National Weed Research Grant Goes To Trenayr Institute

Joint media release on 4 May 2011 from Labor MPs Mike Kelly and Janelle Saffin announcing a grant to the NSW North Coast’s Primary Industries Institute at Trenayr, to study an invasive exotic weed group which includes the notorious Giant Parramatta Grass and Giant Rat’s Tail Grass (NSW DPI photograph on the left):

PAGE MP Janelle Saffin has welcomed $144,396 in Australian Government funding for the Grafton Primary Industries Institute to continue research into biological control of weedy sporobolus grasses that impact on agriculture and the environment.

The national weed research project, being led by Mr David Officer at Trenayr, is one of 33 new projects under a $6.1-million investment announced by Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Dr Mike Kelly.

Ms Saffin said Mr Officer’s important work would promote biological control of weedy sporobolus grasses using a naturally occurring fungus, Nigrospora oryzae.

“This research will also investigate whether the fungus will infect other weedy sporobolus grasses,” she said.

“The Grafton Primary Industries Institute has a reputation for undertaking cutting edge research. This project hopefully will bring innovative approaches to tackling some of Australia’s most invasive plant pests.”

Dr Kelly said that weeds have a major impact on the national economy, costing farmers more than $4 billion annually in lost production and control measures.

“The damage caused to Australia’s natural environment by weeds is also immense,” Dr Kelly said.

“The research investment is a key plank of the National Weeds and Productivity Research Program which is leading Australia’s search for weeds solutions.”

The newly funded projects began in March 2011 and run until May 2012.

This Program is being managed by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC).

A full list of the 33 research projects is available at http://www.rirdc.gov.au/programs.

The barbarians are not longer at the gate - they are inside the castle walls

It would be hard to find worse news for one of Australia's most endangered marine species, the Grey Nurse Shark, than this press release from an underwhelming and incredibly short-sighted NSW Minister for Primary Industries and Nationals MP for the landlocked seat of Burrinjuck, Katrina Hodgkinson, who appears hell-bent on ecological destruction for its own sake:

Minister for Primary Industries, Katrina Hodgkinson, today announced a revocation of the recreational fishing closures introduced at Fish Rock and Green Island in January this year, as promised in the lead up to the NSW election. Katrina Hodgkinson said that the NSW Government would put the closures back out to public consultation for a further three months to ensure the best outcome is achieved for both the grey nurse shark population and the local community.
"The NSW Government is committed to protecting the grey nurse shark population at Fish Rock and Green Island," she said.
"However, as promised prior to the election, we want to ensure the community have a proper chance to be consulted before any final decision is made.
"The NSW Government has also committed to a scientific review of the effectiveness of management arrangements in meeting domestic and international commitments to the conservation of marine biodiversity, and to ensuring the conservation needs of grey nurse shark are met well into the future.
"The outcomes from community consultation and scientific review will be used to guide the development of new management arrangements for Fish Rock and Green Island.
"Fishing and diving at Fish Rock and Green Island provide many social and economic benefits to the local community and it is important that the community have the chance to provide input into the future of the area.
Minister Hodgkinson said the revocation of the fishing closures means that the critical habitat rules that existed prior to Friday, January 28 will be reinstated.
"Recreational anglers are reminded that fishing with bait or wire trace while anchored or moored, or attaching weights of more than 500 grams to fishing lines is prohibited within 200 metres of Fish Rock and Green Island," she said.
"Today's announcements only affect recreational fishing, the commercial fishing closures at Fish Rock and Green Island to protect grey nurse sharks will continue unchanged.
For further information visit www.dpinsw.gov.au/fisheries

* Image from ABC Coffs Coast

What a ridiculous beat up by the Murdoch media

The online blurb for a Malcolm Farr article published by News Limited on 4 May 2011:

Rudd breaks silence on his ousting: 'Character building'

By Malcolm Farr RUDD speaks of his removal as PM in address in the US, in a sign he's not in a mood to forgive or forget.

And the basis for the claim that Rudd is not in a mood to forgive or forget?

This bland comment in his speech to the Brookings Institute in Washington DC on 3 May 2011:

This week — any week — it's great to be back at Brookings.

I spoke here last, just three years ago.

If a week is a long time in politics, three years is an eternity.

The three intervening years have been something of a rollercoaster ride:

• for the world economy;
• for global politics;
• and, for some of us personally

All of which, as they say in the classics, has been character building.

The stretch between what was actually said and the wording of the blurb is so long that one can only call that link a lying lure. Presumably a crude effort to drive readers to this article and create a perception in the minds of advertisers that they are getting value for their dollar. Is it any wonder that mainstream media’s reputation is in tatters?

An audio of his speech The Rise of Asia, International Cooperation and U.S. Foreign Policy can be found here.

Maclean Agricultural Show 11-12 May 2011

Sarah at Maclean Show with Margaretta Fahey and
Grand Champion Brahman Bull, Bizzy Monty

The NSW Far North Coast has twelve local agricultural shows at Alstonville, Bangalow, Bonalbo, Casino, Grafton, Kyogle, Lismore, Maclean, Mullumbimby, Murwillumbah, Nimbin, Woodenbong.

