A classic two-faced political balfastard?

And Aussie pollies wonder why they have such a credibility problem…………..

Nationals Lismore MP Thomas George, whose son Cr. Stuart George (who reportedly owes him a considerable pile of dosh) is currently employed by the coal seam gas industry:

“Mr George said he had been working behind closed doors to make representations {concerning coal seam gas issues} on behalf of his constituents to Resources Minister Chris Hartcher.”

Betcha didn't know this APN staffer was so talented

The Daily Examiner is always guaranteed to provide a bit of light relief and Thursday's edition was no exception. It carried wine reviews by a bloke who previously paraded around the Clarence valley posing as a newspaper editor. Nowadays the bloke's associated with APN on Queensland's Fraser coast.
Thursday's Examiner treated its readers to the bloke's reviews of three Aussie wines. His reviews of Taylors 2011 Sauvignon Blanc, Mandala 2010 Blanc De Blancs and Yellowglen NV Spritz Chilled White provided enough evidence to confirm that Huon Hooke, James Halliday et al can sleep comfortably at night, knowing Pete isn't going to take their jobs.

 Image credit: The Daily Examiner, 8/12/11

On feeling OLD........

Whatever happened to liquorice straps, sherbet cones, slate pencils, genuine musk sticks, rainbow balls, allsorts, mint leaves, bulls eyes, candy hearts, snow balls, caramel chews, tiny macaroons, freckles made with quality chocolate, big fat jelly babies with faces and navels, cobbers the size of doorstops and stick jaw toffees?

Oh, I feel OLD when I read this Roy Morgan graph with its list of sterile, globalised lollies:

Oi, Richie! Please explain that extra council rate gouge

This is what NSW Independent Pricing And Regulatory Tribunal said when it set the council rate peg percentage for 2012/13 at 3.6% on 6^th December 2011:

* we took the increase of 3.4% in the Local Government Cost Index (LGCI) for the year to September 2011

* we deducted a productivity factor of 0.2%

* for this year only, we have added a carbon price advance of 0.4%.

This is what Clarence Valley Mayor and recently unsuccessful Nationals pre-selection candidate, Richie Williamson, told ratepayers in The Daily Examiner on 8^th December:

“..council's costs would rise by between .4 and .5% as a result of the tax, and the local government minister had factored in a carbon tax increase of .5% when determining the rate-pegging limit.”

Now if Bazza O’Farrell and Local Government Minister Don Page have indeed granted Clarence Valley Council an extra .1% increase above the IPART ruling, fellow travellers Richie, Bazza and Don need to explain why this isn’t an attempt to gouge local ratepayers based on an ideological desire to cast the Federal Gillard Government in a bad light.

Dorrigo Environment Watch contradicts Anchor Resources claims concerning community consultation

Community consultation contradictions

In early November 2011 Dorrigo Environment Watch Inc undertook a survey of local residents near the Wild Cattle Creek Mine to substantiate Anchor Resource’s claims of wide community consultation. The results of the survey contradict these claims.

In an interview with Katya Quigley Coffs Coast ABC Radio on October 6^th  2011 Anchor Resources General Manager Ian Price quoted ‘Anchor since it started exploration drilling, in about 2009 has consulted widely with the local residents particularly in the area affected by the project. We continue to do that as there are changes and we planned to do activities that’s included letter drops and face to face meetings with people. We are continuing that consultation into the local community, distributing an updated brochure to people in the community and will continue to do that work.’

A follow on interview on the 18^th November 2011 reiterated Anchor’s claims about widely consulting with the local community and their community engagement project. 

Results from the survey found that 52% of landholders had received no communication from Anchor Resources, whilst 26% were contacted in 2009 with no further communication since. 17% of landholders had communications in 2009 and 2010 and 13% of landholders have been communicated with between 2009 to 2011. One of these landholders received over 96 emails from Anchor Resources in a 2 year period, mostly in relation to access agreements. The landholder survey conducted included 88% of known residents along Lower Bielsdown Road.

