 |
| Newspoll, survey conducted Tuesday 25 to Friday 28 January 2022 from a sample of 1,526 respondents
News.com.au, 30 January 2022:
Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s government is fighting for political life according to Newspoll with popular support plunging to the lowest levels since the 2018 leadership change.
After a horror summer marked by rising Omicron cases, hundreds of deaths and fury over a shortage of rapid antigen tests, voters have turned on the government with a sharp drop in support.
The Prime Minister is expected to hold an election in May. While March remains an option, today’s Newspoll is unlikely to prompt the PM to go to the polls anytime soon.
According to Newspoll, Labor’s primary vote lifted three points to 41 per cent, it’s highest result since 2018.
For the first time, the Coalition is also behind Labor on the question of which party is deemed better at leading Australia’s recovery out of Covid-19.
In the first Newspoll of 2022, support for the Prime Minister has been smashed with the combined Liberal-Nationals primary vote falling two points to 34 per cent.
On a two-party-preferred basis, Newspoll delivers Labor a winning margin of 56-44 – the largest margin for the opposition since the leadership change in September 2018.
Labor would wipe-out the Morrison Government’s majority if those results are replicated at the election with the potential loss of up to 25 seats and a landslide victory.
This is the worst Newspoll result for the Liberal Party since September 2018 and is worse than previous plunges in support after revelations of his secret Hawaii holiday during the 2019 bushfires, Brittany Higgins allegations in 2021 and anger over the vaccine rollout......
|
Monday 31 January 2022
First Newspoll for Australian federal election year 2022 - questions concerning leadership
Byron Bay area's median house price was up $550,000, the largest price hike in dollar terms and topping Sydney's record $1.6 million median - up 33.1 per cent last year.
 |
Australia-wide House & Unit purchase price growth December Quarter 2021 IMAGE: Domain Group, https://www.domain.com.au/group/media-releases/australias-median-house-prices-now-over-1-million/ |
DailyTelegraph, 28 January 2022:
House prices in pockets of regional NSW are rising at a faster rate than in Sydney, as ongoing demand from sea and tree changers pushes prices to record heights.
Prices across a string of local government areas have jumped by more than a third year-on-year, new Domain figures for the December quarter reveal.
The Snowy Monaro Regional Council area recorded the largest gain, with the median house price climbing 50.8 per cent to $585,000.
It was closely followed by the Kiama and Byron local government areas, where house prices rose about 48 per cent, to respective medians of $1.495 million and $1.7 million. The Byron area's median was up $550,000, the largest price hike in dollar terms and topping Sydney's record $1.6 million median - up 33.1 per cent last year.
Kiama's neighbouring council area of Wingecarribee, which takes in Bowral, was also among the strongest performing markets, with the median up 37.2 per cent to $1.18 million. As were the Ballina, Tweed and Lismore regions, which all saw prices rise at least 32 per cent over the year, as the rapid price gains seen in Byron rippled out across the state's north east.
Domain's chief of research and economics Nicola Powell said regional NSW price rises had picked up momentum last quarter, with house prices up 12.5 per cent to $720,000 - taking annual growth to 27.5 per cent. It marked regional NSW's strongest quarterly price rise on Domain records and was also more than double the growth seen in the previous three months.
An increase in sea and tree changers looking to leave city living behind during the pandemic, and the rise in remote working, had been driving strong demand and price growth in regional markets, Dr Powell said. As had an increase in cashed-up buyers looking to purchase holiday homes, while international travel remained off the table.
A post-lockdown spike in market activity was likely key to the record growth seen over the past quarter, Dr Powell added.
Tree and sea changers, who had been renting in regional areas, may also have opted to buy as time passed and they committed to a permanent relocation.
Increased demand has seen houses in the Snowy Monaro Regional Council area - including towns such as Jindabyne, Thredbo, Berridale and Cooma - jump $197,000 year-on-year to a median of $585,000 recorded over the six months to December. Prices there have now more than doubled over the past five years.
First National Real Estate Kosciuszko principal Gordon Jenkinson said an influx of tree changers and holiday home buyers from Sydney and Canberra had been the key driver of rapid growth. However, Snowy 2.0 and a shortage of new homes and land in Jindabyne, as developers await a new master plan for the Snowy Mountains precinct, were also playing a role.
"COVID-19 has been a huge influence ... we're getting heaps of the younger demographic, especially guys into outdoor activities, who can now work remotely," he said. "If you're really keen on a sea change there are plenty of coastal towns that offer that beachy feel but alpine and subalpine areas are few."
