September 11 2008

Cartoon from Salon.com

For a mix of archival footage and whacky theories (from those wonderful folks who gave us rendition and torture to replace the Geneva Convention) click September 11 News

Clarence Valley Conservation Coalition draws up a green report card on local government election hopefuls

MEDIA RELEASE

6 September 2008

For immediate release

HOW GREEN CAN OUR VALLEY BE?

A survey of local government candidates in the Clarence Valley has rated Janet Purcell, Ian Tiley, Pat Comben, Maurie Maher and Grace Clague as having the greenest credentials, with Mark Kingsley and Ian Dinham as close runners up.

The survey, carried out by the combined conservation groups of the Clarence Valley (including the Clarence Valley Conservation Coalition, Clarence Environment Centre, Clarence Valley Branch of the National Parks Association and Valley Watch), asked candidates for their views about environmental planning, waste management, sustainability, transport and protection of the Clarence's biodiversity.

According to the CVCC secretary, Leonie Blain, all of the 21 candidates responded. "We are very happy with the level of response received, with answers to the survey questions from 19 of the candidates. We extend our thanks to all candidates that took the time to provide these responses.

"It was disappointing that Terry Flanagan and Jim Simmons declined to address the survey, providing only general comments which could not be rated," she said.

The survey was mostly asked for yes or no responses to a range of questions, but most candidates took advantage of the opportunity to provide sometimes detailed comments as well as these simple answers.

"These comments revealed an interesting range of attitudes to environmental issues, as well as a range of levels of awareness – both of council's role in relation to the environment and of the environment itself," Ms Blain said.

All candidates indicated opposition to further loss of the Clarence River's water to other communities.

"Curiously, Ian Tiley indicated opposition to the reporting of the daily amount of water extracted from the Nymboida River by the Regional Water Scheme, which the conservation groups believe is necessary for open and transparent accountability of the Scheme's performance, especially once the Shannon Creek Dam is constructed."

On the issue of planning for climate change and development, most candidates indicated that sea level rise, storm surges and increased flooding should be a major constraint in considering development proposals on floodplain and coastal lands. Only Kurt Kristoffersen was undecided on this issue, claiming that climate change is a natural phenomenon.

"This was one of several poor responses from Mr Kristoffersen," said Ms Blain. "He generally showed a low awareness of planning issues and did not even respond to the question on sustainability. In relation to planning to minimise future conflicts between urban residents and flying-fox camps, he stated that flyingfoxes were not even native animals. This must be news to the eucalypt forests of our region which rely on flying-foxes for their pollination."

"Sustainability is enshrined in the legislation of local government. Over the past term of council, Ian Tiley has demonstrated the leadership role that Clarence Valley Council can take with regard to improving our sustainability. A solid understanding of what it means is a must-have for our councillors. However only a few candidates demonstrated this. Very good responses were provided by Pat Comben and Janet Purcell, with good responses from Grace Clague, Maurie Maher, Mark Kingsley, Karen Toms and Ian Dinham."

The candidates' responses to the questionnaire are on display for public scrutiny at the Clarence Environment Centre, 29 Skinner St, South Grafton.

Contact: Leonie Blain 02 6642 7640

Think that you couldn't live on a singles-rate pension? Then get a job as an Aussie pollie

Here is a list of those Aussie pollies who have admitted that Old Age and Disability Support pensions, for single people living alone and without assets, are vastly inadequate - but either do not intend to do anything to help for at least another 6 months at the earliest or only see the issue as an opportunity to front the cameras and play wedge politics.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
Deputy-Prime Minister Julia Gillard
Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan

Minister for Finance Lindsay Tanner

Minister for Health and Ageing Nicola Roxon
Minister for Community Services Jenny Macklin
Federal Leader of the Opposition Brendan Nelson
Deputy-Leader of the Opposition Julie Bishop

Oppostion Spokesperson for Indigenous Affairs Tony Abbott
Tasmanian Labor MP Dick Adams

Queensland Labor MP Brett Raguse

South Australian Labor MP Steve Georganas

Queensland Liberal MP Margaret May

Family First Senator Steve Fielding

Independent Senator Nick Xenophon

Uncle Tom Cobbley and all.............

Only the Greens in the Australian Senate, headed by Senator Bob Brown, are believable when they once again point to the need for immediate relief for the most hard-pressed of pensioners.

There are lone pensioners sitting in their rented homes on the NSW Northern Rivers right now who have no more money for food, medicines or essentials until the middle of next week - 7 days away, 7 days of want and making do with what's in the scant kitchen cupboard, 7 days of not getting help from their GP because most local doctors don't regularly bulk-bill, 7 days of hiding this 'shameful' poverty from the rest of the community.

Fair go, Kev! You wouldn't treat a dingo like this, so why are you pretending that the aged and disabled should be quietly grateful and manage until next year's budget.

Given age or chronic illness, many of them will have died by then.

In August The Age told us:

"Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin said 13 per cent of pensioners had no private income to draw on and the "vast majority" had less than $20 a week in addition to their pensions.

"So the vast majority of older Australians are on the pension and a very, very significant number of these people have very small additional amounts of private income as well as the pension," Ms Macklin says.

"Most pensioners also have very low levels of assets, in fact 30 per cent report having bank balances of less than $1,000."

The report also found that the average length of time for a person to be receiving the age pension was 13 years."

It just had to happen! Barking for the ballot in 2008

Dan from Dog Reflections tells us that a Washington woman registered her dog as a voter ahead of the forthcoming US presidential election, as a protest against lax voter registration rules.

Australian Shepherd-terrier mix had a utility bill in “his name” - “Duncan M. MacDonald” as the identification needed to register......
When Duncan did receive his absentee ballots Balogh returned them with his paw print on the signature line, and the word “void” written through the ballot.

