List of Local Government Meet the Candidates Forums still to come on the NSW North Coast

Meet the Candidates Forums for the 8 September 2012 Local Government Elections

MACLEAN  Hosted by Maclean Chamber of Commerce at the Maclean Services Club on Monday  August 20 (5.30pm for 6pm start)

GRAFTON  Hosted by The Daily Examiner at the Grafton District Services Club on Wednesday August 22 (5.30pm for 6pm start)

KINGSCLIFF  Hosted by Kingscliff Ratepayers and Progress Association at the Kingscliff Community Hall on August 22 (7pm-9pm)

YAMBA  Hosted by Yamba & District Chamber of Commerce at the Yamba Bowling and Recreation Club on September 3 (at a time to be announced)

NSW North Coast cyclists beware!

 

A heartfelt letter to the editor in The Daily Examiner 13 August 2012:

Cyclists beware

I AM writing to express my disgust and disappointment in the way certain drivers disregard cyclists' rights to share the road.

Once again this was vividly displayed last night. On my ride home I was riding past the new super clinic with the intention of turning right and onto the bridge. A vehicle approached from behind. I was in the middle of the left lane with no oncoming vehicles. I ride with a red reflector on the rear and a 900 lumens single-stream light on my handlebars, my backpack is covered in reflectors and I wear a bright orange crew vest. There is no way I can be missed at night.

As the vehicle approached I remained in the lane so there was no ambiguity as to my intentions. The vehicle passed so close that I could have reached out and touched it, then it moved immediately in front of me.

I just don't understand the arrogance of such drivers as it was clear they were sending a message as to their disapproval of my position on the road, with no oncoming vehicles and a lot of right lane room.

I was so livid I made chase, shouting at the driver who stopped soon after turning right. He wound down his window and as he did I asked why he was trying to run me over. He replied that I should be using the cycle way (which doesn't exist) and to get off the road. I answered that I have as much right to use the road as he.

It is time that all drivers with this mentality realise this is not an acceptable behaviour. Firstly they need to re-read the road rules with regards to cyclists: "A bicycle is considered a vehicle and subject to the same road rules as other vehicles".

Cyclists are treated with the same weight as drivers of vehicles so much so that cyclists are expected to obey all the same road rules and are in fact subject to them if broken. They are also subject to the same courtesy and respect shown to other vehicle users.

I am sick to death of this mentality, for the blatant disregard to another human life and the danger in which they place them; no thought for loved ones and the splintering effect of injuring or even taking their life.

I often hear that certain cyclist give other cyclists a bad name. This is not sour grapes and I recreationally ride mountain bikes in the bush and only share the road as a means to get to work. I am also a father of four and a husband and I will be dammed if I am going to let some moron take that away from them just because I choose to use a healthy approach to getting to and from work.

So to all fellow cyclists be aware that a Blue Toyota Hilux with Queensland plates needs to be avoided at all cost if you value your life. I am unable to gain any resolve through reporting the incident to the police unless I have been actually run over, and on account of the cowardly act of the driver just driving away I have no other recourse then to vent in letter form.

Name supplied  

 

Quotes of the Week

“Tony Windsor said after the last election, when the negotiations were going on as to who would form government, that Tony Abbott begged for the job and made the point he would do anything to get that job.
Dare I say it, he used that phrase again that Tony Abbott said to him: "The only thing I wouldn't do is sell my arse."
We have heard Tony Windsor make that reference before.
He said Tony Abbott was prepared to do anything and if he was asked to do a carbon price or an emissions trading scheme he would have done it.
It is unclear why Tony Windsor had felt moved to repeat those allegations once again on the floor of the House today.
Perhaps it was because we saw a lengthy address from the Opposition Leader earlier today outside Parliament and again inside Parliament, saying that he is the person that can be believed on the carbon tax.” {ABC News 24 political reporter Julie Doyle 15th August 2012}

Stephen Koukoulas‏@TheKouk

If you can't buy his arse, how much would Mr Abbott's heart sell for? #auspol

“It is a very long time since journalists were, “Striking for fairness.” Today they often leave others feeling that they are “fawning for favour.”
{Uthers Say 10th August 2012}

Chris Gulaptis MP: his listening skills need attention

Constituents of Chris Gulaptis, Member for Clarence, won't be surprised to learn their local MP has a hearing problem or, worse still, doesn't comprehend what he hears.