Mr Jenkinson said land had been selling for outrageous amounts, noting two vacant blocks in Jindabyne recently sold for more than $650,000 and had traded for between $220,000-$240,000 about two years ago. A waterfront block in East Jindabyne that traded for $650,000 18 months ago had resold for $1.455 million.
Sunday 30 January 2022
COVID-19 Global Pandemic State of Play: New South Wales & Northern NSW 28 January 2022
AUSTRALIA
By Wednesday 26 January 2022 only est. 78.25% of the entire Australian population (ABS pop 2021) had received 2 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine & none those were aged between 0-11 years. Only 27.58% total pop had received a booster shot
As at 3pm on Friday 28 January 2022, a total of 29,982 new confirmed COVID-10 cases have been reported in Australia, along with 97 COVID-19 related deaths.
A total of 4,953 COVID-19 cases were hospitalised across all states and territories, with 142 in intensive care units (ICU).
Nationally there were approximately 393,038 active cases, i.e. infections which had occurred in the last 1-7 days.
The national diagnostic test positivity rate was 3.1% on 28 January and, as at 27 January nationally the source of all infections recorded over a 24 hour period was Overseas 0.6% and Locally Acquired 23.8% with the remaining 75.6% of cases remaining under investigation.
Currently SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern Delta and Omicron, along with Omicron BA2, are active in the Australian population.
NEW SOUTH WALES
In the 24 hours up to 8pm Friday 28 January 2022 there were 13,354 confirmed COVID-19 cases, along with 49 COVID-19 related deaths; 28 women and 21 men.
Of the 49 people who died; two people were in their 60s, 10 people were in their 70s, 17 people were in their 80s, 19 people were in their 90s, and one person was aged 100 years old.
There are currently 2,693 COVID-19 cases admitted to hospitals across the state, including 186 people in intensive care, 73 of whom require ventilation.
Of the 13,354 positive test results in the previous 24 hours: 1,841 are from South Western Sydney Local Health District (LHD) (1,141 PCR and 700 RATs), 1,720 are from Hunter New England LHD (1,075 PCR and 645 RATs), 1,646 are from Western Sydney LHD (1,047 PCR and 599 RATs), 1,504 from South Eastern Sydney LHD (864 PCR and 640 RATs), 1,283 from Northern Sydney LHD (660 PCR and 623 RATs), 993 are from Sydney LHD (609 PCR and 384 RATs), 782 are from Illawarra Shoalhaven (511 PCR and 271 RATs), 684 are from the Central Coast (416 PCR and 268 RATs), 665 are from Nepean Blue Mountains LHD (413 PCR and 252 RATs), 529 are from Northern NSW LHD (274 PCR and 255 RATs), 471 are from Western NSW LHD (282 PCR and 189 RATs), 434 are from Murrumbidgee LHD (194 PCR and 240 RATs), 323 are from Mid North Coast LHD (96 PCR and 227 RATs), 247 are from Southern NSW LHD (152 PCR and 95 RATs), 30 are from Far West LHD (13 PCR and 17 RATs), 15 are in correctional settings, and 187 are yet to be assigned to an LHD (166 PCR and 21 RATs). [my yellow highlighting]
The diagnostic test positivity rate for NSW was est. 3.1% on 28 January 2022.
NORTHERN NSW
As at 8pm 28 January 2022 there were a total of 529 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were recorded across the 7 local government areas in the Northern NSW Local Health District, along with one COVID-19 related death.
There are 36 COVID-19 positive patients in hospital in Northern NSW, with 6 of these in ICU.
The daily infection spread breakdown was as follows:
Tweed Shire – 218 cases with one death of a person in aged in his/her 80s.
Ballina Shire -77 cases
Clarence Valley - 67 cases
Byron Shire - 61 cases
Lismore City - 60 cases
Richmond Valley - 41 cases
Kyogle Shire - 5 cases
TOTAL 529
NOTE: Marked under reporting of new daily cases impacts on data produced at federal, state and local government area level by government agencies and, on any given date statistics compiled by federal agencies may be incomplete for the dates stated.
SOURCES
https://www.health.gov.au/health-alerts/covid-19/case-numbers-and-statistics
https://nnswlhd.health.nsw.gov.au/blog/category/media-releases/
Time for that annual warning about the folly of over-developing Australia's coastline due to increased flooding, erosion and sea inundation. A warning that all three tiers of government have blithely ignored for too many years
Science and climate modelling has been informing people living in Australia's coastal zones that global warming-induced sea level rises, along with changes in east & west coast current speeds, more erosive wave patterns & increased flooding, will make living along the coastal fringe highly problematic the deeper the earth moves into this era-long climate change.
