Did Clarence Valley Council attempt to pull the wool over Iluka residents' eyes?

Recently I received a ‘phone call from an Iluka resident which began along the lines of: I met you once at the bus stop in Maclean and I wonder if you know…

What this very concerned person from the opposite side of the Clarence River then told me was that Clarence Valley Council chose to advertise an approx. 19ha 162 lot low density residential subdivision with 10 new roads within Lot 99 in DP 823635 Hickey Street, Iluka on 24 December 2015 – Christmas Eve – and also to start a 28 day exhibition period from Boxing Day, 26 December. [Clarence Valley Council, block_ad_
December_24_26.pdf]

From my experience, local government only acts in this manner if both it and the developer of record do not want informed community scrutiny of a ‘favoured’ development application (DA).

The development application SUB2015/0034 submitted by NSW central coast development company Stevens Holdings Pty Ltd (trading as Stevens Group) was first lodged with Clarence Valley Council on 11 December 2015 and then referred to the Northern Joint Regional Planning Panel by council administration on or about 18 December 2015.

The owner of the land in question is Birrigan Gargle Local Aboriginal Land Council.

Clarence Valley Council states of this DA:

Clarence Valley Council is the consent authority and the Northern Joint Regional Planning Panel has the function of determining the application. Any submissions made will be provided to the Joint Regional Planning Panel and may be viewed by other people with an interest in the application. The development application and documents accompanying the application are on exhibition and may be inspected at Council’s customer service centres*. Submissions close 4pm, January 22, 2016.

Any person may make a written submission to Council during the exhibition period concerning the development application. If you have any submissions you wish to make regarding any proposed development please do so in writing, addressed to the General Manager, during the exhibition period. Where a submission is an objection to a proposed development the submission must set out the grounds for the objection.

It does not say that any resident wishing to make comment directly to the Northern Joint Regional Planning Panel on the subject of this proposed development can do so online here.

The state-appointed panellists for the Joint Regional Planning Panel are: Garry West (Chair), Pamela Westing and John Griffin, with Bruce Clarke as an alternate.

When considering development proposals within the Clarence Valley they are joined by Mayor Richie Williamson, Deputy Mayor Craig Howe, with Cr. Andrew Baker as the alternate.

The timing of the DA advertising is not the only concern. Although SUB2015/0034 is clearly on public exhibition, there are currently no details on the council website’s “On exhibition” page.

Interested residents have to physically attend either the Maclean or Grafton council chambers if they want information on this DA. This initially created a dilemma for concerned residents and ratepayers as Maclean and Grafton council chambers were closed between 24 December 2015 and 3 January 2016.

This of course effectively reduced the length of time that DA documents could be researched in preparation for a submission by 11 days.

By 6 January media attention and pressure from individual community members saw council administration extend the exhibition period to 4pm on 12 February 2016 and place a copy of the DA exhibition documents in Iluka township. However, it remains a matter of concern that council administration thought the original truncated exhibition period was acceptable.

I have no doubt that the owners of the land are willing to be transparent in their actions concerning this proposed subdivision, however when a large development company is also involved in a land release it is wise for any community to be wary.

Readers may recall that in 2014 the Stevens Group sought to remove approval conditions on a NSW south coast development before building commenced and, in the same year, the managing director and owner was called to appear before the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption’s Operation Spicer investigation concerning alleged unlawful political donations.

So this parcel of land deserves a closer look.

Firstly Clarence Valley Council is on record as stating to The Daily Examiner in January 2012:

Clarence Valley Council development services manager Clem Rhoden said the parcel of land at lot 99 Hickey St was opposite Iluka Golf Club and encompassed an area of approximately 194,031sq m.

Secondly, this lot (bounded by Hickey Street, Elizabeth Street and Iluka Road) is covered by what appears to be relatively dense tree cover:

Aerial Snapshot of Hickey Street Iluka NSW, Google Earth, 4 January 2016

Snapshot of section of the southern boundary of Lot 99 Hickey Street, Iluka NSW

To prepare the land for 162 residential lots this block will have to be extensively cleared and, it is possible that this clearing may entail the destruction of coastal cypress:

Coastal Cypress Pine Forest is apparently restricted to the NSW North Coast bioregion.

Thirdly, the existing tree cover may possibly be koala habitat. Koalas are of course listed as vulnerable under federal law.

Council itself admits that:

calls are still frequent from Clarence Valley WIRES who reported six calls regarding injuries in 2009, suggesting there may still be a residual population surviving in the Iluka area or frequenting the area from the adjoining Bunjalung National Park. It is therefore important to reduce further clearing and protect and rehabilitate those areas that are remaining. Particular focus should be given to restoring fragmented areas of koala habitat, lands within identified habitat linkages and koala habitat buffers, and lands adjacent to contiguous blocks of existing koala habitat (McAlpine et al. 2007). [Comprehensive Koala Plan of Management for the Ashby, Woombah & Iluka localities in the Clarence Valley LGA, undated]; and

A further 260 koala food trees (approximately) were inspected for evidence of koala activity during eight transect searches within the Iluka study area….

field observations and anecdotal observations confirm the presence of what appears to be a highly dispersed but small population cell at Iluka…

Since 2002 there have been at least 51 koala records between the Iluka township and Shark Bay that have been contributed to the NSW Wildlife Atlas, while additional koala observations were provided to us and Council officers by residents and National Parks staff. These records create an Extent of Occurrence (EoO) of approximately 1,028ha (Figure 4).  [Biolink Ecological Consultants, Koala Habitat Assessment Ashby, Woombah and Iluka: Report to Clarence Valley Council January 2012]

When comparing this Biolink koala map below with the Google Earth map above it is clear that the possibility exists that koalas may still travel across and perhaps feed in Lot 99 Hickey Street, Iluka.

