North Coast Voices

What's going on at the Herald? This pair have already had their 15 minutes of fame

North Coast Voices - July 30, 2010 - 11:18am


A sure sign that it's a slow news day is The Sydney Morning Herald's decision to give two codgers whose names resemble those of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition another run in today's paper.

Honestly, they add nothing new to the Herald's election coverage, so why were they given another appearance?

C'mon, Granny Herald, readers deserve better than having to sit down to a second serving of tripe. Read more »

Keeping track of all those election campaign leaflets in 2010

North Coast Voices - July 30, 2010 - 1:15am


Citizens Electoral Council leaflet understood to have been authorized

Read more »

by R. Barwick on behalf of Craig Isherwood

At last! Somewhere to go to check out those 2010 federal election campaign leaflets.
You can even upload images of those examples that are beginning to litter your own letterbox.

Go Gillie!

North Coast Voices - July 30, 2010 - 1:08am

I'm more than a tad tired of all that nonsense about Oz Prime Minister Julia Gillard being an unmarried, childless and godless sheila, so I was glad when Crikey's Bernard Keane took a scalpel to the mainstream media: Read more »

Political Bad Taste Awards July 2010

North Coast Voices - July 29, 2010 - 1:15am


And the Winner is.......

Click on images to enlarge Read more »

2010 Election Campaign Day 13 - the things you overhear

North Coast Voices - July 29, 2010 - 1:05am


Overheard some of the gentle gender at a local coffee shop:

"Tony Abbott loves strong women ? Yeah, when they're wearing leather, stiletto boots and carrying a whip!"

"I don't know - perhaps he is likeable. I like watching his bald spot grow bigger and bigger each day. It's sort of like watching Pinocchio's nose."

A conversation between two older women overheard on the local bus:

"Tony Abbott is just a lair.... He's a sneaky b@stard."

"The man hates women." Read more »

Yet another Nationals candidate who lives outside the electorate

North Coast Voices - July 28, 2010 - 1:15am


In 2007 Nationals candidate Chris Gulaptis did not live in (and therefore could not vote in) the Page electorate he was contesting.

In 2010 it seems the party has not learned from past mistakes - Nationals candidate Kevin Hogan also does not live in (and therefore cannot vote in) the Page electorate he is contesting.

Interestingly both have blamed redistribution for this state of affairs - on shaky ground there.

Who's letter writer Simon Kinny - it pays to read between the lines

North Coast Voices - July 26, 2010 - 2:30am


Simon Kinny of Lismore had a letter to the editor in Saturday's Daily Examiner.

Funnily enough, Kinny forgot to mention that he's Dr Simon Kinny and he just happens to be the Nationals' Page Electorate Council Chairman and features on National Kevin Hogan's web page

Kinny can be contacted at St Vincents Hospital in Lismore at Suite 11, Level 3, St. Vincent's Specialist Medical Centre,
20 Dalley, Lismore, NSW 2480, Australia
Ph: (61 2) 66 21 4177
Fax: (61 2) 66 21 4186

Kinny can also be contacted via his email address at ski66335@bigpond.net.au Read more »

Australia 2010: When the welcome mat is never put out for you

North Coast Voices - July 26, 2010 - 1:15am


SANE Australia has released the findings of a recent survey in Research Bulletin 12 Social inclusion and mental illness - hopefully in time to assist with mental health policy responses from the major parties contesting the Australian Federal Election on 21 August 2010: Read more »

150 wankers will save Oz? G'arn!

North Coast Voices - July 24, 2010 - 6:41am


"And so today I announce that if we are re-elected, I will develop a dedicated process – a Citizens' Assembly – to examine over 12 months the evidence on climate change, the case for action and the possible consequences of introducing a market-based approach to limiting and reducing carbon emissions." {'Moving foward together on climate change' speech on 23rd July 2010}
That rumbling sound followed by a slight tilt to the floor which you experienced after Prime Minister Gillard finished her climate change policy speech was caused by thousands of Aussies running towards The Green's camp. Read more »

Branding foreheads for crimes & misdemeanours plus mistaken identity

North Coast Voices - July 24, 2010 - 1:15am


This exchange in The Sydney Morning Herald letters column on 20 July 2010 was emailed to me this week:

List of never-to-be forgiven wrongs

There are three things I can never forgive:
1. The Greens voting with the Coalition against the emissions trading scheme.
2. The Labor Party giving in to the mining giants.
3. Mick Keelty and the Australian Federal Police letting Scott Rush get on that plane (''Rush writes as his last-ditch appeal is lodged'', July 17-18).

Kay Rocavert Drummoyne

I move, as an addendum to Kay Rocavert's crimes and misdemeanours motion (Letters, July 19), that the name Steve Fielding be indelibly marked in reverse print on the foreheads of all Labor Party machine personnel.

Col Shephard Yamba Read more »

Mayne announces run for the Senate

North Coast Voices - July 23, 2010 - 6:53am


Yet another Aussie Steve wants to enter federal politics. Why am I not surprised?

Read more »

A chunk of Stephen Mayne's announcement emailed out in the early hours of this morning:

2010 Election Campaign Day 5 - an abundance of focus group speake

North Coast Voices - July 21, 2010 - 1:06am

FOWARD! ACTION! PROTECT! VALUES! TRUST! TOGETHER!


He said......She said......They said........


Cartoon from FotoSearch Read more »

MailScanner and University of Southampton say "Please do not complain to us. It will do no good."

North Coast Voices - July 20, 2010 - 1:15am


Out of the blue last week MailScanner, a software project run by the University of Southampton, started to identify all emails I send as possible spam and, those containing links to North Coast Voices or Google searches as possible fraud.

Read more »

There are five seasons on the Clarence Coast as Maccas is about to find out

North Coast Voices - July 20, 2010 - 1:05am


Anyone with even a passing familiarity with the Clarence Coast knows that somewhere between Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter comes Hunt the Developer Season.
Maud up the Street couldn't wait to tell me - she's just spotted her first Boycott Maccas t-shirt parading past the site where McDonald's Australia is busy preparing the lot for its new eat-in and drive though hamburger joint in Yamba.

