Not adding up
I just received the first power bill since the repeal of the carbon tax.
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Out of an overall bill of $225, over 85 days, the savings from the carbon tax repeal was $7.50.
Mmm - that works out to 3.3 per cent of the bill, or $0.62.5c a week, or 9c a day, or $32.50 a year.
A bit different to the $550 a year quoted in parliament by Tony Abbott and the 20c to 50c a day by Clare Savage from Corporate Affairs.
I would hope that the people running this country could do their sums better.
David Crowden
Brogo
Vote for mayor
Leaving councillors to vote among themselves who will be mayor every two years is like leaving Dracula in charge of the blood bank.
Voters get no say.
Who becomes mayor is hostage to secret backroom deals, or sometimes lucky dips out of a hat.
This revolving mayors and “mayor-share” system, where the job is swapped around, is no way to ensure the most talented people are running the council, backed by a strong voter mandate.
It fundamentally denies transparent and true democratic process.
What should happen is that the Bega Valley Shire Mayor must be elected by popular election for a four-year term, starting from the next Local Government elections in September 2016.
This democratic outcome could easily be achieved by council - right now - agreeing to hold a special referendum on electing our mayor, at the same time as the NSW State Election, in March 2015.
Were this referendum successful – and it would definitely attract an overwhelming yes vote from Bega Shire voters – then we would be voting for our newly-elected mayor in 2016.
Or, that is what should happen, in the public interest.
Now, look at what is most likely to happen.
Three vested interest groups are united against popular election of our mayor:
1. The nine elected councillors. Most are against popular mayoral election because this would reduce their individual power and influence and increase scrutiny of their actions.
2. The council staff. An elected mayor with a strong voter mandate would proportionately reduce the influence of permanent staff.
3. The NSW Electoral Commission. Any normal person would think this agency is there to promote and defend democracy, as well as running free and fair elections. Wrong!
The NSW Electoral commission has produced a list of eight contrived and spurious “legal and operational” reasons why it would be “impractical” to hold a referendum for a popularly elected mayor at the same time at the March 2015 state election.
These flimsy excuses for “reasons” include:
- there are different acts of parliament covering state and local elections, therefore different processes - so what?
- increased functions at polling places leading to confusion of voters - polite way of saying voters are too dumb
- risk of politicising the local government event - that’s none of their business as a non-partisan agency
- delays in producing and releasing results - risk of hard work!
- costs “in the vicinity of $150,000” - for 30,000 extra votes? Pull the other leg, please!
This kind of nonsense should not be tolerated for a moment longer.
The Minister for Local Government must stand up for democracy and intervene.
Jon Gaul
Tura Beach
Skate park thanks
The Bermagui Skate Park is finally here!
It is so exciting to see this long-awaited project finally become a reality.
Project manager Jim Callaghan and a dedicated team of workers and volunteers have worked together to create a fabulous asset for the Bermagui Community.
It has taken over 15 years for the project to finally happen with lots of fundraising and support from many people.
This has been an amazing community effort with local business, council and community members all working together.
Jim Callaghan
Bega Valley Shire Council
Richard Cunningham
Bill Taylor
Stu Longhurst (earthworks and concreting)
Cuz Ozawa (earthworks)
Neville Reid (earthworks)
Chris and Tim Reid (concreting)
Bob Harris (set out)
Andrew Curven (set out and labour)
Matt Gilder (earthworks and concreting)
Jacqui Howarth (steel fix and committee)
Jamie White (set out and welding)
James Drakos ( welding)
Julian Brown (earthworks)
Kelvin Myers (concreting)
Ken Jacobs (steel fix)
Eli Wetzler (concreting)
Belinda and Kieren Ubrihien (concreting)
Steve Neilson (earthworks)
Chris Markwort
Dave Monk (steel fixing)
Wayne Lucas (steel fixing)
Scott Ballard
Drew Forbes
Matt Farnham
Steve Thornton
Aimee White (committee)
Kerry McGlashen (committee)
Narelle Myers (committee)
Jim Collins (committee)
Paul Callaghan
Terry Callaghan
Kristy Callaghan
Vanessa Ballard
Jesse Austin
Rex Porter
John Huddleston
Steve O'Sullivan
Noel Hasse
James Kelly
Bernie Welsh (fencing)
Pat Kelly
Craig Hurst
Glen Went
Ed Willson (logo design)
Andy Austin
Bernie Parsons
Willie White
Dale
Errol Masterson
Tracy Reeves
Vesna Andric
Paul and Kerry Morgan
Ali Robson
Bridge Motors (fuel)
Trent Blows
Chris Webb (committee)
Wayland Mason
Neilson Bros Mitre 10 (truck)
Adam Miller
Finn Askew (design and plans)
Paul Lazzaro (water supply/ pipes)
Bega Valley Shire Council: Bermagui Team
Apologies if we have missed any individuals or businesses, but please know that your help and support was greatly appreciated.
The park is a fabulous asset for our community - a place where people of all ages can come to skate, scoot and ride.
The fabulous design has taken into consideration all ages with scope for toddlers, kids, teens and adults to all have fun.
It is hoped the addition of picnic areas, paths, playground and exercise equipment in the future will further add to this as place where everyone feels welcome.
Many thanks to you all,
From the Bermagui Skate Park Committee
Koala propaganda
While it's good to see the Mimosa Rocks Bioblitz was popular (BDN, 9/11), it's a shame this popularity is sullied with NSW Government koala propaganda.
There is no doubt that koala numbers are increasing in the Bega shire, because the NSW Government is translocating koalas from Victoria to the South East National Park, near Tantawangalo.
It seems unlikely these koalas will survive beyond the short term.
The Bioblitz employs two broad types of survey techniques, preferential and non-preferential.
The first koala surveys in the coastal forests, during the late 1990s, employed preferential surveys to establish koala tree species preferences.
The Regularised Grid Based survey methods, introduced in 2007, are intended to be non-preferential, making the method more suitable for estimating animal numbers.
The “random grid spot survey assessment” referred to in the article, is a preferential survey method.
The claim that there is “very clear evidence of recovering koala numbers”, would appear to be based on data from preferential surveys employed within small areas.
Supporting this conclusion, an honours theses based on data from the surveys (Heather Gow -Carey, 2012) found there was “enough” suitable habitat for koalas at that time, not leaving much room for large increases in numbers.
However, the general trend in local koala decline was identified in CSIRO analysis of the same data.
This analysis highlighted the north-south orientation of areas occupied by koalas, and the loss of koalas from the east or west of this orientation is a concern.
In that regard, publicly available information suggests the loss of koalas from Bermagui state forest, and perhaps Tanja state forest, so koalas remain on a declining trend.
It has been suggested that multi-tenure management strategies are required to address the threats, so koalas will persist in the long term.
Regrettably, the NSW Government is yet to acknowledge or understand the threats, and is yet to display an interest in working collaboratively across tenures.
Robert Bertram
Bermagui