The 12-person parliamentary joint committee charged with oversight of Australia's National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) will hold its first public hearing on Friday 22 November 2024

 

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Anti-Corruption Commission was appointed by resolutions of the House of Representatives on 8 February 2023 and of the Senate on 9 February 2023.

The Resolution of appointment can be found at:

https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/National_Anti-Corruption_Commission/Powers_and_proceedings

The committee is responsible for:

considering the appointments of the proposed Commissioners, Deputy Commissioners and Inspectors nominated by the Minister;

overseeing the Commissioner, the operation of the National Anti-Corruption Commission and the Inspector to ensure they are accountable to Parliament; and 

reviewing the budget and finances of the National Anti-Corruption Commission. To support its oversight role, the committee's functions include reviewing, examining and inquiring into the performance of the functions of the Commissioner and Inspector.

Membership of this joint committee comprises 12 members of the Australian Parliament:

CHAIR

Senator Karen Grogan, Australian Labor Party, SA, appointed 2021

DEPUTY CHAIR

Dr Helen Haines MP, Independent, Indi VIC, first elected 2019

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Senator Slade Brockman, Liberal Party of Australia, WA, appointed 2017
Mr Josh Burns MP, Australian Labor Party, Macnamara VIC, first elected 2022

Senator Varun Ghosh, Australian Labor Party, WA, appointed 2024

Mr Jerome Laxale MP, Australian Labor Party, Bennelong NSW, first elected 2022

Senator the Hon James McGrath, Liberal National Party of Queensland, QLD, first elected 2013

Mr Llew O'Brien MP, Liberal National Party of Queensland, Wide Bay QLD, first elected 2016

Senator David Shoebridge, Australian Greens, NSW, first elected 2022

Senator Glenn Sterle, Australian Labor Party, WA, first elected 2004

Mr Keith Wolahan MP, Liberal Party of Australia, Menzies VIC, first elected 2022

Mr Tony Zappia MP, Australian Labor Party, Makin SA, first elected 2007.

The Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Anti-Corruption Commission will hold its first public hearing on Friday 22 November 2024 from 12:30pm to 2pm.

The joint committee is required to examine each annual report on the National Anti-Corruption Commission of which there are currently two:

One under the signature of the NACC Commissioner at

https://www.nacc.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2024-11/annual_report_2023-24.pdf;

The other under the signature of the NACC Inspector at

https://www.naccinspector.gov.au/system/files/2024-11/inspector-national-anti-corruption-commission_annual-report-2023-24.pdf.

Six witnesses will give evidence with regard to the Commission's Annual Report 2022-23, commencing with NACC Commissioner Paul Brereton.

Click on image to enlarge

The mills of the gods grind slowly but they grind small....

Queensland born, former school teacher, football coach, sports administrator, political speech writer, author, commentator, media 'personality' and, current member of the Liberal Party of Australia, Australian Media Hall of Fame inductee, Order of Australia recipient and climate change sceptic, made the news yesterday.

NSW Police News, Monday, 18 November 2024 03:02:31 PM

Child Abuse Squad detectives charge man over alleged historic indecent assault and sexual touching offences

Child Abuse Squad detectives have charged a man following an investigation into alleged indecent assault and sexual touching offences spanning two decades.

In March 2024, State Crime Command’s Child Abuse Squad established Strike Force Bonnefin to investigate a number of alleged indecent assaults and sexual touching incidents between 2001 and 2019.

Following extensive inquiries, about 7.45am today (Monday 18 November 2024), strike force detectives executed a search warrant at a unit in Circular Quay where they arrested an 83-year-old man.

The man was taken to Day Street Police Station, where he was charged with a total of 24 offences against eight victims, including 11 counts of aggravated indecent assault- victim under authority of offender, nine counts of assault with act of indecency, two counts of sexually touch another person without consent and two counts of common assault.

He was granted conditional bail, to appear before Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday 18 December 2024.

Clarence Valley State of Play: as the first day of Summer draws closer memories of past summers surface

 

Right now the Clarence River flow at Newbold Crossing is registering in the >80% stream flow percentile, the Shannon Creek side dam is at 99% capacity and soil moisture is for the most part within acceptable limits across the Clarence Valley which is classified 100% non-drought.

