Archive for September, 2009
Water restrictions will be eased in Deniliquin tomorrow from stage 4 to stage 3A, allowing for watering of gardens on certain days. The easing of water restrictions is in response to the increase in water allocation to high-security entitlement holders earlier this week.
Echuca’s unmetered parking zones are now being monitored by electronic sensors, to detect when people stay for longer than is permitted by signs…but September is being considered a grace period in which nobody will be fined by the new system, or be informed that they have overstayed their welcome.
Campaspe Shire Mayor Peter Williams has welcomed the Federal government’s announcement of the funding which it has allocated to the Financial Assistance Grants program for this financial year.
Mr. Williams says the funding is slightly more than what Council was expecting, but is still far below what some other states receive.
Dairy Farmers in Northern Victoria are being encouraged to have their say on the future of the dairy industry in the Goulburn Valley at Dairy Australia’s public meeting this morning.
The Murray Catchment Management Authority has opened applications for its 2.8 million dollar program of grants for landholders.
In Deni Ladies indoor netball, Monkey Magic defeated Amcal Crocs 45 to 25 and the RSL Retreads defeated Odd N Ends 33 to 22.
And in the single stroke competition at the Deni Golf Club, L. Brant was the A Grade winner, A. Veenstra won B Grade, and C Grade went to F. Munnerly.
The Picola Football League grand final is on tomorrow, with Jerilderie taking on Berrigan in Blighty.
And the finals continue this weekend in Greenham Murray Football and Goulburn Valley Football
September 4th, 2009 at 10:07am
I just had a most unusual fault occur during my mobile phone conversation with a friend.
Mid-conversation, the call cut out, which isn’t all that unusual on its own, however at my end I received the Telstra disconnected signal (the one similar to the engaged signal, but with one tone quieter than the other), followed by the Telstra ringing signal, and then one side of another person’s phone call in which they continued to converse with the other party to their call, but seemed oblivious to my “hello? are you still there?”. It seemed that this mystery person was informing the other party to their call that somebody would be leaving at 6pm.
After about fifteen seconds of hearing one side of their call, the connection dropped completely, with my phone registering the end of the call.
Apparently, the person at the other end of my call did not hear any of this…I suspect that my phone registered the termination of the the call after the other party to my call hung up after hearing nothing for a little while.
Samuel
September 3rd, 2009 at 06:00pm
Penny Wong has received a mixed reaction to her whirlwind visit to Deniliquin yesterday.
The federal minister for climate change and water was in town to announce one and a half million dollars in funding to assess the impact of climate change on groundwater, and to seek ideas from government bodies and water providers on ways to save water.
Ms. Wong says the federal government wants to help communities adjust to having less water and denied that the region is being targeted in the water buyback scheme.
Ms. Wong was confronted by a small group of angry residents demanding answers at her press conference outside the Deni info centre yesterday, although answers did not appear to be immediately forthcoming.
While Ms. Wong was here, she met with Murray Irrigation Limited, Southern Riverina Irrigators and the Mayors of Deniliquin, Wakool, Jerilderie and Berrigan, and a representative from RAMROC.
Deniliquin Mayor Lindsay Renwick says that Penny Wong’s visit is a plus for the region, whilst RAMROC chairman and Mayor of Jerilderie Terry Hogan says the meeting was about opening the doors of communication, and that Ms. Wong was willing to listen to their concerns.
However the reaction from those who were not able to get a meeting with Ms. Wong during her few hours in Deni was less favourable.
Lester Wheatley, Chairman of the Murray Valley Community Action Group says it’s typical of Ms. Wong to come to town, meet with only a handful of people and only take questions on notice.
And Federal Member for Murray, Dr. Sharman Stone, was also disappointed that Ms. Wong was only here for a very short time.
When asked, Ms. Wong refused to commit to a future public forum, however did express an interest in ongoing consultation.
In other news,
Member for Rodney Paul Weller has seized on the “10/30 right” vegetation removal bushfire policy announced by the Victorian Government on Monday, to request an extension to the policy allowing for the removal of firewood from the Barmah Forest before fuel reduction burns.
The Federal government has announced the amount that it will give to local councils this financial year through the Financial Assistance Grants program.
New South Wales councils will share in 605 million dollars and Victorian councils will share in 452 million dollars, which equates to about 87 dollars per person in New South Wales, and 85 dollars per person in Victoria.
Students at eleven primary schools within the Murray Irrigation area of operation will be painting life-size fibreglass cows in the coming weeks, as part of a program run by Dairy Australia to educate students about the dairy industry.