Nationals Hartsuyker overreaches and gets a caning from one P & C

North Coast Voices - July 19, 2010 - 1:15am


The Nationals Luke Hartsuyker (incumbent in the marginal seat of Cowper on the NSW North Coast) has been relentless in his pursuit of column inches in the local print media as he prepares to defend his seat at this year's federal election.

Recently he turned his eye to schools with this press release on 11 July 2010; Government must address broken promises at North Coast schools and apologise to students, parents and teachers. Read more »

2010 Election Campaign Day 1: And they're off!

North Coast Voices - July 17, 2010 - 11:33am


If ABC News is correct Oz Prime Minister Julia Gillard is presently in the car on her way to meet with the Governor-General and once she exits Yarralumla the 'official' campaign period of the 2010 federal election will be underway, with formal writs to be issued later.
Media conference at noon today. Read more »

"Expose the cow" - it isn't only their fearless leader who acts like a misogynist!

North Coast Voices - July 17, 2010 - 1:15am


Leader of the Coalition Opposition Tony Abbott is well known for snarling "That's bullsh*t" at Nicola Roxon when he thought the microphones wouldn't pick up his temper tantrum and this week NSW Opposition Leader BarryO'Farrell was caught using a derogatory term for Prime Minister Julia Gillard, but it seems they are not alone in expressing a very masculine distain.

Electioneering behind a password protected Facebook account the Nationals candidate for the Labor-held seat of Page, Kevin Hogan, obviously allows insulting and sexist terms free rein when he thinks he is hidden from the view of average NSW North Coast voters.
Read more »

How the betting is running for NSW North Coast electorates in July 2010

North Coast Voices - July 17, 2010 - 1:05am


The bets are starting to be laid down on individual seats in the Australian federal election and Page on the NSW North Coast featured in Possum's probability calculations based on where the money was going last week.
Page was calculated on a two party preferred basis at 52.36%, with a win implied probability according to Sportingbet at 53% and Sportsbet at 49% - combining all comes in with an overall implied probability of a Labor win at 51% for Janelle Saffin.
It seemed that local money mebbe riding almost neck and neck as the horses approach the barrier. Read more »

On the media, readers and political misconceptions

North Coast Voices - July 16, 2010 - 1:15am


One perspective.........



From the pen of xkcd


Yet another........... Read more »

The concept of a dysfunctional life and the national e-health database

North Coast Voices - July 15, 2010 - 1:15am


Ever since medical doctors such as John D'Arcy first began to appear on television screens, be heard on radio and be quoted in the print commenting on social, economic and political aspects of Australian life it became apparent that medicalisation of the media and everyday life was well underway in Australia.

All behaviour commonly thought of as unacceptable (and even some behaviours previously falling within 'normal' ranges) quickly became defined as some form of deviance, psychopathology or physical illness. Nevermore so than when applied to those without a large measure of social or political power ie., children and the poor, which had previously only suffered under moral labels such as "lazy" and "bad".
Read more »

Clarence Valley Council: when does a précis turn into an attempt to censor and distort?

North Coast Voices - July 14, 2010 - 1:20am


In response to "So What": the face of not-so-good governance on the NSW North Coast.

The Clarence Valley community is entitled to be concerned in regard to the process adopted by the Clarence Valley Council to reduce public budget submissions to a précis form, then respond to the précis.

It is not unreasonable for our elected council representatives to be pressed for time, so one can understand the beneficial logic behind such process. Unfortunately it has not taken long for Council's unelected bureaucrats to exploit the foibles of this process.
Read more »

Garrett needs to intervene on the NSW North Coast

North Coast Voices - July 13, 2010 - 1:10am


Forests NSW is once more in the news - this time over allegations that it is improperly harvesting trees within endangered ecological communities in Doubleduke State Forest. Including areas containing koala, sugar glider and giant barred frog habitat.

Doubleduke, Grange, Yabbra; the list of forest habitat under threat from mismanagement by the very agency designed to protect old growth and threatened species in these working forests is growing.

Federal Minister for Environment Protection Peter Garrett, along with his department, needs to intervene on the NSW North Coast.
Read more »

Whither now, Fortress Australia?

North Coast Voices - July 12, 2010 - 1:15am


Apart from the indigenous peoples of Australia, all those living here in 2010 could be considered the descendants of migrants or migrants themselves.

From those whose forebears were either convicts forced to migrate by the Crown or Irish and Scots landless poor who were among our earliest economic migrants, right though to World War II refugees and others seeking a better life in the years since that tumultuous era.

Read more »

Catch the Fire Ministries: Is this the beginning of the end for Australia?

North Coast Voices - July 11, 2010 - 1:15am

Catch the Fire Ministries - oh so predictable on 6 July 2010:

As you all know by now I tell people, 'what they need to hear and not what they like to hear.' Let's give credit where it is due. Unlike Kevin Rudd, at least PM Gillard has been honest in telling the people that she DOES NOT BELIEVE IN GOD. However, is this the beginning of the end for Australia ?? This will depend on how you vote at the next election which could be anytime between now and November 2010...... Read more »

A couple of words on that blankety blank internet filter in response to Gillard & Conroy

North Coast Voices - July 11, 2010 - 1:05am

Tiny Silly Mouse Animated AvatarsSometimes a tweet or two will say it all......


From David L. Morris: @JuliaGillard "Conroy will get the filter into shape"? We recognise that shape. So does the ACL. It is a crucifix. #openinternet via web

From Kristen Obaid: Senator Conroy: "I'm not into opting in to child porn." -- Neither are we, you obtuse ignorant excuse for a Communications Minister. via web Retweeted by 51 others

North Coast Voices looking for enthusiastic blogger interested in arts & entertainment

North Coast Voices - July 10, 2010 - 1:20am

North Coast Voices is looking for a person living on the NSW North Coast who is interested in arts & entertainment and, who would enjoy blogging about our local artists/musicians/events etc., with an eye to a little gentle promotion of the Northern Rivers region.

This offer is open to those living in the following shires:
Coffs Harbour, Bellingen, Clarence Valley, Richmond, Tweed and Kyogle.

There is no wage, expenses or compensation attached to this offer - it would be done just for the love of blogging.

All our current contributors are enthusiastic amateurs so inexperience is not a bar to acceptance.

