A matter of two competing petitions to restore the NORCO milk contract with NSW Health. One an official e-petition guaranteed to be brought to the notice of the NSW Parliament, the other a political vanity petition the parliament may never consider. NSW residents can choose which they might sign

There is an e-petition currently before the NSW Parliament, Reinstate Norco as the Dairy Supplier for NSW North Coast Hospitals, created by Harper Dalton-Earls on 23 August 2024. 

Harper Dalton-Earls is the Labor candidate for Lismore City Council at the 14 September 2024 NSW local government elections.

This e-petition will be closed to signatures on 15 November 2024.

Labor MLA for Lismore Janelle Saffin has been an active supporter of the push to restore the NORCO milk contract and of this e-petition. 

Ms. Saffin also publicly called out the NSW Nationals MLAs Gurmesh Singh (Coffs Harbour), Richie Williamson (Clarence) and Michael Kemp (Oxley).

In an effort to draw oxygen from the e-petition to parliament on 26 August the NSW Nationals  announced their own petition accessed via their own website:

North Coast Nationals MPs have joined forces to launch a community petition calling on the Minns Labor Government to restore Norco Milk to health facilities across the Northern NSW and Mid North Coast Local Health Districts.

The petition was launched by Member for Clarence, Richie Williamson, Member for Coffs Harbour and Deputy Leader, Gurmesh Singh, and Member for Oxley, Michael Kemp at Andrew Wilson’s Lismore dairy farm.

The petition emphasises the significant impact on local farmers and communities and urges the Minns Labor Government to reverse its decision to remove Norco Milk from North Coast health facilities....

BACKGROUND

ECHO, 27 August 2024:

Lismore MP Janelle Saffin has come out swinging at conservative National Party representatives who have chosen not to support restoring local milk producer NORCOs contract to supply North Coast hospitals and health services.

The contract that NORCO held to supply local hospitals with milk was once again cancelled and HealthShare NSW awarded its state-wide milk supply contract to international supplier Dairy Farmers.

Ms Saffin said she is disappointed that three NSW Nationals MPs are not lending their support to a single e-petition to Parliament to restore NORCO’s contract.

‘Constituents have contacted me wondering why my fellow MPs Gurmesh Singh (Coffs Harbour), Richie Williamson (Clarence) and Michael Kemp (Oxley) are not backing in the e-petition launched last Friday,’ she said.

Kevin Hogan.

While Federal Member for Page Kevin Hogan released a statement blaming the NSW Labor government for the decision it was the National Party who first made the decision in to end the contract.

‘When the Nationals were in government and the same thing happened, we all backed in the then local member Thomas George and the Health Services Union ran a big campaign, fully supported by the community and after some time, people power changed the decision of the then bureaucracy,’ explained Ms Saffin.

‘It is people power we need this time as well to support our local NORCO employees and dairy farmer suppliers who are part and parcel of the NORCO dairy co-operative. We need 20,000 signatures to get this issue debated on the floor of Parliament and that is powerful. To have two separate petitions in circulation is already leading to confusion in the community and effectively weakens our chances of getting the required number of signatures.’

NORCO is Australia’s largest and oldest dairy co-operative and supports 190 local farms, buying their milk and creating premium products that are celebrated as ‘Australia’s best tasting milk’ at Dairy Australia’s, Grand Dairy Awards in 2023.

‘We’re talking about Australia’s last 100 per cent farmer owned dairy cooperative that provides an economic lifeline to hundreds of families in a region that has experienced the double whammy of floods and the cost-of-living crisis,’ said HSU (Health Services) secretary Gerard Hayes.

‘This is not the time to cut off a trusted local company with deep roots – We’ve even heard reports of patients refusing to drink the hospital milk unless it’s NORCO, which shows you how deeply the community feels about this!’

Ms Saffin as reiterated that, ‘It was the bureaucracy that made this recent decision to award the tender to a different supplier, but I, on behalf of the community, expect the Minister for Health and Regional Health (Ryan Park) to work out a way to fix it.’

‘That means NORCO getting its contract back as it was to deliver its products into the North Coast Hospitals and Health Services.’

Sign the petition here.

