Wild winds cut off the King Valley

The King Valley was cut off in all directions by fallen trees overnight.

Trees blocked the King Valley Road at the Edi Cutting and near the power lines located between Whitfield and Cheshunt.

The Edi-Cheshunt back road had 14 fallen tree blockages whilst Gennie Annie Bridge was put out of action with a giant gum falling accross the eastern end.

Remarkably, little property damage occurred although one roof in Rose River was torn away and the house will probably be demolished. The Politinis of Cheshunt also suffered a broken roof. The remainder of the property damage appears to have been restricted to shedding.

The Whitfield and Edi Fire Brigades and RCoW crews spent Wednesday morning clearing the roads. By noon, all roads were opened again.

While the King Valley does not have an SES brigade, locals were out checking on neighbours and helping out wherever they could. One Whitfield resident stopped salvaging his own damage to take his tractor to help clear the Gentle Annie bridge. Now, that's what local community is all about!

The winds sprung up around 7.30pm in the King Valley area. The main storm occurred between midnight and 2.00am.

Although this small hay shed was flattened, these animals had a decent breakfast after the storm.

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Friday, 2 September, 2005

SYKES SUPPORTS STORM ASSISTANCE - FOR MANSFIELD, MURRINDINDI & ALPINE SHIRES

The Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes, will ask the Victorian Government in Parliament next week to assist in funding the cost of repairs to roads and bridges damaged by the storms.

Dr Sykes and Graeme Stoney MLC visited storm damaged areas in Mansfield Shire today with Shire CEO, Gary Gaffney.

Dr Sykes and Mr Stoney saw first hand the enormous number of trees torn down and the damage to roads through both flooding and as a consequence of the heavy machinery used to clear the fallen trees.

Dr Sykes said, “Mr Gaffney estimates the cost of road and bridge repairs will be at least $500,000 and similar costs are likely to be incurred in the Alpine and Murrindindi Shires.

“These small shires simply cannot absorb these kinds of unbudgeted costs without a substantially negative impact on maintenance and capital works programs.

“It is absolutely crucial that the Government assists with funding the costs of repairing and replacing damaged public assets.

Dr Sykes concluded, “If the Government is fair dinkum about its claim that it governs for all Victorians then I expect that appropriate funding will be made available immediately. After all they managed to find $50 million to replace LEAP information system and $400,000 to save one tree in the Commonwealth Games Village, surely they can find the comparatively meagre funds to assist with essential infrastructure.

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Read: Storms continue across eastern Victoria

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Media coverage of Peak Oil debate increases

Back on August 3 when the price of oil rose to $62/barrel, the Watchdog raised the issue of alternate fuels such as ethanol and biodiesel. On August 16, we speculated on how high fuel prices might impact on rural communities.

ABC ONLINE now reports that The RACV says some low income earners in country Victoria will be forced to keep their cars off the road if petrol prices continue to rise.

The Australian media has certainly increased its coverage of the Peak Oil debate and alternate energy options. Here are the news items for just one day (29 Aug 2005):

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ABC ONLINE reports:
United States crude oil futures surged more than $US4 in opening trade on Monday, hitting a record high above $US70 a barrel after Hurricane Katrina forced Gulf of Mexico producers to shut in more than a third of their output.

ABC ONLINE reports:
Rising oil prices shake ASX. The Australian share market has slipped as skyrocketing oil prices prompt fears of a dampening in the global economy.

THE AGE reports:
Air New Zealand says soaring jet fuel prices could cut its earnings by 40 per cent in 2005/06.

THE ADVERTISER (Adelaide) reports:
SPENDING on retail goods softened in July as rising oil prices hit consumer confidence and prompted households to cut back.

THE COURIER MAIL reports:
THERE'S a band of 53 Suncorp Metway agribusiness staff who are encouraged to fill up their cars with ethanol-blended fuel.