However, the Australian Summer officially begins on 1 December 2024 and air temperatures and water evaporation rates are bound to rise.

So how is the New South Wales Combined Drought Indicator (CDI) Map likely to look come December?

Where we are going?

NSW Dept. of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Climate Branch, Drought Forecasting, 17 November 2022:

NOTE: The DPIRD drought forecast for NSW presents the ‘Most Likely’ Combined Drought Indicator (CDI) category for the forecast period. The Most Likely CDI category is determined by identifying the 'mode' of the CDI. The mode is the category that appears most frequently across all possible forecast outcomes in the ensemble run. It is the most common prediction for drought conditions in the forecast period based on the model's simulations.

Where have we been along the Clarence Valley drought history continuum, 20 November 2019 to 9 October 2024?

Click on graphs to enlarge

Fine Flower & environs

Heifer Station & environs

Grafton & environs

Maclean & environs

Yamba

*All maps & graphs were created on 17.11.24 using interactive tools created by NSW Dept. of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Climate Branch

Combined Drought Indicators

The NSW Combined Drought Indicator (CDI) includes four indicators for rainfall, soil moisture, plant growth and drought direction which, used together, can indicate the five phases of drought.

Rainfall Index (RI)

The RI is the percentile rank of rainfall aggregated over 12 months. The ranking is made using a 30 year (1980-2010) baseline which captures recent big shifts in climate variability, and factors in climate change. This provides an index between 0 and 100 where values approaching 0 are close to driest, and those approaching 100 close to the wettest, for any given region. Percentile-based indices like the RI have a uniform distribution regardless of their climatic setting, which is an attractive feature in NSW given the presence of rangeland, temperate and sub-tropical climates which have skewed, normal and log-normal rainfall distributions.

Soil Water Index (SWI)

The SI is calculated using the same procedure as the RI, but uses a soil moisture field derived from the DPI AgriModTM soil water balance. Plant available soil water from layer one (0-10cm) and layer two (11-45 cm), the assumed maximum rooting zone, are aggregated and used to calculate the SWI. Similar to the RI, the SWI is an index between 0 and 100. In most districts of NSW a value of 0 means there is no plant available water held in the profile. The SWI is a hydrological index, but its configuration means that it is more useful as an indicator of conditions for dryland than irrigated agriculture.

Plant Growth Index (PGI)

The PGI is calculated using the same general procedure as the RI, using the output from DPI’s crop and pasture models. Crop stress and pasture growth data are taken from DPI AgriModTM, and the percentile rank calculated for each day. If the predominant land use in a given area is cropping, the PGI uses the crop-derived data, otherwise it uses the pasture growth indicator. The PGI is an agronomic drought index which is not only sensitive to moisture but also temperature variation and seasonal events such as frost. It is important to note that the PGI tracks the influence of climate on production potential across broad areas only. This provides a regional indicator of conditions. In the paddock, management decisions like fertiliser application and timing, sowing times and stocking rates drive outcomes on the ground, and in-field conditions can be above or below the regional indicator reported by EDIS.

BACKGROUND

The main water supply (other than the village systems of Wooli and Minnie Water) in the Clarence Valley is sourced from the Nymboida River, flowing through a section of the wider Clarence River catchment area.

At this time of year the Clarence Valley urban water supply is drawing around 14.26ML/per day from the river weir.

The Nymboida River also gravity feeds water to Shannon Creek Dam when required and, if the Nymboida river flow is too low (less than 225 Megalitres a day) or turbid post-flood, the Clarence Valley's principal urban areas receive water sourced from the off-stream storage at Shannon Creek.

Overall, Shannon Creek Dam is used to supply the Clarence Valley’s water about 5% of the time. Right now this dam is at 99% capacity.

This scenario is complicated by the fact that historically the Clarence Valley also supplies water out of the catchment to Coffs Harbour City local government area and this draw on catchment water is constant and always exceeding an optimal sustainability level for average daily drawn down.

