Sentinel fast boats – Tasmanian boat builder PFG Group has today launched a new class of fast sea boats targeting defence market opportunities. PFG already supplies specialist high-performance boats to police forces here and interstate, as well as for the fisheries and aquaculture sectors, and is now looking to supply Australia’s defence forces. “The vessels are durable, virtually maintenance free, provide a quieter and softer ride and reduces the fatigue and other safety risks to the vessel operators, offering a life span up to five times longer to alternative alloy and fibreglass hull boats,” Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for Advanced Manufacturing and Defence Industries. PFG Group intends to actively put forward this range for future Royal Australian Navy tenders as the ADF continues its significant ship building plan which will see a massive range of new vessels enter service over coming years and decades. “Importantly, PFG Group’s already employs more than 40 people locally and an expansion on their sales through the Sentinel will contribute to the economic and jobs boost we need as we recover from the impacts of COVID-19.”
Sue Neill-Fraser – in this week passed the 11th anniversary of the arrest of Sue Neill-Fraser on 20 August 2009. Supporters said that with the Premier’s recent announcement that Tasmanian borders will remain closed until December, it is difficult to know when Neill-Fraser’s appeal, currently scheduled for November 2020, will be heard. Support group spokesperson, Rosie Crumpton-Crook said: “Another recent anniversary marks 40 years since Azaria Chamberlain was taken by a dingo and Lindy Chamberlain was wrongly convicted of her murder. Robert Richter QC has described Sue Neill-Fraser’s case as ‘… the greatest miscarriage of justice in this country since Chamberlain… there’s significant DNA and other evidentiary material to require answers. This case requires a full judicial inquiry into the investigation and prosecution of the case’.”
virtual parliament – six months into the pandemic, it’s ‘dangerously negligent’ that the federal government still hasn’t got a virtual parliament up and running according to Clark MHR Andrew Wilkie. “Frankly it’s not good enough that next week MPs and their staff, from all over Australia, will gather in Canberra in their many hundreds for Federal Parliament,” he said. “Heavens the technology exists, as shown by the British Parliament which has been meeting virtually since April.” He noted that the Attorney-General has questioned whether parliamentary privilege can extend online. “But surely this is a nonsense, because parliamentary committees have been meeting outside of Parliament House for decades without a problem,” Wilkie said. “Moreover lawyers say there’s simply nothing in the Australian Constitution preventing an online parliament.”
Hadspen shooting – at just after 3am on Saturday 22 August, 2020, Tasmania Police attended a report of a firearm discharged into an address at Bowdens Road, Hadspen. Upon arrival police discovered that shots had been fired into the address causing damage to the two front windows. “A witness reports seeing a small hatchback leaving the area towards Main Road, Hadspen immediately after hearing the shots,” a Tasmanian Police statement said. “Police believe the incident is not random in nature and residents of the Hadspen area should not be fearful of a reoccurrence. Nil injuries were sustained as a result of the incident.”
Police are seeking any information in relation to the incident. Persons with information are asked to call Launceston CIB on 131444 or Crimestoppers on 1800 333 000.
energy subsidy? – Labor is calling on the government to use its latest ‘cash grab’ from government business enterprises to fund winter energy relief for struggling Tasmanians. Shadow Energy Minister David O’Byrne said while the government has finally announced relief for businesses in multi-tenanted properties, it is not doing enough for thousands of other Tasmanians facing financial stress. “With more than 20,000 Tasmanians losing their jobs and tens of thousands of people staying home more because of COVID-19, this is clearly being reflected now in increased household power bills,” O’Byrne said. “These are ordinary Tasmanians who have done the right thing and stayed home during three months of lockdowns, only to be hit with higher bills when they can least afford it. And yet, this government repeatedly dismisses Labor’s calls for a winter energy supplement similar to the cheques it sent out shortly before the 2018 election.” He pointed to last week’s Preliminary Outcomes Report where it was revealed that the government is removing a further $40 million out of Hydro Tasmania and TasNetworks. “The government must use at least some of this money to provide a winter energy supplement to struggling households,” he concluded.