Contact NCV Admin at northcoastvoices at gmail dot com to apply to join the team.
Please use a legitimate return email address so that you can be reached easily to discuss details.

And this is the multinational corporation Crs. Comben, McKenna, Dinham, Simmons & Howe say will benefit Yamba

North Coast Voices - July 9, 2010 - 1:15am



The West Australian on 5 July 2010 reports on McDonald's Australia in 2010 - the same multinational championed by a majority of Clarence Valley shire councillors in the face of significant opposition from residents in the small NSW North Coast town of Yamba:

A major union wants maternity leave for migrant workers, labelling allegations that a McDonald's assistant manager was sacked after refusing an abortion a "disgusting abuse of human rights". Read more »

Stuffin' letterboxes

North Coast Voices - July 8, 2010 - 1:05am


Maud Up The Street is hopping mad - this week she found her letter box stuffed with advertising even though a "No Junk Mail" sign was clearly displayed.
What makes her even more annoyed is that of the 5 separate bits of bumpf lobbed at her by Woolworths, Aldi, The Reject Shop, Crazy Clarks and Cellarbrations - only one of these stores is in her local area. The rest are over 50 klms away.

In case you hadn't noticed - the Kiwis have beaten us to the post again

North Coast Voices - July 7, 2010 - 1:05am


They beat us to the post on universal suffrage in 1893, their All Blacks regularly give Oz a pasting on the sports field, they successfully invaded Bondi without using an army, navy or airforce and now New Zealand has beaten us to the punch by passing a national emissions trading scheme into law on the 1st July 2010.

C'mon Prime Minister Gillard - are you really going to let those demmed Kiwis get the better of us again?

Read more »

"So what": the face of not-so-good governance on the NSW North Coast

North Coast Voices - July 6, 2010 - 1:15am


Last weekend a copy of Clarence Valley Council's June 2010 Budget Submissions Summary was doing the digital rounds much to the enjoyment of local cynics.
Of particular note was this answer to one concern raised about the fact that after 6 years council still had not reconciled a $1.2 million deficit brought into the amalgamation process by Grafton City Council: "So what".
But what really had locals opened mouthed was this answer to concerns about lack of transparency and accountability:
"As the 'senior administrator' who recommended that CCRT funding be used for lifesaving services, I (Rob Donges) have taken responsibility for including Iluka and will take responsibility should a higher authority determine that this funding arrangement is grossly negligent or some such thing."
That last line comes after a previous entry which goes: Read more »

How sweet it is watching Howard bark his shins

North Coast Voices - July 3, 2010 - 1:05am


How sweet it is watching former Oz prime minister John Howard bark his shins against the reality of his personal and political reputation.

L'l Johnnie wonders aloud about the unfairness of being refused the vice presidency of the International Cricket Council - he doesn't for the life of him understand why he has been rejected.

Read more »

"The 70-year-old said yesterday the most "disappointing" aspect of the decision was that he was given no explanation for the knockback."

At last! A reason why Territorians see so many UFOs?

North Coast Voices - July 2, 2010 - 1:05am

On any day you can go to The Northern Territory News online and this is a slice of what you'll bring up from the archives concerning Unidentified Flying Objects:

Cops investigate NT UFO invasion Northern Territory News ...

27 May 2010 ... A FULL-SCALE alien invasion of the Northern Territory has begun.

"But highly-qualified UFO-ologists said they believed the bright lights were space ships on a pre-attack scouting mission.
Darwin-based UFO expert Alan Ferguson said the flares were obviously aliens. "This all sounds like UFO activity," he said."
Read more »

Bl**dy Typical Pollie or The Nats At Play

North Coast Voices - July 1, 2010 - 1:05am


Rumour round the water cart is that now McDonalds has its Yamba development consent safely tucked under the arm, the North Coast Nationals are looking to create a little mischief by encouraging locals to bombard the NSW Minister for Local Government with letters complaining about Clarence Valley Council's conduct. Read more »

Australian Federal Election 2010: the iffy seats confirmed

North Coast Voices - June 30, 2010 - 1:15am
The Australian Electoral Commission has kindly listed the status of all 150 House of Representatives seats across the country which will be contested in this year's federal election in a handy PDF file: Read more »

Make the biotech industry part of the Australian federal election debate in 2010

North Coast Voices - June 29, 2010 - 1:15am


With little likelihood of the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council handing on its final report of the Review of Food Labelling Law and Policy before the federal election this year, I imagine that the biotech industry in Australia is feeling confident that it will not come under real scrutiny during the election campaign.
Read more »

Over at 'Pollytics' Possum poses a political puzzle. At 'The Sydney Morning Herald' Hartcher supplies one explanation.

North Coast Voices - June 28, 2010 - 1:15am


I have to admit that I wasn't exactly crying tears as Kevin Rudd was taken down by his own party.

The best thing about his prime ministership was his Apology to the Stolen Generation and his leadership during the global financial crisis.
As well as his earlier support (during the 2007 election campaign) of Northern Rivers communities in their fight against that mindless water grab attempt by Howard and Turnbull and, his determination to lift pensioners out of the poverty trap in which the far right of the Liberal and National parties had kept them.

However, that silly 2020 Summit clearly showed a man out of touch with the ordinary voters who had backed him at the polls and one who really had no idea why he had been elected. Read more »

What year is this again?

North Coast Voices - June 27, 2010 - 1:05am

I clicked onto Computer World and saw this:


Err.....it's almost mid 2010 now for starters and the next NSW state election is not due until 26 March 2011 or thereabouts.
But Computer World can take heart - it could have been worse. Read more »

As the road toll mounts we're still waiting, Kristina..........

North Coast Voices - June 24, 2010 - 1:18am


As the annual road toll on the NSW North Coast leg of the Pacific Highway steadily mounts, local mayors and the media are still waiting for Premier Kristina Keneally or her designated ministerial representative to undertake an inspection by car along the worst of this route. Read more »

Bee-have

North Coast Voices - June 23, 2010 - 1:20am

I am arranging a combined birthday party out at the farm. My mother is turning 80, two days before my Uncle reaches 92 and the youngest son is 26. So I have been on the phone ringing friends and relatives to inform them of the event.

