Don't blame Dallas - former north coast rep on NSW Aboriginal Land Council wants nothing to do with petroleum exploration

Letter to the Editor, The Northern Star

Local decisions

I was the elected councillor representing the North Coast Region on the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council (NSWALC) from December 2010 to August 2011.

It has been mentioned to me that people are insinuating that I, as a councillor, was party to the NSWALC decision to apply for the petroleum exploration licences in the North Coast. I deny this.

In my time as councillor it was never mentioned about exploration licences on the North Coast.

My belief is that such decisions should come from the local level and not from the top down.

I personally find it repulsive that NSWALC made the decision they did without having the decency to talk with local Aboriginal land councils and other indigenous stakeholders. Shame on them.

Big brother has again returned to Aboriginal affairs.

I do not have an issue with mining where it is culturally and environmentally okay. The beautiful North Coast is not the place to pillage.

Dallas Donnelly, Grafton

Source: Letters, The Northern Star, 30/3/12

Iluka Road and the Mysterious Case of the Shrinking Petition

This was the Nationals MP for Clarence during his successful 2011 by-election campaign:

Now Mr Gulaptis said he has a 1500-signature petition signed by local residents calling for the speed limit to be raised to 100km/h….

Mr Gulaptis could not answer whether the petition was a recent one, or one launched six years ago in opposition to the speed limit reduction, as he said he hadn't seen it, despite claiming he had it on radio yesterday morning.

This was another Nationals MP for Clarence six years ago in 2006:

The Minister did not answer my urgent letters of months ago and last week. That is why I now raise the matter directly in the people's forum, Australia's first Parliament, along with 800 signatures taken in three days, to show the real community interest there. Labor was quick to slash the speed limit to 80 kilometres an hour on Iluka Road in a misguided attempt to protect emus…..

What do these two quotes tell us about ‘Steve’ Gulaptis’ request to the NSW Roads and Maritime Service for a review of the speed limit on Iluka Road in the Lower Clarence Valley?

Well, they tell us that the petition he was touting was unlikely to have ever contained 1,500 signatures – in fact it probably had a 700 signature shortfall.

They also suggest that he is attempting to use this petition a second time, as the former Member for Clarence had brought the petition to the attention of the NSW Legislative Assembly years ago.

Not rogering strangers in The Territory

Thousands of Territorians having crazed anonymous sex in public?
Naah, the pooches give the game away. If their owner was doing the wild thing in the bushes they would be trying to join in.
Betting that all the bloke on this NT News frontpage is doing is having a quick pee or the pic was posed.

Credit where credit's due

At 9 o'clock last night Chris Gulaptis, Member for Clarence, took the opportunity to make a private members' statement in the NSW Legislative Assembly about the value of the Grafton Agricultural Research and Advisory Station.

Mr Gulaptis concluded his statement with the words, "I offer my unreserved support for the Grafton Agricultural Research and Advisory Station."

Good work, Mr Gulaptis, but will your words do any good? Who was listening to the statement? More to the point, do they care and will they support you?

Earlier this week The Daily Examiner reported, "The once-prominent Grafton agricultural station appears to be dying a death of a thousand cuts. Following the closure of the hardwood forestry research facility and changes to the fisheries research facility, it has now been confirmed there are no beef cattle researchers on site and all stock are to be moved to Glen Innes."

Oh, and by the way, Mr Gulaptis still hasn't managed to get his portrait on the Members' Page on the parliamentary website. C'mon, Mr Gulaptis, get yourself down to the studio and have a happy snap taken - it's only a camera shot, not a rifle shot.