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.
On
Thursday 30 January 2025 Australia was a day away from finishing the
end of its second month of Summer and there were heatwave warnings in
Western Australia, Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales,
as well as the Australian Capital Territory.
With
just one month of Summer left, here are the forecast summaries for
February to April 2025.
The
long-range forecast for February to April shows:
above
average rainfall is likely for northern Australia and much of the
south, with an increased chance of unusually high rainfall for much
of these regions
warmer
than average days are likely across much of southern and eastern
Australia
warmer
than average nights are very likely across Australia, with an
increased chance of unusually high overnight temperatures
nationwide.
Max
temperature - The chance of above median max temperature for February
to April
Click on image to enlarge
Rainfall—Summary
Rainfall
likely to be above average for much of Australia
February
to April
Rainfall
is likely (60 to 80% chance) to be above average across northern
Australia and much of the south, with a greater than 80% chance of
above average rainfall in parts of northern and central Queensland,
along the northern WA coastline, and parts of the NT.
For
parts of southern WA and scattered parts of south-east Australia,
rainfall is likely to be in the typical range for February to April.
There
is an increased chance of unusually high rainfall1 for
much of northern and eastern Australia, with highest chances - more
than 3 times the usual chance - across parts of northern Queensland.
1
Unusually high rainfall is that in the highest 20% of February to
April rainfall observations from 1981 to 2018.
Rainfall
- Totals that have a 75% chance of occurring for February to April
Click on image to enlarge
BOM
Drought: Rainfall deficiencies and water availability,
9 January 2025:
Below
average soil moisture in parts of the southern and eastern mainland
Map
of root-zone soil moisture for the previous month
Click on image to enlarge
December
soil moisture was below to very much below average (in the lowest 10%
of Decembers since 1900) in:
the
south of Western Australia excluding the far south-west and isolated
pockets of northern Western Australia
south-west
South Australia and parts of the Eyre Peninsula extending to the
greater Adelaide region
much
of southern Victoria, except the far south-west
isolated
pockets of eastern New South Wales
isolated
inland areas across Queensland and the Northern Territory.
December
rainfall eased the severity and extent of long-term soil moisture
deficiencies in the south-east, including most of Victoria,
south-east New South Wales and Tasmania. Soil moisture deficiencies
also eased in northern Queensland. Root-zone soil moisture across
inland and western Australia is typically low at this time of year
and the differences between above and below average can be relatively
small.
Low
soil moisture for long periods of time affects crop growth and can be
an indicator of agricultural drought.
NSW DPI Interactive
Combined Drought Indicator map of NSW as at 26.01.25
In
recent months international news and commentary have been full of
Donald J. Trump. Spanning his time as U.S. president-elect
from 5 November 2025 through to his inauguration as the 47th U.S.
President on 20 January 2025 and up to the the tenth day of his
second term in office.
Although
the tone of commentary often reflects a sense of disapproval, unease
or alarm, I have yet to come across an article or interview that
attempts to gauge the mood of the American population in any depth.
I
certainly do not have the resources to attempt such a task,
What
I did is what most people do when seeking information, go to Google and ask a question and in this case look for that particular question being asked in the United States of America.
Here is a Google Trends graph covering a 7 day period from 3-10
November 2024 which shows a sharp increase in the U.S. of use of the search
term "moving to" [using just five countries] with the peak
occurring on presidential election day and falling away thereafter
but not disappearing completely.
Click on Image to enlarge
A
second Google Trends graph created for a 7 day period covering
22-28 January 2025 shows use in the U.S. of the search term "moving to"
[using the same five countries] having a sustained level of interest across the board level.
Click on image to enlarge
In
the first graph Canada was the preferred destination, followed by
Ireland, with Mexico and New Zealand jockeying for third place and
Australia coming in fourth.
While
in the second graph the destination choice average was first Canada,
followed by Mexico, then Ireland, with Australia coming in third and
New Zealand a close fourth place.
Compared
breakdown by sub-region
The
colour intensity indicates percentage of searches across the states.
NOTE: All graphs & map apply only to the particular days chosen and because of the small number of days and searches undertaken cannot be relied on except as snapshots.