In Deni Ladies Basketball, the Gulpa Coachies defeated the Book Club 43 to 23, the Demons had a naroow 30 to 27 victory over Deni Sports, and the Rams defeated Bek’s Country Wear 43 to 36.
And Deniliquin member Tim Maher won all three events at the Mathoura Gun Club’s August shoot.
Samuel
September 3rd, 2009 at 10:32am
I have to admit to being somewhat amused by this. The Penny Wong “what she did and how people have reacted” story in the 2QN and Classic Rock Regional News bulletins this mornings runs for 5 minutes and 44 seconds.
Such fun…but at least the long hours yesterday were worth it. It’s probably also a good thing that very little else happened yesterday and, as such, the other stories don’t need much time.
Samuel
September 3rd, 2009 at 06:47am
“Shambolic” might be just a tad harsh, but this wasn’t the most glamorous performance of all time.
To start with, the media (myself and the reporter from The Pastoral Times) turned up early and noticed that all of the Mayors from the region were out the back of the tourist centre, which is closer to the banks of the river than the front of the centre is (the press release said the press conference would be on the banks of the river) so we waited out there. A small group of locals waited out the front and informed us that Penny and her entourage had come and gone again. I called Penny’s media person who said that she thought the media hadn’t turned up, and said they would “come straight back”.
A few minutes later, Penny Wong, Mike Kelly, a person from Penny’s department and the media rep turned up in a taxi, much to amusement of those who had gathered. Penny was approached by locals with questions both before and after the press conference…she didn’t seem to be interested in answering questions, but instead wanted to palm them off to the bloke from the department. She seemed to have trouble getting away from one of the people who approached her after the press conference.
The press conference itself lasted about five and a half minutes, in which time the media managed to get in three questions, and Penny managed to not quite answer any of them. The press conference was cut short by the media rep who said they were late for a meeting with Murray Irrigation Limited.
The press conference audio is below for your listening pleasure.
[audio:https://samuelgordonstewart.com/wp-content/PennyWongDeniDoorstop20090902.mp3]
Download MP3
I’m reliably informed that the Shepparton media (she’s flying to Shep this afternoon for a 3:45 press conference) will be asking her why she is bothering to visit the region if she won’t answer questions from the locals.
At this stage it looks like Penny’s visit will still be the lead story in the morning, probably containing a number of peoples’ reactions to the flying visit.
Samuel
September 2nd, 2009 at 01:43pm
Apologies for the lateness of this summary this morning. It has been a very busy morning.
As 2QN reported exclusively yesterday afternoon, The federal minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong is making a surprise flying visit to Deniliquin today to meet with local groups and stakeholders, and announce that she is inviting new proposals for water saving initiatives to strengthen Murray-Darling Basin communities.
Whilst her meetings have already been arranged and remain secret, 2QN News has learnt that she will be meeting a select group at the Deni RSL club for 40 minutes to take questions on notice.
Ms. Wong’s office have also confirmed that she will be making an appearance on the shores of the Edward River at the Deni info centre on George Street at 11:35 this morning.
Murray Shire Council held a special meeting yesterday afternoon in which they received a briefing from VicRoads and the RTA about the proposed Echuca-Moama bridge.
Also at the meeting yesterday, the Mayor Brian Sharp and the deputy mayor Graeme Shiells were re-elected unopposed.
Campaspe Shire Council have expressed their delight that local concrete products manufacturer Humes is looking to install world-leading technology at its Echuca plant, to take advantage of the skill-base in the region.
Deputy Leader of the New South Wales opposition, and Shadow Minister for Health Jillian Skinner has called on the New South Wales government to cancel the air ambulance tender process, and ensure the ongoing viability of the Royal Flying Doctor Service.
The RFDS has already lost the air ambulance contract in Victoria after it was put out to tender, taking effect in 2011, and Ms. Skinner is concerned that the same thing could happen in New South Wales.
Dairy Farmers in Northern Victoria are being encouraged to have their say on the future of the dairy industry in the Goulburn Valley at Dairy Australia’s public meeting on Friday.
New South Wales TAFE Teachers have called a 24 hour strike for today over the New South Wales government’s plan to cut staff and increase the work hours of the remaining staff.
The previously postponed annual general meeting of the Tuppal Rural Fire Brigade will be held at the Noorumboon Woolshed at 1:30 this afternoon.
And roadworks are continuing on the Narrandera Flood Channel Bridges over the Murrumbidgee River on the Newell Highway for the next two weeks. The bridge will be reduced to one lane during the works, and delays are expected. Extra delays for wide loads.
