A conga line of #COVIDIOTS - Part 6

NSW Police, News, 26-28 September 2020:

A man has been charged after allegedly attempting to travel across the NSW/Victoria border in a taxi yesterday.

About 4.30pm (Saturday 26 September 2020), police stopped a Victorian taxi at a checkpoint on the Hume Highway, Albury.

The passenger, a 26-year-old man, was asked to produce a permit; however, it was not valid.

When he was spoken to further, police will allege the man stated he wanted to go shopping in Albury.

He was arrested and taken to Albury Police Station, where he was charged with not comply with noticed direction re section 7/8/9 -COVID-19 and breach of bail.

He was refused bail to appear at Wagga Wagga Bail Court today (Sunday 27 September 2020).

Two people have been charged and eight infringements have been issued since the last COVID-19 update.

About 6.15pm yesterday (Sunday 27 September 2020), a 45-year-old woman attended Maitland Police Station, where she allegedly became aggressive while intoxicated before coughing on an officer. She was arrested and charged with not comply noticed direction re spitting/coughing - COVID-19, behave in offensive manner in/near public place, assault officer in execution of duty, and two counts of intimidate police officer in execution of duty without actual bodily harm. She was granted strict conditional bail and is due to appear in Maitland Local Court on Wednesday 18 November 2020.

- About 11am on 5 September 2020, police attended an unauthorised protest in Byron Bay. It’s alleged a 45-year-old man failed to move-on as directed by police. He was arrested and taken to Tweed Heads Police Station where he was charged with fail to comply requirement public health order – COVID-19.

- About 10pm yesterday (Sunday 27 September 2020), police attended a home on Bromide Street at Broken Hill after numerous noise complaints were received. Officers from Barrier Police District attended and issued the occupants a noise abatement direction. Police returned to the home later that evening after continuing to receive noise complaints. Officers seized the speakers before issuing two occupants a $1000 PIN for failing to comply requirement public health order – COVID-19.

- About 7.30am yesterday (Sunday 27 September 2020), police were called to Tyagarah Beach about complaints were received about a party that was taking place. Officers from Tweed/Byron attended and located more than 20 people at the party. Police were told approximately 500 people had attended the party earlier in the evening. Three people were issued $1000 PINs for failing to comply requirement public health order – COVID-19.

- About 12.20am on Saturday (26 September 2020), police stopped a car on the Sturt Highway at Hay. Police spoke with the occupants, who were from Victoria, and determined they didn’t have a valid permit to enter NSW. The three occupants were issued an $1000 PIN for not comply with noticed direction re section 7/8/9 COVID-19.

Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or https://nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Information is treated in strict confidence. The public is reminded not to report crime via NSW Police social media pages.

Another Honest Australian Government Ad

https://youtu.be/8qj83LE2Mpw

Access to Treelands Drive from Yamba Road will be temporarily closed from Tuesday 6 October 2020 with diversions in place for about two weeks

The Daily Telegraph, 29 September 2020:

One of Yamba’s busiest intersections will be closed to traffic for two weeks as work to install a new roundabout is undertaken. 

Access to Treelands Drive from Yamba Road will be temporarily closed from Tuesday October 6 with diversions in place for about two weeks, weather conditions permitting. 

Road users will be diverted via Osprey Drive and Shores Drive, and detour signs will be in place. 

Access to Yamba Fair’s western carpark from Yamba Road will still be available, and the shopping centre will be open for business as per usual. 

A Clarence Valley Council spokesman urged motorists to plan ahead and allow extra time.

With so many NSW Northern Rivers businesses relying on the JobKeeper wage subsidies to retain staff in the face of loss of trade due to the COVID-19 pandemic the regional economy may decline further now Morrison's JobKeeper cuts start to kick in

The first federal government JobKeeper subsidised wage payments were received by employers in the first week of May 2020 and by 21 July 2020 est. 3.5 million Australians were receiving this payment.

By 22 July 2020 the percentage of NSW Northern Rivers Businesses relying on JobKeeper Payments by Local Government Area were:

Byron 60.39%

Tweed 47.79%

Ballina 39.56%

Clarence Valley 34.52%

Lismore 35.05%

Richmond Valley 27.45%

Kyogle 21.3%

In July the JobKeeper subsidised wage was $1,500 (before tax) per fortnight

The JobKeeper payment rate is now as follows…...

Australian Treasury, Economic Response to the Coronavirus - Extension of the JobKeeper Payment, 10 August 2020:

The JobKeeper Payment rate

From 28 September 2020 to 3 January 2021, the JobKeeper Payment rates will be:

• $1,200 per fortnight for all eligible employees who were working in the business or notfor-profit for 20 hours or more a week on average in the four weeks of pay periods before either 1 March 2020 or 1 July 2020, and for eligible business participants who were actively engaged in the business for 20 hours or more per week on average; and

• $750 per fortnight for other eligible employees and business participants.

