Abbott's candidate may turn out to have questions to answer in NSW ICAC corruption investigation

The Sydney Morning Herald 21 September 2013:

Mr Hartcher's preferred candidate, Karen McNamara, was installed after intervention by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, then the opposition leader.
Ms McNamara was elected to parliament at the September 7 federal election....

The Sydney Morning Herald 23 September 2013:

The new federal Liberal MP for Dobell, Karen McNamara, has been drawn into controversy about political donations on the NSW central coast due to her role as campaign manager for a state MP whose office has been raided by corruption authorities.

The electorate offices of NSW MPs Darren Webber and Chris Spence were raided by the Independent Commission Against Corruption on Friday. Mr Webber is the member for Wyong and Mr Spence for The Entrance.

The raids are believed to be linked to revelations by Fairfax Media last year that two staff members of state Energy Minister Chris Hartcher, who holds the central coast seat of Terrigal, had been referred to election funding authorities by the Liberal Party.

The Liberals alleged the pair -policy adviser Tim Koelma and Mr Hartcher's electorate officer Ray Carter - had breached election funding laws shortly before the 2011 election. Ms McNamara was Mr Webber's campaign manager for the 2011 campaign.

Fairfax Media can reveal that during her preselection interview for Dobell, Ms McNamara said that as campaign manager she had raised up to $100,000 for Mr Webber's campaign.

But the claim was questioned by a member of the NSW Liberal state executive, Hollie Hughes, who said she had been advised party records indicated official receipts were far less than that - as little as $50,000.

It is understood the Liberal Party finance director, Simon McInnes, confirmed to Mrs Hughes that the official fund-raising figure was far less than that claimed by Ms McNamara.

Ms McNamara said in a statement she had complied with her obligations as Mr Webber’s campaign manager ‘‘to the best of my knowledge’’.....

Why weren't the Northern Rivers' Page and Clarence electorates represented at the NSW Energy Security Summit on 26 September 2013?

Snapshot of petroleum titles & applications which cover predominately coal seam gas exploration, 30 September 2013 http://minview.minerals.nsw.gov.au/mv2web/mv2

The new Federal Nationals MP for Page, Kevin Hogan, is fond of telling voters that he will stand with local communities against coal seam gas exploration and mining in the Northern Rivers region.

This was Mr. Hogan in The Northern Star, 30 September 2013:

Newly sworn-in Page MP Kevin Hogan says he won't be pressured by Federal Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane to support CSG in the Northern Rivers, while Metgasco chairman Nick Heath has declared the NSW Government 2km exclusion zones "arbitrary" and "illogical".....

Then in The Daily Examiner, 1 October 2013:

KEVIN Hogan says while he can see where the Coalition's pro-CSG Minister for Industry, Ian Macfarlane, is coming from, he remains opposed to unconventional gas mining in the Page electorate.

Mr Hogan was asked to give his position after the Minister for Industry told an energy security summit of gas industry stakeholders he wanted to see more CSG rigs in place "by Christmas".

He also advocated for a "one-stop CSG shop" streamlining Federal and State regulations....

Finally in The Northern Star, 2 October 2013:

New Page MP Kevin Hogan says he is "exceptionally disappointed" at Metgasco's decision to return to the Northern Rivers. In a statement, Mr Hogan says he has arranged to meet with Metgasco chief Peter Henderson next week to "convey my belief that there is currently not community support for CSG within the Northern Rivers"....

However, despite being sworn in the day before, Kevin Hogan apparently did not attend the NSW Energy Security Summit on 26 September 2013, where coal seam gas industry regulations as well as ways and means to counteract community opposition to coal seam gas exploration/ mining were subjects for discussion.

Neither did NSW Nationals MP for Clarence Chris Lazybones Gulaptis attend. One of his staffers cited the usual trite excuse - "commitments in the electorate".  Whatever these alleged commitments were they did not appear to rate a mention in the local online media.

The Northern Rivers region and, residents in the Page and Clarence electorates, should be key stakeholders in any discussions and one would have thought both Hogan and Gulaptis would have arranged to attend this summit as observers even if one or both may not have received a formal invitation.

The bottom line is that Metgasco Limited and other coal seam gas miners had a seat at the government summit table but Northern Rivers communities did not.

While Hogan and Gulaptis stayed meekly in their electorates,  Metgasco used its presence at the summit to lobby both federal and state government representatives/agencies.

Then announce on 2 October its intention to renew exploration at an unspecified date and its plan to proceed with the Rosella EO1 well approximately 12kms north-west of Casino township - a well site which may require drilling through aquifers to reach the gas and possibly also fracking to release this gas which has a hydrocarbon mix that includes methane.

These two politicians should be ashamed of themselves. Though on past performance by Nationals MPs on the NSW North Coast, I'm sure that they will not give their manifest failings so much as a passing thought in their eager rush to reach those golden parliamentary perks.

Even Canberra sign writers don't think Prime Minister Abbott represents all Australian women

The original Parliament House office doorplate of Liberal Senator Michaelia Cash describes her as the Assistant Minister for Immigration and Border Protection and the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Woman. [my bolding]

@xx_alexandra

Parties appearing at the Consumer, Trader & Tenancy Tribunal should do their homework

Parties involved in hearings at the Consumer, Trader & Tenancy Tribunal would be well advised to do their homework on the other party. On the list of matters to be heard in Grafton next week one of the parties has a record of appearances before the CTT Tribunal and other jurisdictions a mile long. 
While NCV is not in a position to freely name the party, let's just say the party's history in tenancy-related issues is such that it really is surprising the party hasn't been declared a vexatious litigant.