Cluster of ram raids involving robbery & arson in Northern Rivers region sees NSW Police establishing Strike Force Albany to investigate the incidents.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udQ2FnU1pfE 

ECHO, 15 November 2024:

Financial Crime Squad detectives have released CCTV as they appeal for information following the ram raid and arson of two tobacconists at Tweed and Ballina.....

There was also a fire at the Ocean Shores [Byron Shire] tobacconist at about 12.45am on Tuesday, 6 August though police have not claimed any link between the Ballina and Tweed ram raids and fire and the one at Ocean Shores.

Full article at https://www.echo.net.au/2024/11/appeal-over-arson-and-ram-raid-of-tobacconists-at-tweed-and-ballina/

9 News, 15 November 2024:

Police have set their sights on the booming illegal tobacco trade after recent attacks on tobacconists prompted fears violent turf wars are spilling into NSW.....

9 News, 7 November 2024:

There have been more than 1000 offences recorded in Goondiwindi [Qld] in the past year alone.

Its location on the edge of NSW makes it a tough one for police to track down perpetrators.

Taskforce Guardian – which has seen NSW and Queensland police join forces – stepped in to tackle the spike in robberies and break-ins in a three-day cross-border crackdown.

"I will say to these offenders, if you target these locations we will identify you and we will use our intelligence skills and we will use our counterparts in Queensland to arrest you," NSW Police's Andrew Holland told 9News.

9News was invited to see inside the task force, which involved Queensland and NSW police officers teaming up to hunt down the alleged criminals.....

NSW Police News, 15 November 2024:

Detectives release CCTV appeal following ram raids and arsons of Northern NSW tobacconists

Financial Crime Squad detectives have released CCTV as they appeal for information following the ram raid and arson of two tobacconists in Northern NSW.

About 4.30am on Sunday 22 September 2024, police were called to a tobacconist on Minjungbal Drive, Tweed Heads South, following reports of a crash.

Officers attached to Tweed/Byron Police District arrived to find a Toyota Corolla sedan, believed to have been stolen from Queensland, driven into a tobacconist, before two unknown males entered the business destroying several displays and stealing large amounts of cigarettes.

A crime scene was established, and police commenced an investigation into the incident.

A month later, about 2.40am on Tuesday 22 October, police were called to the same tobacconist, following reports a car had driven into a neighbouring business.

Police arrived to find a MG SUV had driven into the store – as bollards had been placed in front of the tobacconist – before two unknown men poured fuel inside the business and fled without setting it alight.

A crime scene was established, and police commenced an investigation into the incident.

About 3.30am the next day (Wednesday 23 October 2024), emergency services were called to River Street in Ballina, following reports of a building fire.

On arrival, officers attached to Richmond Police District located a silver Mercedes sedan inside the shopfront of a tobacconist, well alight.

Police were told the sedan drove into the business before the vehicle caught fire, with the occupants of the vehicle leaving the scene prior to police arrival.

Fire and Rescue NSW attended and extinguished the blaze; however, the building was extensively damaged.

Surrounding units were evacuated and two other vehicles were damaged by the blaze.

No injuries have been reported as a result of the incident.

A crime scene has been established and an investigation into the incident has commenced.

Following initial investigations linking all three incidents, detectives attached to State Crime Command’s Financial Crime Squad’s Arson Unit commenced Strike Force Albany to investigate the incidents.

As part of investigations, strike force detectives have released CCTV of the two ram raids at the Tweed Heads South tobacconist.

Detectives are also hoping to speak to the driver and passengers of a dark coloured sedan seen leaving the scene of the second ram raid.

Anyone with information about any of the incidents are urged to contact police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Anyone with information that may assist investigators is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report information via NSW Police social media pages.

According to NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) over the last financial year ending June 2024 the incidence rate per 100,000 population of robbery using a weapon other than a firearm in the Tweed and Ballina local government areas was 10.2 and 4.3 respectively. Compared to a state incidence rate of 9.3.

While the incidence rate of arson generally was 43.9 in Tweed, 44.8 in Ballina and 43.8 in Byron shires. Compared to a state incidence rate of 56.1.

Cartoon for the times in which we live

 

On 14 November 2024 The Guardian announced it will no longer post on Elon Musk’s X from its official accounts.

