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Source: Blue Mountains Unions Council
Newcastle Trades Hall secretary Gary Kennedy says he expects local unions to spearhead the campaign against power utilities privatisation because the Hunter region will be the hardest hit in terms of potential job losses.
Mr Kennedy says the strategy will focus on enlisting community support to try to overturn the decision, but industrial action by power industry workers is a strong possibility.
Article by Dylan Welch – SMH.COM.AU
A man killed this morning during a group bike ride south of Sydney was an up-and-coming solicitor who had taken up cycling only a year ago.
Dominic Mason, 33, died about 6.45am when his bike was clipped and he fell under the trailer of a truck also travelling north in the outside lane.
He had been travelling in a group of 19 cyclists – including one of the partners at his law firm, Harris Wheeler Solicitors – when the accident occurred.
Matthew Smith, one of the partners at Harris Wheeler, said he was called by the partner who had been on the ride and told of the crash.
"I went the hospital and spoke to his wife; it’s just terrible. He’s got two young kids, two and five, it’s just very, very sad," said Mr Smith, who raced with Mr Mason at the Kooragang Racing Club and trained with him on Saturdays.
Source: Hunter Valley Wine Country
More than 100,000 lights with names like “Aeroplane Santa”, “Inflatable Snowdome” and “Flying Fairies”, as well as over 3.5 km of cabling will be going up at Hunter Valley Gardens to launch the inaugural “Christmas Lights Spectacular” this festive season.
The display, which will be officially lit on Friday, November 30, will be on every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday night through until December 30 (including Christmas Eve), from 7.30pm to 10.00pm and is expected to attract thousands of people as they mark this special time of year.
Will Creedon, General Manager, Hunter Valley Gardens says, “We were so excited to purchase this magical display from the famous Lake Macquarie “Gracelands” property to ensure that the long standing tradition is continued.
This spectacular sight will capture what the Christmas Spirit is all about, and we know that the activities we have planned will be a joy for the whole family.”
Source: news.com.au
A BLAST ripped through a hotel in a NSW Hunter Valley hotel after a bomb planted in a poker machine room detonated.
The explosion at Cessnock’s Wentworth Hotel happened shortly before 1.30am (AEDT), blowing out up large a window in a ground floor poker machine room.
Firefighters said an explosive device was recovered from inside the room.
Twelve people sleeping upstairs, including the manager, escaped unhurt, Cessnock fire station officer Mark Williams said.
Detectives from Sydney and bomb specialists were searching the room today.
Mr Williams said he heard the blast from the fire station, about 300m from the hotel.
When crews arrived there was a strong smell of gunpowder and a front window had been blown out, showering the pavement with glass.
"Most of the damage is confined to the front room, where the device was found," Mr Williams said.
There were suggestions the blast may have targeted a cash machine but this could not be confirmed.
"It’s just an unusual incident it’s hard to say what the motive was," Mr Williams said.
Source: Newcastle Port Corporation
Newcastle Port Corporation today praised the crew of a Korean coal carrier that rescued four people off the Newcastle coastline at the weekend when their runabout capsized.
The four occupants of the runabout were thrown into the sea on Saturday afternoon but the quick action of the crew of the Amakusa Island saw them launch a lifeboat for a rescue operation.
Newcastle Port Corporation CEO, Gary Webb, said the four men were Taken aboard the lifeboat and then transferred to the Amakusa Island.
Source: The Age
New South Wales is home to the two largest CO2 emitting power stations in Australia, a worldwide survey has found.
According to the survey of 50,000 power stations around the world, NSW’s Bayswater station at Muswellbrook, and Eraring near Lake Macquarie, are the worst emitters in the country.
Both emit 18.32 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.
Fairfax newspapers has reported findings of the Carbon Monitoring for Action Database, compiled by Washington think tank the Centre for Global Development.
Among the database’s other findings were that Australians produce 10 tonnes of CO2 per person through energy usage, compared to American’s nine tonnes, and two tonnes for China.
Australia ranks seventh in terms of total CO2 emission from power stations, ahead of Italy, Britain, France and South Korea, the survey also found.