According to Webber Insurance Services in the first 28 days of 2025 there have been five notable data breaches affecting Australia:
Spectrum
Medical Imaging – January 2025
Sydney
medical practice cyber incident claimed by INC Ransom
Evidn
– January 2025
Everest
ransomware gang lists Aussie company Evidn as a victim | Hackers
claim to have stolen 50 gigabytes from an applied behavioural science
firm that works closely with the Queensland government.
Volkswagen
– January 2025
Almost
800k Volkswagen EV owners data exposed
SquareX
– January 2025
SquareX
reveals critical breach of Cyberhaven extension | SquareX has
revealed a critical browser security incident targeting Chrome
Extension developers, leading to a major compromise of Cyberhaven’s
browser extension.
That's what bad actors across the digital universe can inflict on unsuspecting people engaging with online private businesses or government agencies.
However, when one adds in the fact that so many Internet users voluntarily access a wide range of services which require a combination of either email address, password and/or pin number, then it sometimes feels like we are just scattering information far and wide.
So perhaps now is a good time to check on how often a four digit combination chosen as an easy to remember pin number is not as unique as we might like to believe?
The
last line of security for much of your digital life probably isn’t
as secure as you think.
Whether
it’s to unlock your smartphone, access your online banking or get
cash out of the ATM, a four-digit PIN is often there to keep your
secrets and your money safe.
It’s
an important little code, but not all choices are equally secure.
That’s
why we analysed 29 million of them from Have I Been Pwned? – an Australian-run site that helps people all
over the world find out if they’ve been affected by data breaches.
The
most commonly used PINs turned out to be staggeringly popular,
meaning they’re particularly easy to guess when phones and bank
cards fall into the wrong hands.
The
top 50 codes to avoid
These
are the 50 most popular codes in the full Have I Been Pwned? dataset,
in order of popularity.
WHERE
& WHEN: Wooli Street Hall, (Wooli Street & Public Library, Yamba Road vehicle entrances) Tuesday 4 February at 5.30pm
PRESENTATION
BY: Mr Greg Mashiah, Manager Technical Services, Clarence
Valley Council, with responsibilities including delivery of major
water infrastructure and sewer projects
Given
the situation we are facing as a community, with the recent influx of
large residential developments and proposed population growth in
Yamba and the Lower Clarence, we feel these are matters of immense
importance.
Residents
need to be fully informed about the current status and future plans
for water quality, supply, infrastructure and emergency management.
Information
will be presented about local flood data, (how to interpret it as it
affects you), stormwater and floodplain management.
The
presentation will be followed by a designated Q&A session.
Community
members have informed Yamba CAN they are especially interested in an
updated status report on the Rushforth Road Water Filtration Plan
project that is currently under review.
It
appears many people in our community do not have a good understanding
of the process involved in the CVC water supply network from the
Nymboida River and Shannon Creek Dam via the Rushforth Road Water
Treatment Plant and reservoirs at Maclean and Yamba to end users in
Yamba and elsewhere throughout the Valley.
There
are a number of issues of ongoing concern in respect of catchment
management, water quality and security of supply. There are also some
quite complex contractual arrangements between CVC and City of Coffs
Harbour as regards sharing of responsibilities for water and
infrastructure between the two LGAs. Huge amounts of investment will
be needed to fund ongoing maintenance and necessary infrastructure
improvements.
How
much does/will this cost? What provision has CVC made regarding
budgeting and reserves for the necessary works? Where is the money
coming from? What is the estimated time for completion?
The latest incident on 25 January 2025 involved an alleged car theft in Baker Street followed by a police pursuit ending in a bad car crash in West Street which closed the street for a number of hours.
A
teenager has been charged and another remains in hospital following
an alleged pursuit in the state’s north yesterday.
Between
1am and 3.30am (Saturday 25 January 2025) a unit on Barker Street,
Casino, was allegedly broken into and a Honda hatchback was taken
from the home.
About
4.10am (Saturday 25 January 2025), police attempted to stop the
hatchback in Casino.
When
it failed to stop a pursuit was initiated and continued to West
Street where the hatchback crashed into a motorhome.