THE AGE reports:
AUSTRALIA'S nascent biofuels sector will take a step forward today with the launch of the $37.6 million float by Axiom Energy. Following the float, Axiom will take possession of a Laverton plant that produces 10 million litres of biodiesel a year from waste cooking oils and expand it to a capacity of 100 million litres by July. Axiom will also build two plants producing low sulphur diesel from waste plastics on the same site.

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Summary

With fuel prices reaching $1.32/litre in Sydney, the experts tell us to expect $1.40/litre for petrol within a week. You wouldn't have believed that a month ago!

The news items above show us that as the price of oil rises, the economy becomes more nervous, big business sees loss of profits, the retail industry sees a slowdown and everyone is looking for alternatives.

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Read: Andrew McNamara on Queensland's Oil Vulnerability Task Force for current government thinking on the Peak Oil debate.
Read: Costello warns over high oil price
Read: Costello defends petrol tax as prices soar

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WAR comes to the Rural City of Wangaratta

With a new council to be elected in November, it is time to establish the long awaited
Wangaratta Association of Ratepayers.

Without wards or portfolios, councillors have no specific responsibilities to the ratepayers. In fact, a recent VCAT decision supported Indigo councillors acting on their personal agenda rather than that of the people they represented.

Individually, ratepayers can be easily ignored by the beauracracy. Organised, as an incorporated association, they can use 'people power' to maintain some grass roots democracy. It is important that ratepayers support this new organisation to ensure they are not ignored by the system.

The mission is to recruit a "Shadow Council" of ratepayers to keep in regular contact with our newly elected representatives and to monitor the quality of governance in the Rural City of Wangaratta.

Both the federal and state governments depend upon strong opposition to be able to deliver good governance. The very existence of a ratepayers association does the same for local government.

It is also planned to provide our "Shadow Councillors" with portfolios according to their interests. Typical portfolios might be finance, the ageing population and population growth, rural issues, infrastructure or health.

The peak body of ratepayer associations, Ratepayers Victoria Inc., lists the current concerns of member associations as:

• Secrecy in Council deliberations
  
• “Community Consultation” that is expensive and often ignored
  
• Increasing powers of Council CEOs
  
• Cost shifting to local government
  
• Lack of equity between rates and services provided in large rural shires
  
• Rapidly increasing rate burden
  
• Short term grants with long-term staffing and financing implications
  
• Too many Council activities

Whilst we can relate to these concerns, the Rural City of Wangaratta has its unique set of difficulties such as the most unmade roads in Victoria and the lack of public transport beyond the urban area.

A series of public meetings will be held to seek membership and direction from the ratepayers regarding the issues that matter most to them.

With the acronym of 'WAR' and regular meetings to be known as 'War Councils', the organisation should be able to keep our elected representatives, the community and the media interested in ratepayers concerns.

Interested ratepayers should contact Greg Naylor by phone on 57-298-081 or by email at gnaylor@bordernet.com.au

Protecting migrant workers in our vineyards

I have been reading an article in YES! magazine titled presente! a radio station barn raising by Hannah Sassaman relating how a low-power radio station became a high-powered tool for farmworkers struggling in America’s tomato fields for dignity and against poverty and modern-day slavery as late as 2002.

The seasonal immigrant workers, who today number about 2,500, spread throughout Florida, are largely Latinos, Haitians, and Mayan Indians. Most speak little or no English. They are isolated from friends and family. Most U.S. labor laws—including the 40-hour work week, the right to collectively organize, child labor protection, and unemployment insurance—don’t apply to them, and even when they do, any worker who complains risks deportation.

They live eight, 10, 12 to a trailer, and pay exorbitant rent for the homes they use only when they are not picking tomatoes, from four in the morning until dark falls again. The farmworkers are paid 45 cents for each bucket of tomatoes they pick, averaging about $50 for their dawn-to-dusk labor—about the same as they made in 1980.