At the Deniliquin Badminton Club, In A grade, Toblerone defeated Snickers 10 games 456 to 4 games 372 and Picnic defeated Mars 10 games 448 to 4 games 392.
in Round 11 of Deni Mixed netball, the Thorpedos had their first win of the season, defeating the Avergae Joes 23 to 16. The Easy Beats scored ten goals to one in the final quarter to defeat the Mighty Ducks 29 to 22, and the Titans had a narrow 31 to 28 win over the Magnums.
Samuel
September 2nd, 2009 at 10:17am
I received an odd little press release from Penny Wong’s office a short time ago, advising me that Ms. Wong, minister for Global Warming (one wonders if “Minister for Hot Air” is apt, in that case) will be in Deniliquin tomorrow to meet with “local groups and stakeholders”. No details about the wheres and whens of it all, and seeing as she is visiting Deni and two other towns tomorrow, you’d think the whens and wheres would be rather important.
So I rang her office and found out that these meetings are all pre-arranged…they then mumbled something about a press briefing and an announcement at the Deni Info Centre at 11:35am. I’ve asked around here and the local paper…nobody knew that this was happening. I am the ONLY radio journalist in town, and if I hadn’t called Penny Wong’s office, I wouldn’t know that there is a press briefing tomorrow. You’d think that they were trying to keep it a secret or something.
2QN is just about to break this story now.
Samuel
September 1st, 2009 at 03:31pm
There’s a curious story in the Herald Sun today about rumours that 3AW may be axing their chief football commentator Rex Hunt in favour of MMM’s Brian Taylor next year.
3AW’s General Manager Shane Healy was quoted as saying “I’d say so” when asked in the station wants to keep Rex Hunt next year, but then went on to say that “[w]e are looking at our ratings and our research, we are always interested to see how our audience is reacting to the team”. Well Shane, let’s do just that…let’s take a look at the ratings for stations covering football.
From survey #5, the ratings across the weekend:
3AW: 17.1%
ABC: 15.2%
MMM: 5.3%
SEN: 3.5%
As if the gap between 3AW and MMM isn’t big enough on its own, the fact that 3AW and MMM get priority choice of games, with the ABC and SEN getting whatever is left over, makes it even more interesting. 3AW and MMM cover the same games most of the time with the ABC and SEN getting the dredges, and yet the ABC almost have triple the ratings of MMM.
Mr. Healy, I know that you say that you’re not looking at replacing Rex, and that the Herald Sun claim the rumour started at MMM, but a quick word of advice for you. If you replace Rex Hunt with Brian Taylor, I will not be listening. In fact, if you replace Rex with just about anyone else, then I will not be listening. Promoting one of your existing commentators is something I can live with…bringing Denis Cometti on full-time I can deal with, but don’t replace your chief caller with somebody who is helping to keep MMM on 5%. If you do, I, and others, will be helping the ratings of your nearest competitor.
Samuel
September 1st, 2009 at 12:06pm
The New South Wales water commissioner announced an increase in water allocations this morning due to “rainfall”, which will he says will allow water restrictions to be relaxed. From the press release:
NSW Water Commissioner, David Harriss, today announced an increase in water allocations for high security water users in both the Murrumbidgee and Murray Valleys.
“Rainfall across the Murray and Murrumbidgee catchments, together with inflows from Snowy Hydro Limited over the past month has enabled these increases,” said Mr Harriss.
Mr Harriss said that the Murrumbidgee high security allocation would increase to 45 per cent of entitlement while improved water availability in the Murray Valley would allow NSW to increase its high security allocation from 8 per cent to 20 per cent of entitlement.
“Under the interstate water sharing arrangements for 2009/10 agreed by the three Governments, NSW has repaid the water advanced by Victoria that allowed all carry-over from last season to be available in 2009/10.”
Any future improvement in water availability for NSW in the Murray Valley will be committed entirely to meet domestic and stock needs in the Wakool system, conveyance requirements in channels systems and to increase allocations for consumptive users.”
Mr Harriss said that the increase in high security allocations in both valleys means that Councils and Town Water Supply Authorities can ease town water restrictions in line with the Murray and Murrumbidgee Water restrictions policy.
Under the policy, water restrictions in the Murrumbidgee Valley can be relaxed to level 3 that allows for a maximum of 8 hours of outside watering per week. In the Murray valley restrictions can be relaxed to Level 3a that allows for a maximum of 4 hours of outside watering per week.
Mr Harriss also reminded all water users in both the Murray and Murrumbidgee Valleys that their Shire water restrictions apply to water taken under basic landholder rights or from bores for private domestic use.
“People who draw water directly from a river or creek or from a bore are subject to the same water restrictions as those applied in the Shire for town water,” he said.
Mr Harriss said that the temporary embargo on trades out of the Murrumbidgee Valley had been lifted and that State Water Corporation was conducting a ballot from 24 August 2009.
