of global warming and climate change – to a government that consistently kicked us in the guts by sapping arts funding to pump it back to opening new coalmines. This painting is extremely significant in that sense.”…..


Saturday 14 May 2022

Tweet of the Week


 


 

Cartoons of the Week


Cathy Wilcox


John Shakespeare


Peter Broelman





Thursday 12 May 2022

Eight days out from the 21 May 2022 federal general election and much of the NSW Northern Rivers region is on flood watch again


Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM):

Flood Watch for the Northern Rivers and Central West

Issued at 12:21 pm EST on Thursday 12 May 2022


Flood Watch Number: 3


MINOR FLOODING POSSIBLE IN THE NORTHERN RIVERS AND CENTRAL WEST FROM THURSDAY


A trough over western inland New South Wales will generate further moderate to heavy rain in many areas of the Central West on Thursday. This may cause minor flooding along the Castlereagh, Macquarie and Bell Rivers from Thursday night.


* Reissue to include Castlereagh *


River level rises have been observed from recent moderate rainfall in the Northern Rivers. Further moderate showers expected on Thursday may see river levels rise to minor flood levels.


Renewed minor flooding is also possible along the Bogan River where a flood warning is current.


The Bureau is continuing to monitor the situation and will issue further catchment specific warnings if and when required.


Catchment soil moisture is average.


The weather system is expected to cause flooding for the catchments listed. Flood Classes (minor, moderate, major) are only defined for catchments where the Bureau provides a flood warning service.


Catchments likely to be affected include:


Tweed and Rouse Rivers - minor flooding 

Brunswick River and Marshalls Creek - minor flooding

Wilsons River - minor flooding

Richmond River - minor flooding

Castlereagh River - minor flooding

Orange, Molong and Bell River - minor flooding

Turon and Macquarie Rivers to Burrendong Dam - minor flooding

Macquarie River d/s Burrendong Dam - minor flooding


Flood warnings are current for the Culgoa, Bokhara, Bogan, Paroo and Warrego Rivers.


For the latest flood and weather warnings see www.bom.gov.au/nsw/warnings/


For the latest rainfall and weather forecasts see www.bom.gov.au/australia/meteye/


For the latest rainfall and river level information see www.bom.gov.au/nsw/flood

 [my yellow highlighting]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


There is a chance of above median rainfall across much of the continent from 14 May 2022 to September 2022.


According to BOM long range forecasting there is also a 50-60% chance of the Page and Richmond electorates in the Northern Rivers region being “unusually wet” between 14 to 27 May 2022.


Stream Flow Forecast


Click on image to enlarge
















Climate outlook overview

Issued: 5 May 2022


Winter (June to August) rainfall is likely to be above median for most of Australia, except south-western Australia, the south-east coast, and southern Tasmania which have roughly equal chances of being above or below median.

June to August maximum temperatures are likely to be above median for northern, south-western, and south-eastern parts of Australia, but below median for broad areas of inland southern and central Australia.

Minimum temperatures for June to August are very likely to be warmer than median across almost all of Australia.

The weakening La Niña, the chance of a negative Indian Ocean Dipole, and other localised drivers are likely to be influencing this outlook.


Latest Climate Driver Update, 10 May 2022:


La Niña maintains strength


The 2021–22 La Niña event continues in the tropical Pacific, with little change in strength in the past few weeks.


Several indicators of La Niña, including tropical Pacific sea surface temperatures, cloudiness near the Date Line, and the Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), have maintained or slightly increased their strength over the past fortnight. However, beneath the surface of the tropical Pacific, waters have warmed closer to neutral El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) levels.


Most climate models surveyed by the Bureau indicate a return to neutral ENSO by the early southern hemisphere winter. Only one of seven models continues La Niña conditions through the southern winter. La Niña conditions increase the chances of above average rainfall for much of eastern Australia, while neutral ENSO has little influence on rainfall patterns.


The Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) is neutral. All climate model outlooks surveyed suggest a negative IOD may develop in the coming months. While model outlooks have low accuracy at this time of year and hence some caution should be taken with IOD outlooks beyond May, there is strong forecast consistency across international models. A negative IOD increases the chances of above average winter–spring rainfall for much of Australia. It also increases the chances of warmer days and nights for northern Australia.


The Southern Annular Mode (SAM) index is currently positive and is forecast to remain positive for the coming four weeks. During autumn SAM typically has a weaker influence on Australian rainfall, but as we approach winter, positive SAM often has a drying influence for parts of south-west and south-east Australia.


The Madden–Julian Oscillation (MJO) has recently strengthened in the western Indian Ocean. Most climate models indicate the MJO will briefly weaken, and then re-strengthen again later this week in the Maritime Continent or western Pacific region. Should the MJO re-strength in the Maritime Continent region, it can enhance rainfall in north-eastern Australia. It also typically increases cloudiness to Australia's north.


Climate change continues to influence Australian and global climate. Australia's climate has warmed by around 1.47 °C for the 1910–2020 period. Southern Australia has seen a reduction of 10–20% in cool season (April–October) rainfall in recent decades. There has also been a trend towards a greater proportion of rainfall from high intensity short duration rainfall events, especially across northern Australia. [my yellow highlighting]