noble-caledonia.co.uk, 27 May 2017 |
Monday 28 May 2018
Noble Caledonia Limited changes its mind about Port of Yamba-Clarence River?
Noble
Caledonia Limited’s “Australian
Coastal Odyssey” twenty-two day cruise from 9-31 October 2018 -
flying from London to Cairns to Port Moresby, then sailing through the Torres
Strait and down the east coast of Australia to berth in Melbourne before
returning home on 31 October - is still being advertised online and it just got
a lot cheaper.
In an apparent effort
to fill cabins aboard the vessel MV Caledonian Sky, the UK-based cruise line is now offering across-the-board
discounts of £1,000 per two-person cabin.
There has
also been a change in the ship’s itinerary for Day 16 - 24 October this year.
All mention
of entry into Port of Yamba-Clarence River was removed from the cruise line's website sometime between 21 and
27 May and, Trial Bay, South West Rocks inserted instead for both its October
2018 “Australian Coastal Odyssey” and October 2019 “Australian Coastal
Discovery” east coast cruises.
Caledonian Sky has already booked port berths/moorings
in Queensland and Victoria as well as for two of the six official ports along the NSW leg of the 2018 cruise – Port of Newcastle (7am
25 October) and Port of Eden (7am
27 October). There is no published booking for Port of Yamba which requires piloted entry for sea-going ships.
Which has set
Lower Clarence residents to wondering about the reasons for this welcome change of
plan.
Some think it
may be a public relations feint by Noble Caledonia to dampen expression of local concerns and it may yet decide to slip into the Clarence River estuary on
or about 24 October this year.
Others point
to the level of risk always associated with bringing ships like the 5-deck
high, 91 metre long, est. 4,200 gross tonne Caledonian
Sky across the entrance bar while avoiding collision with the culturally
important Native Title reef “Dirrangun” and, the possibility that the cruise line’s
insurance company might not be impressed if that risk were to be realised and
it was faced with a second reef maritime incident in less than nineteen months
involving the same ship.
Given the
protracted negotiations between Noble Caledonia, its insurer and the Indonesian
Government over a reported £350 million ‘fine’ incurred when the
Caledonian Sky damaged over 18,000
sq. metres of pristine coral reef in the Raja Ampat island chain in March 2017, it is understandable that Noble Caledonia Limited may have reassessed the
original “Australian Coastal Odyssey” itinerary and decided it preferred a less
problematic short-stay mooring for Day 16.
Office of Environment and Heritage v Clarence Valley Council (2018)
Clarence Valley Local Government Area covers approximately 10,441 square kilometres with nine heritage conservation precincts and official heritage listings as long as your arm.
It processes up to $100.5 million worth of development applications in a financial year.
With so much environmentally sensitive land, so many nature reserves, large swathes of native title, state forests and national parks, ancient cultural sites, unlisted historical burials, heritage buildings/bridges/cemetaries, quarries and a good many planning decisions to make, there is also a possibility that something will go awry.
This entry in the NSW Online Registry - Court Lists indicates that all is not well:
Land and
Environment Court, Sydney
Justice T
Moore
Office of
Environment and Heritage v Clarence Valley Council
Case Number: 2018/00119684
Case Number: 2018/00119684
Jurisdiction:
Criminal
Class 5
Directions Hearing on 25 May 2018.
According the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage website; Proceedings in Class 5 involve summary criminal enforcement proceedings, usually by government authorities prosecuting offences against planning or environmental laws and Class 5 prosecutions are heard by a judge without a jury.
This matter probably began its journey through the court in mid-April 2018 (or perhaps earlier) but it is unlikely council will tell the Clarence Valley electorate what event led to this court case anytime soon, as even a minimum degree of transparency concerning litigation is often missing in action.
Sunday 27 May 2018
Fair Funding Now campaign kicked off in the Page electorate on 23 May 2018
When Nationals MP for Page Kevin Hogan stated that "our local community was a winner from this year’s budget with money put back into family budgets, the creation of more jobs and a guarantee of the essential services that we depend on as the Government continues to heavily invest in regional infrastructure" and "Our schools will also receive an extra $23.5 billion over the next decade. This means funding per student is increasing by around 50 percent over the decade making sure our children get the education they deserve" he appears to have misjudged the mood of the electorate.
Echo
NetDaily, 23
May 2018:
Principals, parents and
teachers in the Page electorate will join with community members at the local
launches of the Fair Funding Now campaign at Grafton and Sandy Beach today
and tomorrow.
