Paradise lost in Maclean

A letter to the editor in The Daily Examiner November 19, 2011:

Paradise lost
I'M visiting the Clarence area, having been away for some time.
I'm appalled at the lack of re-vegetation of the Maclean Rainforest Reserve, the amount of trimmings and vegetation removal in the high school area and the resulting movement of the flying fox camp to the gully/sub station area.
I was a member of the Maclean Rainforest Reserve Trust before the 1999 dispersals and I remember having a conversation with one of the residents of Harwood St, who stated from experience, that flying foxes had used the gully area in the past at times of dispersal/disturbance.
At the time, no one planning the dispersal would take any notice of this statement.
The "belief de jour" was that the disturbed flying foxes would move to Yaegl Nature Reserve - known then as Farlow's Swamp - despite the fact that there was no evidence that this was so.
The residents of the gully are certainly currently living daily with the results of this decision.
All evidence at the time stated that flying foxes are best managed in their original camp site.
I don't know what it takes to make those in authority take notice of evidence and consequences before they make decisions that others are going to have to live with.
They obviously use other criteria to make their decisions.
I wish I knew what they were.
It's interesting to note that Chris Gulaptis, who led the Maclean flying fox disturbance regime, is once again standing in the position of decision-maker for the people of this area.
I wonder if he ever reflects on the consequences of that earlier decision.
It certainly worked well for him, jump-starting his political career.
But the residents of the gully and a threatened species have not been so fortunate.

Carole West

Port Macquarie

Photograph from Google Images

NSW Police fight to keep mug shots of persons found not guilty by courts and succeed

NSW Police has given us more reason not to fall foul of the law – it intends to keep all those physical and digital copies of mug shots even after people are found not guilty by the courts.

The reason why police get to keep these records forever? Well the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal tells us it's because those lawmakers in Macquarie Street forgot to consider mug shots and surveillance photos when framing LEPRA.

The Tribunal also says; “NSW Police Force is not required to comply with the information protection principles when taking photographs of a person in lawful custody under s 133 of the LEPRA”

LEPRA allows for the destruction of finger and palm prints, but this legislative oversight leaves the way wide open for police to indulge in some petty revenge by keeping people in the database who have no criminal record.

Now I had a wee hunt back in time and discovered that LEPRA was enthusiastically embraced in 2006 by none other than the present NSW Police Minister who said in Parliament that “We want to re-empower police in relation to arrest and research with what is known as LEPRA—the Law Enforcement (Powers and Responsibilities) Act.”

So the O’Farrell Government can’t just blame NSW Labor for the current stupidity.

Here’s one recent example of a person having prints destroyed but photos retained by police.

APN proofreaders asleep at the wheel

As if the matter covered by the item wasn't bad enough, APN's online report about the fire in a Sydney nursing home carried more pain for victims, their families and friends when APN stuffed up big time with the name of the alleged killer.

Catvertising - the new reality?

World's first catvertising agency

http://youtu.be/IkOQw96cfyE

Northern Rivers businesses on notice regarding future carbon tax claims made to consumers

The ACCC has published online a guide for business when making any claim that the carbon tax to be introduced in mid-2012 will increase costs to consumers.

Hopefully the Northern Rivers business community will read this document as there will be local people watching out for any false or misleading claims.

Carbon price claims - Guide for business.pdf (1.6 MB)

Gulaptis becomes new Clarence MP

The National Party’s Chris Gulaptis is the new Member of Parliament for the Clarence Electorate until 2015 and, on his past history this tenure is likely to be one marked by discord between himself and local communities in the Clarence Valley - with the possibility of dissatisfaction also emerging on the Dorrigo Plateau and in the Casino district.

Overall at this election there appears to have been a -16.3% two candidate preferred swing against the Nationals and, according to Antony Green on paper Clarence is the 5th biggest by-election swing since the war. However, the outcome was never in doubt.

At close of counting tonight primary votes and 2CP votes for all 45 booths have been reported with the following results.

National Party result and swings by polling booths overleaf.

Image of lightning strikes over South Grafton on 12 November 2011 found at NBN News

Clarence By-election - links to live cover 19 November 2011

ABC’s Antony Green with live updates at http://www.abc.net.au/elections/nsw/2011/clarence/ from 6pm

NSW Electoral Commission at
http://www.elections.nsw.gov.au/results/by-elections/state/2011_clarence_by-election_results/.
Clarence by-election results will be uploaded as soon as available after 6pm, and will be updated progressively on Election Night and until ballot count ends.

Northern Rivers Greens will be tweeting at https://twitter.com/#!/nrgreens

ABC Local Radio (Grafton/Kempsey/Richmond) news updates at 738 AM and 92.3 FM or 94.5 FM