As is our usual practice North Coast Voices will not be posting comment between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.
We hope to see you all in 2018!
Monday 25 December 2017
Sunday 24 December 2017
Santa spotted arriving in Australia!
Spotted: Santa has arrived in Australia! Time to get ready for bed #seeaustralia pic.twitter.com/rZUhMHHeKO
— Australia (@Australia) December 24, 2017
No Christmas gift for Turnbull Government from Newspoll and nothing under the tree for most of us
There were definitely no bright shiny ribbons on this Lib-Nats Christmas
box as Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Bligh Turnbull, along with
his ministers, senators and MPs, trailed in the 25th consecutive Newspoll.
In
Daily, 18 December 2017:
Labor leads the Coalition by 53 per cent to 47, representing a
national swing against the government of three per cent.
The poll of 1669 voters across the country, conducted for The
Australian over the weekend, shows the Coalition has made no ground in the
past two weeks with Labor maintaining a one-point primary vote lead of 37.
Nor was there a Christmas gift for average Australian families in
this little budgetary effort by Messrs. Turnbull, Morrison and Cormann set out below.
Because the bottom line is that:
wages growth is expected to remain low;
the national unemployment rate isn't predicted to fall below 5.25% in the foreseeable future;
there are additional funding cuts in education;
so-called debt recovery from welfare recipients will continue with enhancements;
reductions in certain types of welfare payment also continue apace;
tha taxation system remains skewed against ordinaty workers AND
government gross debt continues to grow across the forward estimates while government revenue growth is somewhat subdued.
There is also no Treasury forecast that Morrison's promiseded 2020-21 $23 billion reduction of the 2018-19 projected $591 billion total gross government debt will actually happen.
Because the bottom line is that:
wages growth is expected to remain low;
the national unemployment rate isn't predicted to fall below 5.25% in the foreseeable future;
there are additional funding cuts in education;
so-called debt recovery from welfare recipients will continue with enhancements;
reductions in certain types of welfare payment also continue apace;
tha taxation system remains skewed against ordinaty workers AND
government gross debt continues to grow across the forward estimates while government revenue growth is somewhat subdued.
There is also no Treasury forecast that Morrison's promiseded 2020-21 $23 billion reduction of the 2018-19 projected $591 billion total gross government debt will actually happen.
Is the Berejiklian Government treating a conservation trust & koala protection fund as a method to pork barrel on the NSW North Coast ahead of the next state election?
The koala population of New South Wales ends the year as it began - in danger of localised extinction on the NSW North Coast and widespread extinction across the state.
The Sydney Morning Herald, 17 December 2017:
Koala populations are under siege in many parts of NSW, including the far north coast of NSW.
Photo: Cole Bennetts
Photo: Cole Bennetts
The Berejiklian government proceeded to buy two blocks of land for koala habitat, overriding internal concerns the purchases were "not a priority" as protections were already in place.
The acquisition of the land in the Tweed Shire earlier this year comes as a new poll finds strong strong local support for new koala national parks.
There is also confirmation the state's new biodiversity conservation act prevents threatened regional populations of any species - including koalas - securing elevated endangered status.
Documents released under freedom of information to the North Coast Environment Centre (NCEC) reveal Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) staff doubted the benefits of paying almost $1 million for about 104 hectares of land for koala protection near Pottsville, north of Byron Bay……
Ashley Love, a spokesman for the North Coast Environment Council, said the spending appeared aimed at shoring up support for National MPs in marginal electorates in the region.
Mr Love is also concerned the government will squander the $10 million koala fund - meant to protect "vital" habitat - and a separate $240 million biodiversity conservation trust to protect land with high conservation values.
"It was a bad precedent at the very beginning of when this government's going to spend a lot of money on private land," he said…..
A ReachTEL of 700 residents in the state seat of Lismore found 68.3 per cent of participants in Lismore town and 71.9 per cent in Ballina support the creation of national parks to protect koalas from logging and land clearing.
"This polling shows that were the government to create them, they would be broadly welcomed," Alix Goodwin, chief executive of the NSW National Parks Association, said.
"We expect that the forthcoming Whole of Government Koala Strategy will reflect the wishes of the community and include new protected areas."
The new biodiversity conservation act, which is widely viewed as easing controls on land-clearing, has also stripped the NSW Threatened Species Scientific Committee of its ability to highlight localised threats to species.
The independent NSW Scientific Committee made a preliminary finding in August that the koala population near Port Stephens was endangered as it is '"facing a very high risk of extinction in NSW in the near future."
However, the new conservation regulations passed later that month precluded a local population of a species from having a separate rating if it already listed. Koalas are deemed "vulnerable" in NSW.
Saturday 23 December 2017
Quote of the Week
“When we have obtained emails in the course of our ongoing criminal investigation, we have secured either the account owner’s consent or appropriate criminal process” [US DoJ Special Counsel’s Office spokesperson, Peter Carr speaking about Trump Transition Team emails, in Slate on 17 December 2017]
Tweet of the Week
And this is why I am a proud snowflake ❄️ pic.twitter.com/xqgnqb1nqz— AmericanagainstTrump (@notadeplorable2) December 16, 2017
Friday 22 December 2017
Adani circles the wagons in Queensland
@AnnastaciaMP exercising the Queensland Government's right of veto
ADANI has announced it will part ways with its main contractor for its Carmichael megamine.
The Indian mining giant released a statement this morning heralding the change, which comes after Downer pulled information on Adani recruitment events from its website.
Downer was set to develop and operate the mine, but Adani will instead run the mine as an owner-operator.
“Following on from the NAIF veto last week, and in line with its vision to achieve the lowest quartile cost of production by ensuring flexibility and efficiencies in the supply chain, Adani has decided to develop and operate the mine on an owner operator basis,” it read.
“Adani and Downer have mutually agreed to cancel all Letter of Awards and Downer will provide transitional assistance until 31st March 2018.
“Adani remains committed to develop the Carmichael project and will ensure the highest level of standards and governance.
Map of section Galilee Basin, Qld
Via @ABCTropical
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