Tuesday 16 March 2010

The Ambitious Abbott: an authentic cunning opportunist who will say absolutely anything to get elected Australian Prime Minister



In very quick order those interviewed described him as an authentic, cunning, opportunist, who will say absolutely anything to get elected Australian Prime Minister - and those were just his friends, colleagues and admirers!
Disturbingly at least one of these people believes that Abbott would like to see an Australian society based on Catholic morality.

Cartoon found at Google Images

Is this an example of Rudd's future local health service delivery? GP Super Clinic causing stress in Grafton


No-one would deny that the 2007 Federal Labor general practice super clinic election promise was very welcome in the Clarence Valley. However, it has been a rather strange affair as reflected in The Daily Examiner letters to the editor columns over recent months, in light of the fact that this proposed clinic is a taxpayer-funded project though a $5 million federal capital grant for land purchase, building design, construction and equipment purchase.

One has to wonder why Rudd, Roxon and Dept of Health & Aging are allowing a private company Ochre Health (30 percent-owned by global investment bank Lazard through Lazard Carnegie & Wylie which in turn is connected with former Labor PM Keating) to set the agenda in this rather highhanded manner. After all, this clinic is supposed to provide another free health service as an adjunct to the public health/hospital system.

Even if it is apparently a joint venture agreement between Ochre and the Commonwealth, the company appears to outlay next to nothing and it will obviously be well-paid for any ongoing state-level service delivery if past contracts of over $1 million per annum are any indication and, the contracts Ochre usually has with its own doctors are based in part on expectations of the patient volume they attract with practitioners turning over to the company 40% of any Medicare bulk billing payment received.

It is understood that the property eventually reverts to Ochre ownership outright, which would mean that the land and building containing this conveyor-belt medical clinic would be able to be sold on for non-medical purposes in 2031 without penalty.
As the only consolation objecting neighbours have concerning this development is that it would provide a permanent super clinic for the local community, I wonder what they will think if any change of business type came to pass.

A brief history 29 January 2009 to 15 March 2010:

Super clinic site

NO doubt that the Valley is in great need of improved medical services.
Sixty-four people submitted written objection to (Clarence Valley) council regarding the location for the proposed (medical) super clinic (in Grafton).
I objected to the location of the super clinic in a residential area. I was one of many who gave a deputation at the site meeting with council's environment, economic and community committee, and the committee meeting on Tuesday. For three weeks I tried to contact Peter Bailey, of Ochre Health, to discuss my concerns. My calls went unanswered and unreturned. It has been very difficult for residents to get answers to their concerns.
At the site meeting citizens/voters were forbidden to ask any questions. At the site meeting Mr Bailey finally admitted that allied health service includes drug and alcohol treatment at the clinic, to be located in a residential area.
However, when asked by a councillor, Mr Bailey would not reveal why the site was the most suitable out of the other 15 sites allegedly considered.
The committee chair, Des Schroder, advised councillors that the developer's traffic study concluded 'no traffic issues'.
The DA reports an increase of an estimated 300 cars at this location, to begin with.
Ochre Health's report states 30,000 patients in year one, building to 60 by year eight. It is obscured to say the least to suggest such a significant increase in pedestrian and vehicle traffic will have no impact on the area, residential or otherwise.
The DA, and council, does not intend to put basic safety initiatives in place such as a pedestrian crossing or refuges at the site. Despite one councillor's concerns about site selection criteria, including river views for clinic staff, the matter will proceed to council vote this week.
This leaves very little time to exercise our democratic rights and speak out against the location of the super clinic as residents and voters of the Clarence Valley.
K VINCENT, Grafton.
- I WAS present at both the on-site meeting and the meeting of the CVC Environment, Economic and Community Committee meeting relating to DA 2010/0009 on Tuesday.
My strong impression was that I was witnessing a fairly elaborate charade with the issue at stake considered a foregone conclusion. It was deeply disappointing to me, as owner of 5 Fitzroy Street, Grafton, to hear Councillor Ian Tiley moving and Councillor Pat Comben seconding a motion that the DA be recommended for approval at the council meeting of Tuesday, March 16. Both councillors gave 'the greater good' as their justification. Surely 'the greater good' is that Grafton has secured the GP Super Clinic, a good not dependent on site chosen. Please note in this respect that 63 submissions made against the DA were objections to the location only (as compared to one submission of support).
Matters of concern:
(A) It is apparently indisputable that the DA could not be approved under the CVC's own existing 5(a) special uses (school/church) public purposes zoning arrangements. However, we are told that under clause 8 of the infrastructure SEPP if there is an inconsistency between the policy and any other environmental planning instrument, the policy prevails. My reading is that the EEC Committee therefore chose to avail themselves of the opportunity to over-ride their own council policy and the interests of affected ratepayers and residents in order to accommodate a large-scale commercial enterprise, something they concede is not generally referred to as a community purpose. Why? Why not adhere to council's own policy and leave it to the applicant/developer to respond? This would guarantee confidence in transparency and accountability. There are definitely other sites where the clinic could be more appropriately located.
(B) The chairman of the EEC Committee stated at the committee meeting of March 9 that there was only one DA relating to the super clinic for consideration at the meeting and that consideration of other sites was therefore irrelevant. Please consider these points. (i) There was, as far as I know, no community consultation re possible sites for construction of clinic. (ii) There was, as far as I know, no public call for expressions of interest. (iii) There was, according to Peter Bayley of Ochre Health Ltd, an understanding between St Mary's Parish (vendor) and Ochre Health (purchaser of site) that no contact with press or community be made until such time as a joint announcement be agreed. (iv) Well before this announcement was made on January 11, 2010, a DA had been lodged on Christmas Eve 2009. (v) The first communication I received came in a letter from Clarence Valley Council dated January 12, 2010 (received January 14) with an initial deadline for submissions of January 28. It is not surprising therefore that no other DA was before the committee. Further, an examination of the preceding points lends credibility to my impression that I have been participating in a charade.
(C) At both site and committee meeting some vital matters were dealt with cursorily or not at all: (a) The first of these is traffic. In my view, a GP Super Clinic means delay, congestion, frustration, an accident waiting to happen. (b) The second is the disregard for council's own policy re buildings and sites of historic interest. I have been in contact with the National Trust of NSW and the matter was considered by their advocacy unit. At present the Trust prefers not to be involved unless a building listed on their Special Register (there are two in this historic precinct) is threatened with demolition. However, they have asked to be kept informed.
- Edited for length.
KAY ALDEN, Grafton.



