Clarence MP Christopher Gulaptis's first day on the job

Extracts from Hansard, NSW Legislative Assembly, Friday 25 November 2011

ELECTORATE DISTRICT OF CLARENCE

Election of Christopher Gulaptis

The SPEAKER: I inform the House that my writ issued on 28 October 2011 in accordance with section 70 of the Parliamentary Electorates and Elections Act 1912 for the election of a member to serve in the Legislative Assembly for the electoral district of Clarence in place of Steven Rhett Cansdell, resigned, has been returned with a certificate endorsed by the Electoral Commissioner advising of the election of Christopher Gulaptis to serve as the member for the electoral district of Clarence.

PLEDGE OF LOYALTY

Mr Christopher Gulaptis took and subscribed the pledge of loyalty and signed the roll.
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QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

 Mr CHRISTOPHER GULAPTIS: My question is addressed to the Deputy Premier. ...  How has the Government delivered for regional New South Wales this year, and related matters?

 Mr ANDREW STONER: That is ... a very good question—the first of many—from the new member for Clarence. Welcome to New South Wales Parliament.
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LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

STATE AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE

Membership

Mr BRAD HAZZARD (Wakehurst—Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, and Minister Assisting the Premier on Infrastructure NSW) [3.19 p.m.]: I move:

That: (1) Christopher Gulaptis be appointed to serve on the Legislative Assembly Committee on Economic Development in place of Andrew Robert Gee, discharged.

Question—That the motion be agreed to—put and resolved in the affirmative.

Motion agreed to.
 

While we were sleeping Norway took a big step towards a sustainable future

Cetaceans

Cetaceans evolved from land mammals approximately 50 million years ago. While thoroughly adapted to sea life, they retain some traces of their evolutionary past. Cetaceans bear live young and feed them milk, investing heavily in the upbringing and development of each offspring. Cetaceans live long, mature late, reproduce slowly and engage in complex social relationships. They are capable advanced activities including echolocation and long-distance communication, which provide them with sophisticated tools to perceive and understand their environment. A complex respiratory system allows them to spend long stretches under water, but they must surface regularly to breath air.

The spectacular leaps of whales and dolphins above the water’s surface, as well as the sounds some species use to communicate and function underwater, fascinate humans. In many communities, there are significant cultural connections between cetaceans and humans. [CMS website]

The 10^th Convention on Migratory Species (COP10) has been meeting in Bergen, Norway between 20-25 November 2011 with little fanfare in the Australian media.

The Migratory Wildlife Network has representatives attending the convention and reports that Norway removed its reservation to the CMS Appendix listing of a number of cetacean and shark species. This whaling nation’s reservation still remain on some cetaceans, but this step forward can only be seen in a positive light.

Background:

Implementation of Resolution 8.22 on Human-Induced Impacts on Cetaceans

Global Programme of Work for Cetaceans

Further Steps to Abate Underwater Noise Pollution for the Protection of Cetaceans and Other Biota

Review of Article IV Agreements already concluded: Pacific Cetaceans 

Photograph found at Google Images

A plumber and an electrician walked into a bar and......

Maud Up the Street sent me this ROFL from The Daily Examiner’s letters to the editor printed on 22^nd November, in which the institution of monogamous state-sanctioned marriage suddenly becomes something of an immutable law of nature. Wonder what the writer would call the practices of polygamy and ritual marriage to a god?

Time to face facts

WITH the ALP Federal Conference due in December, where the definition of marriage is to be considered, it is time to face facts.

Let us consider two trades people - one a plumber, one an electrician. Both are qualified, but their purpose and functions are different. Therefore, a plumber will never call himself an electrician. The end results of the work of these two people are totally foreign to each other. The argument in favour of equal pay for women correctly states when a woman is performing the same functions in her employment as a man she is entitled to the same - that is equal salary status.

Times change, as do dress fashions, entertainment, working conditions and so on, but nature itself keeps some things unchangeable. From time immemorial marriage has been the exclusive union of a man and a woman and for simple basic reasons.