Priority Site 9 land release at Junction Hill in Clarence Valley been given the go ahead under the NSW Government Resilient Homes Program

Junction Hill, Clarence Valley NSW
showing undeveloped elevated land
between Summerland Way & Trenayr Road
IMAGE: Google Earth, July 2024

More homes for the Northern Rivers as another site is released

Published: 29 August 2024

Released by: Minister for Emergency Services, Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Minister for Regional Transport and Roads

As part of the Minns Government’s plan to build disaster-resilient housing in the Northern Rivers, a new agreement to progress the delivery of up to 1,000 homes for families in the Grafton area through one of Australia’s largest flood-resilience programs is now underway.

This is the seventh land release of the $100 million Resilient Lands Program (RLP), which is being delivered alongside the joint State and Commonwealth funded $790 million Resilient Homes Program, providing safer choices for people to live in the Northern Rivers after the 2022 floods.

Junction Hill has been released alongside sites in East Lismore, Goonellabah, North Lismore, Brunswick Heads, Casino and Lennox Heads-Ballina already identified. Combined, the current RLP sites will see potentially more than 4,300 homes delivered across the region.

A Memorandum of Understanding between the NSW Reconstruction Authority (RA), Transport for NSW and the Clarence Valley Council will identify transport infrastructure improvements for the Junction Hill site near Grafton, a vital step to supporting growth and more homes for the region.

The NSW Government also announced the details of the Resilient Lands Strategy which includes additional sites in Murwillumbah, Goonellabah and Kyogle and underpins the NSW Government’s commitment to provide more housing choices by accelerating the supply of land for residents impacted by the 2022 floods in the Northern Rivers.

The Resilient Lands Strategy involved a process of community consultation and expert peer review, which began in late 2022 with more than 300 potential housing sites identified under an EOI process. The Strategy has been designed to complement, not replace, current land releases and other housing developments in the region.

The RA is now working with Councils, landowners, infrastructure providers and a range of delivery partners to accelerate land and housing developments as quickly as possible.

For more information, visit the NSW Reconstruction Authority.

Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said:

“It is critical that communities are assisted in building resilience to natural disasters.

“The release of land at Junction Hill and the release of the Resilient Lands Strategy demonstrates the Minns Government is serious about properly planning for the future.

“In the Northern Rivers, housing stress and homelessness remains high. More than 16,000 households are paying more than 30% of their gross income on housing.

“With this land release up to 4,300 flood resilient home sites are being created and are in the planning pipeline across the Northern Rivers.”

Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib said:

“The Resilient Lands Program will accelerate the delivery of new land and housing to provide locals with more options in safer locations.

“Clarence Valley becomes the fifth council to be announced for assistance under the Resilient Lands Program, while work with other councils will continue.

“We know this requires a team effort, and I am pleased to see the collaboration between government agencies and councils to bring the reality of more housing closer for people in the Northern Rivers.”

Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Jenny Aitchison said:

"The Minns Labor Government is committed to collaborative development through the Resilient Lands Strategy to ensure people in the Northern Rivers have safer homes, that are connected to health services, education, jobs and other opportunities.

"Good transport infrastructure and connectivity is vital for the success of new housing developments, particularly in the regions, and the release of land at Junction Hill will provide that."

Parliamentary Secretary for Disaster Recovery Janelle Saffin said:

“Flood-affected communities across the Northern Rivers region have been keenly interested in safer land and housing options being identified.

“I’m pleased to see the Clarence Valley LGA, which I used to represent as a Federal MP and where I still have strong connections, added to the councils receiving support under the Resilient Lands Program, and there is more to come.”

Member for Clarence, Richie Williamson said:

“This site has been zoned for development for some time. It’s flat, flood free and has services available and is within a few minutes of town, a rarity in the Northern rivers.

“The only thing holding back development is the upgrades needed to transport infrastructure. This is a great initiative of the NSW Government which is working collaboratively with the partners involved.”

 

Video Clip of the Week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04kHa-XOZ3c

Tweet of the Week

Fun Australian fact for you – An episode of the English show Peppa Pig has twice been pulled off air in Australia after being deemed inappropriate for Aussie children. The episode’s main message... "spiders can’t hurt you" pic.twitter.com/6nP0Ji1jVJ

— Adam Sharp (@AdamCSharp) August 23, 2024

On 27 August 2024 the World Meteorological Organisation released its "State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific 2023": in meteorological terms the far northern section and much of eastern Australia along with its islands are situated in the this region

 

In meteorological terms the far northern section and much of eastern Australia along with its islands are situated in the South-West Pacific.

