Cartoon of the Week

Cathy Wilcox
on the day after the funeral of veteran broadcaster Paul Murphy

 

Tweets of the Week

 

Anthony Albanese has a Bachelor of Economics from University of Sydney and Scott Morrison has egg on his face 😂 https://t.co/5tx0SER8UO

— no_filter_Yamba (@no_filter_Yamba) October 24, 2020

Baby Girl has arrived to taxi the kid home pic.twitter.com/EXzEn76jYu

— Mark Duckett (@MarkRDuckett) October 23, 2020

We've now documented 274 community records of koalas within 10kms of Brandy Hill Quarry in the past 6 years (99 in 2020 alone).

Koalas like this one, snapped near the quarry earlier this year, will lose their homes if @sussanley doesn't #stopbrandyhill.#saveportstephenskoalas pic.twitter.com/7ewC2yKGvZ

— Save Port Stephens Koalas (@savePSkoalas) October 17, 2020

Just what one would expect from a Lib-Nats government - a decision with minimum community consultation to herd at least 1,500 regional kindergarten to high school students in the one campus with likely teacher losses

Doesn’t this sound grand? A $100 million mega campus for all of the Murwillumbah area, merging students from kindergarten to high school……

Echo NetDaily, 28 October 2020:

Murwillumbah’s four public schools will be amalgamated into a single Kindergarten to Year 12 campus at Murwillumbah High, the state government has annouced.

Deputy Premier John Barilaro and Education Minister Sarah Mitchell announced today that Murwillumbah Public School, Murwillumbah East Public School, Murwillumbah High School and Wollumbin High School will be combined to form a single $100 million Murwillumbah Education Campus.

Ms Mitchell said the new mega school would cater to up to 1,500 students, and follow a four-year rebuilding project.

She pledged that no permanent teaching jobs would be lost, and spruiked the ‘community benefits’ of the plan, including the possible joint use of sporting, arts and health facilities.

‘The new Murwillumbah Education Campus will truly be at the heart of the community, and I look forward to seeing it take shape over the next few years,’ Ms Mitchell said…..

This announcement of a major school merger in the Northern Rivers took the local community by surprise and this appears to have been the plan all along according to the government's own time table which had the two primary school communities only informed by email on the day of the announcement. 

Possibly the lack of early warning was intended to mute the initial response of the teacher's union to the fact that this merger will inevitably see a reduction in teacher numbers once the school merger is completed. 

NSW Labor MP for Lismore Janelle Saffin, Shadow Minister for the North Coast Adam Searle and Shadow Minister for Education Pru Car are concerned with aspects of this merger, which probably consume more of the Berejiklian Government’s time than the creation of a new campus - the chance to sell off state property assets and the chance to reduce public education staffing levels.

Excerpt for a NSW Labor joint media release, 28 October 2020:

Without warning, the Liberals and Nationals will force Murwillumbah Public School, Murwillumbah East Public School and Wollumbin High School to close and move into a single campus at Murwillumbah High School.

Department of Education documents obtained through the Upper House reveals that the amalgamation of four schools in 2024 will change the staffing allocation and potentially displace teaching and support staff.

The Liberals and Nationals promised an upgrade of Murwillumbah East Public School before the last election. Instead, they will now abandon their promise and close the school completely.

“Closing schools is the last thing the Liberals and Nationals should be doing. This is a betrayal of the community. They are robbing future generations of quality public schools in their communities,” Ms Car said.

“This announcement will rob the North Coast of three public school campuses, with a mega-school increasing school travel times for residents and reducing green space.”

Shadow Minister for the North Coast Adam Searle MLC said: “Now we know why the Premier and the National Party have been stalling on replacing the library and classrooms lost at Murwillumbah East Public School in the floods.

“Despite all their hollow promises, it seems that yet more privatisation is their true agenda, not delivering for students and families in Murwillumbah.

“This decision has been made without consultation. It has all the signs of a dirty land deal, and is not about improving educational outcomes.”

State Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin said: “I am seeking a guarantee from the NSW Government that all current teaching and support staff jobs will be retained.

“This cannot be a cruel cost-cutting exercise,” Ms Saffin said.

“I am also seeking a guarantee that public land stays in public hands and is not flogged off to private developers.”

Ms. Saffin also expanded on her views in another media release on the same day:

...it was a shame Mr Barilaro, as Leader of the NSW Nationals, did not take the opportunity while visiting Murwillumbah to make the following announcements for the town and our region:

A $45-million local business support fund for those impacted by the border closures, as he did for the NSW southern border businesses impacted by border closures.

The Nationals’ election promise to provide 280 more nurses, 32 doctors, 38 allied health staff and 50 more hospital workers with some for Murwillumbah Hospital.

The restoration of major contracts to our local businesses, who recently lost their contracts under Mr Barilaro’s big city-big company procurement policy, to remove waste from our Health, TAFE and caravan parks on Crown reserves.

The upgrade of the Voluntary Buyback House scheme to help with flood protection.

The upgrade to a 24/7 police presence in Murwillumbah.

The reopening of the Murwillumbah Women’s Refuge closed by the Nationals.

The restoration of the Murwillumbah Court services closed by the Nationals.

The announcement of our region’s share of the unspent $1.7 billion Restart NSW Fund, as promised by the Nationals.

Reversing the new practice of Essential Energy ‘gifting’ power poles to farmers and private landholders, which they must pay to maintain if deemed unsafe. 

Meet the Clarence Valley's very own Koala Killer - Nationals MP for Clarence Chris Gulaptis

Grafton NSW, October 2020
Image used in meme from Clarence Valley Independent community newspaper, 28.10.20

BACKGROUND

See "NSW Nationals MP Chris Gulaptis boasts of his betrayal of his electorate" at https://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com/2020/10/nsw-nationals-mp-chris-gulaptis-boasts.html

Want to know if your local state MP voted to drive the koala to extinction in New South Wales? Names and electorates are noted here

 

 Koala resting, Bangalow area NSW
IMAGE: Northern Rivers Community Foundation

In early September 2020 the NSW Nationals parliamentary party threatened to leave the Berejiklian Coalition Government and move to the Independent benches in the NSW Legislative Assembly, the Lower House of the NSW Parliament, if the NSW Liberal parliamentary party did not agree to effectively gut State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala Habitat Protection) 2019.

Although there were only 12 members of the National Party sitting in the Legislative Assembly, Liberal Premier Gladys Berejiklian caved into this threatening political posturing within days.

On 21 October 2020 members of the NSW Berejiklian Government in the Lower House voted on the Local Land Services Amendment (Miscellaneous) Bill 2020.

All the National Party members of the NSW Legislative Assembly were present for the vote.

This is the Hansard record of that final third reading vote placed in alphabetical order with members’ electorates identified:

AYES

Anderson, K – Nationals (Tamworth electorate)

Barilaro, J – Nationals (Monaro electorate)

Bromhead, S – Nationals (Myall Lakes electorate)

Cooke, S (teller) – Nationals (Cootamundra electorate)

Gulaptis, C – Nationals (Clarence electorate)

Johnsen, M – Nationals (Upper Hunter electorate)

Marshall, A – Nationals (Northern Tablelands electorate)

Pavey, M – Nationals (Oxley electorate)

Provest, G -Nationals (Tweed electorate)

Saunders, D – Nationals (Dubbo electorate)

Singh, G – Nationals (Coffs Harbour electorate)

Toole, P – Nationals (Bathurst electorate)

Ayres, S – Liberal (Penrith electorate)

Berejiklian, G – Liberal (Willoughby electorate)

Clancy, J – Liberal (Albury electorate)

Conolly, K – Liberal (Riverstone electorate)

Constance, A – Liberal (Bega electorate)

Coure, M – Liberal (Oatley electorate)

Crouch, A (teller) – Liberal (Terrigal electorate)

Davies, T – Liberal ( electorate)

