Jockey ducks and weaves

Jockey Matt Dacos certainly earned his riding fee in race 6 at the Grafon races on Thursday. Dacos was aboard Cee Jay Clang near the 1200m mark when he was struck in the face by a low flying duck. Dacos overcame that obstacle, continued to ride his mount and eventually finished in second place.   

NSW jockeys earn the princely sum of $162 whether their mount wins or loses. If their mount wins or runs a place they also pick up a standard 5% of the prize money, which is sometimes accompanied by a "sling" from grateful connections.

                                                Does anyone know how the duck fared?

                                                               Image credit: dailyexaminer.com.au



Gulaptis admits he "stuffed up" & then offers a string of weak excuses to 2,000 strong crowd

First untruth – I didn’t know about the closure of the gaol as it was happening {What, questions raised in Budget Estimates and on the floor of the House didn’t give you a clue? You certainly knew at least 300 positions were being deleted across Corrective Services NSW – after all your minister confirmed this - and yet you didn't check to see if your election promise still held? Pull the other one!}

Second untruth – I know what it is to lose your job and have to move out of town {Maaate! You quit your council elected office and headed north across the border to a new job after a failed bid to enter Federal Parliament in 2007 and that’s not the same thing as facing forced redundancy.}

Third untruth - "If I lied, I would tell you that I lied" {A triple pork pie with pike as local government voters can attest from bitter experience.}

Fourth untruth – I want to work with the unions "to put a hold on this” {Did you think no-one noticed that all you are promising is to talk with O'Farrell about a future regional investment package - not actually keeping the gaol from being downsized and downgraded?}

While I'm at it I dips me lid to The Daily Examiner for its beaut news coverage.

UPDATE: If the body language of fellow Nats Williamson and Challacombe didn't give the game way when Gulaptis was saying he knew nothing of the closure of the gaol until it was happening, then this confirms the suspicions of many - MAYOR Richie Williamson said he was devastated after a meeting with Acting NSW Premier Andrew Stoner and Attorney General Greg Smith SC, in which they said State Government would charge on with its plans to downsize Grafton Jail. Cr Williamson said the State Government wasn't interested in doing business or listening to the delegation of Grafton community and union representatives in Sydney this afternoon and that jail transfers would continue. "And the heart will be ripped out of the Clarence Valley," he said. {The Daily Examiner}

The Great Garbage Swindle

 

Clarence Valley Council is running the old pea and thimble scam, but are using garbage cans instead of thimbles.

Here is how it works.

If you are lucky enough to have the three wheely bins, green red and yellow, you are not in the firing line of this sting.

If you are one of the many in Valley rural areas who only receive the service of the red and yellow bins, read on….

It pays to think on the fortnightly cycle of the garbage service outside of the towns. 

Last year the red bin was collected every week, therefore in one fortnight 2 red bins were collected and one week in the same period the yellow bin was collected. This makes a grand total of 3 bins per fortnight. 

This current year the red bin is collected one week and the yellow bin the next week, the total number of bin per fortnight collected is 2.

When you look at this there is a 1/3 reduction in our garbage service, but the council assures me that the price we will pay for garbage services in our rates will remain the same. 

So my argument is: since the garbage service has reduced by 1/3 or 33.3% and the price we pay for this service is the same as last year we are in affect paying 33.3% more than we did last year.

To put this in dollar terms if the garbage charged on my rates last year was $300, this current year I am in effect paying $100 more this year.

All this without a visible increase in the rate notices.

If this isn’t the best little pea and thimble scam you have seen in a while let me know. 

In fact I hear that an unprecedented number of ‘Nigerian’ emailers have applied for Australian residency visas so that they can sit at the feet of a veritable scam meister.

Bins from Google Images 

 

NSW Government closes forty-five year old, inefficient power station which has been surplus to requirements for last 12 months - media wildly blames introduction of carbon price

Apparently desperate for a bad news story to match the 1 July 2012 introduction of the national carbon price scheme, the mainstream media decided that this media release from NSW Government trading enterprise, Delta Electricity, met its needs - despite all evidence to the contrary.