On Wednesday his parliamentary colleague Dominic Perrottet, the Member for Castle Hill, was speaking to the Fiscal Responsibility Bill 2012 and mentioned the cost of the JusticeLink electronic legal processing system. Perrottet gave a specific dollar amount and then said just another six short sentences when Gulaptis interjected, " How much did it cost?"

Further to the hearing problem, Gulaptis has great difficulty with the term "reform". He used the term erroneously when speaking about what the O'Farrell government has been doing.

No! No! No! Mr Gulaptis, reform means to change things for the better!

Gulaptis was on his feet for almost 10 minutes singing praises for the O'Farrell government's stance on fiscal expenditure. The speech was obviously written for the local MP; the sure sign was the nature of the vocabulary it contained - words the local MP would have great difficulty pronouncing, let alone knowing their meaning.

Gulaptis did not utter one single solitary word about the destructive action the government imposed on the Clarence community and its economy with its wrecking of the Grafton jail and its workforce. Thanks for nothing, Mr Gulaptis!

Clarence Valley Local Council Election 2012 Candidate ScoreCard: Week Two

Candidates standing for the nine councillor positions at the 8 September 2012 Clarence Valley Local Government Election are being rated on their individual campaigns to win over voters.

The score range is -10 to 10. Every candidate starts at zero (0)

Scoring began in the week ending 10 August 2012.

This week its the sound of silence, things half said, words that should not have been uttered at all, and who went where, which affect the score.

Name                       Designation            Running Score

Rod Morrison        Independent            1 + -0.5 = 0.5 started to register on the scorecard for attending the Clarence Valley Community Unions forum this week, at which it was resolved to form a committee to grow the Clarence Valley's economy and lobby for increased public service jobs in the local government area (1). However Rod lost points because his almost 11 day-old candidate's page on Facebook remains a policy-free zone filled with nothing but photographs of himself. It's almost as if he has been taking campaigning advice from Gulaptis,Lees or Cansdell.

Margot Scott          Independent           1 leaves the barrier at a fair pace as it is understood that she attended council committee meetings during the week.

Paul Parkinson                                  -3 +-2 +1 + -1 = -5 he has reached this score for his past pro-uranium mining stand as a Kempsey councillor and his lack of support for traditional owners (-2) combined with attendance at the Clarence Valley Community Unions forum (1) marred by the fact that he was the only member of the 100-strong audience whose personal ambition saw him attempt to use the occasion as part of his electioneering (-1).

Craig Howe            Independent          -1  + 1 + -0.4 + 1= 0.6 although positively adding to last week's score by attending the Clarence Valley Community Unions forum (1), his tally remains low due to a social media mis-step which initially saw him head his Facebook candidate page with a photo of Parliament House in Canberra, before changing it to something more appropriate after being chipped about possible political ambitions elsewhere (-0.4).  He was somewhat redeemed by the fact that he is using his Facebook page to inform voters of his record as a Clarence Valley Shire councillor (1).

Andrew Baker       Independent            1 + -1 = 0 commenced scoring because he attended the Clarence Valley Community Unions forum (1), but lost points for his somewhat confused attempt at this forum to portray the Clarence Valley as having deliberately rejected private enterprise (-1)

Ursula Tunks        Independent             1 + 1 =2 for setting her policies out clearly and getting them into the public arena early (1) and attending the Clarence Valley Community Unions forum (1).

Joy de Roos                                       -1 score remains static as she has not been heard from all week.

Jim Simmons         Independent            0 remains static due to his silence.

Greg Clancy           Independent            1 +1 +1 + 0.5 = 3.5 this candidate increased his score because he didn't obsess about campaign slogans and instead placed his clearly outlined policies in the public arena for the benefit  of voters (1), attended the Clarence Valley Community Unions forum (1) and put one of the better questions to this forum when he asked the guest speaker, economist Prof. Bill Mitchell, how the Clarence Valley economy might be successfully grown (with residents encouraged to spend locally to support retail businesses/jobs) without depleting the LGA's finite resources or damaging its natural environment (0.5).