I was talking to one set of Queensland relatives who live on a squatter selection that has been in the family since well before Federation.

Read more »

When the selection was taken up in the late 1800’s the family arrived on site with bee hives, the only reliable sweetening agent that could be produced in the area.

About that war in Afghanistan.......

North Coast Voices - June 22, 2010 - 1:15am


Photograph of Afghan war orphans from Flickr gallery

Remember when the media was full of concerns raised about the legitimacy of the war in Afghanistan and whether Australia should even be part of Operation Enduring Freedom or the War on Terror? Read more »

St. Kevin faces the barbarians

North Coast Voices - June 20, 2010 - 1:15am


Sometimes NSW North Coast cartoonist Jules Faber really hits the funny bone -

this is one of those times............


The Daily Examiner 16 June 2010 Read more »

Danger! Dogs do doo

North Coast Voices - June 18, 2010 - 2:08am

 

A friend of mine has a holiday house in another town and she told me of her experience with her neighbours, or more precisely her neighbours' dogs.

The house has no front fence so the property is delineated by a white pebble boarder which the neighbours' dogs have been using as toilet facilities.

 

Since she doesn't visit that often there is a build up of dog dumps which she has to deal with when she arrives. Read more »

An alternative view of the Rudd Government's home insulation scheme

North Coast Voices - June 16, 2010 - 1:15am


The Daily Examiner letter to the editor on 14 June 2010:

Insulated from good news

IT may be unpopular.

It is never mentioned.

But ... I had insulation installed under the Federal Government scheme.

Two efficient workers did a great job and the results are absolutely fabulous.

It's cooler in summer and now that winter is here our heating is much more efficient. Read more »

I shouldn't laugh, but......

North Coast Voices - June 15, 2010 - 1:05am


* A plague of locusts is due to hit Australia in time for the next federal election according to Bloomberg:
"Locusts are expected to hatch from August to October in Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia states, according to the commission. The first-generation spring hatching alone could occur over a total area of 1.8 million hectares (4.4 million acres), the commission's Adriaansen said."
Read more »

A poll just for laffs....

North Coast Voices - June 14, 2010 - 1:05am



Click on poll results to enlarge


A whimsical poll from The Bureau Chiefs.

First Contact: a whale tale from the NSW North Coast

North Coast Voices - June 13, 2010 - 1:15am



Read more »

As more and more North Coast recreational fishers come into contact with migrating whales, here (with permission of the author David Bancroft) is one very personal encounter - first published in The Dailly Examiner on 4 November 2008:

The Great Cup Hunt

North Coast Voices - June 11, 2010 - 1:20am


The last couple of months I've have been lost in a mind fog.
I'm finding that I have the attention span of a goldfish with Alzheimer's. Nice rock....nice rock....[thunk]....where did that big hard thing come from?

My vagueness was brought home to me when I went to get a mug for my morning cuppa. There were only three mugs facing me.
Since I usually have about eighteen mugs in the cupboard I had to wonder where all the other mugs had got to?
I've never seen mugs migrate north for the winter before. Was this a new phenomena? Something to do with global climate change? Read more »

Possum had a bright shiny graph of Teh Convergence

North Coast Voices - June 11, 2010 - 1:05am



Click on Pollytics graph to tumefy

Two party preferred trend as we approach the 2010 federal election.
Will it be curtains for Rudd or the long drop for Abbott?

Conroy denies vendetta, but how many believe him?

North Coast Voices - June 9, 2010 - 1:05am

Australian Communications Minister Senator Stephen Conroy was quick off the mark to deny any suggestion that his referral of Google Inc to the Australian Federal Police over its StreetView cars collecting digital information which they had no right to access.
Still, it's easy to imagine that he was filled with gleeful anticipation as he set the train in motion, against what he refers to as the "creepy" IT giant.
However Stevo appears more interested in getting his own hands on what he believes this data contains:
"(If) you were doing a banking transaction, or transmitting personal information, they could have hoovered it up, sucked it up into their machine," he told ABC TV yesterday.
"What we want to ensure now is that we get access to the information that's been collected.
Read more »

Why is Google inserting itself in the Australian mining tax debate?

North Coast Voices - June 7, 2010 - 1:15am


Australian mining magnate Clive Palmer has been making much of the fact that Kevin Rudd is mentioned in the same breath as Marx and Engels when one does a Google search for the term "super tax".

However the first mention of this 'trio' appears to have been Palmer himself - starting initially as a general charge of "communist" to a Bowen LNP audience on May 19 before refining to a specific association with Marx and Engels by 2 June this year in front of a National Press Club audience.

Coincidentally, the latter reference does not turn up 'independently' until 2 June, when Wikipedia finally makes mention.

When looking for references I stumbled upon this comment attached to an online Sydney Morning Herald article on 3 June 2010:
Read more »

The Clarence Valley Famous Five continue to suffer fallout after caving in to McDonald's Australia

North Coast Voices - June 6, 2010 - 1:15am

Letter to the editor in The Daily Examiner on 5 June 2010:

Who does CVC represent?

FIVE Clarence Valley Councillors need reminding of who they represent.

I would like to make a comment in regard to Cr Pat Comben's McDonald's opinion and the general McDonald's issue. Read more »

Ned the Bear does national emergencies

North Coast Voices - June 6, 2010 - 1:05am


It's always a bridesmaid and never the bride for Kevin Rudd when it comes to hosting a visit Down Under from U.S. President Barack Obama and naughty Ned the Bear takes full advantage of the situation. :-D
"He's cranky. He's orange. He's a cartoon bear." And he's here.

Driver of golf buggy really blew it

North Coast Voices - June 5, 2010 - 10:56am



NSW Police report that a man has been charged after allegedly being caught driving a golf buggy whilst intoxicated at Yamba on the state’s Far North Coast. Read more »

Yamba cousins selected for Commonwealth Games in Delhi in October

North Coast Voices - July 30, 2010 - 2:15am



Cousins Cameron Pilley and Donna Urquhart have been selected in the Australian squash team that will compete at the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Read more »

NASA turns poet

North Coast Voices - July 30, 2010 - 1:10am

 

Rumbles without sound

Auroras rain down
Magnetic fields shake
Beware the spacequake

Vortices swirl
plasma a'twirl
Richter predicts
a magnitude six

This month NASA decided to explain spacequakes

with information, graphs and 

a little poetry. 