Along with the Maritime Continent (the region between the Indian and Pacific Oceans including the archipelagos of Indonesia, Borneo, New Guinea, the Philippine Islands, the Malay Peninsula, and the surrounding seas), Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Fiji, Tuvalu, Nauru, Samoa, Micronesia, Kiribati and New Zealand.

On 27 August 2024 the World Meteorological Organisation released its "State of the Climate in the South-West Pacific 2023".

By way a brief look at some of the key issues in the report it is worth noting that:

> Atmospheric concentrations of the three major greenhouse gases reached new record observed highs in 2022, the latest year for which consolidated global figures are available. Real-time data from specific locations, including Mauna Loa (Hawaii, United States of America) and Kennaook/Cape Grim (Tasmania, Australia) indicate that levels of CO2 (carbon dioxide), CH4 (methane) and N2O (nitrous oxide) continued to increase in 2023;

> Over the past two decades, the ocean warming rate has increased; the ocean heat content in 2023 was the highest on record;

> Temperatures in 2023 were higher than normal in many areas of the region. The most significant warmth was over an area extending from south-east Australia to east of New Zealand. The most prominent and persistent marine heatwave in 2023 occurred in a large area around New Zealand. This heatwave was categorized as extreme and lasted approximately six months;

> Ocean warming and accelerated loss of ice mass from the ice sheets contributed to the rise of the global mean sea level by 4.77 mm per year between 2014 and 2023, reaching a new record high in 2023.

> In 2023, the sea level continued to rise globally and regionally as shown by high precision satellite altimetry measurements. The average global mean sea level rise (GMSL) was 3.4 mm +/- 0.3 mm/year over the January 1993 to May 2023 period. Sea levels continued to rise at rates higher than the global mean in several parts of the South West Pacific;

Click on image to enlarge

Figure 7 shows the sea-level trend over the January 1993–May 2023 period as measured by satellite altimeters. In the South-West Pacific region, the sea-level rise of the last three decades exceeds the global mean sea-level rise. Altimetry-based sea-level time series from January 1993 to May 2023 have been averaged over two areas within the region (Figure 7, bottom left and bottom right). The mean rate of sea-level rise in both areas is significantly higher than the global mean (4.52 mm +/-0.25 mm/year in area 1 and 4.13 mm +/-0.08 mm/year in area 2). The sea-level time series in area 1 (Figure 7,bottom left) displays strong inter-annual variability, mostly driven by ENSO (see the strong sea-level drops in 1997/1998 and 2015/2016). Sea-level rise is more regular in area 2 except for a steep increase around 1998.

NOTE: Regional sea-level trends are based on gridded C3S altimetry data, averaged from 50 km

offshore to the coast, by the Laboratory of Space Geophysical and Oceanographic Studies (LEGOS);

> The South-West Pacific region is extremely prone to disasters associated with hydrometeorological hazards, especially storms and floods. In 2023, a total of 34 hydrometeorological hazard events were reported in the region according to the International Disaster Database (EM-DAT), of which over 90% were flood and storm events. These reported hydrometeorological hazard events resulted in over 200 fatalities, most of which were associated with floods, storms, and landslides.

Over 25 million people were directly affected by these hazards, and they caused total economic damage of close to US$ 4.4 billion. Floods were the leading cause of death, whereas drought was the natural hazard type that affected the greatest number of people.

Storms were the hazard type that caused the greatest economic damage, followed by floods.

Click on image to enlarge

In March, a landslide triggered by flooding in north-western Indonesia resulted in 54 fatalities, more than 2,800 displaced people and 27 buried houses. This disaster event caused the greatest number of fatalities in the South-West Pacific in 2023, highlighting the importance of understanding the multiple and cascading impacts of natural hazard events;

> Precipitation is a key climate parameter, closely related to indispensable resources for human activities such as water for drinking and domestic purposes, agriculture, and hydropower. It also drives major climatic events such as droughts and floods.

In 2023, the largest precipitation deficits (measured as a percentage of the average) were observed in the Hawaiian Islands and south-western Australia. Other areas with below-average rainfall amounts were New Caledonia, Tuvalu, parts of Fiji, Tonga and the Cook Islands, parts of northern Australia, Tasmania, the southern South Island of New Zealand, some areas in the Greater Sunda Islands (Indonesia) and parts of Luzon (Philippines). Based on time series analyses (not shown), it was unusually dry (below the 10th percentile) in southern Borneo, south-west and East Australia (around Brisbane) and some central Pacific islands.

