Clarence Valley Local Government Election 2012: Meet the real Andrew Baker

On 14 August 2012 The Daily Examiner published a letter to the editor by Judith Melville of Yamba which called on all seventeen candidates at the 8 September 2012 Clarence Valley local government election to answer seven questions before polling day.

The seven questions are set out below along with the personal response of one of those candidates, property and land developer Andrew Baker of Maclean.

This candidate clearly indicates that he will not give an undertaking to protect the Clarence River system from over exploitation. Further he gives no undertaking to support the stand of local communities in relation to high risk mining in the Clarence Valley or within the river catchment area.

Mr. Baker also implied that he does not belong to any interest group - yet last year the Maclean Chamber of Commerce successfully nominated him as its preferred delegate on Clarence Valley Council's Business Rate Review Advisory Committee.

Finally, he mocks the idea that climate change is a real and present problem facing Valley residents and ratepayers and, flatly refuses to rule out having private meetings with land developers and mining corporations if he becomes a councillor. The latter refusal clearly placing him at risk of breaching Clause 9.7 of the Code of Conduct if he is elected to Clarence Valley Council.

Q1: If elected will you oppose any move by state or federal governments to further dam and divert water from the Clarence River catchment, including the granting of water extraction rights for mining operations or other large-volume water users?

Andrew Baker: Should such a proposal become real, I will look at the merits and disadvantages of the specific proposal before attempting to arrive at a position. To do otherwise is in my view both lazy and dangerous.

Q2: If elected will you oppose coal seam gas and antimony mining, as well as any open-cut mining within the Clarence River catchment?
Andrew Baker:  My consideration of any issue that requires a decision from me will commence with an open mind and NO pre-commitment to applicant or interested person/group.

Q3: If you undertake to oppose such water diversion/extraction or mining will you publicly oppose any political party policy which supports it, even to the point of repudiating the policies of a party of which you are a member?
Andrew Baker:  Not really applicable as I have no undertaking to give in advance of proper consideration. I have no party membership. I have no interest group to answer to so my considerations will always be open-minded to the best of my ability.

Q4: Do you accept that human-induced global warming and subsequent climate change is real?
Andrew Baker:  I accept that a great fear of these issues is real. I’m still waiting for my great fear of the similarly frightening Y2K Bug to subside before I adopt any new fears.

Q5: Are you willing to adopt realistic, long-term mitigation or adaptation measures to support Clarence Valley communities in the face of increased severe weather events, continuous coastal/estuary erosion and possible loss of agricultural productivity?
Andrew Baker:   The political temptation is to answer with some nice-sounding motherhood statement testifying to my overwhelming love of all motherhood questions. However, my answer is; I will consider, to the best of my ability, any specific proposal for mitigation or adaption measures on the merits of the proposal. My consideration will include at least receiving advice of the likely cost, likely benefit, ability of the residents and ratepayers (or others) to pay, and the risks of doing or not doing the proposal.

Q6: Will you give an undertaking to resist any move by the NSW Government to subject the Clarence Valley to yet another forced amalgamation in order to form an even larger local government area not centred within the valley?
Andrew Baker:  I am unimpressed with the benefits of the most recent amalgamation. While I am aware of some benefits from that amalgamation, the Clarence Valley has yet to have Council leadership capable of ensuring the financial efficiencies and Increased levels of management professionalism so willingly held up as great benefits prior to the amalgamated Council. For now, I am opposed to further amalgamation but not to the extent of denying an future possibility it the right circumstances.

Q7: Can you assure Clarence Valley residents and ratepayers that as a councillor you will never meet privately with any representative or agent of a land/property developer, mining corporation or energy company or give a general/specific undertaking that you will look favourably on their proposals or will further their consultation or negotiations with any tier of government, other businesses or communities in Northern NSW?  

Andrew Baker:   Such an undertaking is impossible to genuinely give. Or honour. Should it be possible to give or honour such undertaking, I wouldn’t give it anyway. While I have no doubts about my integrity and my ability to deal with people at face value, I do understand the great fear within a few in our community. I’m not about to give some silly undertakings simply to attempt to calm the raging fears of a few. Similarly, I will give no undertakings to not meet with any person or group. I enjoy gaining considerable insight and perspective from a wide and sometimes odd variety of people.

The NSW North Coast's Greatest Underachiever

It's enough to make a grown man cry.
With the Clarence Valley reeling from the effects of public service jobs cuts and more to come - our fearless representative in the O'Farrell Coalition Government, Clarence MP Hapless Gulaptis is "fighting" for us all.
How's this not-so-bonza block doing this in the two months to more public service jobs deadline he and his leader set themselves?
Why in the last month he has penned two letters and grabbed a few minutes with Nationals Leader Andrew Stoner in a corridor somewhere in Sydney.
"Mr Gulaptis said he had written two letters to the Minister for Corrective Services and had spoken with his boss, Mr Stoner, outside the committee meeting entrusted with bringing 108 jobs back to Grafton." {The Daily Examiner 18th August 2012}
Bluidy pathetic!

Where are those seat belts on school buses?

You have to take your hat off to the committed people in the Coffs Harbour area who keep reminding our pollies that children (and others) travelling by bus are not x-class citizens who are unworthy of protection. They repeatedly voice concerns for children's safety. Where are our local MPs' voices on this important issue? Of course, they are mute, yet again! 



Letter to the editor (Coffs Advocate, 18 August, 2012)

It is a shocking fact that transport laws do not protect our children travelling to and from school on outdated buses lacking seatbelts on one of the most dangerous sections of the NSW Highway; between Macksville and Urunga.