And this is the man that thinks everyone on welfare is a bludger?

North Coast Voices - July 29, 2010 - 1:14am

Read more »

The Liberal Party's Tony Abbott has long thought that the average Australian receiving welfare payments is either someone who can't handle money or who is a bit of a bludger on the state (which is part of the reason he is so keen to transform Centrelink cash transfers into digital food stamps and force young people away from family in search of jobs

Nationals Kevin Hogan - Haunted by the Ghost of Election Past

North Coast Voices - July 26, 2010 - 1:18am


I really shouldn't laugh, but the sight of former Nationals candidate Chris Gulaptis' photo posted on Sportingbet Decider in 2010 instead of current Nationals candidate, Kevin Hogan, was unexpected to say the least.

2010 Election Campaign Day 10 - Into the Twilight Zone

North Coast Voices - July 26, 2010 - 1:05am


It all started on the second day of the Federal Election campaign. I woke to find the world bathed in a strange half light and eerie music playing tinnily in my ear.

Then those emails started:

"Caller Lorraine says Julia Gillard was featured in the Launceston weekend paper doing a Nazi salute and that this is not the first time she has done this". {Quote from Crikey news email on 19th July 2010}

"She's a secret NAZI. When she thinks nobody will notice she heils." {Chain email 18th July 2010}

Read more »

Abbott's credibility gap widens?

North Coast Voices - July 25, 2010 - 1:15am


ABC News online 19 July 2010:

On Saturday, as the election was being called, Mr Abbott moved to neutralise that scare, promising that WorkChoices was "dead, buried and cremated" and to make sure a Coalition government would keep Labor's law, The Fair Work Act, in place for its first term in office.
"The Coalition won't change the Fair Work Act, at least for the duration of the next parliament, at least for the three-year life of the next parliament," he said.
On Saturday Mr Abbott told Melbourne radio 3AW he will put the death of WorkChoices in writing if it will help.
"Give me a bit of paper, I'll sign it here. Dead, buried, cremated," he said. Read more »

2010 Election Campaign Day 9 - Lock up your babies!

North Coast Voices - July 25, 2010 - 1:05am



Beware! Rampant baby snatching underway across the nation as I write.
These are some of the Oz pollies to look out for........... Read more »

Northern Rivers xenophobia

North Coast Voices - July 23, 2010 - 1:15am


For years an inaccurate and nastily xenophobic email has been circulating around the world and, adapted for Australia, it has turned up in Inboxes on the NSW North Coast from time to time.

Here is one version posted on a blog in May 2020 as If you cross the US border...

Now that the Australian federal election campaign has begun, the editor of the Tweed Daily News should exercise some care, because that same piece of arrant nonsense is turning up within that newspaper's pages.

From the Tweed Daily News letters to the editor published on 19 July 2010:
Read more »

The Daily Examiner editor raps Nationals candidate Kevin Hogan over the knuckles

North Coast Voices - July 22, 2010 - 1:15am


On 19 July The Daily Examiner reported on a comment, containing personal abuse of sitting Labor MP Janelle Saffin, which could be found on Nationals candidate Kevin Hogan's Facebook page for the past month:


The Daily Examiner on 19 July 2010 Click on image to enlarge Read more »

Hartsuyker not doing so well in online comments

North Coast Voices - July 22, 2010 - 1:05am


In the heart of the Cowper federal electorate The Coffs Coast Advocate frequently runs stories quoting sitting member the Nats Luke Hartsuyker.
However, Luke doesn't always impress the locals.........

Posted by vallaben from Valla Beach, New South Wales

16 July 2010 8:45 a.m. Suggest removal » Post reply » Read more »

Bread and Circus: Australian media tries to run the election campaign agenda

North Coast Voices - July 21, 2010 - 1:15am


Letter from Loughnane to Bitar
Click to enlarge

The Gillard Government's re-election team appear intent on starving Tony Abbott of oxygen in the federal election campaign now underway in Australia.
Read more »

Monckton gets legal letter from university threatening to sue and then calls up flying monkeys

North Coast Voices - July 21, 2010 - 1:05am


Read more »

Viscount Monckton is not amused and this is the commentary which had him so hot under that ermine collar: Abraham presentation.

What’s the price of a recreational fishing licence in NSW?

North Coast Voices - July 19, 2010 - 4:10am


A man appeared in Maclean local court last week seeking an annulment of his conviction for not holding a valid fishing licence.

Earlier this year the man was convicted in absentia and required to pay a fine and professional costs totalling approximately $3000.

Last week the man told the court that he did not attend the court on the day of his conviction because he suffered an illness that caused him confusion about the date on which he was due to appear and answer the charge of fishing without a licence.

The State, represented by a local solicitor, told the court it was opposed to the granting of an annulment. Read more »

2010 Election Campaign Day 3 - Case of the battling Facebooks

North Coast Voices - July 19, 2010 - 1:06am


Not hard to guess which is the legit Julia Gillard Facebook site out of 691 results....













Read more »

WorkChoices dead says Nats Kevin Hogan. Oh yeah?

North Coast Voices - July 18, 2010 - 1:15am


This is what Leader of the Opposition and aspirant to the office of Australian prime minister,Tony Abbott, said in his Address in Reply to the 2010 Budget:

We'll seek to take the unfair dismissal monkey off the back of small businesses which are more like families than institutions.

We'll make Labor's transitional employment agreements less transitional and Labor's individual flexibility agreements more flexible. We have faith in Australian workers who are not as easily pushed around and exploited as the ACTU's dishonest ad campaign is already making out.

If elected, we will be faithful to the liberal conservative tradition...... Read more »

Boozing away...

North Coast Voices - July 18, 2010 - 1:05am

Did you know that 1.8 million Aussies (11% of the adult population) account for 51% of all alcohol consumed in this country?

That's a hellva lot of booze over a lifetime!