Dominello, V – Liberal (Ryde electorate)

Elliot, D – Liberal (Baulkham electorate)

Evans, L - Liberal (Heathcoast electorate)

Gibbons, M – Liberal (Holsworthy electorate)

Griffin, J – Liberal (Manly electorate)

Hancock, S – Liberal (South Coast electorate)

Hazzard, B – Liberal (Wakehurst electorate)

Henskens, A – Liberal (Kur-ring-gai electorate)

Kean, M – Liberal (Hornsby electorate)

Lee, G – Liberal (Parramatta electorate)

Lindsay, W – Liberal (East Hills electorate)

Perrottet, D – Liberal (Epping electorate)

Preston, R – Liberal (Hawkesbury electorate)

Petinos, E – Liberal (Miranda electorate)

Roberts, A – Liberal (Lane Cove electorate)

Sidgreaves, P – Liberal (Camden electorate)

Sidoti, J – Liberal (Drummoyne electorate)

Smith, N – Liberal (Wollondilly electorate)

Speakman, M – Liberal (Cronulla electorate)

Stokes, R – Liberal (Pittwater electorate)

Taylor, M – Liberal (Seven Hills electorate)

Tuckerman, W – Liberal (Goulburn electorate)

Upton, G – Liberal (Vaucluse electorate)

Ward, G – Liberal (Kiama electorate)

Williams, L – Liberal (Port Macquarie electorate)

Williams, R– Liberal (Castle Hill electorate)

McGirr, J – Independent (Wagga Wagga electorate)

Butler, R - Shooters, Fishers and Farmers (Barwon electorate)

Dalton, H - Shooters, Fishers and Farmers (Murray electorate)

Donato, P - Shooters, Fishers and Farmers (Orange electorate)

I invite readers to remember these names at the next NSW state election on Saturday, 25 March 2023.

Koala joey riding on its mother's back
IMAGE: Environmental Defender's Office

$250-million NSW Bushfire Local Economic Recovery (BLER) Fund opened yesterday and bushfire affected North Coast communities have until 11 December 2020 to apply for funding

 

The $250-million Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Fund (jointly funded by the federal and state government) which opened for applications yesterday is available to bushfire affected communities in 47 local government areas, including Tweed, Richmond Valley, Ballina, Byron Bay, Kyogle, Lismore and Clarence Valley.

Application deadline in 2pm (AEDT) Friday 11 December 2020. 

Funding is available in the following three categories: 

Infrastructure projects, such as roads to support increased industrial development. 

Environmental projects, such as regeneration activities. 

Programs including social, business and environmental education initiatives.

The grant funding for individual projects is dependent on the project type. 

• Infrastructure projects must seek a minimum of $400,000 with a maximum available grant of $20 million. 

• Environmental projects including rehabilitation, remediation and resilience improvements must seek a minimum of $200,000 with a maximum available grant of $4 million. 

• Programs, including social, business and environmental education initiatives must seek a minimum of $200,000 with a maximum available grant of $4 million. 

Funding will be prioritised to support applications from areas most impacted by bushfires.

Details can be found at https://www.nsw.gov.au/regional-nsw/bushfire-local-economic-recovery-fund.

Those eligible to apply for funding are Councils, Joint Organisations of Councils, Not-for-Profits including business chambers, industry associations and charities, research or academic organisations, Local Aboriginal Councils and State Government corporations.

Labor Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin welcomes the announcement of this new funding. “Every little bit helps and this is more than needed in the lead-up to the Christmas season. Goodness knows we need it – bushfires, drought, more bushfires, floods and COVID-19” Ms Saffin said.

Will this be one of the last attempts available to communities seeking to legally curb rapacious loggers from destroying New South Wales koala habitat?

 

Clarence Valley Independent, 21 October 2020:

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has commenced five prosecutions in the Land and Environment Court against Forestry Corporation of NSW (FCN) for allegedly breaching licence requirements in 2018.