Above-normal precipitation amounts were recorded around the Solomon Sea, the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa, Niue, the Line Islands, the southern Philippines, northern Borneo, the Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, large parts of New Zealand, and northern Central Australia.

Download full report at:

https://library.wmo.int/records/item/68995-state-of-the-climate-in-south-west-pacific-2023

Between Monday 19 August and Friday 23 August 2024 police across Australia seized illicit drugs with estimated street value of $93 million - $14 million of which was seized in NSW

 

From time to time there are media articles that catch the eye because there is mention of north-east New South Wales and information about drug activity in the region which in 2024 revealed that:

• In March 2024 during a search of a Kingscliff property in northern NSW police and Australian Border Force officers reportedly found and dismantled a large drug lab and seized over 1,000 litres of precursors for MDMA and methamphetamine.

• On Saturday, 20 July, 2024, officers from Tweed/Byron Police District stopped a vehicle in Brunswick Heads for the purpose of a random breath test. He was arrested after police searched the vehicle and allegedly located about 38 grams of MDMA, 91 grams of ketamine, 55 grams of cocaine, five grams of cannabis resin, five grams of LSD, 40 grams of cannabis leaf and 32 prescription pills - as well as a small quantity of cannabis leaf, 113 grams of cocaine, 33 grams of MDMA powder, $13,500 in cash, a sling shot, a number of prescription pills and two mobile telephones at his residence.

• Then on Wednesday, 31 July 2024 police from the Northern Rivers Region Enforcement Squad, assisted by the Tactical Operations Unit, stopped a vehicle at a service station in Chinderah. Three people in the vehicle – a 37-year-old woman, and two men aged 28 and 51 – were arrested at the scene as part of a drug investigation. 

• And again on Thursday, 1 August 2024 six people are behind bars after a major drug bust in the Northern Rivers. Arrests occurred at Chinderah, Tweed and Evans Heads. Three search warrants simultaneously in Evans Head and Tweed Heads uncovering seven pistols, one shotgun, one rifle, nine gel blasters, three electronic stun devices, knuckle dusters, flick knives, batons, handcuffs, cocaine, more than a litre of GBL, steroids, almost 1.5kg of methamphetamine, fireworks, and almost $40,000 in cash.

It seems that some areas of the Northern Rivers region are definitely part of a much wider problem which again came to public notice with this report.

NSW Police News, 27 August 2024:

Officers from across the NSW Police Force have seized over $14 million worth of prohibited drugs across the state, disrupting significant sources of large-scale drug supply and organised crime activity as part of Operation Vitreus national week of action.

Operation Vitreus is a joint initiative between all Australian state and territory police agencies, the Australian Federal Police, Australian Border Force, AUSTRAC, Department of Home Affairs, the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission and New Zealand Police, which ran between Monday 19 August 2024 and Friday 23 August 2024.

During the operation, 1611 people were arrested, resulting in 2962 charges and the seizure of over 7kg of heroine, 107kg of methylamphetamine, 42kg of cocaine, 12kg of MDMA, 2.5kg of ketamine, 2512 cannabis plants and 247kg of cannabis, as well as 71 firearms and over $2.2 million in cash.

The estimated combined street value of all drugs seized during the operation is $93 million. [my yellow highlighting]

The NSW Police operation – led by State Crime Command’s Organised Crime Squad – saw over 311 arrests, resulting in 456 charges, and the seizure of over 1.4kg of heroine, 18.6kg of methylamphetamine, 3.6kg of cocaine, 287g of MDMA, 132 Cannabis plants and 4.8kg of cannabis and 23 firearms.

The estimated combined street value of all drugs seized in NSW is over $14 million....... [my yellow highlighting]

Police would also like to remind the public about the health issues of these drugs targeted during Operation Vitreus.

General health risks/harms associated with illicit drugs

Illicit drug use carries inherent risks and taking even a known substance can result in unintended harm.

The consumption of alcohol and other drugs is a major cause of preventable disease and illness in Australia.

The harms from drug use impact – directly and indirectly – on all Australian communities, families and individuals. Impacts range across the spectrum of health, social and economic harms. Health harms include injuries, chronic conditions and diseases, mental health problems, road trauma, and overdose.

Methamphetamine

The health harms associated with the use of methamphetamine and other stimulants include mental illness, cognitive impairment, cardiovascular problems and overdose.