On the 11 and 12 May it is the Lower Clarence’s turn to strut its stuff with the Exhibition and Show at the Maclean Showground on the banks of the Clarence River.

Events include sideshows, equestrian events, sales displays, floral and fruit exhibits and food stalls. The Show also has exhibits in craft, beef cattle, vegetables, poultry, cooking, caged birds, photography, championship dog show, exhibits from local schools and from industry.

Come early and stay until late and join in the fun!

For more information:

Contact Name: Dawn Stewart

Phone: (02) 6645 1532

Eta Aquarids due to cross Australian sky around 4am on 6 May 2011

According to Meteors Online; This represents the view from mid-southern latitudes at about 4:00 a.m. local time around May 6. The graphic does not represent the view at the time of maximum, but is simply meant to help prospective observers to find the radiant location.

Eta Aquarids are fast and often trace yellow-coloured long paths across the sky. However, if the skies are clear early on Monday you will not need binoculars or a telescope to see larger objects in this meteor shower created by the tail of Halley's Comet.

So look north-east around 4am and with luck you will enjoy one of life's many wonders.

Halley's Comet in 1997 from Messiers Meteors

Within minutes of Bin Laden's death being officially announced conspiracy wingnuts were active in the Northern Rivers

I happened to be having an after lunch drink when Osama bin Laden’s assassination in Pakistan was officially announced by the U.S. Government.

Two men lunching at an adjacent table began to pantomime amazement and disbelief as the news was discussed. Then it began to get interesting as we fell into conversation.

Apparently for some nefarious and unstated reason the announcement of bin Laden’s death at the hands of the U.S. military is nothing but a sham. He either died years ago or is still alive - it was hard to discern just what this pair actually believed on that point. But wink, wink, nudge, nudge, it’s all a big fat lie and we know better than to believe anything we see or hear on the news.

So how did these two men know with such certainty that the announcement by President Obama was a sham?

Why one of two was allegedly a judge at the International Court of Justice at The Hague, who just happened to have been legally representing a person before the court that day in Lismore.

I was shown what had to have been the cheesiest business card I have ever seen and one which had obviously been printed out on cheap paper using a home computer.

De Judge then asserted something which was patently wrong; that is that an ordinary person could not find out the names of ICJ current judges as these names were not on the Court’s website and "could not be Googled".

On hearing that I settled back and began to enjoy myself. Though apparently I did not hide my glee all that well, as suddenly the good judge morphed into either an employee or associate of one David Wynn Miller (aka King of Hawaii) who appeared on the NSW North Coast earlier this year after seemingly wearing out his welcome in Canada and possibly many parts of his own homeland as well.

When I returned home I checked my lunch time acquaintance out. It goes without saying that he is not a judge.

In comments on one blog KJM aka BM admits that he is not even a lawyer, on a second he asserts he is a judge representing certain indigenous interests, on a third he states he belongs to something called the Unity States of the World or similar, on a fourth he sets himself up as an amateur linguist with hysterical results, on a fifth he associates himself with assorted wingnuts, on a sixth he is calling himself a musician/music teacher who is ex-military and, on a seventh he offers a little free 'legal' advice and insists that Hawaii is a sovereign nation. He is also a supporter of the elusive Cairns Law Club and beleives that all local government elections are probably illegal.

It seems that the North Coast is now hosting a second fantasist to rival our resident Zussino.

Oh dear…………………

These days who encourages us to hate and fear with such intensity?

There’s a lot of talk about how Australian pollies of all persuasions love to blow the dog whistle and quite rightly thoughts often quickly turn to that rabid master of fear and hysteria, our beloved St. Tones of the Boats.
But this ignores the fact that without the electronic, digital and print media his words and those of his ilk would drift away and quickly disappear – remembered only briefly by those who actually saw him verbally levitating at the time.
So it's probably worth mentioning that the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute released a peer reviewed report in April called The stigmatisation of social housing: findings from a panel investigation which points out that large mainstream media outlets play to what editors and journalists think are community prejudices and chose what becomes popular reality.

Here’s a taste of the report:

“There is considerable commercial pressure for journalists to provide entertaining stories that will appeal to large audiences. It is an inescapable fact that negative stories of social housing are more likely to appeal than those that frame it in a positive light. Perhaps this is because negative depictions convey an alternative reality that elicits an emotional response. In the area of media research, writers such as Entman (1993) and Van Dijk (1997) make use of the term ‘framing’ to explain how media construes social reality. They point out that media is not just a conduit of information but actually provides a narrative from which to interpret this information. Media reporting in practice selects aspects of reality and then makes this reality salient to advance a particular interpretation (McCullagh 2002).

The media is not neutral, but embedded in the political/social nexus, and as such reflects the dominant power relationships that exist within society. This is why groups with limited access to resources are rarely able to challenge these hegemonic narratives. Cohen (1980) has used the term ‘moral panics’ and media ‘amplification’ to interpret the way that specific social groups are imbued with negative pathologies, noting how these panics often surface in periods of insecurity and social dislocation…..

good news stories about social housing are not as interesting to the audience or as profitable to run as negative ones ”