Media Statement

3 July 2012

Munmorah Power Station to close after 45 years of operation

Delta Electricity announced today the closure of Munmorah Power Station after 45 years of operation. The station has been maintained on standby but has not been in production since August 2010.

Decreasing energy demand in NSW has created an excess supply situation. Munmorah’s place in the market has been overtaken by newer and more efficient generators and alternative electricity sources.

The station’s ageing infrastructure and high maintenance costs mean that it is not economically viable to operate. The carbon tax further erodes its viability.

Greg Everett, Delta’s Chief Executive, said that “As a part of the decommissioning of the station, the Delta Electricity Central Coast business will reduce in size.

“Approximately 100 positions were deployed at Munmorah when it was in service and since that time have been reassigned to work at Vales Point.

“The process of decommissioning will require staff activity at Munmorah over the coming weeks and we will consult with staff and unions on the structure of the business for the longer term”.

The decommissioning of Munmorah Power Station will involve the shutdown of all non-safety and non-essential service systems at the station, removal of fuel and chemicals and securing of buildings.

Koala Park, Extreme Park and Camp Breakaway are unaffected by the decision and will continue to be available for community use.

Munmorah Power Station has development consent for rehabilitation as either a coal or gas fired generator but this would require substantial new capital investment by a future owner.

Julia Harvey

Delta Electricity

Corporate Relations Manager

Background

Munmorah was constructed when the Central Coast was a series of coastal and seaside villages. 110km north of Sydney and just south of Newcastle it is located on the coastal strip between the Tuggerah Lakes. Its location was chosen because of its proximity to supplies of coal on the Central Coast and the Hunter.

Four English Electric 350MW generators were constructed with a capacity of 1400MW. One unit was completed in 1967, another in 1968 and the remaining two in 1969.

The power station continued to operate as a four unit plant into the early 1990s when Units 1 and 2 were taken out of service and decommissioned. Units 3 and 4 operated efficiently during the last 22 years, setting records for reliability. Munmorah Unit 4 was last operated in March 2009 with Unit 3 continuing to operate for the pilot carbon capture plant until August 2010.

Just how much is Cardinal George Pell's word worth?

It's up to you to judge the contents of this ABC Four Corners 3 July 2012 transcript:

“GEOFF THOMPSON: Kevin Lee says that incident was reported to superiors. A church investigation was finally ordered. On the 3rd of September 1992 Father F was called to a meeting at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney. What happened at the meeting is crucial to understanding the major flaws in the way the Catholic Church deals in-house with allegations of sexual abuse. The meeting with Father F was presided over by three senior Catholic priests - Father Brian Lucas, Father Wayne Peters and Father John Usher.

CARDINAL GEORGE PELL: The file note of that meeting shows... does not show that he made any admission - and that is the recollection of the three priests who were actually at that. They were dissatisfied with his credibility; they thought he represented some sort of danger for the future, and although he'd made no admissions to them, they suggested to the Bishop who followed it that he should be stood down……

GEOFF THOMPSON: So, let's be perfectly clear. Under oath, in this court of law, Father F admitted to having oral sex with young boys. What's more, he confirmed he made that admission at that 1992 meeting with three senior priests - including Father Brian Lucas who is the current General Secretary of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference. Now somewhat strangely, Australia's most senior Catholic, speaking on behalf of Brian Lucas, says he does not believe that admission was made.

CARDINAL GEORGE PELL: I certainly didn't know that; I'm surprised at that. I would take the word of three priests against that allegation. I think it's fair enough for Brian Lucas, as one of those three priests, to have me speak for him - I've reported what the file note says and what he said about what happened at that particular meeting.

GEOFF THOMPSON: Since interviewing Cardinal Pell, Four Corners has obtained a report of that meeting - a copy of which is contained in the court file of Daniel Powell's extortion case. It tells a very different story….”