Jane Beeby            Independent           -3  no change in her score as she has been silent this week.

Sue Hughes           Independent            1 + 1 + 0.5 = 2.5 for attending the Clarence Valley Community Unions forum (1) and quickly speaking up for the health needs of the Lower Clarence when fellow-candidate Paul Parkinson was intent on displaying his lack of knowledge concerning Valley communities (0.5). Sue would have scored higher if she had placed more background as a councillor/policy information in the public arena, for first time voters or those newly resident in the LGA.

Karen Toms                                        1 +1 + 0.5 = 2.5 increased her running score by
attending the Clarence Valley Community Unions forum (1) and for her inclusive manner when interacting with other people at this forum. Karen would have scored higher if she had placed more background as a councillor/policy information in the public arena, for first time voters or those newly resident in the LGA. 

Michael McIvor       Independent            1 begins to register a score for attending the Clarence Valley Community Unions forum.

Jeremy Challacombe Independent        -1.5 + 1 + -0.5 = -1 increased his score by being one of the listed speakers at the Clarence Valley Community Unions forum (1) but foolishly reduced his running total by failing to acknowledge those business strategies already in place to promote and grow the Clarence Valley economy as he sought to 're-invent the wheel' (-0.5).

Richie Williamson                               1 + 1 = 2 increased his score by attending  the Clarence Valley Community Unions forum (1). Richie trembles on the cusp of a lower score as he needs to offer voters more than just the slogan "100% Clarence" and a recap of the mayoral diary on Facebook before next week.  

Margaret McKenna  Independent          -2  score remains static.     

Jason Kingsley        Independent           1 score remains static due to his silence.

O'Farrell Government declares open season on the National Parks & Wildlife Service

ABC South East NSW 15 August 2012:

During the recent school holidays a horrified family were confronted by a group of hunters driving into a camping ground in a south east National Park randomly shooting kangaroos. In front of the distressed family camped in the remote but popular National Park they shot a number of kangaroos and loaded some onto a vehicle before driving off, leaving dead and maimed animals behind.

One of the campers photographed one of the vehicles and contacted the NPWS office.

The investigating NPWS Ranger was required to euthanase one of the maimed animals left behind by the shooters.

The incident is being investigated.

The shooting occurred as the NSW Parliament was introducing a controversial Bill allowing hunting in National Parks.

Since the media coverage that has followed the new Bill there have been a number of illegal shooting incidents in National Parks, leading to speculation that hunters are under the impression that it is now 'open season' in National Parks…..

This dangerous scenario is being played out at a time when the National Parks & Wildlife Service is under sustained pressure from the O'Farrell-Stoner-Baird razor gang and NSW Environment Minister Robyn Parker is overseeing a reduction in the number of NPWS regions across the state, with an eventual loss (though voluntary redundancy, retirement or leaving for other employment) of an estimated 350 NPWS jobs.

There is some hope that the NSW North Coast (and in particular the Clarence Valley) may experience mid-level management and frontline job losses much later than some other regions - given that a large number of sizable parkland assets coincide with significant population clusters and bushfire response co-ordination is often an important aspect of this proximity.

Much will depend on whether the NSW O'Farrell Coalition Government can resist the urge to make more state budget cuts over the next two years.

However, it is hard to see how  a service already operating at relatively low staffing levels can possibly monitor the activities of what are increasingly out-of-control amateur hunters and hoons with guns.

Update

As usual the very idle NSW Nationals MP for Clarence, Chris Gulaptis, appeared unaware that there was an issue or that his vote in the NSW Parliament helped create these problems, when he told The Daily Examiner:

Member for Clarence Chris Gulaptis said while he had not been made aware of any changes, other than what he had heard from the community over the past few days, he would be making further enquiries.

"I'm due to meet with officers of the National Parks and Wildlife Services shortly," he said.

Mr Gulaptis said it appeared to be an operational matter for the NPWS but he was yet to confirm the details.

Quite frankly, this MP's attempt to brush aside yet more public service job losses in his electorate, as well as the possible diversion away from the Clarence Valley of part or all of the estimated the $200,000 per annum Woody Head revenue stream and the impact this may have on a number of local conservation and research projects, indicates the contempt in which he holds the very people who voted him into office.