On 20 January 2012 The Daily Examiner on Page 5 of that issue reported that:

AFTER spotting a mother koala and its baby on 19ha of Birrigan Gargle land that could be cleared, Clarence Environmental Centre secretary John Edwards said bulldozing and developing the wildlife corridor would amount to environmental suicide.

While surveying the area two months ago, Mr Edwards said he spotted two endangered species, the mother koala and baby and a coastal pine community.

Image of koala female with infant on Lot 99 Hickey Street, Iluka. Supplied by Iluka resident. Date unknown.

Fourthly, mineral sand mining for heavy minerals rutile, zircon, monazite and ilmenite occurred in the wider Iluka area and old mineral sand mining sites can sometimes emit low levels of radiation incompatible with full-time occupation of a site [Guidance for Licensing of Mineral-sand Mining that Generates Radioactive Residues, June 2009 & Naturally-Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) in Australia: Issues for Discussion, August 2005]. There has been some suggestion in the online comments section of a local newspaper and a later article that at least part of the existing tree cover is regrowth on an old mineral sand mining site.

Finally there is the rather mundane but very important matter of how the soil would be stabilized after large-scale clearing and before construction is finished, if that will impact on adjacent land and where the storm water from roofs, gardens and road surfaces will be directed.

Then there is this disturbing online advertisement which appears to have been on various real estate websites since at least September 2015 and boldly anticipates approval by both the Northern Joint Regional Planning Panel and Clarence Valley Council:

Is any or all of this what Council is trying to hide from Clarence Valley residents and ratepayers by sneakily activating the clock on this DA over the Christmas holidays?

Or is there something more?

With these questions in mind I went to look at the exhibition documents:

Snapshot taken from Report on PCA & Preliminary Geotechnical Investigation: Iluka Subdivision

The site is roughly trapezoidal in shape and is bounded by: Iluka Golf Club to the north; Iluka Road and the Iluka Nature Reserve to the east; Undeveloped land to the south, west and north west; and Existing residential development to the south west.

[Cardno Geotech Solutions, August 2015, Report on PCA & Preliminary Geotechnical Investigation: Iluka Subdivision, p.1]

Having now sighted the Report on PCA & Preliminary Geotechnical Investigation: Iluka Subdivision and Statement of Environmental Effects: 162 Lot Residential Subdivision Lot 99, DP 823635 Hickey Street, Iluka, prepared for Stevens Holdings Pty Ltd/ Shellharbour Unit Trust (click on link to access documents), it is clear that this parcel of land is partially low-lying, gently undulating back-dunes, potentially prone to localised flooding in sections and, was covered by Mineral Lease 7 (held by L. Foyster) a mineral sand mining lease active between 1958-1978. It is likely that the subject site was sand mined sometime between 1966 and 1978 [Keystone Ecological, 2015, Statement of Environmental Effects, Summary].

Vegetation is generally thick semi-mature to mature native trees and coastal scrub across the site and, includes an unspecified number of Eucalyptus tereticornis Forest Red Gums, Eucalyptus propinqua Small-fruited Grey Gum and Corymbia intermedia Pink Bloodwood - all koala food trees, with the first two species being preferred by these animals.

It is also clear that 16.71 ha of koala habitat is to be removed to make way for 162 houses and an estimated 400-500 new residents living on the outskirts of Iluka township.

The Phascolarctos cinereus Koala observed on site was walking along the ground – not foraging in the trees or moving through the canopy – and moving from south to north [ibid, p.32].

Apart from koala habitat existing on the land evidence was found on site of coastal emu which is listed as endangered under state law:

Snapshot taken from Keystone Ecological, Statement of Environmental Effects:

162 Lot Residential Subdivision Lot 99, DP 823635 Hickey Street, Iluka, October 2015

Image of coastal emu outside the boundary of the 135 hectare Iluka Nature Reserve.

Supplied by Iluka resident. Date unknown.

As for the three internal parks listed on the DA plan – the first is 1.76 hectares, the second is 1 hectare but only 50 metres wide for its entire length, while the third (to protect an Aboriginal scar tree) is only 0.075 of a hectare and wedged in the middle a row of houses. This brings the total internal reserve land to a fragmented 2.83 hectares.

What is not yet clear is how much additional infrastructure and services will be required or how much in developer contributions Clarence Valley Council is expecting to receive and if this will cover all additional infrastructure and services outlays.