Catholic Church Tribunal Letter 1992

Four Corners goes on to mention that "F" is now a lay person living and working in Armidale.
For a number of years he's apparently been writing for The Armidale Express and The Armidale Independent, as well as for The Catholic Weekly. He belongs to the Catholic Historical Society among others.
A University of New England newsletter seems to point to "F" having had contact with that educational insitution in the early 2000s.
If the snapshot from the 5th July 7.30 Report can be believed "F" i s also a member of Lions up Armidale way - having been sponsored by a fellow Census collector and probably distant rellie.

 
UPDATE:
The Sydney Morning Herald on 18th October 2012:
"A former NSW priest who allegedly told three senior Catholic clergy a decade ago that he had repeatedly sexually abused altar boys has been arrested in Armidale for historic offences against girls.
Detectives arrested the man known as Father F in the state's New England region today in relation to a number of child-sex offences against three female children in the 1970s and 1980s.
The State Crime Command's sex crimes squad set up Strike Force Glenroe in July to investigate allegations that Father F had abused altar boys while a priest based in Armidale and Parramatta."

Grafton Gaol and Cansdellgate - on the same agenda

In a timely reminder for readers of The Daily Examiner a Lower Clarence resident has asked in a letter to the editor:

What action has this (O"Farrell) Government (in NSW) taken on the previous member (Steve Cansdell) on his action regarding his speeding fine?

The writer added, "It appears that members of parliament are immune to action being taken against them, no matter what the offence. What a disgraceful lot we have governing us at the moment."

Here's the complete text of Charles Lincoln of Gulmarrad's letter to the Examiner.

National Party 'stooges' failing to deliver

Regretfully, I have to put pen to paper and place my objections to the manner in which this present State Government is neglecting, wrecking and displaying complete disregard for the voters of this area, the Clarence Valley.

We have a Coalition Government which is only interested in looking after its voting power base, ie, Newcastle-Sydney-Wollongong, and having a complete disregard for its National Party constituents in this area.

We have a National Party representative who is completely out of his depth and is failing his constituents badly.

First it was the loss of Telstra jobs; then the closure of the meatworks at South Grafton; and now it is the loss of 92 jobs at the Grafton Jail.

What this Government is doing by its actions is propping up its swinging seats down Kempsey and Cessnock way at the expense of the Clarence Valley.

The National Party representatives are only "Liberal Party lackeys or stooges", and the voters of this area cannot see past the end of their noses, as they continue to elect them - and for what reasons?

Failure to deliver, inexperience in government, and engaging in nepotistic practices seems to be the norm.

No thought has been given to the jail workers who reside down here on the Lower River, who have bought houses, have their children attending local schools and are set up trying to exist with mortgages over their heads.

And now they may have to relocate, take their children out of their existing schools and make a new start at another school.

In many cases, this may be a retrograde step and cause a child to fall back a couple of years with his/her education.

What a miserable lot this incumbent government is.

Their only concern is a "grab for money to build up their own egos".

And while I am writing in this vein, may I ask: what action has this Government taken on the previous member on his action regarding his speeding fine?

It appears that members of parliament are immune to action being taken against them, no matter what the offence.

What a disgraceful lot we have governing us at the moment.

And National Party voters have the hide to claim that the previous Labor Government stank.

But be reminded, this lot have only just started, and the stench is starting to emanate from the Queensland border nearly down to Sydney.

Many people were dissatisfied with the previous Labor government after 15 years on the treasury benches and said that they had to go.

They possessed one outstanding quality and that was they showed empathy and compassion for the average person.

But this lot is only interested lining their own pockets and supporting those with vested interests who can donate to their party and provide a secure board job for them after they have retired from politics.

Charles Lincoln, Gulmarrad

Credits: Letter (Daily Examiner, 5/7/12) and images (dailyexaminer.com.au)

Da Troll

Unlike the metropolitan media, here in the Northern Rivers our local newspapers tend to host polite commentators.

However, recently one regular contributor began turning into a bit of a troll:

By yambaman from Yamba,

Just wondering if some shooters could be let out of national parks to get rid of the human "ferals" living near me?

By yambaman from Yamba,

Prosecute the trespassers! Can Centrelink get out there and get the dole bludgers more gainfully employed - I have heard Gina Rinehardt is looking for employees? Hopefully "Boudicca" and "Davey Bob" could join the foreign workers, then again maybe they are foreign workers judging by their names!