Super clinic for Grafton 29 January 2009

Provider chosen to run GP super clinic 15 July 2009

Super Clinic site a secret 17 November 2009

Site announced for new GP super clinic 13 January 2010

No methadone for super clinic 23 February 2010

GP says support for local doctors needed 24 February 2010

Sth Grafton calls for medical clinic 11 March 2010

Reduced your petrol consumption and think you've covered your fossil fuel footprint? Think again


If you have made an effort to reduce your petrol consumption by limiting using the car for unnecessary or short journeys - more power to you.
However, the family car is not the only way a household consumes fossil fuels.

Yes, I hear you say - we have an oil heater and we sometimes travel by air.
But don't stop there. Start to count the myriad other ways fossil fuel products enter your home.

For instance, according to Planet Green, fossil fuel derivatives are found in:
Pillows. Aspirin. Ammonia. Toothpaste and toothbrushes. Guitar strings. Shoe polish. Tape. Rubbing Alcohol. Vitamin capsules. Solvents. Caulking. Insecticides. Deodorant. Glue. Pantyhose and other nylon products. Most chewing gums. Waxed paper and packaging. Paraffin-based candles. Many inks and crayons. Majority of hair dyes and hair shampoos. Plastic bags. Paint. Detergents. Shaving cream. Many bandages. Disposable nappies. Perfume. Insect repellents. Food wrap. Non-leather purses. Non-leather shoes/shoe soles. Rubber boots. Rubber bands. Shower curtains. Skin creams—hand lotions, facial products, etc. Mineral oil.

Now many of these products are indispensable in modern urban life but, by the same token, many also have non-disposable alternatives or natural equivalents. Perhaps it's time to try to eliminate just a few of these other petroleum products on the way to a lower fossil fuel footprint.

From the Canute Files.......


Last Friday NBN Television reported on Clarence Valley Council's attempt to turn back the coastal tides:

"The Clarence Valley Council is undertaking erosion control measures on the banks of the Clarence River at Iluka.
$300,000 will be spent on the project which will involve additional sand being pumped onto a beach, riverbank stabilisation works and the construction of several boardwalks.
The work is expected to be completed by the end of the year."

Monday 15 March 2010

Science fights back at Universities Australia Climate Forum, Canberra 18 March 2010


Universities Australia is to be commended for encouraging the science community to respond to those barbarians noisily hammering at the gate.

Hopefully transcripts of forum speeches will be posted online for the wider dissemination.

From the Science In Public website:

Climate Change: bridging scientific knowledge and public policy

Thursday 18 March 2010

The Mural Hall, Parliament House, Canberra, 8.30am – 12.30pm

Universities Australia is the peak body of all Australia's universities and is committed to engaging with Parliament on issues of great national significance, and to informing social, political and commercial responses to those issues.