Proven attempt to ordain a woman - excommunication. Proven child abuse - er, non farlo di nuovo

North Coast Voices - July 17, 2010 - 1:18am


Sometimes one has to wonder which century the Catholic Church thinks it is living in when media reports such as this are published: Read more »

True face of 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill

North Coast Voices - July 17, 2010 - 1:10am


Read more »

People may suffer financially from British Petroleum's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico - now in its 60th day with the damaged well only temporarily capped - but the true face of this environmental disaster is found in images of the affected wildlife.....

The Silver Bodgie & The Lover versus The Versace-Clad Clock Collector

North Coast Voices - July 16, 2010 - 1:18am


One has to hand it to the Australian Labor Party - it certainly knows how to destabilise its own political agenda in an election year.

Read more »

First it ditched many of the policies which saw it garner strong electorate support in 2007, then it changed leaders in a somewhat spectacular fashion.

Where I decide to go fishing and almost miss Barry O'Farrell making a right twit of himself...

North Coast Voices - July 16, 2010 - 1:05am

Looked at the sky early yesterday morning and decided it mightn't be a bad day to wet a line.
Imagine my surprise on returning to shore to discover it wasn't only the fish that had been taking the bait - NSW Lib leader Barry O'Farrell had also been swiftly reeled in by the Twitterverse.
Read more »

Yamba's drunk golf buggy driver has his day in court

North Coast Voices - July 13, 2010 - 9:57pm


A Yamba man’s adventure in his golf buggy whilst intoxicated on a Friday night last month had its sequel in the Maclean Local Court on Tuesday, July 13. Read more »

Julia has a big...........WTF?!

North Coast Voices - July 13, 2010 - 1:05am

Like some other political tragics that I know (and quite a few pollies' staffers that I don't) - as we inexorably creep ever nearer to a federal election I have created a small handful of Google Alerts to keep abreast of the debate.
Imagine my surprise when (instead of news of the doings in Canberra) down the digital highway comes a post about the new Australian Prime Minister's genitalia.
More than a little taken aback I did a quick Google and found that I was not alone:
"Who in God's name is searching for pictures of 'julia gillard's tits', 'julia gillard upskirt', 'dirty pictures of juilia (sic) gillard' and 'julia gillard porn' in general? Seriously! Read more »

Australian Federal Election 2010: Jeremy gives us all something to mull over before we vote

North Coast Voices - July 12, 2010 - 1:05am


From "Isn't a vote for the Greens a wasted vote?" over at An Onymous Lefty on the 5th July:
"Several of my friends are Labor voters, despite disagreeing with 90% of what the party actually does in office. "Why waste my vote by voting for the Greens?" they ask. "They'll never be in power!"
For progressive ALP voters there's a very simple answer to this question: because voting Greens will make the ALP a more compassionate, humanitarian party. Read more »

Has Stephen Conroy just guaranteed that Labor will lose seats to The Greens in 2010?

North Coast Voices - July 10, 2010 - 1:30am


Sometimes it's hard to believe just how far the ALP will go in order to lose seats in this year's election unless you track Communications Minister Stephen Conroy's chatter about plans to censor the internet.

Having slipped this scheme under the radar in 2007 he is now afraid to introduce it into law before the election in case votes walk, but intends to run yet another rigged investigation and then erect the Great Firewall by 2012 secure in the knowledge that he won't have to face the voters himself for another six years as a senator.
Read more »

Cultural dimension to glimpsing infinity

North Coast Voices - July 10, 2010 - 1:15am

Looking unnervingly like Dr. Who's crack in the universe, this composite picture of nearly 14 billion year-old remnant light from that big bang thought to have created us all. Produced by the Planck telescope.


Click on image to enlarge

Read more »

A minister of religion outranks a politician who outranks a used car salesman in 2010

North Coast Voices - July 9, 2010 - 1:15am


Roy Morgan Research has its annual Image of Professions Survey out for 2010.
Here is a basic ranking given professions by 672 Aussies over 14 years of age showing who we might be likely to consider to be on the side of angels:

1 Nurses
2 Pharmacists
3 Doctors
4 School teachers
5 Engineers
6 Dentists
7 State Supreme Court Judges
8 High Court Judges Read more »

South Australia still leading the way on greenhouse gas emission reductions

North Coast Voices - July 8, 2010 - 1:15am


According to The Climate Group's weekly assessment of greenhouse gas emission levels in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia, the latter state is still streets ahead in its response to the need to reduce these emissions.
Read more »

Well that's telling her! Those flying monkeys take to the air in pursuit of Julia Gillard

North Coast Voices - July 7, 2010 - 1:15am


Female, redheaded, unmarried, childless, self-declared non-believer and a former students union leader - one knew it wouldn't be long before the seriously strange inhabitants of Wingnut Land came out against new Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

This is the opening salvo on a Facebook group Julia Gillard Is A Communist, A Traitor And A Threat started by one Paulus in 2007 and now assisted by 236 followers as of last Monday:
Read more »

Abbott in the Twitterverse

North Coast Voices - July 6, 2010 - 1:15am


?
Frank_Tireur?: Tony Abbott saying there's "something fishy about the numbers" makes me think he might've made Barnaby the Finance Minister again.
Twitter
Read more »

Shame on you all! When election promises go south

North Coast Voices - July 5, 2010 - 1:15am


Image of O'Farrell and Cansdell from Steve Cansdell MP's Clarence Chronicles, June 20120

From Clarence Valley Review letters to the editor on 30 June 2010:

Expecting a lot

Ed, Read more »

Clarence Ahead invites climate change adaptation expert to speak at Yamba, 6 July 2010

North Coast Voices - July 4, 2010 - 1:15am


At 6.30pm on Tuesday 6 July 2010 Professor Garry Willgoose is giving a talk on "Climate change, its consequences, and us" at the Yamba Bowling & Recreation Club by invitation of Clarence Ahead . Read more »

Admission is $30.00 and includes two course meal, tea or coffee. Bar service will be available. Further information can be had from Des Plunkett Ph: (02) 66. 433044.

Gillard sucks all the air out of the political debate and Abbott panics.....

North Coast Voices - July 2, 2010 - 1:07am


One of the most amusing things to observe over the last week has been how Julia Gillard becoming Australia's first female prime minister sucked all the air out of the political debate and left Opposition Leader Tony Abbott beached az 'n' gasping.
Desperate for some positive air time poor Tones has had to resort to an outright gimmick and then tweet about it in case some missed his silly stunt with old bathers and a bonfire on the Matt & Jo Show: Read more »

Julia Gillard: time for a little context....