What yambaman forgets is that North Coast towns are not all that big relatively speaking and (just as Boudicca is widely known to hold a degree in environmental science from the University of New England) so many people know a great deal about him.

Such as his real name, what he looks like, his age, home address, the car he drives, preferred sport, hobbies and much, much more courtesy of his tendency to chatter away on multiple platforms across cyberspace.

An anonymity allowing one to be gratuitously nasty or xenophobic just doesn’t exist today.

Andrew Bolt accuses legitimate companies of not existing and other howlers

In his weekly newsletter Liberal Party Senator Cory Bernardi very foolishly linked to this Andrew Bolt nonsense:

“Below are some interesting examples of the 200 businesses listed on http://www.b4ce.com.au/home/signatories/businesses supporting a Carbon Tax:

• Furless (online shop specialising in Vegan makeup brushes and not much else)
• Love.fish (there website is ambiguous but possibly a fish and chip shop or an sustainability consultancy that sells fish and chips )
• Marie-Pierre Cleret (not so much a company as a Physiotherapist in Erskinville )
• Organia Revolutuion (store selling “Elephant dung journals & writing paper in Murwillumbah)
• “I ran the wrong way” (possibly a gift shop )
• Byron Bay International Film Festival
• Unfolding Futures (possibly a husband and wife team of motivational speakers )
• WordCraft Global (some type of consultancy which teaches you how to write documents
• NIDA
• Shaunie P Music
• Telstra Shop Balina (note Telstra Australia haven’t signed up – just the Balina shop)
• The Dentist at 70 Pitt Street
• The Family Wellness Centre
• Young District Anglican Ministry
• Cellian (don’t appear to exist based on an online search)
• Damask Perfumery (shop in Woolloongabba)
• tripple0gear (don’t appear to actually exit)
• Jason Corporation (appears to be a house in Neutral Bay” {all that red ink belonga me}

As usual Teh Bolta tries to pull the wool over our eyes.

Cellian Pty Ltd does exist and has done so for the last 9 years as a consulting firm. It can be found by searching online.

Despite Bolta misspelling its name Tripleogear also exists as a business which sells emergency and adventure equipment online and has its own social media presence on Twitter as triple0gear.

Jason Corporation Pty Ltd is not a house but a 12 year-old construction management company apparently owned by John Vigours.

Marie-Pierre Cleret Pty Ltd is another 12 year-old company run by a psychotherapist not a physiotherapist.

While love.fish is not a chippy but a seafood restaurant in Rozelle, which has a website set up by the owners.

As he wasn't batting all that well I didn’t bother to look up the rest on his little list – feel free to hunt for yourselves.
And yes, I took a screenshot of Bolta's pork pies.

Grafton Gaol: Nationals MP Chris Gulaptis told to stand up or stand aside

 

National Carbon Price: how does Tony Abbott explain this?

 

If Australian businesses are all behind Tony Abbott’s position that a national carbon price will wreck the economy, how does he explain this advertisement by Businesses for a Clean Economy?

Almost 300 organisations have galvanised under the banner of Businesses for a Clean Economy to voice their support for putting a price on carbon. The 299 large, medium and small sized businesses and associations represent a wide variety of sectors from across the Australian economy and include AGL, ARUP, Fujitsu, GE, Grocon, HESTA, IKEA, Infigen, Pacific Hydro, The Body Shop Australia, Unilever, Vestas, and Westpac.

While over at the Australia Institute it was being pointed out that the the three-year set carbon price was one of the smaller 'taxes' being collected by government.

How low can one pollie go?

Has that £10 Pom Tony Abbott descended so far into the abyss that he's becomes the ultimate heartless b@stard:

“One well-placed Liberal source told The Australian that Abbott would rather see Labor continue to bleed politically with ongoing boat arrivals. If that means deaths at sea continue, he said, so be it.”

You can take the lad out of England but you can’t take the bluddy cruel perversity out of a politician weaned on British-style right wing politics.