(a) The bodies of the female and the male complement each other, and thus the "fruit" of this complementary is the new life of offspring. That is the nature and function of marriage.

(b) This union between a man and a woman and which is the object of a solemn public vow to live together, for better or for worse, is known as marriage.

(c) So granted, that is what the word marriage means. It is not possible that it means something else because a "friendship" same-sex union is an agreed arrangement between two males or between two females (eg to sleep together, to live together, to share assets and benefits etc). An "arrangement" is all it can be in comparison to the man and woman marital bond. The "comparison" reveals the difference that while marriage and same-sex unions are both ways individuals may choose to live, their natures and outcomes are worlds apart, as are the plumbers and the electricians.

There is no valid objection to same-sex unions being given a title specific to that type of union, but to call it a marriage would contradict the very notion of a word expressing the precise intention of what it means.

That is elementary intelligence. There are none so blind as those who will not see.

By absolute contrast, marriage is that union whereby a man and a woman bind themselves together in a solemn public vow, and is directed to bringing forth a new generation of children.

It is this "end" that differentiates the marital bond from all others. For this reason the term "marriage equality" advocated by the gay community and the Greens, is a contradiction of our human faculty to think, to reason and to recognise the truth of fact.

PETER J YOUNG

Greta

Free at last, free at last! Two faces of a day in the Australian Parliament

Harry Jenkins MP (Australian Labor Party)

on the Government backbenches

shortly after his resignation as

Speaker of the House of Representatives

in the Australian Parliament

Peter Slipper MP (Liberal Party of Australia)

being lead to The Speaker's chair

past the Opposition Leader

after being elected unopposed

on 24 November 2011

Clarence Valley Council votes down a move to politicize the position of mayor

A reminder that sometimes local government councillors will show more than passing common sense and, move to protect residents and ratepayers from the worst excesses of personal political ambition which hamper good governance.

ORDINARY MEETING 15 NOVEMBER 2011

This is Page 185 of the Minutes of the Ordinary Council Meeting of Clarence Valley Council on 15 November 2011.

MOTION

(Crs Williamson/Comben)

That

In accordance with S16 (b) of the Local Government Act 1993, Council conduct a constitutional referendum at the 2012 NSW quadrennial local government election so as to allow the electors of Clarence Valley to determine the basis on which the Mayor attains office that is, by election by the Councillors or by election by the electors.

Voting recorded as follows:

For: Councillors Williamson, Comben, Howe and Hughes

Against: Councillors Tiley, Toms, Simmons, McKenna and Dinham

The motion was LOST

Grafton Regional Gallery inspires the nation on 11.11.11

This is 11:11 11/11/11 from ABC Open Sunraysia on Vimeo.

According to ABC Open on November 21, 2011 Grafton Regional Gallery inspired this:

We had an overwhelming response to the 11.11 project. The results are now in, and you can see them here.

We put out the call and you answered it! Over 1200 images flooded in from around regional Australia, all captured at a moment (well actually two moments) in time - 11.11 am and 11.11 pm on 11.11.2011.

We've selected some for the video above, and you'll be able to see a full gallery of images later in week.

What you've captured is a fantastic snapshot of Australian life in 2011. You showed us the saleyards in Tamworth, a theatre roof in Bundaberg, and the agricultural show in Albany. People all around the country took part. Some took a break from their work day, others got back to work, while we also saw some great shots of people enjoying the great outdoors, including the tennis ladies from Kambah in the ACT. From getting a haircut, to feeding the seagulls, to even getting married - so many stories captured in a single image.

We loved seeing so many groups of people getting into the spirit, especially all the school groups. And we saw some great interpretations of the numbers. I just loved the souvenir spoons.

And we were moved by some of the images of Remembrance Day, old mates catching up, the meeting of generations and this stark image of the cost of war, so poignantly captured by Lois Krake.

Wherever you were, whatever you were doing, thanks for taking part. We hope you had a great time - we know we did - and that you'll share the 11.11 time capsule, the results of your huge group effort, far and wide.