The bottom line with regard to Lot 99 Hickey Street, Iluka is that it is a demonstrably ecologically sensitive parcel of land admitted as being “identified as an ‘environmentally sensitive area’ being in, or within 100 metres of an area identified as a wetland of international significance or a world heritage area and complying development may not be carried out on part of this land” [Cardno Geotech Solutions, August 2015, Report on PCA & Preliminary Geotechnical Investigation: Iluka Subdivision, p.5] and, even though Clarence Valley Council has zoned the lot R2 Low Density Residential, the size of the built footprint of this development is not appropriate for the location and the plan provides ineffective native flora and fauna safeguards.

If the developer, the landowner and council administration genuinely wish to see this lot developed in a sustainable manner then they should all revisit what they are progressing so enthusiastically at present and, as a bare minimum, reconfigure the plan to significantly reduce the number of lots and provide genuine wildlife corridors which would continue to allow vulnerable koalas, endangered coastal emus and other wildlife much the same access to Iluka Nature Reserve and the national park that native animals use today.

UPDATE

Coastal cypress pine community on Lot 99 Hickey Street, Iluka (and adjacent lots) represented by blue flags.

Image supplied.

 It is important to note that even small patches that have been disturbed in the past by clearing, or fire are still considered to be important remnants of Coastal Cypress Pine Forest and meet the criteria of being an EEC. [NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change, Coastal Cypress Pine Forest in the NSWNorth Coast Bioregion, 2009]

Keep Calm & Carrying On Making The Tea!

Oh dear, this man may yet be Australia’s next Deputy-Prime Minister.

Former accountant and current Nationals MP for New England and 
Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources 
Barnaby Thomas Gerard Joyce

What could possibly go wrong?

Sharp rise in Green Power bills the fault of Federal Coalition Government

The Sydney Morning Herald, 4 January 2016:

Consumers want answers after energy providers have announced a price increase of up to 41 per cent for their green energy contribution to coincide with the new year.

In the days leading up to Christmas, Origin Energy customers were notified that "a rise in the market price of renewable energy" meant GreenPower electricity charges would increase from 3.61¢ per kilowatt hour (excluding GST) to 5.10¢ per kilowatt hour from January 1, 2016.

The increase was so steep, northern NSW resident Russell Mills was sure there had been a mistake.

"I did the maths very quickly and it came up as a 41 per cent increase. I thought that's substantial, am I missing something?" he said. 

"There was nothing in the letter explaining the rationale for it, so I rang them and I spoke to three different people who could tell me no more, just that it was due to changes in renewable energy prices."

In Mr Mills' case, the 41 per cent increase would equate to an extra $77 each year…..

Mr Mills lives with his wife and two children in a three-bedroom home in Clunes, where they spend between $450 and $550 per quarter on electricity.

For the past year, he has contributed to renewable energy through the 100 per cent GreenPower product. However, after being hit with the 41 per cent increase, he has made a "hip-pocket decision" to reduce his 100 per cent contribution to 50 per cent. 

"There's a huge disincentive here for average consumers to actually choose renewable energy. I'm not laying blame totally on Origin, I'm still with them, I just feel it's a bit depressing really," he said.

"We need more renewable energy and there's not really any incentive for us to choose it."

Significant price jumps in GreenPower charges can be linked to the large-scale generation certificates used for the product, which have experienced a steady increase of about $40 to upwards of $75 in the past six months.

All GreenPower providers have changed their prices to reflect the underlying cost increase.

So who is the real culprit in all this?

The fault apparently lies with the Coalition Federal Government and its attempt to dismantle the Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme.

Energetics on 9 December 2015:

The protracted negotiations surrounding the review of the Renewable Energy Target (RET) scheme and the reduced energy target has had a significant effect on the price movement and volatility of Large-scale Generation Certificates (LGCs) throughout the third quarter of 2015. 

The negotiated changes to the RET can be summarised as follows:

* Reduction of the Large scale Renewable Energy Target from 41,000GWh to 33,000GWh

*Eligibility of the burning of native wood waste as a certificate generator

* Creation of a ‘wind commissioner’ to hear complaints surrounding wind developments.

Following the passing of the RET legislation by the Senate on 23 June 2015, LGC prices have increased to seven year highs, maintaining prices above $70 per certificate….

This unprecedented price movement has come on the back of significant trades in the spot market, as the market is concerned about the number of committed projects over the next 12 months. The protracted negotiations surrounding the revised RET target did effectively put any investment in large-scale renewable projects on hold, leading now to a short to medium term shortage of LGC certificates. 

Future price movements will depend on the quantity of approved large-scale renewable projects in the coming years. Policy certainty, combined with the high LGC price should serve to encourage increased levels investment in new projects and ultimately put downward pressure on the current high certificate prices.

ISIS called and heard this response: sorry, I have a life

Sky News reporting on ISIS response to increased air strikes, 27 December 2915:

The Islamic State group has released a new message purportedly from its reclusive leader, claiming his self-styled "caliphate" is doing well despite an unprecedented alliance against it.

In the 24-minute audio posted on Saturday, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi says air strikes by the international coalition only increase his group's determination and resolve.

He also mocks a recently announced Saudi-led Islamic alliance against "terrorism" and warns Israel that "we are getting closer to you" every day.

To Israeli Jews, he says that they "will hide behind trees and stones" from the IS.

