Sunday 28 Feb 2010: Marine Tsunami Warning issued for Australian east coast from Point Danger QLD down to Banks Strait TAS

At 5.30 this morning the Australian Bureau of Meteorology issued the following information for New South Wales:

MEDIA: No use of the Standard Emergency Warning Signal (SEWS)
TOP PRIORITY FOR IMMEDIATE AND FREQUENT BROADCAST

TSUNAMI WARNING NUMBER 9 FOR NEW SOUTH WALES Issued by the Joint Australian Tsunami Warning Centre (JATWC) at5:30 AM EDT on Sunday 28 February 2010
TSUNAMI THREAT TO THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT SUMMARY:
Tsunami warning for the marine environment for NEW SOUTH WALES.
Threatened areas extend over all New South Wales coastal areas from Gabo Island to Point Danger.
Possibility of dangerous waves, strong ocean currents and foreshore flooding throughout the day from 08:00 am (EDT) Sunday.
Sea level observations HAVE confirmed a tsunami has been generated.
For further details visit the Bureau web site www.bom.gov.au. Next update due by 7:00 AM EDT on Sunday 28 February 2010
DETAILS: Tsunami waves are more powerful than the same size beach waves, with the first wave not always the largest.
First tsunami effects are expected as follows:
Gabo Island after 08:00 am (EDT) Sunday
Sydney after 08:45 am (EDT) Sunday
Crowdy Head after 08:45 am (EDT) Sunday
Coffs Harbour after 09:00 am (EDT) Sunday
Byron Bay after 09:15 am (EDT) Sunday
Tweed Heads after 09:15 am (EST) Sunday
Check that your neighbours have received this advice.
Boats in harbours, estuaries or shallow coastal water should return to shore.
Secure your boat and move away from the waterfront.
Vessels already at sea should stay offshore in deep water until further advised.
Do not go to the coast to watch the tsunami, as there is the possibility of dangerous, localised flooding of the immediate foreshore.
For emergency assistance, call NEW SOUTH WALES STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE on 132500
Maps showing the affected areas are on the Bureau web site www.bom.gov.au/tsunami. For a repeat of this warning call 1300 TSUNAMI (1300878 6264).

*TSUNAMI SOURCE: An undersea earthquake of magnitude 8.8 occurred at 5:34 PM EDT on Saturday 27February 2010 near THE COAST OF CENTRAL CHILE (latitude 35.320S longitude 72.930W )
*The JATWC is operated by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology and Geoscience Australia

State/Territory Warnings
Norfolk Island Marine Warning issued 6:01 AM local time on Sun 28 Feb 2010
Lord Howe Island Marine Warning issued 5:31 AM EDT on Sun 28 Feb 2010
Tasmania Marine Warning issued 5:31 AM EDT on Sun 28 Feb 2010
Victoria Marine Warning issued 5:30 AM EDT on Sun 28 Feb 2010
New South Wales Marine Warning issued 5:30 AM EDT on Sun 28 Feb 2010
Queensland Marine Warning issued 4:30 AM EST on Sun 28 Feb 2010

Which Witch? or Rumours To Spell By

The ladies at the croquet club have been looking at me with strange sideways glances since Bob’s encounter with the bunyip.
The story spread faster than dog fleas.
Bob’s fight with the dark dastardly bunyip grew to heroic proportions.

It seems my spell expanded as well. It is now known that I danced naked around the shed while reciting words from an ancient mystic language, only the last part of which could be understood by Bob the Valiant. Gigantous robusta meaning big strong spell was what he heard chanted. {Not grevillea robusta the botanical name for silky oak}.

An esky full of beer was made to taste like water, but Bob was safe in the shed, not a bunyip in sight and the next morning he emerges at dawn feeling great with hardly a hangover at all.
It seems that spell must have had hangover protection properties as well!

Graphic from Google Images

From the 'way too much information' file

What on earth was the real estate agent and the property owner thinking when a particular Canberra house was listed for sale online, with multiple large, glossy detailed photographs displaying the interior attached.
Did we really need to know that the somewhat notorious alleged Liberal Party mole Godwin Grech obviously has a passion for collecting antique clocks, a penchant for decorating with gilt cherubs and reads books about Hitler?
Nup, didn't think so.

Dividing the GST pie in 2010

Just goes to show - if you whinge long enough and hard enough you're bound to be heard.
New South Wales finally gets a slice of the GST pie which begins to reflect the amount of this consumption tax we Welshies pay.
From the Commonwealth Grants Commission media release on 26th February 2010:
"The Commonwealth Grants Commission has released its advice on how GST revenue should be distributed among the States and Territories in 2010-11. .....Under the Commission's recommendations for 2010-11, Victoria and New South Wales, and to a lesser extent Queensland and South Australia, receive larger shares of GST revenue compared to 2009-10, while Western Australia, and to a lesser extent the Northern Territory and the ACT, receive smaller shares. The share of Tasmania would stay unchanged. The Chairman of the Commission, Alan Morris, said, "This review takes into account the significant changes in the fiscal circumstances of the States since the Commission's last review in 2004. At the time of that review, New South Wales and Victoria were fiscally stronger than the other States. While their fiscal capacities are still above average, those of Western Australia and Queensland have strengthened quite dramatically over recent years as a result of strong increases in their revenue raising capacities, principally from mining royalties. The fiscal capacities of these two States are now the strongest. These four States now share the cost of raising the fiscal capacities of the four weaker States to the average. "Fiscal equalisation is designed so that, as a State's own capacity to raise revenue, or its cost of delivering services, diverges from the national average, there are compensating adjustments to its GST revenue", Mr Morris said. "That is what has happened in recent updates, and in this review."

2010 CGC Review final report here.

Dividing the Goods & Services Tax according to Granny Herald:
NSW + $1.07 billion
Victoria + 872 million
Queensland + $545 million
S. Australia + $357 million
Tasmania + $91 million
NT + $78 million
ACT - $30 million
WA - $223 million
SOURCE: GRANTS COMMISSION 2010-2011

The Big Joke Comedy Festival returns! 18-21 March 2010 at Bangalow NSW

The Big Joke Comedy Festival brings the laughs to the Bangalow A and I Hall. Featuring international headline acts, stand up comedy by kids, emerging comics battle it out for the Village Idiot crown and a women's comedy breakfast. The best comedy experience outside a capital city, No wait, better. No traffic, no long waiting lines, village atmosphere with a holiday begging to be taken, the funniest comedians on the planet WHOM actually want to have a beer and chat with the audience after the show, autographs, photo's, parking, relaxed and painless but really, really memorable.

When: 18 March to 21 March 2010 starting at 11:00 AM
Where: A and I Hall, Bangalow, NSW

Contact: Tel: 02 6629 1457 Email: jonathanallison@rocketmail.com

Web: http://www.thebigjoke.com.au/
Festival program details and online booking details here