The
driver – a 16-year-old boy was taken to Lismore Base Hospital and
the passenger – a 13-year-old boy – was airlifted to Gold Coast
University Hospital where he remains in a serious condition.
A
crime scene was established and an investigation into the incident
commenced.
The
older boy was charged with police pursuit - not stop - drive
dangerously, dangerous driving occasioning GBH- drive manner
dangerous, negligent driving (occasioning grievous bodily harm),
never licensed person drive vehicle on road - first offence, and
drive conveyance taken w/o consent of owner.
He
was refused bail and appeared at a children’s court via AVL today
(Sunday 26 January 2025).
The earlier Oak Ave incident on 14 January involved a 20 year-old man being arrested and later charged with 26 offences following an
extensive investigation into property crime in the Northern Rivers.
Leader
of the Opposition and Liberal MP for Dickson Peter Craig Dutton is on the record as
admiring Donald John Trump and even seems to be looking forward to working with him
should the Liberal-Nationals Coalition win government at the
forthcoming federal general election - indeed he claims that a number
of his close colleagues are well connected with members of the Trump
Administration.
This
is Peter Dutton opining to the mainstream media since 20 January
2025.
Opposition
leader Peter Dutton has argued that young men are ‘fed up’ with
feeling ostracised and are sick of being treated like ogres.
He
believes push-back on “woke” practices, such as being overlooked
for jobs under affirmative action policies, was gaining momentum, and
the decline of “wokeism” would be accelerated after the election
of Donald Trump as US president.....
Speaking
on Mark Bouris’ Straight Talk podcast, Mr Dutton said in the US and
elsewhere young males felt “disenfranchised and ostracised”.
“They’re
saying, ‘Well, hang on, I have nothing but respect for women, and I
would never treat my female friends differently than my male
friends’,” he said.
“But
I’m being told that I’m some sort of ogre, or I have some belief
structure which is true to that, which I know is, is, you know, what
I hold in my heart.
“I
think there’s just a point where people are fed up and they are
pushing back and saying, ‘well, why am I being overlooked at work
for a job, you know, three jobs running when I’ve got, you know, a
partner at home, and she’s decided to stay at home with three young
kids, and I want a promotion at work so that I can help pay the bills
at home’ and so I think all of that has morphed.”
‘They’re
excited by Trump’: Dutton’s inclusion strategy
Amid
the “revolution” of Donald Trump’s return to the White House is
one cause that has caught the Coalition’s eye: the dismantling of
diversity, equity and inclusion efforts....
One
Liberal MP expects this tone will have some influence on the
Coalition in Australia’s election campaign. “They’re excited by
Trump. They will try and use mechanisms from his playbook here. And
they do it already, right?”
Dutton
has championed what he describes as “anti-woke” issues since his
first term as a backbencher. “I
think there is going to be a new revolution that comes with the Trump
administration in relation to a lot of the woke issues that might be
fashionable in universities and at the ABC,” Dutton told a
sympathetic Sharri Markson on Sky News this week.
“They
just aren’t cutting it around kitchen tables at the moment, where
people can’t pay their bills under the Albanese cost-of-living
crisis.”
In
her Sky News interview, Markson was one of the few journalists to
raise with Dutton the executive order signed by Trump recognising
only “two sexes, male and female”.
In
her Sky News interview, Markson was one of the few journalists to
raise with Dutton the executive order signed by Trump recognising
only “two sexes, male and female”.
He
responded that people are “sick of being ostracised and vilified”,
but he did not engage on the question of gender. Rather, the
opposition leader shifted to Indigenous recognition.
On
Thursday, Coalition deputy leader David Littleproud was less guarded,
telling Sky News the issue of gender needed to be reconsidered in
Australia. “It doesn’t need to get emotional…” he said. “It
comes back to respectingthat
biological basis that we can’t get away from when we’re
born.”....
‘Had
enough’: Peter Dutton predicts anti-woke revolution for Australia
Peter
Dutton has declared he would be the better PM to deal with US
President Donald Trump amid a worldwide political revolution as
voters decide they have had enough of the “woke” agenda.
But
despite hinting he could ride the wave of the Trump victory all the
way to the Lodge, Mr Dutton declined to expressly dump the
Coalition’s current commitment to the Paris agreement on climate
change.....