Al-Baghdadi urges Muslims world over to join the fight, saying it is their Islamic duty to rise up everywhere.

The authenticity of the audio could not be independently confirmed but it was posted on IS-affiliated websites and Twitter as have past IS messages.

A selection of Twitter responses to this call to “rise up”:

Quote of the week

The federal ministry, personally chosen by Turnbull, seems disproportionately populated by gropers, leakers, fibbers, fools, frauds, dickheads and dopes. [Journalist Elizabeth Farrelly, The Sydney Morning Herald, 6 January 2016]

Special screening of documentary "Black Hole" at Dorrigo Old Gazette Theatre 7.30pm 15 January 2015

"Black Hole" explores the fight to stop the clearing of Leard State Forest.

Whitehaven Coal's controversial Maules Creek mine became fully operational in July 2015.

http://coalfacemagazine.com.au/maules-creek-celebrates-coal-for-christmas/

Just because it is beautiful.....

The Virgin Rainbow Opal

Release of the ALRC Freedoms Report is something to look forward to in March 2016

By early March 2016 the Turnbull Government is required to table and release the Australian Law Reform Commission report of the Freedoms Inquiry findings.

The Interim Report published in August 2015, Traditional Rights and Freedoms— Encroachments by Commonwealth Laws, can be found here.

This interim report states:

1.87 Throughout this paper, the ALRC highlights certain laws that may merit closer review. These are laws that have been criticised for unjustifiably limiting common law rights or principles. This report highlights some of these criticisms and some of the arguments that may be relevant to justification. However, for most of these laws, the ALRC would need more extensive consultation and evidence to justify making detailed recommendations for reform.108 1.88 Therefore, rather than make detailed recommendations for reform based on insufficient evidence, the ALRC has highlighted laws that seem to merit further review. These laws are identified in the conclusion to each chapter. The highlighted laws have been selected following consideration of a number of factors, including whether the law has been criticised in submissions or other literature for unjustifiably limiting one or more of the relevant rights and whether the law has recently been thoroughly reviewed. Laws that may be criticised for reasons other than interference with rights, for example because they do not achieve their objective, are not highlighted for that reason alone. The fact that a law limits multiple rights has also sometimes suggested the need for further review.109 1.89 The ALRC calls for submissions on which laws that limit traditional rights deserve further review.

And makes a welcome suggestion which, if implemented, would assist both parliamentarians and voters:

2.58 Additional procedures could be put in place to improve the rigour of statements of compatibility and explanatory memoranda to assist Parliament in understanding the impact of proposed legislation on fundamental rights, freedoms and privileges. The object of such procedures would be to ensure that statements of compatibility and explanatory memoranda provide sufficiently detailed and evidence-based rationales for encroachments on fundamental rights, freedoms and privileges to allow the parliamentary scrutiny committees to complete their review.

Politwoops is gathering Australian politicians' tweets once more

The Age 1 January 2016:

Politwoops will once again be able to collect and publish the deleted tweets of politicians around the world after Twitter announced that it reached a deal with the organisations that run the website.

Twitter revoked Politwoops' access to its API, the back-end code used by developers of other applications, earlier this year. Christopher Gates, the president of the Sunlight Foundation, a transparency group that runs the website in partnership with the Open State Foundation and Access Now, wrote at the time that Twitter's decision "truly mystified" him.

Politwoops has helped shine a light on apparent attempts by politicians to distance themselves from their remarks on Twitter. Perhaps the most notable case was when several politicians deleted tweets praising the release of Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl by captors in Afghanistan after questions arose about the soldier's past actions.

Politwoops Australia can be found here.

NOTE: A word of warning – there is at least one Australian politician’s Twitter account which was comprehensively hacked and the tweets recorded as deleted did not originate from that person, so double check all tweets you may consider quoting.

Failure to maintain staffing numbers and nursing care levels in Australian aged care facilities is a disgrace

In June 1999, a little over a year into the first term of the Howard Coalition Government,  there were an estimated 132,420 older Australians in residential aged care facilities, with 61 per cent having “high care” dependency status.  

Between 1994 and 1999 there was a 13.9% decrease in the number of registered nurses and a 26.0% decrease in the number of enrolled nurses, so that by 1999 there were 19,517 registered nurses employed full-time in residential aged care facilities and 13,818 enrolled nurses.

A decade later and the percentage of registered nurses working in residential aged care facilities fell from 11 per cent (or 18,313 individuals) in 2003 to 8 per cent (or 16,431 individuals) in 2009 and the number of enrolled nurses fell from 29 per cent (or 12,933) to 21 per cent (or 10,030) in 2009.

In 2011 the number of permanent residents in aged care numbered an est. 165,032 people.

By 2012 the percentage of the residential aged care workforce being registered nurses or enrolled nurses working in residential aged care had only risen to 14.7 per cent (or 13,939 individuals) and 11.6 percent (or 10,999 individuals) respectively, which is an actual fall in total numbers of RNs & ENs in the aged care workforce.

During the course of the 2013–14 financial year 270,559 people were admitted to age care facilities either on a permanent or respite basis. Nationally in March 2014 registered nurses comprised 15.3% of the residential aged care workforce and enrolled nurses made up 21.9% [Aged and Community Services NSW & ACT].  By June 2014 the “high care” dependency level of aged care residents had risen to 83 percent.