“When I first arrived, I was brought to South Carolina, where I was told I’d work in the fields picking cucumbers. What they didn’t tell me was that I had just consented, without knowing, to being a prisoner and slave. I was yelled at daily, wasn’t allowed to leave the premises and had guns pointed at me and others all the time,” says Julia Gabriel, a petite 29-year-old Guatemalan Mayan farmworker. Gabriel first came to the U.S. in 1992 and found herself in debt bondage to the employer who had arranged for her to come. She was held captive among 70 undocumented workers in a South Carolina labor compound for three months. After escaping, she became a key witness in the U.S. v. Flores case, which led to the federal Worker Exploitation Task Force in 1998 and Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act in 2000.

In our vineyards in recent years, there have been busloads of contract workers. Generally referred to as Cambos (Cambodians), they come from Indonesia, Singapore and other south east Asian countries. Each year, we also read of Immigration Department raids finding busloads of illegal migrant workers in our region.

As the vineyards contract these people by the busload - not as individuals - like the American situation, they are not subject to our Industrial Relations rules and awards. It is quite possible, that some of these workers, especially the illegal ones, are being exploited by their contracting bosses.

I do not know if orchardists and vineyard managers who employ these migrant workers have to verify the legality and payment of the workers. For them to contract these groups and ignore the working/payment conditions or the potential for exploitation would be ethically damning.

With the shortage of unskilled labour in the fruit picking and vineyard districts, the Federal Government is talking about bringing in South Pacific Islanders to fill the void.

This magazine article is a timely reminder of the exploitation that can occur when orchards and vineyards employ contract labour by the busload. Let us hope the new IR laws and the Immigration Department anticipate these problems and prevent the modern day slavery found in America.

Policy move to subsidise rates with GST

On 23rd March 2005, the Mayor of Strathbogie Shire, Robyn Machin, in an opinion piece for the Weekly Times newspaper wrote: A widespread view is that local government rates have had their day, the system is broken and an alternaive funding source must be applied, in the form of a 'growth tax'.

The Victorian Nationals are to be congratulated for their proposed policy to use GST revenue to supplement local government. It is a major step towards a more equitable rating system.

But let's take the idea further. If this concept is accepted, it could be looked at on a national level with a view to allocating a proportion of GST revenue to rebuild our failing infrastructure. This could be committed by the federal government and disributed directly to the municipalities bypassing the states where it can too often get resirected.

Under the current system of grants funding, there is no room for planned infrastucture development. It is a case of councils grabbing the cash when they can and utilising it as best they can to keep an ever deteriorating infrasture operative.

How much better would it be if councils knew that specific funds were assured for the maintenance and development of new infrastructure.

It would be nice to think that council rates could be eliminated altogether through a proportional increase in GST from 10% to maybe 12%. This would be a true user-pays system where residents and tourists alike would be contributing towards the national infrastructure.

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Related Article: State Policy on local government

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Protecting community groups against being sued

Many community groups have struggled recently with public liability insurance and risk management has been a hot topic. Many community groups already struggle putting in the time and energy to keep going as it is - so talking about risk management adds what is perceived to be another burden.

There will be a seminar on the 10th November at the Playhouse Theatre, Ovens Street, Wangaratta at 7.00pm to show community groups that risk management can be implemented in a practical and effective manner no matter the size or shape of the group.

To keep this date in front of you, it has been placed on the King Valley Community Calendar. This is an important event for anyone serving on the committee of a community organisation. It is a must do!

The seminar will also discuss the legislative changes that have been implemented by the State Government and what that means for community groups.

The RCow, the Municipal Association of Victoria together with Mr. Patrick Moriarty, Director Training and Development of www.ourcommunity.com.au invite all local boards and committees of management to this important seminar on “How to protect your community group from public liability claims”.

The seminars will cover:

• What is risk management in a community group context
• Appreciation of the need for Risk Management
• Practical understanding of Risk Management Process
• Ability to assess risks
• What Types of Insurance may I need
• State Government tort reforms and what they mean to community groups

You can register online at www.ourcommunity.com.au/riskseminars or by calling (03) 9320 6800 or emailing service@ourcommunity.com.au

Updates on Watchdog articles

Previous Article:
A deer price paid by Mountain Cattlemen?