Allegedly committed by FCN’s contractors, the offences – the felling of trees in exclusion zones and protected areas, some of which are specifically set up to protect koala habitat – took place in Wild Cattle Creek State Forest (west southwest of Glenreagh).

The FCN states in a media release that it had set aside “three times” the required kola habitat “under the rule set” and that the “EPA’s allegations relate to nine trees”, despite “protecting an additional 6,000 trees”.

The prosecutions follow the EPA issuing a stop work order on Saturday July 18, to cease tree harvesting, in compartments 32, 33 and 34 of the forest, where “serious breaches of forestry operations rules” were alleged to have been committed.

The EPA alleges that the current alleged breaches occurred in compartments 539 and 540 of the forest, in breach of Forestry Corporation’s licence.

The EPA’s acting chief executive officer, Jacqueleine Moore, said it was unacceptable to put vulnerable species, such as the koala, in danger by breaking the rules.

“We have strict procedures in place to protect wildlife, and if they are disregarded it can put these animals under threat,” Ms Moore said.

The EPA alleges that: Forestry Corporation’s contractors felled trees and operated snig tracks (tracks created by harvesting machinery) within a koala high use area exclusion zone located within Compartment 539 of the forest; and, contractors felled trees in protected rainforest areas and an exclusion zone around warm temperate rainforest.

Offences relating to koala exclusion zones carry a maximum penalty of $440,000 each; the other “three offences carry a maximum penalty of $110,000 each”.

“In this instance, after a long investigation process that involved interviews and a consultation process with Forestry Corporation, the EPA has decided that these actions warrant prosecution,” Ms Moore said.

“We’re sending a strong message that laws created to protect the environment, and in particular vulnerable species like the koala, must be adhered to.”…..

It should be noted that NSW state forests are exempt from the provisions of State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala HabitatProtection) 2019 (amended 3 September & 16 October 2020), as is private land being commercially logged under a private native forestry plan.

Exemptions go further and it appears all land now listed as "any area of the State" in Part 5A below (apart from certain land in Ballina, Coffs Harbour City, Lismore, Kempsey & Port Stephens local government areas) is no longer covered by the Koala Habitat Protection SEPP under amendments to NSW Land Services Act 2013 being rammed through state parliament by the NSW National Party. 

It seems that this may possibly only leave urban land already covered by a local government registered development control plan and the national park estate with a certain degree of protection

PART 5A - LAND MANAGEMENT (NATIVE VEGETATION)

This Part applies to any area of the State, other than the following--

(a) urban areas of the State to which State Environmental Planning Policy (Vegetation in Non-Rural Areas) 2017 applies,

(b) national park estate and other conservation areas, namely--

(i) a wilderness area declared under the Wilderness Act 1987 , or

(ii) land reserved under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 or acquired by the Minister administering that Act under Part 11 of that Act, or

(iii) land dedicated or set apart as a flora reserve under the Forestry Act 2012 (or any Act repealed by that Act), or

(iv) land to which an interim heritage order or listing on the State Heritage Register under the Heritage Act 1977 applies, or

(v) a declared area of outstanding biodiversity value under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 , or

(vi) an area declared to be critical habitat under Division 3 of Part 7A of the Fisheries Management Act 1994 , or

(vii) a declared World Heritage property within the meaning of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 of the Commonwealth, or

(viii) land dedicated or reserved under the Crown Lands Act 1989 for similar public purposes for which land is reserved, declared or listed under the other Acts referred to in this paragraph, or

(ix) land to which an interim protection order under Part 11 (Regulatory compliance mechanisms) of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 applies, or

(x) Lord Howe Island,

(c) State forestry land, namely--

(i) land that is a State forest or timber reserve under the Forestry Act 2012 , or

(ii) land acquired under Division 4 of Part 3 of the Forestry Act 2012 for the purposes of a State forest (not being any such land acquired for the purposes of a timber plantation).

The regulations may amend this section for the purposes of adding or removing areas of the State to which this Part applies (or of revising references to areas of the State). [my yellow highlighting]