From 4 January 2021 to 28 March 2021, the JobKeeper Payment rates will be:

• $1,000 per fortnight for all eligible employees who were working in the business or notfor-profit for 20 hours or more a week on average in the four weeks of pay periods before either 1 March 2020 or 1 July 2020, and for business participants who were actively engaged in the business for 20 hours or more per week on average; and

• $650 per fortnight for other eligible employees and business participants.

Businesses and not-for-profits will be required to nominate which payment rate they are claiming for each of their eligible employees (or business participants).

The Commissioner of Taxation will have discretion to set out alternative tests where an employee or business participant’s hours were not usual during the February and/or June 2020 reference period (the period with the higher number of hours worked is to be used for employees with 1 March 2020 eligibility). For example, this will include where the employee was on leave, volunteering during the bushfires, or not employed for all or part of February or June 2020.

Guidance will be provided by the ATO where the employee was paid in non-weekly or non-fortnightly pay periods and in other circumstances the general rules do not cover.

The JobKeeper Payment will continue to be made by the ATO to employers in arrears.

Employers will continue to be required to make payments to employees equal to, or greater than, the amount of the JobKeeper Payment (before tax), based on the payment rate that applies to each employee. This is called the wage condition.

By the end of December 2020 it is possible that only around 1.2 million people will still be eligible to receive JobKeeper payments under the new rules and it is possible that up to 2.1 million additional people will have joined the ranks of the unemployed. With up to another 1 million without a job by March 2021.

Regional town water security virtually ignored for last six years by NSW Coalition Government

The NSW Auditor General’s audit report of 24 September 2020, titled Support for regional town water infrastructure, reveals that state government has failed to meet its responsibilities and fulfil its undertaking for the last six years under the leadership first of Liberal Premier Barry O’Farrell, then of Liberal Premier Bruce Baird and finally of Liberal Premier Gladys Berejiklian 

In fact NSW Liberal and Nationals politicians didn't begin to get even remotely serious about regional town water security until 2018-19.

Audit Report Executive Summary, excerpt:

"The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (the department) is the lead agency for water resource policy, regulation and planning in NSW. It is also responsible for ensuring water management is consistent with the shared commitments of the Australian, State and Territory Governments under the National Water Initiative. This includes the provision of healthy, safe and reliable water supplies, and reporting on the performance of water utilities.

Ninety-two Local Water Utilities (LWUs) plan for, price and deliver town water services in regional NSW. Eighty-nine are operated by local councils under the New South Wales’ Local Government Act 1993, and other LWUs exercise their functions under the WM Act. The Minister for Water, Property and Housing is the responsible minister for water supply functions under both acts.

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Audit Report Conclusion, section in full:

The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment has not effectively supported or overseen town water infrastructure planning in regional NSW since at least 2014. It has also lacked a strategic, evidence-based approach to target investments in town water infrastructure.

A continued focus on coordinating town water planning, investments and sector engagement is needed for the department to more effectively support, plan for and fund town water infrastructure, and work with Local Water Utilities to help avoid future shortages of safe water in regional towns and cities.

The department has had limited impact on facilitating Local Water Utilities’ (LWU) strategic town water planning. Its lack of internal procedures, records and data mean that the department cannot demonstrate it has effectively engaged, guided or supported the LWU sector in Integrated Water Cycle Management (IWCM) planning over the past six years. Today, less than ten per cent of the 92 LWUs have an IWCM strategy approved by the department.

The department did not design or implement a strategic approach for targeting town water infrastructure investment through its $1 billion Safe and Secure Water Program (SSWP). Most projects in the program were reviewed by a technical panel but there was limited evidence available about regional and local priorities to inform strategic project assessments. About a third of funded SSWP projects were recommended via various alternative processes that were not transparent. The department also lacks systems for integrated project monitoring and program evaluation to determine the contribution of its investments to improved town water outcomes for communities. The department has recently developed a risk-based framework to inform future town water infrastructure funding priorities.

The department does not have strategic water plans in place at state and regional levels: a key objective of these is to improve town water for regional communities. The department started a program of regional water planning in 2018, following the NSW Government’s commitment to this in 2014. It also started developing a state water strategy in 2020, as part of an integrated water planning framework to align local, regional and state priorities. One of 12 regional water strategies has been completed and the remaining strategies are being developed to an accelerated timeframe: this has limited the department’s engagement with some LWUs on town water risks and priorities. [my yellow highlighting]

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In the lead-up to the 3 November 2020 U.S. presidential election Donald Trump repeats his threats from 2016

In just 37 days - on 3 November 2020 - United States citizens go to the polls to elect their 46th President.