Stating the X social media platform’s coverage of US election crystallised longstanding concerns about its content. 

This was the cartoon setting out the future as imagined by First Dog.....

Leaving Twitter? Here are some alternatives to checking an online Nazi bot sewer every 20 minutes

First Dog on the Moon

Social media

Fri 15 Nov 2024 17.11 AEDT

Illustration: First Dog on the Moon/The Guardian

Click on images to enlarge

North Coast Voices won't be posting again until Saturday 16 November 2025

Apologies to regular readers and browsers.

Need to give my eyes a rest away from digital 

screens for a few days.

GODWIN'S FIRST & SECOND LAWS OF THE INTERNET: in which a politician in America and another in Australia are measured against these adage 'yardsticks' *WARNING: contains offensive language*

 

GODWIN'S FIRST LAW

"As an online discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1."

GODWIN'S SECOND LAW

"Drawing Bayesian inferences after extensive sampling, I’ve determined that it’s 99-percent certain that anyone who uses “woke” as pejorative will turn out to be a fuckhead. Please don’t blame me for pointing this out–it’s just science."

Michael Wayne Godwin is an American attorney and author. He was the first staff counsel of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and he created the Internet adage Godwin's law and the notion of an Internet meme.

This year it seems that political discourse has really dived into the sewer in Australia and elsewhere around the world with those two observations by Mike Goodwin that became Internet adages receiving a mention as the hate is noticed and discussed.

Under Godwin's First Law a Hitler analogy may  now be considered applicable to Donald J. Trump in any considered argument, rather than being just a hyperbolic comparison........

The Washington Post, 24 September 2024, p.19:

There's a semisatirical theorem, known as Godwin's Law, which posits that if any online discourse goes on long enough, it inevitably leads to a Hitler or Nazi comparison. No professional pundit wants to be guilty of tripping this law.

After all, equating a political figure with fascists sounds absurd. It's just so over the top. It also might not win over any additional allies; people roll their eyes and tune out when they hear commentators or historians warn, yet again, about another big bad Great Dictator.

Problem is, Donald Trump seems intent on making the Hitler comparison happen....

Even Godwin Law's namesake, Mike Godwin, wrote in a Post op-ed last year that he agrees the Hitler analogy is not just apt but necessary. He cited Trump's authoritarian instincts for consolidating state power in a single leader; dehumanizing political enemies as "vermin"; and claiming that immigrants were "poisoning the blood of our country," an infamous Hitler talking point.

"Those of us who hope to preserve our democratic institutions need to underscore the resemblance before we enter the twilight of American democracy," Godwin wrote in December.

And in fact, neither Godwin nor I is anywhere close to being the first to compare Trump with 20th-century fascists. Both of us were beaten out by Vance himself, who in 2016 referred to Trump as "America's Hitler."

The Washington Post online, 20 December 2023:

What's arguably worse than Trump's frank authoritarianism is his embrace of dehumanizing tropes that seem to echo Hitler's rhetoric deliberately. For many weeks now, Trump has been road-testing his use of the word "vermin" to describe those who oppose him and to characterize undocumented immigrants as "poisoning the blood of our country." Even for an amateur historian like me, the parallels to Hitler's rhetoric seem inescapable....

The steady increase in Hitler comparisons during the Trump era is not a sign that my law has been repealed. Quite the opposite. Godwin's Law is more like a law of thermodynamics than an act of Congress — so, not really repealable. And Trump's express, self-conscious commitment to a franker form of hate-driven rhetoric probably counts as a special instance of the law: The longer a constitutional republic endures — with strong legal and constitutional limits on governmental power — the probability of a Hitler-like political actor pushing to diminish or erase those limits approaches 100 percent.

While Godwin's Second Law, which posits that using the word "woke" as a pejorative is an indication of fuckheadedness, is being tested on social media.....

United Australia Party Senator for Victoria Ralph Babet, elected at the May 2022 Australian federal general election.

The woke left is harming children.

Join The Movement - https://t.co/4pOujssPP5 pic.twitter.com/918JCwHb7O

— Senator Babet (@senatorbabet) October 20, 2024