Yet another policy Abbott & Co didn't think through

The Sydney Morning Herald 21 November 2014:

A central pillar of the Abbott government's fledgling environmental plans - the $300-million Green Army - has been hobbled by a High Court ruling.

In June the High Court ruled that the Commonwealth did not have power under the Constitution to fund the school chaplaincy program through direct funding as proposed. 

The case has meant the types of projects approved for the Green Army must now be of a national focus and "directed towards meeting Australia's relevant international obligations" or "conserving matters of national environmental significance".

The Coalition marketed the Green Army as delivering "local conservation outcomes" and first-round projects approved on guidelines set before court ruling had a strong local theme, including weed and pest control in Nillumbik, removing weeds in the Dandenongs, and revegetation and fencing in the Macedon Ranges.

The chaplaincy ruling may also mean some of the 196 Green Army projects approved under the first round of the scheme may not survive a High Court challenge.

The Green Army scheme was a key Coalition election promise at the 2010 and 2013 elections and involves young people aged between 17 and 24 paid an allowance to do up to 30 hours a week of environmental work.

About 2500 participants across 250 projects are expected in the first year, climbing to 1500 projects and 15,000 participants a year by 2018-19. 

The scheme is to be funded directly by the Commonwealth government.

Environment Minister Greg Hunt described the first-round projects as "community-led projects that support practical, grassroots environment and conservation activities".

But new guidelines released this month for second-round Green Army projects include a new clause, stating that projects "must be directed towards meeting Australia's relevant international obligations or, alternatively, directed towards protecting and conserving matters of national environmental significance".

One project co-ordinator hoping to be involved in the Green Army scheme - who did not want to be identified - said their project would no longer meet the guidelines because it came under state heritage regulations and was not of national and international significance. 

"The scheme has been gutted for community projects," they said. 

A spokeswoman for Mr Hunt declined to directly comment on the High Court decision……

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/high-court-hobbles-green-army-for-local-community-projects-20141123-11r4di.html

Fans of Ginger Meggs, stand up and be counted

APN newspapers has informed its readers that it will be reducing the number of cartoons it publishes from six to three.

As a mighty big fan of Ginger Meggs this blogger will be casting a vote to have Ginger be one of the three that continues to appear.

All fans of Ginger Meggs are called on to visit an APN website and give our home-grown little mate their vote.

Vote here here here here  here  here by Saturday November 29.

Image from  gingermeggs.com

Don't know what to get him for Xmas? Here's just the thing to get him.

When reading today's Northern Star I had to check that it wasn't April 1.

Today's Star reports: 

Now you can "let it rip" in public without reproach thanks to a North Coast TAFE student who has introduced new underwear to Australia designed to mask the smell of farts.

Proving you are never too old for a fart joke, Wayne Hooper, 62, has just launched his Cheeky Wearables website selling underwear made with high-tech fabric claimed to absorb the odour of flatulence.

"This material, Zorflex, is a carbon-absorbent cloth that can absorb the toxicity of 200 times the average fart," Mr Hooper, of Tweed Shire, said.

"Farts are tame compared to the chemical warfare this material was designed to cope with."

The former film editor discovered the UK-made fart-proof pants while researching wearable technology as part of a Certificate IV course in IT Technology he has been studying at Kingscliff TAFE.

"Instead of doing the project as an experiment, when I came across these pants I decided I would start up a business and I am now the Australian distributor," he said.

The "flatulence filtering" underwear have the activated carbon cloth sandwiched between layers of regular fabric, and this specialty layer absorbs and traps fart odour.

"The average person will fart 14 times a day," he said.

"The pants won't mask the sound, but they will absorb the smell."

While farting is a perfectly natural body action, the smell is considered anti-social and the pants could help in those awkward situations like being caught in a lift, out on a date or while working out at the gym, Mr Hooper said.

The fart-proof pants are available in gift boxes, cost no more than Calvin Klein's designer underwear and could make the ideal Christmas gift to ward off fruit cake-induced flatulence.

Mr Hooper's website design will be among the projects by Kingscliff and Murwillumbah TAFE Creative Arts, Multimedia and Web Design students to be exhibited on Friday at the Synectic Exhibitions at the Kingscliff campus. 

And just in case you think I'm pulling your leg about today's date, read the real thing in the Star here.

Credits: The Northern Star, 25/11/2014

Clarence Regional Library seeks feedback on their collection - complete the survey and be in the running to win a Samsung Galaxy tablet

Mayor: Richie Williamson General Manager: Scott Greensill                                                                   21 November 2014     Library seeks feedback on their collection, with a prize incentive! As part of the goal of providing a high quality, relevant service the Clarence Regional Library is asking the community to give their opinion on the items you can borrow.  A major collection survey will be made available to the community during December and January, and will be asking for suggestions about authors, areas of interest and different formats. Developments such as the growth in popularity of ebooks, the recent introduction of DVDs to the library and the changing subject interests of the community make it necessary for libraries to engage their customers in the selection of materials. In the Valley this is carried out on an ongoing basis through purchase requests and community book selection days, but this survey will help to gain a better view of what people want. Mayor Richie Williamson is encouraging everyone, regardless of age, to complete the library survey which will help to guide future planning and purchasing for the collection.  "A public library's collection is one of the community's most valuable resources. It is a storehouse for knowledge and we need to ensure that information is relevant for our community's learning and leisure needs and is in a format that is easy to access." You can access the web survey from Clarence Regional Library Web site at www.crl.nsw.gov.au  from 1st December until 31st January. Or visit one of our many branches to complete the survey. It will take 10 minutes to fill out, and can be completely anonymously or you can add your details to be in the draw to win a Samsung Galaxy tablet. Release ends. For media inquiries, phone 6643 0230 Clarence Valley Council Locked Bag 23 Grafton, NSW, 2460 Australia