fires and climate change – the global economic and environmental impact of wildfires is likely to worsen as a result of human-induced climate change and land-use patterns, according to a team of international fire researchers. In a paper published in the journal Nature Reviews: Earth & Environment, the researchers describe global and regional trends in fire activity and project what is expected to come down the pipeline in the future. Fire has been a natural feature of the Earth system for the last 420 million years and has shaped the evolution of plants, animals, and natural and chemical processes, says University of Tasmania Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science David Bowman.
“Past climate change is known to have influenced the extent, frequency and intensity of landscape fires by affecting vegetation patterns, fuel abundance and drought. Currently, human-induced climate change is altering rainfall patterns and increasing temperatures, resulting in more frequent extreme fire events,” Professor Bowman said. “Extremely intense fires can trigger the development of pyrocumulonimbus storms, which are powerful convective thunderstorms that can reach the stratosphere and create localised weather, including rain, hail, lightning and pyro-tornadoes.” He said the effects of climate change are evident in the increasing number of extreme fire events – including the Black Summer fires of 2019-20 during which 35 pyrocumulonimbus storms were recorded, doubling the known records of these extreme events. “In the western Tasmanian wilderness, the number of lightning-ignited fires and the area burned as a result has also sharply increased since 1980-1985, from burning an average of around 100ha annually to over 200,000ha in 2019, including rarely burned Gondwanan rainforests,” Professor Bowman said. Nevertheless he believes that the increased risk of economically and ecologically destructive fires can be reduced using planning and urban design principles, combined with fuel management and fire management. “Development of these fire management interventions requires transdisciplinary research that combines insights from natural and social sciences, engineering and technology, and humanities. Such research is also prerequisite for improving global and regional fire models of future fire activity.”
duck and cover – the Greens accused Minister for Primary Industries, Guy Barnett of being ‘all weasel words’ in Parliament this week when questioned about whether he was involved in the decision to open this year’s duck hunting season or not. Rosalie Woodruff, Greens Environment spokesperson, said: “All Minister Barnett would say was that he hadn’t seen the draft Ministerial Minute written for him by his departmental experts, and accidentally released to the Greens under Right to Information,” she said. Woodruff noted that Barnett wouldn’t say whether he was aware of the advice from experts within his own department recommending the duck hunting on Crown Lands be cancelled. “Instead he ducked for cover, saying he had never seen the Ministerial Minute that had been drafted for his eyes and signature. Was the advice hidden from the Minister’s eyes by his ministerial minders, or by the Department Secretary, so the Minister could plead plausible deniability? Did the Minister or his advisers have off-the-record conversations and decide the duck shooting season should go ahead, and be approved by the Secretary to avoid the Minister’s open rejection of the expert advice?” She claimed Barnett is asking Tasmanians to believe written departmental advice provided to him to aid his decision was never seen and, instead, his Secretary unilaterally made a decision contrary to expert staff advice – all without his knowledge. “Minister Barnett’s feeble attempt to duck scrutiny won’t work, he’s not fooling anyone.”
fuel prices – the development of the Fuel Price App and website is now well advanced and final testing of the app interface is currently underway while the Code is approved by the Parliament, according to Elise Archer, Minister for Building and Construction. “This scheme will deliver a more competitive retail fuel industry to help Tasmanian consumers find the cheapest fuel in their area, in real time,” she said. The required Code of Practice for Fuel Price Reporting passed the House of Assembly this week. “This (Code) will ensure that retailers report accurate and up-to-date prices to a Fuel Check Tasmania app, which will be released free of charge to Tasmanian motorists.” The app will be available via Apple iOS or Android operating systems and is based on a New South Wales Department of Fair Trading model, which has been downloaded by more than eight million drivers in that state.