Coastal residents have been warned every year since at least 2006 and 2022 is no different.
This is the message in 2021-22.
What the NSW Government’s ADAPT NSW has to say about climate change-induced sea-level rise along the state’s coastline:
Projected sea level rise along the NSW coast
There is a direct relationship between climate change and sea level rise. As our climate warms, sea level rises mainly because of thermal expansion (when water warms up, it expands) and melting of snow, glaciers and ice caps (which increases the volume of ocean water). However, sea level rise is also effected by local oceanographic processes (e.g. changes to ocean currents) and changes to land levels.
Sea level rise is projected to accelerate over the 21st century. The most recent sea level rise projections are from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 6th Assessment Report. The IPCC predict a likely sea level increase on the central NSW coast of
between 0.21m and 1.06m by 2100, and
between 0.28m and 1.95m by 2150.
This is dependent on the level of future greenhouse gas emissions.
IPCC modelling suggests slightly higher sea level rise to the north of the state and slightly lower to the south. These projections do not include processes associated with the melting of ice sheets which for NSW could result in sea level rise of up to 2.3m by 2100 and 5.5m by 2150.
In the longer term, the IPCC show sea level is committed to rise for centuries to millennia due to continuing deep ocean warming and ice sheet melt, and will remain elevated for thousands of years.
If warming is limited to 1.5°C, global mean sea level will rise by about 2 to 3m.
for 2°C, 2 to 6m is expected, and
for 5° 19 to 22m is expected.
This is the current seawater inundation scenario message in Predicted Coastal Flooding Resulting from Climate Change, based the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report Update 2021.
Examples from Coastal Risk Australia 2100 interactive mapping tool using IPCC scenarios for the period 2021 to 2100.
Sometime in the next 79 years this is what two small coastal towns will probably look like from the air.......
Ballina, New South Wales - blue area seawater inundation at 0.8m
The Daily Telegraph on 18 January 2022:
The Coastal Risk Map shows what Australia will look like if sea levels rise due to climate change, showing how much extra water will filter into our cities and suburbs and the impact it will have on our way of life.
The map was originally created by spatial mapping company NGIS with non-profit partner Frontier SI in 2015, but has recently been updated with new data from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Sixth Assessment Report.
The sea level projections show that if greenhouse gas emissions are moderated, the ocean may rise by 0.84m by 2100.
But a global rise approaching 2m by 2100 and 5m by 2150 would be possible under a very high greenhouse gas emissions scenario- much higher than first thought.
NGIS Executive Director Nathan Eaton said the aim of the map was to illustrate the data and give Australians a better understanding of how sea level rises could impact their lives.
“Previously the map showed a rise of 0.74m at it’s lowest, that’s since changed to 0.84m,” Mr Eaton said.
“Now less than a metre doesn’t seem like a massive difference to someone, but in low lying areas, even 10 centimetres can make a huge difference.”
Geobiology, archaeology and sea level expert Dr Ben Shaw said the map could be a “wake up call” for authorities on the urgency of curbing climate change.
“It’s phenomenal to see how impacted parts of Australia will be … a real concern for people living in Sydney, across NSW and around Australia, our coastline will look very different and there could be a serious environmental disaster,” Dr Shaw said.
“We will see the impacts of climate change regardless, but if we put the policies and strategies in place now to curb it … it can make a huge difference over generations and decades to avoid something like this.”
“Otherwise things like our water sources, our infrastructure, our suburbs and way of life may have to change drastically.”
The Daily Telegraph has analysed the Coastal Risk Map to see just how much a five metre rise in sea levels would impact NSW - here’s what we found and how it will affect you.
HOW NSW WILL CHANGE IF SEA LEVELS RISE
Under the current worst case projections, if sea levels rise by 5 metres by 2150:
FAR NORTH COAST (Tweed Heads and beyond down to Coffs Harbour)
Most of Coffs Harbour will feel the impact of rising sea levels. Residents living in the vicinity of Boambee Beach out to North Boambee Valley and in and around Park Beach will be impacted, with water set to flow into the CBD.
Moonee Beach and significant sections of Woolgoolga and Emerald Beach will disappear or become a small set of islands as water flows above the shoreline. Other beachside areas like Red Rock, Wooli and Sandon will be overrun and become lakes or bays.