The campaign aims to
secure fairer funding for public schools and a reversal of the Turnbull
Government cuts which will cost local schools over $23 million in 2018 and 2019
alone.
Speakers at the campaign
Grafton launch today (Wednesday) will include NSW Teachers Federation president
Maurie Mulheron, South Grafton PS principal, Peter South and P&C
President Kelly Vickers while principal Dianne Blevin will address the Sandy
Beach PS event tomorrow.
Mr Mulheron said: ‘We
are running the Fair Funding Now campaign because a fair go for all
children is needed now.
‘All children in the
Page electorate should have the opportunity to get the highest quality public
education.
‘Polling by the union
shows the overwhelming majority of voters in 18 key marginal electorates,
including Page, believe federal funding for public school is too low and that
funding should be increased straight away.
More important than tax
cuts
‘Results show school
funding will be a key federal election vote decider, with 83 per cent of
respondents stating that public school funding is very important or fairly
important to how they will vote.
‘School funding is more
important to voters than cutting company tax rates, with 79 per cent of
respondents stating that increasing public school funding to the national
schooling resource standard is better for Australia’s future than cutting
company tax rates.
‘If our leaders
can’t commit to ensuring every school is at 100 per cent of the resourcing
standard, then they should look at every parent and teacher in the eye and explain
to them why their children aren’t a priority.
‘We will be active
across Australia, through social media, outdoor advertising, and targeted
action in 18 marginal Federal seats including door knocking and phone banks.
Essential Research 22 May 2018 polling results suggests that this campaign will gain grass roots favour.
Click on images to enlarge
Click on images to enlarge
His end was less than glorious - facing a mutinous electorate and lacking credibility, he retired ahead of the 2007 federal election, before the could be sacked by voters.
Another asylum seeker death on Manus Island
There have been three deaths of asylum seekers held in Australian off shore detention in the last nine months - one on Nauru and two on Manus Island - according to Border Crossing Observatory.
This recent death brings the count to four.
UNHCR: The United
Nations Refugee Agency, media
release, 22 May 2018:
UNHCR Statement
By UNHCR Regional
Representation in Canberra 22 May 2018
UNHCR, the UN Refugee
Agency, is profoundly saddened by the death of a Rohingya refugee on Manus
Island, Papua New Guinea, today. The tragic loss of yet another vulnerable
person under Australian ‘offshore processing’ again underscores the need for
proper care and immediate solutions.
“With the passage of too many years and the withdrawal or reduction of essential services, the already critical situation for refugees most in need continues to deteriorate,” said Nai Jit Lam, UNHCR’s Deputy Regional Representative in Canberra. “Australia’s responsibility for those who have sought its protection remains unchanged. Our thoughts and condolences are with the man’s family today.”
UNHCR renews its call for the Government of Australia to take immediate action to provide assistance and solutions, and to avert further harm and tragedy. Comprehensive, intensive support for refugees and asylum-seekers remains desperately needed in both Papua New Guinea and Nauru. The national authorities of both countries lack the means and infrastructure to address growing needs.
UNHCR is continuing to seek further information from the Governments of Australia and Papua New Guinea respectively.
“With the passage of too many years and the withdrawal or reduction of essential services, the already critical situation for refugees most in need continues to deteriorate,” said Nai Jit Lam, UNHCR’s Deputy Regional Representative in Canberra. “Australia’s responsibility for those who have sought its protection remains unchanged. Our thoughts and condolences are with the man’s family today.”
UNHCR renews its call for the Government of Australia to take immediate action to provide assistance and solutions, and to avert further harm and tragedy. Comprehensive, intensive support for refugees and asylum-seekers remains desperately needed in both Papua New Guinea and Nauru. The national authorities of both countries lack the means and infrastructure to address growing needs.
UNHCR is continuing to seek further information from the Governments of Australia and Papua New Guinea respectively.
UNHCR Regional
Representation in Canberra
UNHCR’s Regional Representation is based in Canberra, and is responsible for the promotion and protection of refugee rights in Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
The Guardian, 22 May 2018:
UNHCR’s Regional Representation is based in Canberra, and is responsible for the promotion and protection of refugee rights in Australia, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
The Guardian, 22 May 2018:
A Rohingya refugee has
died in a violent motor vehicle incident on Manus Island.