In 1999 young Gary Paterson was walking his dog on the outskirts of Warburton's forest. A careless deer shooter killed him at close range. After the killing the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE), who control deer hunting in Victoria, started an examination of deer shooting practices. Their report was released in February. ... more

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Lobby group wants end to mountain cattle grazing 'lies'

Published on ABC Online, 23 Aug 2005
The Country Voice lobby group wants the Victorian Government to stop spreading what it says is misinformation about the future of mountain cattle grazing.

It wants Labor backbenchers to attend a meeting with cattlemen set for Merrijig, near Mansfield in the north-east.

The Government cancelled cattle grazing licences in the Alpine National Park in June, but says there is room for 10,000 head of cattle to graze in nearby forest. But Country Voice says there is only room for a tenth of that number.

Chairman Bob Richardson says questions asked of cattlemen prove Labor MPs are ignorant of the forest they expect to accommodate grazing.

"The bureaucrats have asked them to identify where these areas are, so even though the politicians are putting these lies out they don't know, and it was observable in Parliament, too, when the mountain cattlemen bill was being debated, they were just repeating these stock phrases they'd been given by the Government media office and none of them really knew what they were talking about," he said.

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Original Watchdog Article:
Victorian Bushfire Inquiry pays dividends

The Initial Discussion Paper on Integrated Municipal Fire Management Planning is on its way. The IMFMP Team is still locked away writing the paper but due to the complex nature and number of issues to be analysed, our anticipated release date for end of August will move out until mid September. As a consequence, the period for comment will close at the end of October 2005.
August FirePlan Update available here.

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Biodiesel and the BANANA syndrome

It was unfortunate to read the negative attitude towards the North East biodiesel project in Monday's Chronicle. It seems the 'not in my backyard' syndrome of the wind farm projects has developed into a 'Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything' (BANANA) attitude on every alternative energy project.

Long ago a bloke named Rudolph Diesel thought he could change the world with a revolutionary engine that ran on peanut oil. Sadly, he tried to sell it to both the French and English naval fleets for their submarines but got mixed up in political intrigue and was next seen face down in the English Channel. The result was that petroleum diesel won the day. (see article above)

With the worlds reserves of oil dwindling and the ever rising price of petrol and diesel, we are going to need alternative fuels such as biodiesel/diesel and ethanol/petrol blends to keep our engines running.

These blends are available to the rest of the world and are even mandatory in some places. It is inevitable that they will be used here in Australia. In fact, there is a four wheel drive in the upper King Valley running on homemade biodiesel made from used vegetable oils (it smells like a fish and chip shop!).

The federal government is reopening the nuclear debate - why?
They are keen to get ethanol into our petrol - why?
The state government keeps developing wind farms - why?

The answer is that fossil fuels are running out and they are contributing greenhouse gases causing climate change.

With federal and state government support for alternate energy projects, EPA approval for the biodiesel plant works and local government support in two municpalities, it seems futile for a few protestors to use VCAT to stall the inevitable.

My tip is that the Barnewatha site will win out as it will be located at the old abbatoir site currently being used to produce blood and bone. The tallow produced in this process is the raw material to be used in manufacturing the biodiesel. It is out of the way and the basic infrastructure is already in place.

The $30 million investment will benefit the North East economy. The biodiesel produced will benefit our environment and the bloke up the valley won't have to make his own fuel anymore.

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Related article: All Minnesota diesel soon will contain biodiesel
Related article: House Dems want to offer tax credits for biodiesel, ethanol products

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A PLANNING Panels Victoria decision to support the rezoning of land at Barnawartha will pave the way for the construction of a $30 million biodiesel plant, Indigo council said last night. ... more

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RCoW Election 2005: It's not too late to heal the rift.

Back in February, our current councillors abolished portfolios and have not yet got past their personal differences. That, in itself, is not a big problem as it makes for some spirited debate as evidenced at the July Council meeting.

However, since that decision was taken, three of the councillors have refused to play the game. They have refused to work on committees that are seen to be integral to the running of local government.

