The green comet greeting the red planet last night pic.twitter.com/OpmEbopWIo
— Bray Falls (@astrofalls) February 11, 2023
"The Green Comet C/2022 E3 ZTF encountered Mars, the Red Planet on the evening of 2/10/2023. A view that will never be seen again!" Astrophysics Consulting
NSW Premier & Liberal MP for Epping Dominic Francis Perrottet has found that February 2023 is not a kind month for election campaigning.
First, the questions concerning the yet to be revealed NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) report into the actions of the then NSW Premier & Liberal MLA for Willoughby, Gladys Berejiklian, will not go away on social media.
Then he was forced to refer an Audit Office of New South Wales report on the misapplication of 2019 bushfire funding grants by the office of former Deputy Premier & Nationals MLA for Monaro John Barilaro to ICAC for its consideration.
That was quickly followed by news that five prominent member of the NSW Liberal Party, including two of his brothers, were evading notification of their required attendance at a NSW Legislative Council Inquiry into Allegations of impropriety against agents of the Hills Shire Council and property developers in the region. Forcing the Legislative Council Portfolio Committee No. 7 – Planning and Environment to employ process servers to delivers the five summons.
And now this…...
The premier has condemned the actions of one of his MPs who's circulated pornographic images of women in parliament. Upper house Liberal @PeterPoulosMLC has admitted to spreading naked photos of the MP as part of a political 'get square'. https://t.co/OF81oZXOfr #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/2XWldYBzxv
— 7NEWS Sydney (@7NewsSydney) February 14, 2023
Current Parliamentary Secretary for Wollongong and the Illawarra & Liberal MLC Peter Poulos is an unelected member of NSW Upper House, having been parachuted in as replacement after John Ajaka resigned in 2021. Poulos' term of service expires during the 57th Parliament on 3 March 2023. Given the nature of his admitted wrongdoing Premier Dominic Perrottet needs to kick him out of the Liberal Party right now. Matt Kean and others need to insist that this happens.
Sandwiched in between these glaring political sins, there was also a report by The Australia Institute, which in some detail pointed out that in the Baird-Berejiklian-Perrottet years of back-to-back Coalition governments, the only people who had a fair chance of a long average life expectancy in New South Wales were those living in the Greater Sydney metropolitan area. The rest of us running the risk of having on average between 2.2 and 5.4 years less in our lifespans – depending on exactly where in remote and regional NSW we live.
BACKGROUND
ABC News:
Wednesday, 11 January 2023
Release of ICAC report on Daryl Maguire, Gladys Berejiklian delayed
Why is it taking so many years for NSW ICAC to release its findings on Gladys & her former boyfriend Darryl when the #RobodebtRC has confirmed it should have its findings ready, for obviously a much bigger scandal, only approx. 1 month after hearings end? 🤔
— stranger (@strangerous10) February 10, 2023
North Coast Voices:
Tuesday, 14 February 2023
Wednesday, 15 February 2023
Thursday, 16 February 2023
PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE NO. 7 – PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT
KEY WITNESSES FAILING TO CO-OPERATE WITH
PARLIAMENTARY INQUIRY INTO THE HILLS SHIRE COUNCIL AND PROPERTY DEVELOPERS IN THE REGION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
14 FEBRUARY 2023
The Upper House Portfolio Committee No. 7 – Planning and Environment has continued to face difficulties in summonsing witnesses to appear before it in its inquiry into allegations of impropriety against agents of the Hills Shire Council and property developers in the region.
Ms Sue Higginson MLC, Chair of the committee, said: "The committee invited Councillor Virginia Ellis, Mr Christian Ellis, and Mr Jean-Claude Perrottet to give evidence at a public hearing. When none responded, we resolved to take the significant step of summonsing these individuals. Parliamentary staff have since made multiple attempts to personally serve the summons on these individuals but have been unsuccessful. As none of these witnesses has come forward, I can only reach the conclusion that they are making a deliberate decision to avoid appearing before the committee".
The committee has also issued a summons for Mr Charles Perrottet to attend but understands he may not be in New South Wales at this time.
Ms Higginson continued: "The committee is extremely disappointed in the actions of these individuals in failing to come forward and co-operate. Committee inquiries are an essential part of the Legislative Council's role as a House of scrutiny and review. The failure to cooperate with this committee demonstrates a blatant disregard of Parliamentary process. Noting that we will now step up our efforts to secure the attendance of these individuals at a public hearing, including by engaging professional process servers to serve the summonses, we again call on each one of them to do the right thing and come forward".
Two public hearings will be held on Wednesday and Thursday this week in the Dixson Room, State Library of New South Wales, which will also be livestreamed on the Parliament's website. At this stage, the committee will be taking evidence from the General Manager of The Hills Shire Council and Dr Michelle Byrne, Former Mayor.
Further information about the inquiry, including the terms of reference can be found on the committee's webpage.
-ENDS
BACKGROUND
North Coast Voices, Tuesday, 14 February 2023,
The Australia Institute, media release, 14 February 2023:
New analysis reveals residents born in Far West NSW are suffering substantially worse health outcomes than residents in Sydney.