The man was witnessed
“coming out of a moving vehicle”, according to the Asylum Seeker Resource
Centre, and suffered “very serious head injuries”.
He died at the scene,
the organisation said. “It is not know who else was in the vehicle.”
The man, whose identity
is not being released until his family is notified, had a long history of
physical and mental illness and had been on Manus for more than five years.
A few years ago he was
sent to Australia for medical treatment but was returned, according to the
journalist and refugee Behrouz Boochani.
Boochani said the other
refugees had been aware of his illness. They were “deeply saddened and
horrified at the news of another friend’s death”.
Saturday 26 May 2018
Quotes of the Week
“The Trump
administration did not rise, prima facie, like Venus on a half shell from the
sea. Donald Trump is the result of a long process of political, cultural and
social decay. He is a product of our failed democracy. The longer we perpetuate
the fiction that we live in a functioning democracy, that Trump and the
political mutations around him are somehow an aberrant deviation that can be
vanquished in the next election, the more we will hurtle toward tyranny.” [Journalist
Chris Hedges, writing in truthdig,
20 May 2018]
“…it is notable that in the past few weeks I've received close to 1,000
representations from local Greenway residents by email, phone and in person
regarding the latest reports of systemic abuse in the live animal
trade for sheep.”
[Labor
MP for Greenway Michelle Rowland, Hansard,
21 May 2018]
“If you were even peripherally aware of history, you’d know that people
subjected to lifelong exploitation, forced into a precarious existence or
buried under annually compounding debts will, eventually, wheel guillotines
into the town square and start taking names.” [Journalist
and former Australian senator Scott
Ludlam writing in The
Guardian, 25 May 2018]
Labels:
Donald Trump,
live animal exports,
people power
Tweets of the Week
Note: Cr Keith Williams is deputy mayor of Ballina Shire Council on the NSW Far North Coast.
An employer took money from DHS to pay an employee’s maternity leave, didn’t pay her the money, and then forged her signature on records to hide his actions from FWO.— _robcorr (@_robcorr) May 22, 2018
FWO brought a civil case.
It’s time to make wage theft a crime. pic.twitter.com/KH5AnVPFzk
Friday 25 May 2018
Patagonia Australia held a "Never Town" conservation activism event at Yamba in May 2018
On Friday 18
May 2018 Patagonia Australia held a “Never
Town” film showing and information night on environmental and conservation
issues affecting the Clarence Coast.
The evening
started with live music and a slide show against the sides of the water tower
on Pilot Hill overlooking the Clarence River mouth and ocean at Yamba.
The good-sized crowd that gathered reflected the make-up of the Lower Clarence - retirees,
young adults, families with children, along with local business owners and surfing enthusiasts. At least one Clarence Valley councillor was there.
Welcome to
country was given by “Fox” Laurie accompanied by DJ Eamens on the didgeridoo.
Judith
Melville spoke on some of the issues surrounding the state government’s
proposal to designate Port of Yamba-Clarence River an official cruise ship
destination and possibly build an international cruise ship terminal.
Dianne Chapman
from the Yaegl Traditional Owners
Aboriginal Corporation spoke of the Yaegl community’s connection to
country and commitment to protect Clarence Valley land and waters.
After the film ended a Valley
Watch Inc. petition was sent round the audience with this wording:
“We, the undersigned,
respectfully call on the Premier of NSW, Gladys Berejiklian, Minister Melinda
Pavey (Roads, Maritime and Freight) and Minister Andrew Constance (Transport
and Infrastructure) to reject any proposals to allow cruise ships to enter the
Port of Yamba or Clarence River estuary.
The Clarence River
estuary is an integral part of a valuable Clarence Valley tourism sector which
contributes over $300 million to the Clarence Valley’s annual income and
employs more than 2000 people. To put that at risk for the dubious benefit to
be derived from a brief morning visit is unacceptable, given the threats that a
4,000 tonne, 90 metre long cruise ship pose to the estuary, the fishing
industry and Yamba/Iluka’s reputation as a clean, green holiday destination,
and to the Dirrangun Reef, which is protected under the Native Title Act
(1993).”
Anyone
wishing to sign this petition can call in at the Valley Watch booth at Yamba River Markets held on the fourth
Sunday of every month at Ford Park next to the ferry jetty.
The next three market
days are Sunday 27 May, 24 June and 22 July 2018.
Labels:
Clarence Coast,
Clarence River,
Iluka,
people power,
Yamba
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