People who inject methamphetamine and share needles are at increased risk of contracting hepatitis C, hepatitis B, HIV/AIDS as well as infection and vein damage.

Methamphetamine production often relies on unknown and/or harmful ingredients. This can further increase the health risks associated with consumption.

GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate)

Consumption of GHB can cause drowsiness, vomiting, mood swings and dependence. GHB use carries a high risk of unconsciousness, respiratory collapse and overdose because there is very little difference between the amount that it is typically consumed and the amount that will cause overdose.

The risk of GHB overdose increases when its use is combined with other drugs such as alcohol, benzodiazepines and opioids.

Synthetic opioids including fentanyl and nitazenes

The negative health consequences of opioids, including synthetic opioids includes dependence, infectious disease transmission (primarily through risky injecting practice) and death from overdose.

Synthetic opioids can be extremely potent which increases the risk of health harms including overdose.

People who use other drugs such as heroin and cocaine may inadvertently consume synthetic opioids such as fentanyl and nitazenes when it is used as an adulterant. Synthetic opioids have also be found in counterfeit pharmaceutical drugs. Inherently this kind of exposure increases the risk of overdose.

The Take Home Naloxone (THN) Program makes naloxone, a medicine that temporarily reverse the effects of opioids (including synthetic opioids), available for free, without the need for a prescription, to people who may experience, or witness an opioid overdose. Further details at: https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/take-home-naloxone-program

Alcohol and drug treatment hotline

The National Alcohol and Other Drug hotline provides free and confidential advice about alcohol and other drugs treatment services on 1800 250 015. Further information on treatment and supports is available from: https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/drug-help/how-to-find-help

Overdose

> Drugs are unpredictable and they can affect people in different ways.

> Call 000 for an ambulance immediately if there is even the slightest risk that someone is having an unusual reaction to a drug.

> Emergency services will only notify police if there is a risk to their own personal safety or if someone dies.

Same masthead, two different perspectives - but what they both agree on is that Coles & Woolworths are garnering billions in profit from their metropolitan & regional supermarkets

Same masthead, two different perspectives - but what both agree on is that Coles Group Ltd & Woolworths Group Ltd are garnering billions in profit.

The Guardian, 27 August 2024:

Politicians will declare war on ‘cost of living’ and pundits will argue about inflation. The real point is the profits come at workers’ expenses

The latest massive $1.1bn profit reported by Coles will doubtless produce a new round of hand-wringing about the “cost of living”. Governments will produce initiatives aimed at capping or reducing prices. Pundits will use a variety of measures to argue as to whether such measures are inflationary. Then there will be debates about whether splitting up Coles and Woolworths into smaller chains would enhance competition. And the Reserve Bank will be encouraged to pusheven harder to return inflation to its target range.

But these responses, focused on the cost of goods, miss the point. Coles and Woolworths have increased their margins, yes – but prices for groceries have increased broadly in line with other goods. The real driver of supermarket profits is their ability to drive down the prices they pay to suppliers.

But the input that matters here is labour and it is here that the supermarkets are making big gains at the expense of their workers. Across the board, wages have failed to keep pace with prices over the last five years or more.

At least for the supermarkets, this won’t change any time soon......

TheGuardian, 27 August 2024:

Greens accuse company of price-gouging, as supermarket attributes sales boost to seasonal campaigns and rising digital revenue

Coles has posted a surge in revenue from its groceries business and expanded supermarket profit margins to the highest level recorded in the pandemic era, even as shoppers grapple with fast-rising household costs.

The revenue bump underpinned a robust rise in annual profit to $1.1bn. It threatens to draw Australia’s second largest chain back into the public limelight as cost-of-livingpressures become a central political issue for the next federal election.

Coles chief executive, Leah Weckert, said on Tuesday the supermarkets business was enjoying strong momentum, driven by “a lot of Australians choosing to eat out less and eating at home more”.....

Coles $1.1 billion annual profit came off the back of a $10.5 billion gross profit for the 2023-24 financial year.

Woolworths is set to announce its annual financial results today, Wednesday 28 August. Last year at 30 June 2023 it recorded a gross profit of $17.1 billion and a net profit of $1.7 billion.

What I am sure the majority of ordinary households in both metropolitan and rural & regional areas of the country will agree upon, is that putting food on the table, toiletries in the bathroom, detergent in the kitchen & laundry or petrol in the car is an unenviable task these days.