Hmmm, it must be a drought…
Samuel
September 1st, 2009 at 10:34am
The Prime Minister isn’t coming to the Deni Ute Muster yet, but his ute is…or to be more precise, the ute which was loaned to him and subsequently caused the ute-gate scandal.
Organisers of the Ute Muster, concerned about the reputation of the Aussie Ute following the ute-gate scandal, invited Mr. Rudd to the muster in June, and are yet to receive a response, however they are thrilled that the now infamous ute and its owner, John Grant from Ipswich Motors, have announced that they will be in attendance.
New South Wales water commissioner David Harriss announced an increase in the high security water allocations in the Murrumbidgee and Murray Valley this morning.
The Murrumbidgee high security allocation has increased to 45 per cent of entitlement, and the Murray Valley high security allocation has increased to 20 per cent of entitlement.
Locals on the Victorian side of the border will no longer need permits to clear vegetation, including trees from within ten metres of their house, and ground fuel within 30 metres of their house, as part of new rules announced yesterday by the Victorian Government, designed to make Victoria more prepared for the upcoming fire season.
Police have expressed their concerns about the ongoing spate of serious assaults in the region, following another serious assault on the weekend.
Former Canberra politician and author of “12 Reason to Reject Fluoridation”, Dennis Stevenson, will be speaking at the Border Inn Hotel in Moama tonight about water fluoridation which he says has proven to be a health risk. The talk starts at 7pm sharp, and everyone is welcome.
With a growing number of tourists visiting the region, a series of workshops will be held later this month to help farmers build a supplumentary income from tourism.
AFL superstars Mark Ricciuto, Nathan Brown, Luke Hodge, Adam Simpson, Brock McLean and Danny Frawley will be in Deniliquin on Tuesday next week from 2pm to 3pm for a footy clinic with local kids.
At the Tocumwal Golf Club last week, in Tuesday’s ladies golf, the A grade winner was Rhonda Constable, B grade winner was Jan Elleray and C Grade went to Win Quick.
In the Men’s Stableford, A Grade went to Col McNamara, Warren Constable took out B Grade and Jack Corken took out C Grade.
On Saturday, 33 pairs played Mixed 4BBB Stableford on a composite course. Sam and Veronica Condy won that on 45 points, on a countback from George Martin and Claire Perston.
On Sunday, for the 3rd year running, Simon Buso and Nathan Matthews won the Men’s 27 hole Foursomes Championship.
And Shirley Crow won the ladies Par competition.
There was shooting action at the Echuca Clay Target Club on Sunday. The Victorian State Ball Trap Final provided 100 targets for shooters to try out their skills.
The Ball Trap is regarded as the toughest discipline of all, and was won by Brett Dunstan who missed only three targets to claim the overall winner’s sash and AA grade 1st trophy.
The 20 target continental double barrel event had the longest shoot off for the day, and eventually David Watts won out with a clean score of 58 from 58.
David also took out the Handicap, another 20 target event, after a 24 target shoot off.
And Echuca member Steve Atkins survived an eleven target shoot off to win the 20 target continental points score event.
September 1st, 2009 at 09:30am
This irritates me every time they do it…which seems to be every time they talk about the area. ACT Police seem to not understand that Ainslie Avenue is the border between Reid and Braddon, and that the Allawah and Currong flats are in Braddon.
ACT Policing is seeking witnesses to a weekend assault and robbery involving multiple offenders and victims that occurred near the Allawah Flats in Reid on Saturday night (29 August).
I’m sick of ACT Policing tarnishing my suburb with the deeds which occur in Braddon. If it happens again, I’m writing to them, and to every editor of a newspaper (or publication which pretends to be a newspaper) in Canberra.
Samuel
September 1st, 2009 at 08:13am
I just received two identical faxes from Malcolm Turnbull’s office, inviting me to a “media engagement” in Tomago at 10:45am. Will they pay for the speeding fines when I get caught doing 260km/h to get there?
View Larger Map
Tomago Aluminium is where the leader of the opposition will be. Do I want to know what awful publicity stunt this is?
By the way, “Media must ensure they wear the following: flat enclosed shoes (no court shoes), long trousers and long sleeves” writes nameless minion on said fax. Make that 280km/h by the time I get changed.
Who’s paying for these excess faxes which have surely been sent to every media organisation in the country. If it’s taxpayers, then it’s an outrage, as this is a regular occurrence. Malcolm…if every other politician (with the exception of the New South Wales Government) can send faxes to only the relevant places, then you can too…in fact, AAP have a service which will do it for you.
Samuel
September 1st, 2009 at 07:14am
Next Posts