People in Far West NSW are dying earlier than they should, from avoidable causes, and while suicide rates have steadied in Sydney, they are on the rise in the most remote parts of the state.
The report warns of serious and growing inequality in health outcomes between city and country residents and recommends immediate investment in the sector.
Key points:
Life expectancy: People born in the Far West have a life expectancy 5.7 years less than those in Sydney, with the divide worsening
Premature death: Residents in Far Western NSW are 2x more likely to die prematurely than those in Sydney
Avoidable death: ‘Potentially avoidable deaths’ are 2.5x more likely in the Far West than in Sydney
Suicide: Residents in the NSW Far West are 2x as likely to commit suicide than those in Sydney, with a clear upwards trend in suicide rates
“Far West NSW is in serious need of medical attention. Where you live shouldn’t dictate how long you’ll live, but unfortunately in NSW it does” said Kate McBride, Researcher at The Australia Institute.
“Those in the Far West have significantly poorer health outcomes, inferior access to health services and face substantial financial challenges to access services.
“Life expectancy, premature deaths, and ‘potentially avoidable’ deaths are key statistical indicators of whether our health system is working. It is clear from the analysis in this report, sirens should be sounding from the Far West of the state.
“There’s a compelling case for significant investment across the continuum of care, from disease prevention to rehabilitation and ongoing care, in regional NSW.
“The first release in a series, this report reflects a wider national trend: That the health system is failing those living in regional and remote Australia” said Kate McBride.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RELATED RESEARCH
Kate McBride, The Unlucky Country: Life expectancy and health in regional and remote Australia. Part 1: NSW, February 2023.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpts from the McBride report:
“Australia has the world’s third highest life expectancy at 84.3 years. However, this national average masks the fact that the ‘lucky country’ has some rather less lucky residents. In every state and territory, those in regional and remote areas have life expectancies several years lower than in the city.
New South Wales (NSW) is a stark example of this divide. Life expectancy in Far West NSW is 79.1 years compared to 84.5 years in Sydney. This more than five-year gap has grown from relative parity at the turn of the millennium to the current gap. Today, a person in far west NSW is more than twice as likely to die prematurely (under 75) than someone in Sydney.
While there are many possible reasons for this discrepancy, overall, people die of the same causes in urban and remote parts of NSW; a comparison of the top causes of death in each area reveals that the top 10 are almost identical. However, regional and remote people are dying younger and from preventable causes at much higher rates than those in Sydney. Deaths considered ‘potentially avoidable’ are more than two and a half times as common in the far west than in the state’s capital.
It has been known for years that there is a suicide issue in regional Australia. Suicide rates in far west NSW—already more than twice as high than those in Sydney—are continuing to rise, while those in urban areas remain steady. But while suicide is a significant problem, it is only the tenth leading cause of death in the region. Suicide tends to take people at a younger age than other causes and as a result can disproportionally skew life expectancy, having said this there are other factors likely at play.
In 2022, a NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into health outcomes and access to services in rural, regional, and remote NSW found that people outside urban areas had significantly poorer health outcomes, inferior access to health services, and faced substantial financial challenges to access services.
This divide between life expectancy in the cities and in the country is a problem that extends beyond far western NSW. The city/country divide exists across Australia, and it is growing. Inequity between Australians living in capitals and remote areas is a significant problem that demands government intervention, particularly concerning overwhelmed and under resourced health systems.”
NOTE: I draw to the attention of "North Coast Voices" readers, living in what is the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Coffs Harbour-Grafton Level 4 Statistical Area, the fact that the combined populations of Clarence Valley and Coffs Harbour City have a projected life expectancy at birth which is 3.9 years lower than that of the population of the Greater Sydney metropolitan area. Only the projected life expectancy at birth for the Far West and Orana region has a worse comparative figure.
The only differences are dehydration and suicide (more below) in the Far West being replaced by heart failure and breast cancer in Greater Sydney. The similarity in causes of death suggests that the factors driving lower life expectancy in the far west are not due to different physical conditions or different lifestyles, but to how causes of death are prevented and managed. [my yellow highlighting]
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Sadly, what the preceding paragraph is politely hinting at is that there is a culture within governments which tolerates and, perhaps even relies upon, inequality of access to health care along with an acceptance of delivery of poorer quality health care to those living in remote areas of New South Wales, as one of the tools which allows the provision of a much higher quality of health care to those living in metropolitan centres and inner regional areas on the fringes of major cities.
That is where the bulk of the state's electorates and voter numbers are concentrated and, it will come as no surprise that ahead of the March 2023 state election little electoral growth was expected in the western half of New South Wales [Report of the Electoral Districts Redistribution Panel on the draft determination of the names and boundaries of electoral districts of New South Wales, 9 Nov 2020].
Perrottet's first problem of the month....
Audit Office of New South Wales, Bushfire recovery grants: Environment Industry Compliance Internal controls and governance Management and administration Service delivery, 2 February 2023, excerpts from report highlights.