In person absentee voting has already started in Alabama, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Vermont, Missouri, Illinois and Michigan. Thirty-eight other states will begin in person absentee voting during October.

Trump is replaying his threats of 2016 - presumably in an effort to discourage voter turn-out and/or lay the groundwork for justification of a legal challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court if he fails to secure enough votes to retain the presidency.

Forbes, 23 September 2020:

President Trump on Wednesday refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if former Vice President Joe Biden wins the election in November, calling for the elimination of mail-in ballots, which he said would ensure the “continuation” of his presidency…..

Trump has been a vocal opponent of states’ efforts to expand mail-in voting in response to coronavirus, often spreading unfounded or outright false claims about widespread fraud from mail-in ballots and even tweeting, “The 2020 Election will be totally rigged if Mail-In Voting is allowed to take place.”

Pressed further on committing to a peaceful transfer of power on Wednesday, Trump called to “get rid of the ballots,” adding “we’ll have a very peaceful- there won’t be a transfer, frankly, we’ll have a continuation.”

Trump also said at an earlier event on Wednesday that his push to get a ninth justice confirmed to the Supreme Court before the election is so the U.S. has a full slate of justices to rule on the “scam the Democrats are pulling” with mail-in ballots.

The comments come after Trump mused about passing an executive order to prevent Biden from becoming president because, in his words, “You can't have this guy as your president.”……

https://youtu.be/0MOSpK8O54o

Dispatches from the Australian Koala War - Part Two

The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 September 2020:

One of the NSW Nationals' most vocal opponents of the koala planning policy relayed concerns about the divisive issue to Planning Minister Rob Stokes on behalf of political donors connected to a major property venture.

Nationals MP for Myall Lakes Stephen Bromhead wrote to Mr Stokes in February, passing on an email from Raymond Stack, the chairman of Stacks Finance, concerning the state’s new koala planning policy.

The letter to Mr Bromhead from Mr Stack on February 24, released to NSW Parliament on Wednesday, included correspondence from two other engineering and land development companies raising concerns with the state’s koala planning policy.

"Is there anything that can be done to delay it 'till there is proper consultation," Mr Stack wrote to Mr Bromhead……

It follows confirmation from Mr Stokes' office that the only stakeholder correspondence he received from Nationals leader and Deputy Premier John Barilaro about the policy was from developer and former Newcastle mayor Jeff McCloy.

The Stack family are donors to the Liberal and Nationals parties at a state and federal level.

Mr Stack is also one of several directors of Hocana Pty Ltd, which owns land set to become part of the multimillion-dollar Taree development Figtrees on the Manning.

He made a $100,000 donation to the federal Liberal Party ahead of the 2016 election, according to electoral commission disclosure records.

"So far as I know that donation was a perfectly legitimate donation and I reported it as required," Paul Stack said.

Other members of the Stack family have made donations to the Nationals, including a $2000 donation in 2015 to the party, labelled "Stephen Bromhead election campaign".

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by the Stack family…..

The other businesses featured in the email chain Mr Bromhead forwarded to the Planning Minister were Hopkins Consulting and Land Dynamics Australia.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 September 2020:

The koala planning policy, which sparked the bitter civil war in the Coalition, will be debated at the next cabinet meeting on October 6, with the Nationals demanding a raft of changes.

Port Stephens Examiner, 10 September 2020:

A grassroots campaign to save the threatened Port Stephens koala population in Brandy Hill has resulted in Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley delaying her decision on the proposed expansion of a rock quarry operated by Hanson. Ms Ley was expected to hand down a decision on Tuesday, September 8 but a concerted community push led by Brandy Hill and Seaham Action Group (BHSAG) has resulted in a stay of execution and the deadline for a decision being extended to October 13. The quarry expansion, which includes 52 hectares of core koala habitat, was granted by the Independent Planning Commission in July, but required federal approval because the project had been deemed likely to have a significant impact on a matter of national environmental significance.

The Koala Hospital, Port Macquarie NSW: 

Evans Head CW 
On examination CW was found to have a ruptured left eye and minor limb injuries – consistent with being hit by a car. His left eye was removed, and he was placed into care and was treated for his injuries. CW will be part of the hospital’s breeding program. 

Ballina Franklin 
This young male koala was admitted into care, responding well to treatment with his care progressing as expected. Ballina Franklin is not only now part of our permanent team of koalas, but he is now an integral part of our wild koala breeding program – something we are sure he will handle quite well!

Tyler koala this morning was about 80 metres from the proposed Toondah Harbour environmental destruction area, near the proposed new location for the ferry terminal. #toondahharbour #koalas #qldpol #Queensland pic.twitter.com/L8mZ6qInjj

— Chris Walker (@WildRedlands) September 24, 2020