However, in 2014 the Abbott Government changed the federal Aged Care Act 1997 in such a way that allowed residential aged care operators to reduce the number of registered nurses employed in their nursing homes, as well as deregulating fees charged and accommodation bonds levied. 

In response the NSW Government effectively grandfathers facilities subject to the current NSW Requirements for a period of 18 months in order to block any moves to reduce state legislated provision of a minimum of one registered nurse on duty 24/7 in nursing homes containing “high care” beds.  This reprieve appears to come to an end around February this year but the state government’s formal response to the NSW Legislative Council report it ordered is not due until 29 April.

Meanwhile The Sydney Morning Herald reported on 1 January 2016 that: The profits of aged care homes surged 40 per cent in the past year as operators cut hours of nursing care while claiming higher payments from the federal government for servicing more of the most frail patients. The earnings boom in the sector comes after the government introduced widespread reforms of aged care in 2014…Yet while nursing homes report they are looking after more needy residents, the time spent caring for them declined by 7 per cent over the past year. In 2015, hours by care staff (nurses, care assistants and therapists) fell from 42.71 hours per fortnight to 39.80 hours per fortnight. At 2.8 hours a day, the average is well below the minimum of 4.5 hours per day of nursing care mandated in the US, said Lynda Saltarelli from the Aged Care Crisis advocacy group."Australia has no recommended levels for staffing," she said. "Over half of all nursing homes in Australia have nursing levels so low that most residents suffer harm."

Australia currently has about 2,800 residential aged care facilities providing care to more than 160,000 elderly people. Over the next ten years, the number of residents is projected to reach more than 250,000 and the highest area of growth will be among residents aged 95 or over. During that same ten-year period the number of registered nurses and enrolled nurses employed in aged care facilities is expected to further decline, according to Health Workforce Australia.

Prime Minister Malcolm Bligh Turnbull and his Cabinet need to take a long hard look at this mess and use legislation and regulations to raise these staffing levels and hours of care received before the next federal election.

The issue is not going unnoticed by voters……

Letter to the Editor, The Age 3 January 2016:

Low nursing levels, low level of care

It is outrageous that nursing homes do not have recommended staffing levels. Elderly people with dementia or Alzheimer's disease – and who, in some cases, have paid bonds of hundreds of thousands of dollars as well as continuing monthly payments – deserve the best possible care. By law, childcare organisations have staff ratios yet children are able to learn and notify carers if they are in pain, hungry or need to be toileted. Dementia patients cannot do this and will only become more in need of care as their condition worsens. Thankfully my mother, who has late-stage Alzheimer's disease, is in a wonderful facility. However, in my search for a good home, I saw many where up to 15 dementia patients were cared for by one staff member. With an ageing society, the number of people entering nursing homes will increase, profits will continue to soar and our most vulnerable citizens will suffer. Staff ratios must be put in place.

Annie Jones, West Melbourne [my red bolding]

Twitter: no trolls, bullies, haters or racists allowed

Twitter has updated its abusive behaviour policy:

Abusive Behavior

We believe in freedom of expression and in speaking truth to power, but that means little as an underlying philosophy if voices are silenced because people are afraid to speak up. In order to ensure that people feel safe expressing diverse opinions and beliefs, we do not tolerate behavior that crosses the line into abuse, including behavior that harasses, intimidates, or uses fear to silence another user’s voice.

Any accounts and related accounts engaging in the activities specified below may be temporarily locked and/or subject to permanent suspension.

* Violent threats (direct or indirect): You may not make threats of violence or promote violence, including threatening or promoting terrorism. 

* Harassment: You may not incite or engage in the targeted abuse or harassment of others.

Some of the factors that we may consider when evaluating abusive behavior include:

o   if a primary purpose of the reported account is to harass or send abusive messages to others;

o   if the reported behavior is one-sided or includes threats;

o   if the reported account is inciting others to harass another account; and

o   if the reported account is sending harassing messages to an account from multiple accounts.

* Hateful conduct: You may not promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or disease. We also do not allow accounts whose primary purpose is inciting harm towards others on the basis of these categories. 

*Multiple account abuse: Creating multiple accounts with overlapping uses or in order to evade the temporary or permanent suspension of a separate account is not allowed.

* Private information: You may not publish or post other people's private and confidential information, such as credit card numbers, street address, or Social Security/National Identity numbers, without their express authorization and permission. In addition, you may not post intimate photos or videos that were taken or distributed without the subject's consent. Read more about our private information policy here.

* Impersonation: You may not impersonate others through the Twitter service in a manner that is intended to or does mislead, confuse, or deceive others. Read more about our impersonation policy here.

Tony Abbott's propaganda machine running at full throttle

Federal Member for Warringah Tony Abbott’s personal website is up and running again – with its entire history before 15 September 2015 conveniently wiped from memory and, at the timing of writing, there is only limited pre-prime ministership access to this site via the Wayback Machine.

The former prime minister has also rewritten his biography page on the current version of the website. 