Mr
Dutton has recently declared he will not display two flags at
official press conferences if elected.
“We’re
not going to have reconciliation when we have people living under
three different flags,’’ Mr Dutton said.
We
have one national flag, and that’s incredibly important.”....
Peter
Dutton has announced a long-awaited shadow ministerial shake-up
before this year’s federal election, appointing former immigration
minister David Coleman to the foreign affairs role....Senator
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, took on the new government efficiency
platform, which echoed the new US Department of Government Efficiency
(Doge), led by Elon Musk.
Given
that it appears that Dutton is more than flirting with the idea of
emulating Donald Trump's election campaign and some of his divisive policies perhaps it would be
sensible to take a closer look at the 47th US President aka
Trump 2.0 in the year of 2025.
Donald
J. Trump has been the 47th US President for seven days now and during
this period he has signed at least fifty-seven Executive Orders, with
forty-six signed on the day of his inauguration.
20
January 2025 immediately after the inauguration ceremony on first day
of the presidential term
On
that first day Donald Trump signed at least 45 Presidential
Actions/Executive Orders.
There
was also Executive Order "ProtectingThe Meaning And Value Of American Citizenship"which
sought to remove the right to citizenship going forward for those children born to
non-citizen parents whether those parents were in the United States
lawfully or unlawfully.
Also
amongst these orders were presidential actions withdrawing from the
World Health Organisation, dismantling environmental protections,
opening untouched areas up to mining exploration, rolling back
climate change mitigation measures & regulations and denying the
rights of women to reproductive choice and reasserting the position
that all living persons remain the biological gender assigned to then
at birth with this position to be adopted by all federal agencies and
employees.
>
Executive Order 14087 of October 14, 2022 (Lowering Prescription Drug Costs for Americans)which means that
a) medical insurance became inaccessible to potentially millions of
American citizens and b) prescription drugs just became very
expensive again and in practice inaccessible to the poor, vulnerable
and to many with chronic life-threatening conditions.
Public
Citizen, Inc.,
American Federation Of Government Employees and
State Democracy Defenders Fund filedCivilCase 1:25-cv-00164bringing
an action seeking declaratory, injunctive, and mandamus relief
against Defendants Donald J. Trump, in his official capacity as
president of the United States, and the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB), an agency of the United States, to ensure that the
so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) complies
with the requirements established by the Federal Advisory Committee
Act (FACA), 5 U.S.C.§§ 1001 et seq
The
Trump State Department implements a landmark "One Flag
Policy" barring U.S. outposts at home and abroad from flying
any other flag but the Stars and Stripes, effectively blocks U.S.
embassies and outposts from flying Pride and Black Lives Matter
flags.
21
January 2025 the second day and first full day of the current
presidential term
Let
me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put there trust
in you. And, as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the
providential hand of a loving God.
In
the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our
country who are scared now.
There
are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican
and Independent families, some who fear for their lives.
And
the people, the people who pick our crops and clean our
office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants,
who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night
shifts in hospitals. They may not be citizens or have the proper
documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals.
They pay taxes, and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of
our churches and mosques, synagogues, madaras,
and temples. I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our
communities whose children fear that their parents willbe
taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and
persecution in their own lands, to find
compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we
are to be merciful to the stranger for we were all once strangers in
this land.
Massachusetts,State of California,State of Colorado, State
of Connecticut, State of
Delaware,District of
Columbia,State of
Hawai‘I,State of
Maine,State of
Maryland,Attorney
General Dana Nessel for the People
of Michigan,State of Minnesota,State of Nevada,State of
New Mexico,State of New York,State of North Carolina,State Of Rhode Island,State of Vermont,State of Wisconsin and City and County of
San Francisco, filed Case No. 1:25-cv-10139bringing
an action to protect their states, localities, and
residents from the President’s flagrantly unlawful attempt to strip
hundreds of thousands American-born children of their citizenship
based on their parentage.