What the report is about
The Bushfire Local Economic Recovery (BLER) program was created after the 2019–20 bushfires, and commits $541.8 million to bushfire affected areas in New South Wales. It is co-funded by the Commonwealth and NSW governments.
This audit assessed how effectively the Department of Regional NSW (the department) and Resilience NSW administered rounds one and two of the BLER program….
What we found
The Department of Regional NSW did not effectively administer the Fast-Tracked stream of the BLER.
The administration process lacked integrity, given it did not have sufficiently detailed guidelines and the assessment process for projects lacked transparency and consistency.
At the request of the Deputy Premier's office, a $1 million threshold was applied, below which projects were not approved for funding….
This threshold resulted in a number of shortlisted projects in areas highly impacted by the bushfires being excluded, including all shortlisted projects located in Labor Party-held electorates….. [my yellow highlighting]
The Sydney Morning Herald, 3 February 2023:
The Perrottet government has handed the corruption watchdog a copy of a scathing investigation which found an intervention by the office of the then-deputy premier John Barilaro diverted funding for a $100 million bushfire recovery program away from Labor-held electorates.
The Department of Premier and Cabinet provided the report exposing serious transparency failures to the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) on Friday morning, sidestepping NSW Labor leader Chris Minns who had earlier threatened to do the same.
A damning report by the auditor-general released on Thursday revealed that instead of following guidelines, the office of the then-NSW Nationals leader devised their own rules to fast-track money to areas hit by the 2019 Black Summer catastrophe – a switch that meant 96 per cent of projects funded were in Coalition-held seats.
Minns issued the former deputy premier a 24-hour ultimatum to explain the reasons behind the 2021 decision or have the matter referred to ICAC by Labor. The Labor leader’s office was drafting a letter to the ICAC on Friday afternoon…..
Perrottet's latest political headache....
 |
| IMAGE: ABC News, 11 February 2023 |
Jean-Claude Perrottet and Charles Perrottet (pictured) were called to appear before NSW Legislative Council Portfolio Committee No. 7 – Planning and Environment inquiry into "Allegations of impropriety against agents of the Hills Shire Council and property developers in the region".
Allegations of impropriety centre around a June 2022 statement made under parliamentary privilege by another Liberal MLA, Ray Williams, that senior members of the party & state executive received payment from a property developer to facilitate the selection of Liberal candidates at the December 2022 local government election who if elected would hold a favourable view of his development applications.
However, along with senior office holder in NSW Liberal Party and lobbyist Christian Ellis, Councillor Virginia Ellis (Lib) and property developer Jean Nassif, the Perrottet brothers (both NSW Liberal Party members) have failed to indicate attendance at the inquiry or acknowledge official summons.
While former The Hills Shire councillor Alan Haselden (Lib) appears to have walked back his previously expressed concerns.
Chair of Portfolio Committee No. 7 stated in an official 11 February media release: "This appears to be a calculated and coordinated attempt to avoid scrutiny by the NSW Parliament. The committee is extremely concerned by this behaviour and calls on these individuals to cooperate with the inquiry."
As the Inquiry is due to report to the NSW Parliament no later than 2 March 2023, just 23 days before the state election, in my opinion there is a strong suspicion that any failure of these persons to give evidence would possibly be part of a deliberate effort to forestall that report to Parliament.
Not a good look for the Premier.
An update on the NSW COVID-19 death toll…...
Deaths due to COVID-19 reported in Northern NSW in 2023
1-7 January — 0 deaths
8-14 January — 4 deaths
15-21 January — 8 deaths
22-28 January — 2 deaths
29 January-4 February — 4 deaths
That is a total of 18 Northern Rivers residents who were officially reported as dying from COVID-19 over the space of 35 days.
Total deaths due to COVID-19 across NSW
1-7 January — 92 deaths (91 of these deaths were people 50 years of age & older, with 36 being aged care residents)
8-14 January — 123 deaths (123 of these deaths were people 50 years of age & older, with 60 being aged care residents)
15-21 January — 124 deaths (123 of these deaths were people 50 years of age & older, with 64 being aged care residents)
22-28 January — 86 deaths (86 of these deaths were people 50 years of age & older, with 47 being aged care residents)
29 January-4 February — 90 deaths (88 of these deaths were people 50 years of age & older, with 40 being aged care residents)
A total of 515 NSW residents were officially reported as dying from COVID-19 over a 35 day time period.
Next COVID-19 update containing information on local health district deaths not due until 16 February 2023.
All surveillance reports can be found at:
https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/covid-19/Pages/weekly-reports.aspx
BACKGROUND
2023 COVID-19 NSW STATE OF PLAY 2023: Counting Dead People - Part 1, 22 January 2023
YambaCAN is hosting a meeting for all members and Yamba residents to attend.
When: Tuesday, 21 February 2023
Time: 6.30pm
Where: Wooli Street Hall, Yamba
Yamba CAN will be providing an outline of achievements since its inception on 28 September 2022.
Those attending will be able to voice their suggestions about what they would like Yamba CAN to focus on.
A short video will also be provided with updates on a number of matters.