Here is a transcript of that page with my annotations in red for your enjoyment:

Tony Abbott was elected Prime Minister by the Australian people on 7 September 2013 and served for two years. Prime ministers and parliamentary party leaders are not elected by the people but by government MPs & senators. His time as prime minister commenced on 18 September 2013 and he was sacked as party leader and prime minister by Liberal Party MPs & senators on 15 September 2015 so he was not prime minister for a full two years.

In his time as Prime Minister, the carbon tax and the mining tax were repealed; free trade agreements were finalised with China, Japan and Korea; and the people smuggling trade from Indonesia to Australia was halted. Australia became the second largest military contributor to the US-led campaign against ISIL in Iraq and hosted the G20 meeting of global leaders in Brisbane in November 2014. Australia is not the second largest contributor to the US-led campaign against ISIL which commenced in August 2014. Australia entered the campaign in October 2014 with approximately 200 defence personnel, building up to around 780 personnel & 8 aircraft by September 2015. However by February 2015 France had in excess of 2,000 defence personnel deployed on the ground & aboard an aircraft carrier and frigate, plus over forty aircraft on active duty by September 2015.

In 2014 and again in 2015, he spent a week running the government from a remote indigenous community. In 2014 Abbott spent barely 4 days in Arnhem Land arriving on 14 September & leaving on 18 September. In 2015 he managed almost 5 full days, arriving in the morning on 23 August & leaving around midday on 28 August.

As Opposition Leader at the 2010 election, he reduced a first term Labor government to minority status before comprehensively winning the 2013 election.

Between 1996 and 2007, he was successively parliamentary secretary, minister, cabinet minister and Leader of the House of Representatives in the Howard government.

As Minister for Health, he expanded Medicare to include dentists, psychologists and other health professionals and resolved the medical indemnity crisis. Abbott did not become Health Minister until 7 November 2003. The Howard Government began to provide financial assistance to United Medical Protection in May 2002 & the Medical Indemnity Act received assent on 19 December 2002. When he became Minister for Health & Ageing he merely continued this financial assistance. Medical insurance premiums rose quickly in 2003 and then continued to trend upwards during his tenure in the health portfolio.

As Minister for Workplace Relations, he boosted construction industry productivity through the establishment of a royal commission against union lawlessness. Abbott held this ministry from January 2001 until October 2003. The 2001-2003 Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry also looked at construction companies, employers & workplace safety. Construction industry productivity levels actually began to fall in the 2002-03 financial year.

As Minister for Employment Services, he developed private-sector job placement services and Work for the Dole for long-term unemployed people.

Tony Abbott has been Member for Warringah in the Australian Parliament since 1994.

Prior to entering parliament, he was a journalist with The Australian, a senior adviser to Opposition Leader John Hewson, and director of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy. Abbott forgot to mention his 1987 stint as a full-time journalist at The Bulletin newspaper and then his brief career as manager of a Pioneer Concrete plant.

He has degrees in economics and law from Sydney University and an MA in politics and philosophy from Oxford which he attended as a Rhodes Scholar.

He is the author of three books.

Since 1998, he has convened the Pollie Pedal annual charity bike ride which has raised more than $4 million for medical research, indigenous health scholarships and Carers Australia.

Tony Abbott does surf patrols with the Queenscliff Surf Life Saving Club and is a former deputy captain in the Davidson Rural Fire Brigade.

He is married to Margaret and they are the proud parents of three daughters – Louise, Frances and Bridget.

NSW Rental Tenancy Law Review community consultation closes 26 January 2016

NSW Fair Trading website:

The NSW Government is reviewing the Residential Tenancies Act 2010 (the Act). The Act establishes a comprehensive set of rights and obligations for:   
  *landlords 

 * tenants

 * social housing providers

 * real estate agents who act for landlords.    
     

As part of this review, you are now invited to view a Discussion Paper to help you consider improvements to the current laws. This consultation closes on 29 January 2016. Read more about how you can have your say below.  

What are we doing?

Have your say

Next steps

Some rental horror stories are being recorded by The Greens Jenny Leong at https://www.facebook.com/events/1513744868919794/.

How will Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources Barnaby Joyce & Nationals MP Kevin Hogan handle local opposition to Turnbull Government's move to lower penalty rates?

Electorates in Northern New South Wales, such as Page and New England have an long-established tourism component in their local economies.

Both full-time, part-time and casual retail and hospitality workers play a big part in the tourism industry in these rural and regional areas, so it is interesting to note that local opposition to the Turnbull Government’s less than subtle move against weekend penalty rates in the retail and hospitality sectors is obviously on the radar of local voters.

The Australia Institute:

Polling in key Liberal and National Party seats shows strong opposition to reducing Sunday penalty rates for retail workers, according to new ReachTEL polling commissioned by The Australia Institute.

Polling conducted across the electorates of Page, New England, Warringah and Dickson on 17th December shows that between 65% and 79% of people in these electorates want Sunday penalty rates in the retail industry kept the same or increased.

“The research underscores the political difficulty any Government faces if they allow Sunday penalty rates to be cut,” said Ben Oquist, Executive Director of The Australia Institute.