The
States of Washington,
Arizona, Illinois,
and Oregon filed Case
2:25-cv-00127-JCC bringing an action to protect
the States—including their public agencies, public programs, public
fiscs, and state residents—against the illegal actions of the
President and federal government that purport to unilaterally strip
United States citizens of their citizenship. Seeking
an emergency temporary restraining order.
Note:
This brings the total of state entities opposing the contents of one
executive order issued by President Trump in court to twenty-five.
22
January 2025 the third day of the presidential term
In
response to the Executive Order of 20 January 2025 "Granting
Pardons And Commutation Of Sentences For Certain Offenses Relating To
The Events At Or Near The United States Capitol On January 6, 2021",
threeUS District Court judges asserted the independence of
the Court. The first in Criminal
Action No. 21-00073 (BAH) by not going beyond what
established law required. In her reasons stating; No “national
injustice” occurred here, just as no outcome-determinative election
fraud occurred in the 2020 presidential election. No “process of
national reconciliation” can begin when poor losers, whose
preferred candidate loses an election, are glorified for disrupting a
constitutionally mandated proceeding in Congress and doing so with
impunity. That merely raises the dangerous specter of future lawless
conduct by other poor losers and undermines the rule of law. Yet,
this presidential pronouncement of a “national injustice” is the
sole justification provided in the government’s motion to dismiss
the pending indictment." and denying the request that
this dismissal be “with prejudice.”
While
the second in Criminal
Action No. 22-413 (CKK) ended her reasons with All of
what I have described has been recorded for posterity, ensuring that
what transpired on January 6, 2021 can be judged accurately in the
future.
and
the third in Criminal Action No. 24-CR-135 (TSC)the
Order transcript opening with; The Government’s Motion
to Dismiss the Indictment pursuant to Federal Rule of Criminal
Procedure 48(a), ECF No. 29, is GRANTED in part and DENIED in part.
The
Government’s only stated reason for pursuing dismissal with
prejudice is that the President, in addition to pardoning the
Defendant, has ordered the Attorney General to do so.
See
Gov’t’s Mot. at 1, ECF No. 29 (citing Unnumbered Proclamation, __
Fed. Reg. __ (Jan. 20, 2025).1
The
Court does not discern—and neither party has identified—any
defect in either the legal merits of, or the factual basis for, the
Government’s case. Indeed, while a pardon exercises the Executive’s
“exclusive authority and absolute discretion to decide whether to
prosecute a case,” United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 693
(1974), it “does not necessarily render ‘innocent’ a defendant
of any alleged violation of the law,” United States v. Flynn, 507
F. Supp. 3d 116, 136 (D.D.C. 2020).
More
broadly, no pardon can change the tragic truth of what happened on
January 6, 2021. On that day, “a mob professing support for
then-President Trump violently attacked the United States Capitol”
to stop the electoral college certification. Trump v. Thompson, 20
F.4th
10,
15 (D.C. Cir. 2021). The dismissal of this case cannot undo the
“rampage [that] left multiple people dead, injured more than 140
people, and inflicted millions of dollars in damage.” Id
23
January 2025 the fourth day of the presidential term
Trump
addressing the World Economic Forum
at Davos via a live feed.
Excerpt
from official
transcript of Donald Trump's Davos speech taken from
the Question and Answer segment with Trump speaking:
And
the big problem is we need double the energy we currently have in the
United States — can you imagine? — for AI to really be as big as
we want to have it. Because it’s a very competitive — it will be
very competitive with China and others.
So,
I’m going to give emergency declarations so that they can start
building them almost immediately.
And
I’m — I’m — I think it was largely my idea, because nobody
thought this was possible. It wasn’t that they were not smart,
because they’re the smartest, but I told them that what I want you
to do is build your electric generating plant right next to your
plant as a separate building, connected. And they said, “Wow,
you’re kidding.” And I said, “No, no. I’m not kidding.”
You don’t have to hook into the grid, which is old and, you know,
could be taken out. If it’s taken out, they wouldn’t have any
way to get any electricity.
So,
we are going to allow them to go on a very rapid bas- — basis to
build their plant — build the electric generating plant. They can
fuel it with anything they want, and they may have coal as a backup.
Good, clean coal.