But the US is still the biggest emitter, producing 2.8 billion tonnes of CO2 a year.
China is number two at 2.7 billion tonnes.
The man behind the database, former World Bank executive David Wheeler, said he hoped the survey would motivate governments to take action in curbing carbon emissions.
"Information leads to action," he told Fairfax.
"We know this works for other forms of pollution and we believe it can work for greenhouse gas emission too."
Loy Yang near Traralgon in Victoria was Australia’s third worst polluting power station, followed by Liddell in the Hunter Valley, and Gladstone in Queensland, Fairfax said.
Source: Australian Red Cross Blood Service
A shoulder to cry on; a sympathetic ear; someone who shouts you dinner and makes you laugh – these are some of the qualities that make a good mate – but what extra qualities make a great mate?
This October and November the Australian Red Cross Blood Service (ARCBS) is going to test friendship in a different way, by asking current blood donors to recruit their friends to donate, making them, not just good, but great mates.
To help our blood donors recruit their mates we’ve designed them a unique website: www.matesdonate.com.au
Social network websites are all the rage and the ARCBS hopes matesdonate.com.au will be no exception. Here donors can nominate friends they think should be blood donors, send them an e-mail through the website and track how many of their mates have donated. You can even pick up tips about encouraging mates along the way.
Dr Pip Hetzel, National Operations Manager for the ARCBS said: “One in three of us will need blood or a blood product at some point during our lives, so many of us will rely on others to help us out. You may not have needed blood yet, but is it unreasonable to ask your mates to help out in advance and help other Australians as well? The Australian Red Cross Blood Service doesn’t think so!
Source: Nat Wallace and Frank Walker, Sydney Morning Herald
MIGHTY mare Makybe Diva and her seven-week-old foal are expected to contract equine influenza by the end of the week.
Coolmore Stud general manager Michael Kirwan said the epidemic struck the Hunter Valley property last week.
He said the triple Melbourne Cup winner and her foal – a bay colt by Galileo valued at more than $3million – were not infected by the flu, but "it won’t be long before they get it".
The Sun-Herald can also reveal that the Diva is thought to be pregnant again, having been covered by Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus.
"[The flu] infects the whole property. It doesn’t play favourites," Mr Kirwan said.
Source: Brigid Glanville, ABC Online
The first day of an inquiry into the outbreak of horse flu has revealed major gaps in Australia’s quarantine procedures.
The inquiry, headed by former High Court judge Ian Callinan, has been told of a number of problems, both at Sydney Airport and at the Eastern Creek Quarantine Station in Western Sydney.
The inquiry was told that horses arriving at Sydney Airport have been greeted by dozens of people who are not wearing protective clothing.
The first case of equine flu was confirmed on August 23 this year at Eastern Creek Quarantine Station in western Sydney.
Source: The Australian
THE NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) fears a combination of high temperatures and high winds could seriously hamper efforts to contain several bushfires across NSW.
The RFS worked through the night to fix containment lines around blazes in the Port Stephens area north of Newcastle, the West Head area in northern Sydney as well as around Evans Head on the far north coast.
Also, RFS volunteers last night established containment lines around a fire in Kurringai, in Sydney’s north.
The RFS, which is treating the Port Stephens and West Head fires as suspicious, said there were five blazes on the Port Stephens Tilligerry Peninsula.
RFS Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said the Port Stephens outbreaks had so far burnt through almost 600 hectares of bush and private land.
“It’s going to be a busy day,” a RFS spokesman said.
“It will be worse than yesterday but not as bad as Monday.
“With high temperatures, high winds up in the 50km/h and low humidity it’s going to be a tough day,” he said.
“It really all depends on today, we will know by the afternoon when all these fires will be contained,” he said.
Sydney and Wollongong are expecting maximum temperatures of 32 degrees but inland the mercury is likely to climb into the mid-thirties, according to weather forecasting service Weatherzone.
The RFS has declared a total fire ban for almost the entire state.
A police task force has been reestablished to investigate claims some of the fires were deliberately lit.
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