Australian High Court: 1 Godbothers & Abbott: 0

Aunty ABC on 20^th June 2012:

“A Queensland man has won his High Court challenge to the Commonwealth's funding for school chaplaincy programs.

Toowoomba father Ron Williams had challenged the program on the basis Commonwealth officers are not allowed to be subject to a religious test under the Constitution.

The court dismissed that claim, but did find the Commonwealth had no power to enter the agreement which funded the program.

The national chaplaincy program was set up in 2007 by the Howard government to provide for the spiritual wellbeing of students.

It was later modified by Labor to allow schools to choose to employ either a chaplain or a non-religious student welfare worker.

Under the program, schools could choose to employ a chaplain for spiritual guidance although pushing religion was banned.

Today's decision against the program will affect around 2,500 chaplains across Australia….

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said it would be a "real pity" if the chaplaincy program was not able to continue.

"We invented the program, we support the program, we want it to continue," he said.

"Let's look at the court's decision and let's see what the Government has in mind."
To be continued............

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Ed West‏@edwestonline

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I think that's a bit judgemental, especially for a school http://t.co/S9gX8a1K

Memo to Demographer Extraordinaire Bernard Salt

Hey Bernie,
Households in the Lower Clarence area will be without power from 10.00pm tonight until 6.00am on Sunday as a result of Essential Energy's planned outage while it installs a new 66,000 volt ring feeder which is supposed to greatly increase the security of electricity supply in the region.

While some are whingeing about not having the opportunity to see Aussie nag Black Caviar run in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot, many others are thought to be planning on doing what many did in the good old days before the box in the corner of the lounge room became commonplace.

Apparently, health officials have already taken the red pen to next year's calendar and struck out a period of time when all leave will be cancelled. That action's required to ensure all hands are on deck when the boom in newborns is anticipated.

So, Bernie, make sure you factor in tonight's event when explaining demographic changes in 2013.

When unelected council officers decide that they know best.........

Letter to the editor (below) in The Daily Examiner today, which once again points to the dysfunctional nature of the information flow between Clarence Valley Council management and local government elected representatives.

Cycleway options

In Item (13-082/12 Clarenza Cycleway Options) listed before the CVC General Meeting 26-6-12, it discloses the recommended widths for shared pathways by Councils Pedestrian & Mobility Plan (PAMP) - Desirable width 2.5m - 3.5m depending upon use. Acceptable width 2.0m to 2.5m and at squeeze points 2.0m. The Clarenza Cycleway Plan recommends a general width of 2.5m.
But also listed before Councils General Meeting 26-6-12 is a diversion of the Yamba road cycleway (which complies with PAMP) to a shared use pathway which does not comply with Council's recommended safety standards as prescribed by PAMP. Its width never exceeds 2m and continually narrows in some places to 1.6m. It also has sign posts positioned on the pathway instead of 0.3m from the pathway as recommended by PAMP.
Despite divulging these narrow widths to firstly the Traffic C'tee and then the Civil and Corporate C'tee and tendering an alternative plan that enables the Yamba road cycleway to continue without a necessary diversion, at no stage has Council staff revealed to either the Traffic C'tee or the Civil and Corporate C'tee that its shared pathway does not comply with Council's own recommended safety standards. Instead the recommendation continues to request Council to erect more signs diverting cyclists onto its (unsafe) shared pathway which it has been made aware does not comply with its own recommended safety standards.
Should there be a serious injury, any insurer would be entitled to deny indemnity on the basis Council was aware its shared pathway did not comply with its own recommended safety standards, yet did not inform the insurer exposed to the risk.
It would be reprehensible if ratepayers were then asked to meet liability to any compensation claim.
The system prevents me from making any further deputations. It is an issue involving public safety yet can easily be overcome by a tape measure, integrity and initiative to continue the passage of the Yamba road cycleway to ease the loading on the unsafe shared pathway.

Ray Hunt

Yamba