DEW is alarmed by the comments made by Mr Price in relation to community consultation. It is very misleading to state publicly that Anchor Resources has been consulting widely with the community and specifically with those living near the area most affected by the project when the survey findings clearly showed that a very small proportion of residents have actually been consulted. We feel false and misleading information about our community is being presented by Anchor Resources. Given this and Anchor Resources' refusal to attend or accept invitations to community public forums it follows a pattern occurring in communities throughout NSW affected by mining, where mining companies use tactics that have been described in parliament as ‘divide and conquer’.  We invite Anchor Resources to adopt best practice community engagement including organising and hosting an open public forum in Dorrigo where all community members are welcome.

Dorrigo Environment Watch Media Release 7 December 2011

Japan the Unspeakable

Whale image from RealPhoto


ABC News 6 December 2011:

Harpoon ships from Japan's whaling fleet have left their home port and could now be heading towards the Antarctic for this year's hunt.

Japan says it is going ahead with the expedition despite falling demand for whale meat.

Jaw dropping stupidity caught in one short quote

“As far as the Clarence Valley is concerned, I haven't, as yet, noticed conflict between population growth and the environment.” {Letter writer in The Daily Examiner on 5^th December 2011}

Member for Clarence: take your pick, 'Steve' Gulaptis or 'Chris' Cansdell

It seems there's a good deal of confusion in the electorate of Clarence as to who the current Local Member is and who might be pulling the Member's strings.

A couple of wags at the local watering hole reckon the surnames Cansdell and Gulaptis along with the given names Steve and Chris have become interchangeable. So much so, says my mate Robbo, that on any given day the local MP might be Chris or Steve. Robbo reckons that's going to come in real handy for the MP over the festival season - the MP can be in two places at once, party-partying (ho ho style) and driving along the Pacific Highway looking for speed cameras.

Click on the image below to reveal how some in the electorate see their local MP.

Valley Watch calls for a NSW Royal Commission into Coal Seam Gas Mining

Valley Watch, a Clarence valley community organisation, has launched a petition requesting the NSW Parliament to:

* call a Royal Commission into all impacts of CSG mining;

* implement a moratorium on CSG mining until the outcome of the Royal Commission; and

* ban the extraction technique known as hydraulic fracturing.

Valley Watch has formally joined the Lock the Gate Alliance in its campaign against Coal Seam Gas mining. 

Interested persons can sign Valley Watch's petition at its stall at the Yamba Market on Sunday, December 11, or at the Yamba Wellbeing Centre which is upstairs at 4-5 Yamba Street (entrance via Wooli Street).

 

The wording of the petition is:

This petition of citizens of New South Wales draws to the attention of the House that Coal Seam Gas Mining (CSG):

·      always involves contaminated water, as extraction of gas draws out of the coal seam water that is highly saline and can contain toxic and radioactive compounds, endocrine disruptors and heavy metals;

·      when using hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”), pollutes large quantities of fresh water with sand and chemicals that are pumped underground;

·      is proved to lower the fresh water table, yet exploration licences have been issued in vital NSW water catchment areas;

·      involves leaky wells, processing plants and pipelines that are a fire hazard and cause air pollution;

·      risks a range of direct and indirect health impacts such as heart, lung, kidney and neurological problems and cancer; and

·      produces greenhouse gas emissions – particularly from large scale methane leakage – such that CSG mining has a global warming impact that is as bad as, if not worse than, coal over a twenty year period.

The undersigned petitioners therefore request the House to:

·      call a Royal Commission into all impacts of CSG mining;

·      implement a moratorium on CSG mining until the outcome of the Royal Commission; and

·   ban the extraction technique known as hydraulic fracturing.

 Images from clarencevalleywatch.com

UPDATE:

The petition can also be signed at Yamba Picture Framing, 6/12 Angourie Road, Yamba opp. the public primary school.