A major new lake system will be established flowing more than 60km inland from Yamba to Grafton if sea levels rise.
Areas like Grafton itself, Cowper, Townsend Harwood Island, Talumbi and Yamba and Wood Head will cease to exist, forming a large lake with a the village of South Arm in the centre.
A similar large harbour will be carved out between Evans Head and Lennox Head, swallowing up Ballina, Wardell, Broadwater, Coraki, Woodburn and as far down as Bungawalbin, with waterways also swelling to impact Lismore.
Directly along the coastline, the enclave of Byron Bay will be completely awash, as will every other settlement stretching up to Kingscliff and past the Queensland border.
Water will overtake Brunswick Heads, New Brighton, Pottsville, Hastings Point, Casuarina all the way up to Tweed Heads, flowing inland to inundate areas like Murwillumbah, and creating another large lake.
Down near Byron, Mullumbimby will also be severely impacted.
Saturday 29 January 2022
A picture is worth a thousand words in an election year
Essential Research uses statistical analysis to examine, interpret and report on survey data which is collected via a fortnightly online omnibus active from the Wednesday night of each week and closing on the following Sunday. The target population is all Australian residents aged 18 of age and older. Participants are invited to participate and completed the survey online without an interviewer present and incentives are offered for participation. The response rate varies each week, but usually delivers 1,000+ interviews. Quotas are applied to be representative of the target population by age, gender and location.
This is one of the graphs contained in the Essential Report published on Tuesday, 25 January 2022 - in response to the survey question asked on 24 January: "Overall, how would you rate the federal government’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak?"
The percentage breakdown was 35% of all survey respondents thought the Morrison Government had done "Quite/Very Good" and 38% of all survey respondents thought the Morrison Government has done "Quite/Very Poor".
Broken down by state, the percentage of respondents who answered that question favourably had fallen across all states since 13 December 2021, with the exception of Queensland where the number of survey respondents who thought their state government had done "Quite/Very Good" rose 3 percentage points to 46% on 24 January 2022.
Friday 28 January 2022
Koala rescuer Maria Matthes named Ballina’s Citizen of the Year in 2020 Australia Day Awards
Echo, 27 January 2022:
Ballina Shire Citizen of the Year 2022 Maria Matthes with Ballina Mayor Sharon Cadwallader. Photo supplied.
Koala conservationist Maria Matthes was named Ballina’s Citizen of the Year in yesterday’s Australia Day Awards, which were closed to the public but livestreamed from the Lennox Head Cultural Centre.
MC Sandra Jackson joined special guest Liz Ellis in presenting the awards, along with nominees, guests, and local councillors, led by new Ballina Mayor Sharon Cadwallader.
The two new Greens councillors were not present. Cr Simon Chate told The Echo, ‘While we congratulate those people who attained Australian citizenship today, Councillor Dicker and I chose not to attend today’s Australia Day ceremony as January 26 has become a day of loss and mourning for our indigenous community and we feel it is inappropriate to celebrate this date.’
In all, thirty nominations were acknowledged across the award categories of Sports, Young Citizen, Senior Citizen, Environmental, Community Event, Arts/Cultural and Volunteer of the Year.
 |
| Koala. Photo Tree Faerie. |
Citizen of the Year Maria Matthes has been a threatened species ecologist for more thirty years, with a particular interest in koalas, ecological communities including koala habitat and fire ecology, recovery planning and education.
In 2016 she became a koala rescuer with Friends of the Koala. Ever since she has been on call 24 hours a day to conduct welfare checks and to rescue sick or injured koalas and transport them to the Koala Hospital in Lismore.
Ms Matthes said the award was unexpected and she was ‘a bit embarassed’ to be nominated again. ‘But with consideration I thought that it’s a reflection of the value and importance that the community places on our koalas and the effort I am putting into recovering them… it has been a really tumultuous four years for them.’
She spoke about losses of koalas due to drought, car accidents, dogs and disease, and her fears for koalas living along the planned Barlows Road bypass, but said the wet weather was helping the species come back from the brink in the wider Ballina area.
Ms Matthes said she looked forward to government at different levels doing more to protect koalas......
Read the full article here.
What happens when you give a 12 month old coffee before breakfast? Zoomies with Butters. More pics below. Video by Marley Christian #friendsofthekoala #koalarescue @talkingkoala pic.twitter.com/o672HAJbLx
— Brad Mustow (@Bardlee1) September 5, 2020