You
know, if there were a problem with a — with a pipe coming in — as
an example, you’re going with gas — oil or gas — and a pipe
gets blown up or, for some reason, doesn’t work, there are some
companies in the U.S. that have coal sitting right by the plant so
that if there’s an emergency, they can go to that short-term basis
and use our very clean coal.
So,
that’s something else that a lot of people didn’t even know
about. But nothing can destroy coal — not the weather, not a bomb
— nothing. It might make it a little smaller, might make it a
little different shape. But coal is very strong as a backup. It’s
a great backup to have that facility, and it wouldn’t cost much
more — more money.
And
we have more coal than anybody. We also have more oil and gas than
anybody.
So,
we’re going to make it so that the plants will have their own
electric generating facilities attached right to their plant. They
don’t have to worry about a utility. They don’t have to worry
about anything. And we’re going to get very rapid approvals.
24
January 2025 the fifth day of the presidential term
In addition by the fifth day Trump had publicly withdrawn federal protective services fromhis former national security adviser John Bolton, former top health official Dr. Anthony Fauci, his former top diplomat Mike Pompeo and former Iran envoy Brian Hook. All of whom have been out of favour with him and perceived to be 'critics'.
Trump stated a general preference that in future the
states take care of disasters. Let the state take care of the
tornadoes and the hurricanes and all of the other things that happen.
And I think you’re going to find it a lot less expensive. You’ll
do it for less than half, and you’re going to get a lot quicker
response.
So,
that seems to be the recommendation, but we’ll be making that
recommendation over the next couple of weeks.
Any
additional federal aid to California in relation to the Los Angeles
wildfires will come not through FEMA but through the White House and
have specific conditions attached before it can be accessed by this
Democrat governed state. With Trump stating two prerequisites:
I want to see two things in Los Angeles: Voter ID, so that the
people have a chance to vote, and I want to see the water be released
and come down into Los Angeles and throughout the state. Those are
the two things. After
that, I will be the greatest president that California have ever —
has ever seen.
As
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement intensifies its efforts to
apprehend and deport undocumented immigrants throughout the country,
concern is rising among Indigenous communities residing in urban
areas about reports of Indigenous people being detained in the
Valley.
Since
President Donald Trump issued his executive order for an increase in
ICE raids, Navajo tribal leaders have received alarming reports that
their tribal members are being detained, heightening uncertainties
over the implications these actions have for their communities and
the safety of their people.
“We
now know that Navajo people and enrolled members of other tribes are
being detained in Phoenix and other cities by ICE,” Navajo Nation
Council Speaker Crystalyne Curley said during a committee meeting on
Thursday. “The reports that we have received indicate that we need
to coordinate an operation or some type of response to help our
enrolled tribal members here on the Navajo Nation.”....
In
State of Washington et al v Donald Trump et al filed
as CASENO.C25-0127-ICa
US District Court Judge granted a 14 Day Temporary Restraining Order,
stating in part; Plaintiff
States face irreparable injury as a result of the signing and
implementation of the Executive Order. and
There
is a strong likelihood that Plaintiffs will succeed on the merits of
their claims that the Executive Order violates the Fourteenth
Amendment and Immigration and Nationality Act.
TheLaken
Riley Acthaving
passed both Houses this week awaits Trump's signature to become federal law.
This
Act
requires the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to detain certain
non-U.S. nationals (aliens under federal law) who have been arrested
for burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting. The bill also
authorizes states to sue the federal government for decisions or
alleged failures related to immigration enforcement.
Under
this bill, DHS must detain an individual who (1) is unlawfully
present in the United States or did not possess the necessary
documents when applying for admission; and (2) has been charged with,
arrested for, convicted of, or admits to having committed acts that
constitute the essential elements of burglary, theft, larceny, or
shoplifting.
Deportation flights have begun.
President Trump is sending a strong and clear message to the entire world: if you illegally enter the United States of America, you will face severe consequences. pic.twitter.com/CTlG8MRcY1
North Coast Voices no longer allows the Facebook Button sited at the end of each blog post to activate when it is clicked on by a reader.
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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 19
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.
[Adopted and proclaimed by United Nations General Assembly resolution 217 A (III) of 10 December 1948]
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 tourismbusiness 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 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.
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