North Coast Voices - June 30, 2010 - 1:18am

Ever since the news broke that Kevin Rudd had been removed as prime minister by the parliamentary wing of the Australian Labor Party there has been noise about him being the only PM to be deposed in a first term without being able to 'go to the people' and, about Julia Gillard rolling a first term leader, not being elected by the people, being unmarried, having no children, being a migrant. As well as constant chatter about how 'unique' this is.

Of course Abbott, Bishop, Joyce and the entire Coalition chorus are attempting to hammer many of these points as political negatives.

Read more »

However, an Australian prime minister is always elected by the party not the people. Further to that - with the exception of her gender - little else is unique about Gillard. Or unique about Rudd for that matter.

Dear Red: an open letter to Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard

North Coast Voices - June 29, 2010 - 1:30am


Dear Red,

I voted for Labor at the last federal election:
1. To get rid of Howard and his rightwing gang of idiots - PASS
2. In the belief that Labor would address climate change - FAIL
3. Hoping that pensioners would get a fairer go - PASS
4. Sure that public hospitals, community health services and dental care for the poor would improve - FAIL, CONDITIONAL PASS, FAIL Read more »

The reactions are coming thick and fast to Gillard's ascension

North Coast Voices - June 29, 2010 - 1:05am


The reactions are coming thick and fast to Julia Gillard's elevation to the position of Australia's Prime Minister.
Predictably many are focussed on gender, marital status, religion, family and hair colour while some think of the political impications for one Anthony Abbott.
Running the gamut from the pig ignorant and inaccurate Red Barren tag (turning up in The Punch comments section slinging off at her childless state in fairly obvious code) and the wilfully mischevious though to the witty and acute.
Here's a scatter of these in no particular order: Read more »

Abbott the Ungracious

North Coast Voices - June 27, 2010 - 1:18am


One rather felt it would be the case, but still it was disappointing that Opposition Leader Tony Abbott barely paid lip service to the historic moment for Australian society and federal politics last Thursday before trying to paint new Prime Minister Julia Gillard as one of the worst of the worst.
Following his vitriolic lead in a closely orchestrated attack were Julie Bishop and Warren Truss.
Badly done, Mr Abbott.

Although I have to admit his constant talk of Sussex Street death squads is giving me a good belly laugh at his expense.
In that I'm not alone. Twitter has a tag just for this: Read more »

New native title claim in the Clarence Valley being considered

North Coast Voices - June 26, 2010 - 1:15am

The Daily Examiner reported on 22 June 2010 that a new native title claim may be lodged over the Clarence Valley coastal zone from Woody Head to Red Rock.
Read more »

New Matilda will be missed when it closes its doors today

North Coast Voices - June 25, 2010 - 1:18am

Best wishes for the future to all New Matilda

management, staff, journalists & assorted others

from all of us here at North Coast Voices

Read more »

Petticoats rule!

North Coast Voices - June 25, 2010 - 1:05am


Back in the 1950s I'd never have thought it possible.
We New South Walers now have a female head of state (Her Maj), a female representative of the Crown (teh G-G), a female Prime Minister (all hail Gillard!), a female State Governor (hat tip to Marie B) and a female Premier (K-K-Keneally acting on behalf of her hair).
This has to be the ultimate hat trick.

How to take part in ORRCA Annual Whale Census Day, Sunday 27 June 2010

North Coast Voices - June 24, 2010 - 1:15am



Celebrating 25 Years of Marine Mammal Rescue


MEDIA RELEASE

ORRCA Annual Whale Census Day 27 June 2010

"

Come and help us count whales" Read more »

Tiresome tea leaf reading: so who's winning at the opinion polls this week?

North Coast Voices - June 22, 2010 - 4:18am


So who's winning at the opinion polls this week?
Bottom line is that Labor is slightly improved on first preference votes compared to last week (but not nearly enough to gladden the hearts of its backroom boys) and holding steady on two party preferred numbers.
While the Coalition is basically holding steady over the same week on both counts.
When is comes to confidence in the person - both Rudd and Abbott are on the nose with the electorate and although Rudd's fall from grace has been the more spectacular over the last few months it appears that Abbott remains the most unpopular of the two.

And who would win if an election was called tomorrow?
With The Greens growing stronger and their preferences still up for grabs, it's nothing more than a guessing game right now despite what some mainstream media pundits might say. Read more »

Indigenous whale dreaming in Australia - then and now.....*ATSIC readers please note that this post may contain images of person

North Coast Voices - June 20, 2010 - 1:10am

This month the International Whaling Commission meets to decide if the global moratorium on commercial whaling remains in effect.

In the past the Commission has often considered the 'right' to hunt whales, but appears to pay little attention to the spiritual and cultural position of the whale in many societies such as the coastal/saltwater peoples of Australia. Read more »

For those who just can't keep away from politics on a Saturday night: NSW Penrith by-election links

North Coast Voices - June 19, 2010 - 11:03am

Antony Green

On Saturday night {tonight} I will be providing full analysis of the Penrith by-election results. Tune in after 6pm on Saturday night at for analysis of the results, including detailed booth by booth analysis.

I will also be twittering results using the #penrith tag from @AntonyGreenABC, probably being repeated by @ABCNews and @ABCElections. Read more »

Senator Fielding proves once more that he is barking mad

North Coast Voices - June 19, 2010 - 1:05am

Senator Steve Fielding, that born-again political nong from Victoria, appears to think that pregnant women on welfare payments would be eligible for paid parental leave from a full-time job that they don't actually have; similarly that drug addicts would deliberately get pregnant to get paid parental leave for which most would be ineligible anyway; women locked away at the pleasure of Her Maj are in full-time employment; that sex-workers are not entitled to benefits paid to other workers because of their job description; and that all late term abortions are obviously some form of fiscal fiddle.
Stevo's a good example for the argument that political candidates should prove mental competency before their names go on a ballot paper.
Mrs. Fielding - how about doing us all a favour and lock your boy in the back shed whenever Parliament is sitting. Read more »

And the Rudd Government wonders why its reputation is in tatters....