“Furthermore the consequences for lowering Sunday penalty rates for the macro economy need to be considered. Lowering the take-home pay for many low paid employees, who are more likely to spend most of their income, could lower the amount of spending in the economy with negative flow on effects for economic growth and employment,” said Mr Oquist.

Page MP Kevin Hogan initially called these local concerns a beat up.

However, with media reporting the possibility that Page and Richmond workers losing a minimum est. $12.2 million and $11.8 million in total income respectively, this was perhaps not the wisest choice of words to use in an election year.

Given that in his own electorate 74.6 percent of all those of all those surveyed and 56 per cent of those Nationals supporters surveyed wanted penalty rates to increase or stay the same, attempting to brush aside valid concern in this way looks foolhardy to say the least.

Hogan appears to have realised this by 29 December and changed his tune when speaking to a Daily Examiner journalist: "I'm very cognisant that penalty rates are very important to many people who don't earn a lot of money….For a lot of people any extra benefit they get is very important to them. I'm yet to be sold there is an economic benefit in cutting penalty rates."

A statement that only the gullible would accept at face value, as his parliamentary voting record shows that he has never once voted against Abbott or Turnbull government legislation or spoken up strongly in the House of Representatives against their policies.

The Minister Agriculture and Water Resources, Barnaby Joyce, takes a different tack by saying that any changes to workplace laws including penalty rates would be taken to an election.  

With 70.7 percent of all those of all those surveyed and 56.9 per cent of those Nationals supporters surveyed wanting penalty rates to increase or stay the same, he will have to work hard to convince his own electorate that reducing these rates is not going to hit the New England economy hard.

Across rural New South Wales a partial abolition of penalty rates in the retail and hospitality sectors would result in workers losing between $118.9 million p.a. and $220.0 million p.a. with a  loss in disposable income of between $53.8 million p.a. and $106.2 million p.a. to local economies, according to research conducted by The McKell Institute.

Stocktake of waterbirds in eastern Australia has shown the lowest breeding level on record

ABC News 27 December 2015:

A stocktake of waterbirds in eastern Australia has shown the lowest breeding level on record.

The annual aerial survey, conducted by the Centre for Ecosystem Science at the University of NSW, confirmed a dramatic long-term decline in the number of waterbirds.

Director Richard Kingsford said that over 33 years of counting, average numbers had fallen more than 60 per cent.

The trend continued in 2015 with a further drop compared to the previous three-to-five-year period.

"This is the second lowest number of waterbirds we've seen in that 33-year period and it's symptomatic of the real impacts of this drought that's occurring across the eastern half of the continent," Professor Kingsford said.

The survey covered all the major rivers, lakes and wetlands from Queensland down through New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, including the Murray-Darling Basin and the Riverina.

The team found the Macquarie Marshes and Lowbidgee wetlands were only partially filled, most rivers in the Murray-Darling Basin were also relatively dry, with little wetland habitat on their floodplains, and all the large lakes in the Menindee system were dry.

The Lake Eyre and Cooper Creek wetlands were mostly dry except for a small area to their east, while important wetlands in the Lake Eyre Basin including Lakes Galilee, Yamma Yamma, Torquinnie and Mumbleberry were dry.

Waterbirds were concentrated in relatively few important sites, with only four wetland systems holding more than 5,000 birds: Lake Killapaninna, Lake Allallina, Paroo overflow Lakes and Coolmunda Dam.

Most alarmingly, the total breeding index of all 50 species combined was the lowest on record and well below the long-term average……

Professor Kingsford said climate change also needed to be taken into account.

"For these wetlands, they rely on that water staying around so animals and plants can go through their life cycles, but if you've got less of the water actually coming in at the top end and when it gets to the wetland there's a high evaporation rate then it's really challenging in the long term as well," he said.

"So a whole series of targets have been set and the big challenge is: did we get enough water for the environment over the next 15 to 20 years?"

He warned that if the regulators did not find the right balance, the wider community would pay a hefty price.

"We know in the millennium drought, for example, when there wasn't enough water for the Lower Lakes and the Coorong, governments had to put their hands in their pockets to spend $2 billion to actually rescue that system," Professor Kingsford said.

"We currently have a dredge parked in the mouth of the River Murray which is trying to keep it open — a service that the environment used to do for nothing, and that's costing taxpayers up to $100,000 a week."

He said the birds were a barometer, indicating declining health of the whole ecosystem.

University of NSW, Centre for Ecosystem Science, Aerial Survey of Wetland Birds in Eastern Australia - October 2014 Annual Summary Report

Blogging the 2015 Aerial Survey.

Click on the survey route to read a blog post or the arrow button on the top lefthand side to access the list of blogs.

Peter Dutton - the gods' gift to the Labor Party in 2016

This has to come under the heading ‘You couldn’t make this up”, as yet another Turnbull Government minister reveals his contempt for women:

Twitter, 3 January 2016

The Daily Telegraph, 3 January 2016:

PETER Dutton, the minister who once resigned from the frontbench via SMS, yesterday labelled a female journalist a “mad f ... king witch” in a text — and then sent it to the journalist instead of the colleague it was intended for.

The Immigration Minister last night outed himself as the MP who had sent the blistering text about Sunday Telegraph political editor Samantha Maiden after reading her coverage of the Jamie Briggs affair.