Meanwhile canine supporters of Obama in all their finery are coming out of the woodwork at Dog Reflections and Obama Dog.

Photo from Dog Reflections.

So you think you can run a council.....(6)

Well, what can one say about Clarence Valley local government election candidate and caravan park manager, Karen Toms?
The only thing which comes to mind is the fact that (according to certain Iluka residents) this woman would happily wreck fragile foreshore and beaches with constant 4-wheel drive traffic if allowed, just to further the supposed desire of caravan park guests to have picnic lunches by the sea.
Ms. Toms obviously has a hard time thinking through all the environmental ramifications of her own wants.

Not a characteristic which would sit well on Clarence Valley Council.

At the Yamba Meet the Candidates event Ms. Toms offered no discernable platform or ideas for consideration.

Definitely a 1 out of 10 on my ballot meter.

Oi Garrett! Time to give it a rest sport

There is a joke doing the rounds that every appearance by former Midnight Oils rock star, Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett, is a sell-out.

I'm not sure whether Garrett sells the environment down the river each time as the joke suggests, but by gawd, when it comes to Gunns proposed pulp mill he comes pretty close.
It must be doing his back in to so regularly bend his considerable height over to take it in the rear from this company.
This is Garrett's latest:

Peter Garrett 'grants further favours' over pulp mill

Stop Hillsong's foray into NSW public schools NOW!

Hillsong, the Pentecostal Christian church mob that has ties with the Assemblies of God gang, has embarked on a mission to recruit new members in NSW public schools. Its mode of operation is to conduct free lunchtime concerts and barbecues in schools - these days are called "Exo days".

The Sydney Morning Herald reports:

Exo or Excellent days are free events run by Christian students under the direction of Youth Alive, an arm of the Australian Christian Churches - formerly the Assemblies of God - of which Hillsong is the largest member.

A teacher at one public school said students had returned to class after an Exo day concert complaining about attempts to convert them, while the Federation of Parents and Citizens' Associations says it is an attempt to sneak evangelism into schools and reveals the need for new laws.

Previously the Herald reported that Hillsong was running its Shine program - aimed at young women - in at least 20 NSW public schools.

The NSW Education Act says that "instruction" at public schools must be non-sectarian and secular except in designated religious education classes.

A spokeswoman for the Federation of Parents and Citizens' Association said religious recruitment in schools was inappropriate. "We need to ensure that children when they go to school aren't exposed to discreet evangelism," she said.

The NSW upper house Greens MP, John Kaye, said Exo days went against the spirit of the act, but that there was a need for new laws specifying "clearly and precisely who is allowed on school campuses and who is not".

"Parents send their children to public schools in the anticipation that they will not be indoctrinated," Mr Kaye said.

Clarrie says: "The NSW Government should stop this mob conducting these 'events' NOW!!!"

Is it beat up on pensioners week?

* First we had Today's Apathetic Youth making a case that pensioners are whingers who caused some of their own financial problems by allegedly voting for John Howard.

While older voters have traditionally been thought to vote for conservative parties, this tendency has been somewhat overstated across time (largely because available data can only indicate tendencies for age populations) and just like other age groups voting intentions can vary markedly across election years.

Newspoll data on stated voter intentions from 1987-2007 show that over all election years a combined total of 38.9% of those 60 years+ intended to vote ALP, 51.2% intended to vote Coalition and 9.9% to vote for other parties/independents.

In the same period the data showed that a combined total of only 45.7% of 18-24 year olds intended to vote Labor.

* Then we had the mainstream media writing about the gambling habits of pensioners and suggesting limiting elderly access to poker machines, based on a 2007 survey of 414 people over 60 years of age conducted by the University of Queensland Social Research Centre and published online last January.

What the media articles failed to understand is found in the following survey report observation:

The analysis undertaken suggests that certain age-related circumstances of older people—such as being without a partner, having a disability that impacts on everyday activities, having a low annual income, and no longer participating in the workforce—are associated with higher overall levels of motivation for playing EGMs and greater reliance on EGMs to meet social, recreational and mental health needs.

Some significant factors associated with clinical depression are contained in that sentence, but all the newspapers could say was ban pokie specials on pension days and Poll: Do older people need pre-set limits on poker machine use? Vote below.

All ran with an unproven possibility:
"Compared with younger segments of the population, older people are more commonly retired and thus have more limited opportunities to replenish savings once they are used," the report said. "It is thus conceivable that long-term regular electronic gaming machine use may gradually whittle away older people's financial security."

One has to wonder whether this media response was a targeted beat up coming from Senator Fielding and the Family First stable.

It reeks of blame and punish the pensioners, instead of wondering why a large sector of Australian society is so socially isolated and inadequately supported that some individuals turn to gambling to make themselves feel better.

It also ignores the fact that a great many pensioners have no assets, savings or investments and couldn't afford to enter a social or gambling venue even if they wanted to.

Snakes alive! It's the start of that season again

With the nights getting warmer and the days sunnier, it's time to take care when out walking through scrub or long grass on the NSW North Coast.
The start of Spring will see snakes begin to move about more often and some may cross our paths or that of our pets.

A snake's body temperature - and so its level of activity - is controlled by the temperature of the air and the ground. It will try to maximise body heat, by basking in the sun or lying on or near warm surfaces such as night-time roads or even, on occasion, household water heaters.
In the more temperate climate along the coast they shelter in rock crevices and logs during cold weather and come out on warm days to soak up the heat of the sun.

All native snakes in NSW are protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974.

Photograph of Eastern (Common) Brown Snake found at Sydney University website.