As someone working at local hospitals, I am only too familiar with the tragic results of motor accidents.

Why is it drivers of cars can be fined for not restraining their children in seatbelts, yet these same children can travel unrestrained at high speeds on school buses?

With buses only needing to comply with Australian Design Rule 58, which was passed in 1986, it is now a matter of urgency to revise this rule, which does not even require padded, high-backed seats, and was never intended to protect pupils from crashes or even sudden braking in high-speed zones.

Children are often forced to stand in the aisles of buses, with no protection at all.

Please voice your concerns to: The Hon. Gladys Berejiklian MP, Minister for Transport, email: mailto:office@berejiklian.minister.nsw.gov.au

Judith Kirwood

Image credit: The Daily Examiner

49 Days Since That Carbon Tax Ended Life As We Know It

Or is it?

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has now spent years telling Australians that the sky would fall and our way of life would end once the Gillard Government put a price on industrial greenhouse gas emissions.

Forty-nine days have now past and there appears to be little discernible difference to life before and after July 1, 2012.

At Day Two according to Peter Martin:

Also from July 1...
PAY RISE $17.10 per week for low-paid workers
TAX FREE THRESHOLD No tax until $18,200
TAX CUTS For everyone up to $80,000
PENSION INCREASE 1.7% from May 2013
FAMILY TAX BENEFIT BOOST $300 per child
DOUBLE NSW FIRST HOME BUYERS GRANT $15,000 for purchase of new home
CREDIT CARD LENDERS Forced to clear high interest debts first
TICK AND FLICK BANK SWITCHING Sign one form once
TOUGHER MEDICARE LEVY SURCHARGE 1.25% to 1.5% for high earners without private insurance
LOWER PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE REBATE 10% to 20% instead of 30% for high earners
INSTANT ASSET WRITE-OFF Up to $6500 per small business
MINERALS RESOURCE RENT TAX To raise to $3 billion in its first year

On Day 20 according to Market Economics:

Since November 2007, there have been a series of income tax cuts, some large, some small and all set across different income brackets. Suffice to say that for the high income earner in the above example, they will be paying around $1,850 less income tax than had the tax scales prevailing in November 2007 been left in place. The lower income earner in this household is paying around $2,050 less in income tax, meaning an ongoing saving of around $3,900 a year. The combined effect of the wage increases and lower income tax rate translates to a rise in take-home income in this household is around $16,500 a year.

Day 21 from The Finnigan's Home of The BISONs:

No interest rise for the 20th consecutive month Vs 10 consecutive rises under Howard/Costello. Last interest rise was Nov2010. At July 2012. And an economy that is travelling well above trend growth.

Again at Day 27 according to Market Economics:

Indicator	Change since end June 2012
Market Indicators
Official cash rate	No change
Australian dollar (vs USD)	+2.0%
10 year govt bond yield	-0.14 percentage points
ASX200	+2.1%
Change in market cap of ASX	+$23 billion
Economic Indicators
RP Data house prices	+0.6%
Change in Housing Wealth	+$24 billion
Westpac index of Consumer sentiment	+3.7%

Day 32 per the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission:

In April 2012, GFC Berwick Pty Ltd sent a letter to 2,122 of its members promoting a 'RATE FREEZE' offer, which offered members a range of lengthy contract extensions at current or reduced membership rates. The letter represented to members that by taking up this offer members could avoid a fee increase of 9-15 per cent due to the carbon price.

ACCC chairman Rod Sims said, "The ACCC believes that GFC Berwick did not have a reasonable basis for claiming the carbon price would increase the cost of gym memberships by 9-15 per cent. We understand that over 200 members took up the offer and extended their contract. We are concerned that the false claims about the carbon price may have encouraged these people to sign lengthy contract extensions they otherwise would not have."

"Businesses are free to set their prices as they see fit but must carefully consider the basis for making carbon price claims and ensure such claims are truthful and have a reasonable basis," Mr Sims said.

As part of the resolution of this matter, the CEO of the Genesis Division of Belgravia Health & Leisure Group Pty Ltd, the company which manages the franchise network, wrote to all affected members on behalf of GFC Berwick offering them the opportunity to withdraw from the contract extensions at no cost.

Day 37 on Twitter:

TheFinnigans天地有道人无道‏@Thefinnigans

Australia's GOLD GOLD GOLD GOLD GOLD - Unemployment 5.1%, GDP 4.3% - Inflation 1.2% - Interest 3.5% with $500B investment pipeline

On Day 49 according to The Sydney Morning Herald:

In a Treasury research paper released yesterday, economists Will Devlin and Deepika Patwardhan used prices in the so-called inflation swaps market to derive traders' expectations about the price impact of the tax.

Inflation swaps allow one trader to agree to pay another the inflation rate on a specified sum in return for a price. It is worth $12 billion per year.

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The paper said inflation swaps pricing was a good guide to what the market thought would happen because it ''reflects the collective actions of actors who have to back their views by putting their money where their mouths are''.

Their analysis found the market expected a one-off jump in inflation of between 0.6 per cent and 0.7 per cent followed by a return to the previous rate, as forecast by the government. It did not support claims by the Coalition spokesman, Greg Hunt, that price rises would "take time to flow through the economy" or that "this is just the beginning as the carbon tax goes up every year".

The first TD Securities-Melbourne Institute inflation reading since the start of the tax showed a total price increase for the month of just 0.2 per cent, even after accounting for a rise in electricity prices of 14.9 per cent and in household gas prices of 10.3 per cent.

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}