The text message ended a horror week for the government after Mr Briggs was forced to resign from the frontbench for allegedly trying to kiss a junior public servant during a boozy night in a Hong Kong bar while on official ministerial business. The text was supposed to be sent to Mr Briggs after Maiden’s story outing the dumped minister for sending photos of the public servant he had taken on his phone, to colleagues.

Mr Dutton, who immediately apologised to Maiden after he realised he had sent the message to her, outed himself in a bid to avoid other colleagues being listed as suspects after Maiden refused to reveal the author of the text.

The minister, successful in protecting Australian borders, said he would cop the incident on the chin.

“I apologised to her straight away, which she took in good faith,’’ he said. “Sam and I have exchanged some robust language over the years so we had a laugh after this. I’m expecting a tough time in her next column.”

Maiden said she had accepted Mr Dutton’s apology and was “not offended by his mobile phone malfunction”. The pair have known each other for more than a decade.….

UPDATE

Prime Minister Turnbull not amused by Dutton’s latest blunder……

The Sydney Morning Herald, 4 January 2016:

Senior cabinet member Peter ­Dutton has apologised for calling a female journalist a “mad f. king witch” over her coverage of fallen junior minister Jamie Briggs’s ­exploits in Hong Kong.

The Immigration Minister ­yesterday admitted that he sent the message to the political editor for News Corp Australia’s Sunday papers, Samantha Maiden, after she ­reported Mr Briggs had sent colleagues a photograph of the diplomat who complained about his behaviour at the Stormies Bar in late November.

It is understood Mr Dutton ­accidentally sent the text message to Maiden instead of Mr Briggs in what was intended as a show of support for the besieged South Australian MP…..

Malcolm Turnbull is understood to regard the derogatory comment more seriously, describing it privately as “completely ­inappropriate”.

Maiden’s reporting was highly critical of Mr Briggs and his supporters, and also revealed that the former cities minister had ­accepted first-class flights and gifts of champagne and wine during his parliamentary career. While denying he sent the photograph of the diplomat and his chief of staff, ­Stuart Eaton, at the Hong Kong bar to the media, Mr Briggs said he had shared it with some colleagues ­before and after the complaint in an attempt to highlight the ­“informal” nature of the night.

The Community and Public Sector Union said the breach of the woman’s privacy was ­“disgraceful”.

Although the journalist in question is obviously having fun......

Australian Health Minister and Liberal MP Sussan Ley has some explaining to do

It is bad enough that women in rural and regional areas comprise one third of all female cancer suffers and have on average poorer cancer survival rates than their metropolitan counterparts, now they face this as well...........

Perth Now, 27 December 2015:

WOMEN with breast cancer are being denied a Medicare rebate for expensive MRI scans which others with football injuries, headaches and back pain receive.

The rebate — rejected recently by the government’s Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC) — contributes to the bills of up to $30,000 many women face for their breast cancer.

“MSAC did not support public funding for these indications due to of uncertain clinical effectiveness, cost-effectiveness and financial impact” the committee ruled.

It reckoned approving a rebate for the test — worth up to $2000 — would cost the health system around $9 million.

It’s the latest example of Medicare failing cancer patients when they need it most….

Breast surgeon Professor Christobel Saunders one of the surgeons trying to obtain a Medicare rebate for MRIs says around one in 10 women have tumours that can’t be properly seen on mammograms or ultrasound….

“About 10 per cent of women require it and it helps us plan surgery and determine whether we need to do a lumpectomy or a mastectomy.”

“We know breast MRIs work. We have been using them for 20 years they are the most efficient way of telling the full size of the tumour,” she says.

Professor Saunders was part of a group of surgeons who made an application to the governments Medicare services advisory committee which determines which medical procedures attract a Medicare rebate.

She believes MSAC may have over-estimated the number of women who would get an MRI when deciding to reject the rebate.

MSAC granted a Medicare rebate for breast MRIs for just two of the eight indications requested.

It is recommended for women whose cancer had spread to the lymph nodes where conventional scans failed to show the source of the tumour.

And MRI guided biopsy is also recommended in patients with suspected breast cancer where the tumour only identifiable by MRI.

But it rejected breast cancer MRIs for six other indications.

Besides breast MRIs the Turnbull Government has slated another 22 Medicare items for removal from the rebate list in this round of cuts: another 6 diagnostic imaging items, 9 items in ear, nose, and throat surgery; 5 items in gastroenterology services, 1 obstetrics item and 1 thoracic medicine item.

Health Minister Sussan Ley is telling all and sundry that doctors themselves recommended these items, however the medical profession does not appear to be so uniform in opinion as Ley implies.

Given that December 2015's MYEFO contained more health funding cuts, the Liberal-Nationals ideological attacks on Medicare and free access to public health services appears set to continue until they have dismantled enough of the safety net system as will enable their MPs to commence creating an inequitable U.S. style health care system.

This is the type of medical treatment just such a system delivers:

Barbara Dawson via Twitter

Sometimes it just takes a hug to make us realise that Australia is not a bad and dangerous place to live

Snapshot found on Twitter in December 2015