The UA Forum on Climate Change will focus both on the scientific evidence, and the certainties and uncertainties of that evidence, as well as the challenges of communicating the science and of bridging scientific knowledge and public policy.

The program will comprise three sessions each with a series of brief presentations covering:

Session 1: Climate change in Australia today – the evidence

Session 2: Australian research that reveals the future of climate change – certainties and uncertainties

Session 3: Responding to climate change: the social and economic impact

The speakers will include research leaders in climate science and the impacts of climate change including: Nathan Bindoff, Roger Jones, Amanda Lynch, Roger Stone, Snow Barlow, Marie Keatley, Janette Lindesay, Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, and John Quiggin

Some of the issues that will be covered are:

  • What are the signs of climate change in Australia today? What are the predictions?
  • How are cities, agriculture and the environment responding?
  • How well placed are we to adapt to our changing climate.
  • What are the jobs and opportunities in responding effectively to climate change?

For more information visit www.scienceinpublic.com.au/blog/ua

For more information and to register please contact Niall Byrne, Science in Public Ph: 03 9398 1416, Mobile: 0417 131 977
Email: niall@scienceinpublic.com.au

Who's guarding the guards guarding your personal information?



Just as the Rudd Government has two bills before Parliament which would a) allow the Australian Taxation Office to hand secret taxpayer information to other government agencies to "prevent or lessen" a serious threat to public health or safety and b) establish a national database containing every citizen's personal residential and health information in the face of serious continuing doubts concerning data security and function creep, as well as intending to sanction the non-consensual handling of personal information to facilitate research in the public interest, not just for medical and health research, the Australian Law Reform Commission releases a series of recommendations which advise government to weaken criminal sanctions in certain circumstances for improperly disclosing information.

In the face of evidence that Medicare, Centrelink, the Tax Office and certain other government agencies all have a long history of spying on individual client records and that theft and sale of health information is not unknown internationally - do we really need to see criminal sanctions watered down for any form of unlawful information sharing?

Of course the principal motivation for establishing this national database is not just installing an e-Health program, it also appears to be a desire to create a backdoor citizen identification scheme similar to those proposed in relation to the Australia Card and Access Card, so this haphazard approach to the security of a citizen's personal digital information is perhaps par for the course.

ALRC media release on 11 March 2010:

The final report of the Australian Law Reform Commission's comprehensive review of Commonwealth secrecy laws, Secrecy Laws and Open Government in Australia (ALRC Report 112) was tabled in federal Parliament today. The report is the product of a 15-month inquiry and makes 61 recommendations for reform. It sets out a new and principled framework designed to reinforce open and accountable government while ensuring adequate protection for Commonwealth information that should legitimately be kept confidential......
Prof Croucher stated that a key focus of the ALRC report was to "wind back" the use of criminal sanctions, for the unauthorised disclosure of information, including the repeal of s 70 of the Crimes Act 1914, which has attracted consistent criticism over the years. "Criminal sanctions should only be imposed where the unauthorised release of information has caused, or is likely or intended to cause, harm to identified public interests."

ALRC Report 112 Secrecy Laws and Open Government in Australia

Terms of Reference (PDF) (RTF)
List of Participants (
PDF) (RTF)
List of Recommendations (
PDF) (RTF)
Executive Summary (PDF) (RTF)

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

Monsanto's failures come as no surprise


Potential for yield declines in GM soybean has already been recorded, along herbicide resistant weeds, so it should really come as no surprise to find that yet another Monsanto genetically modified seed variety is not living up to its advertising hype:

A genetically modified cotton produced by Monsanto is failing to control pests in four Indian states, the company said last week.
The survival of the pink bollworm in Monsanto's Bollgard brand cotton was detected in four of the nine Indian states where the cotton is grown.
A spokesman for the Creve Coeur-based company said it is taking the matter "very seriously" and will continue to monitor the situation with the help of a team of Indian-based experts. The detection has been reported to the Indian Genetic Engineering Committee, the company said.
The cotton is engineered to resist the pink bollworm, a pest that can ruin crops. However, testing was conducted to assess resistance to Cry1Ac, the Bt protein in the crop, and insects were found to be surviving it.

The company said Friday that the resistance could be occurring because the required refuge areas were not planted by farmers and some may have used unapproved Bt cotton seed.
Recently, India's environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, said the country should be more cautious in adopting genetically modified crops.


* This post is part of the North Coast Voices' effort to keep Monsanto's blog monitor (affectionately known as Mr. Monsanto) in long-term employment.