North Coast Voices - June 18, 2010 - 1:18am


On 20 May 2010 the NT News reported:

LABOR backbencher Marion Scrymgour has once again spoken out against her own party's policy by attacking a decision to continue welfare quarantining.
Ms Scrymgour criticised Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin's dismissal of a recent report that revealed income management was not working.
Chief Minister Paul Henderson this week backed the Commonwealth's decision but said the report by the Menzies School of Health Research needed to be examined.
But Ms Scrymgour lashed out at the Federal Government by making an online post on the Crikey website. Read more »

Planning law and fast food outlets: in England the court sets things right

North Coast Voices - June 17, 2010 - 1:15am


In light of the Clarence Valley Council Famous Five's stubborn insistence that they had to take the advice contained in a flawed council officer's report on the McDonald's Australia development application for an eat-in and drive through fast food outlet in Yamba on the NSW North Coast, this outcome a world away shows that councillors don't have to follow 'bad' advice like so many sheep:

Judge makes landmark fast food ruling
Michael Donnelly, PlanningResource, 14 June 2010 Read more »

Prideaux on Whales and Dolphins: ‘resource’ or ‘right’?

North Coast Voices - June 15, 2010 - 1:20am


Whales and Dolphins: 'resource' or 'right'?


2010 started with a physical clash between whalers and activists in the southern ocean, sparking a global conversation about how we regard whales and dolphins – are they a resource for the human race, or do they have an inherent right to their life, their liberty and their wellbeing? Read more »

Queen's Birthday Honours 2010: NSW North Coast recipients & full honours list

North Coast Voices - June 14, 2010 - 5:03am


Margaret Hodgson, artist and illustrator of Copmanhurst; Jon Riordan, philanthropist from Yamba; Phyllis Pearson, musician from Nambucca; Tony Miller Dads in Distress founder from the Coffs Harbour district; these are just four of the many singled out in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2010.

The complete list can be found at The Australian Honours Secretariat:

McDonald's versus Yamba: boycott calls continue

North Coast Voices - June 14, 2010 - 1:15am

The following was posted on Menu Mate at the webpage titled
McDonald's Family Restaurants (Ballina)
on 25 May 2010 and a copy sent to me:

Reviewer Name: EK
Title: McDonald's stay away from Yamba!
Comments: Dear Mr Campbell, I know a McDonald's restaurant in Yamba was approved last week by the local Council but the majority of Yamba residents DO NOT want it. Why do you want to come to Yamba when it is quite clear you are not wanted here. Please take back your application as most people will be boycotting it and you will not make any money.

Read more »

Not everyone loves a mining millionaire.....

North Coast Voices - June 13, 2010 - 1:18am


SMH online polling A.M. (above) and P.M. (below) on 10 June 2010


According to ABC News on Thursday, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission has given a timely reminder to mining companies that their rhetoric needs to be in line with their advice to the stockmarket, institutional investors, shareholders and creditors:

Read more »

??????: Japan launches whaling fleet for summer slaughter in Pacific

North Coast Voices - June 12, 2010 - 1:05am



?????? - A nation without honour intends to kill gentle mammals such as this sperm whale pictured above. Why? Not because it's people are starving and in need of food, but simply because it can.

The Global Times 10th June 2010: Read more »

Weekly Greenhouse Gas Indicator for NSW 28 May-3 June 2010

North Coast Voices - June 11, 2010 - 1:15am

Read more »

If anything is needed to convince there is an urgent need for a national legislative response to global warming, it is the fact that the Australian states display such variance in greenhouse gas levels under different state policies and strategies.

Yamba in world'd top ten places

North Coast Voices - June 10, 2010 - 11:00am


Charlie Kemp, a no frills blogger from the Old Dart, has just returned home after 129 days on the road.

Charlie, who blogs at Nap Year Diaries, listed the the Top Ten Places he visited. They are (in chronological order): Delhi, Pushkar, Jodhpur, Panjim, Arambol (India), Hanoi, Ha Long Bay, Hoi An (Vietnam), Siem Reap (Cambodia), Yamba (Australia).

Other highlights from Charlie's journeys include:
Best country - Vietnam
Best beach - Booti Booti, NSW
Best hotel - Hotel Siddartha, Agra, India
Best breakfast - bagels at Café Stir, Christchurch Read more »

Reweavers: the quiet achievers

North Coast Voices - June 10, 2010 - 1:15am


David Bancroft, editor of The Daily Examiner, pens some well-deserved praise of reweavers on 8 June 2010:

IN about 1900, former US president Theodore Roosevelt wrote how he had been impressed with an African saying: "Speak softly and carry a big stick."

He believed people who followed the adage would go far.

It is an adage that would apply to virtually all the people who attended a modest dinner in Grafton on Friday night.

I was honoured to accept an invitation to attend the annual dinner of the Clarence Valley's reweavers group, a group committed to 'reweaving' the tapestry of society. Read more »

The Coastal Emu - a local icon

North Coast Voices - June 9, 2010 - 1:18am


Whilst our friends on the western side of the ranges might encounter emus on a regular basis, it is not so for those of us on the coast. The number of Coastal Emu is extremely low. There is one small isolated group to the north, but the core population is only found in the <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />ClarenceValley.<?xml:namespace prefix = o />

Read more »

No wonder the Libs like Clive!

North Coast Voices - June 8, 2010 - 1:05am


No wonder the Über Mensch of the Liberal Party like Australian mining magnate, rich listee and generous political donor Clive Palmer - he has the same take on 'truth' as Lib leader Tony Abbott. Read more »

Kristina the Angry

North Coast Voices - June 7, 2010 - 1:05am



Anyone else notice how many times NSW Premier Kristina Keneally is angry these days? Read more »

Those bl@@dy godbotherers and the Barclay Bros are at it again

North Coast Voices - June 5, 2010 - 6:12pm

Why is it that people who belong to certain long-established religions want to rule the world?
Here they are - at it again. And don't be fooled by the picture or the plea.
What this European group is really after in the long-term is for all ISPs around the world to keep records of every website you visit, page you open and image you download - then hand info it over to government on demand.

Of course they're not the only ones busily trying to create easily identifiable cyber profiles where none existed before. Read more »