I publicly supported their protest at the time, as these were the very people bringing democratic debate into the running of the municipality. However, six months have past and we have yet another three months left until a new council is elected. We cannot get good governance when only half the councillors make the decisions. This is no way to run a council!

With the increased workload on the remaining councillors, there is no accountability for any of them. If things go pearshape, some might claim they have been excluded from the decision making whilst others might claim they are overworked with too many responsibilities. The fact is, without portfolios, tne council as a body has walked away from the portfolio responsibilities entrusted to them.

Three, maybe four of those still fighting have stated their intention to stand again. Electing a new council with the protagonists on either side of this rift back onto council can only lead to more of the same - internal division resulting in poor governance. If these councillors want our support in November, they must heal the rift and win back our confidence. Standing on their past performance will not work.

It seems to me, the best thing they could do would be reinstate portfolios and get them ready to hand over to the new council after the election.

If they don't, and a new council moves to bring them back, those responsible for removing them in the first place will find themselves in an untenable position. Will they submit to the will of the new council or will they rebel the way the old council did?

If they rebel, the Rural City of Wangaratta could well go the way of Glen Eira Council.

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Associated article: Glen Eira Council Sacked (The Age)

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Let public on school buses

Paul Sellars of The Weekly Times reported on August 10 that a Victorian Governmnet study of transport options for country residents has found that using the "spare capacity" of the state's school buses could expand public transport options.

Outside of the urban area of Wangaratta, there is no public transport. With the Upper King Valley more than 50 kilometres from town, this is a real problem. There is a community bus that travels to Wangaratta every second Friday but that could hardly be classified as public transport.

Parliamentary Secretary for transport, Carlo carli said one of the aims of the study was to, "confront the reality that we have small and ageing communities and if people don't have transport, they can become very isolated."

Wouldn't it be great for our ageing population to be able to use the buses to visit a doctor when they needed one rather than have to rely on a visiting medico once a week as they have to now. They could even have a choice of doctors - something that has been denied them in the past.

Wouldn't it be nice for visitors and backpackers to be able to use public transport to get beyond Wangaratta or Benalla. The vineyard industry would welcome the extra seasonal workers that such a system would deliver.

The report suggests these buses could also be used during the 'down time' between school runs. This could open the potential for a daily circuit between Wangaratta, Whitfield, Mansfield and Benalla. The people of Mansfield have no public transport to Benalla or Wangaratta either.

Giving these rural communities the options of doing business in neighbouring major towns should be looked at by the economic development groups in the rural cities of Benalla and Wangaratta.

Victorian Community Transport Association chairman Philip Whiting suggested parents might be concerned about their children's safety. In small communities, most of the adult passengers would be known and respected members of the community. The occasional outsider would be obvious and should present no management concerns.

I suggest you Contact Bill Sykes and ask him to take this initiative on board.

High fuel prices impact on rural communities

The Peak Oil debate is raging around the world ... but in Australia we hardly hear about it. Whilst oil remains over $65/barrel, this topic will be revisited on a regular basis. The fact is that oil will run out and it will be within our lifetime.

We are getting clues from the federal government. In 2003, we had the ethanol in petrol debate. More recently, we see the nuclear power debate emerging and we have just seen an agreement to secure the natural gas supplies from the Timor Sea.

Oil prices have more than doubled in the last 12 months and there is no relief in sight. Oil prices have passed the $67/barrel price which is $14/barrel higher than the 1980 peak. There seems to be a relationship of 2:1 with the price of oil:price of petrol. (That is $66/oil = $1.30/l at the pump)



For the sake of this discussion, let us assume that the current fuel price rises are brought about by the depletion of oil and that prices will continue to rise into the future. How will this affect our way of life?

As fuel prices continue to rise, the flow-on effects to small communities like the Upper King Valley will be felt in different stages.

Being 50 kilometres from Wangaratta or Benalla, the cost of a round trip to buy supplies will increase by 15 cents for every cent of petrol/diesel price rise.

The first to be affected will be those who work in Wangaratta or Benalla. With five round trips each week, every cent rise in fuel costs takes an extra $5/week out of their pocket. The logical step for these people will be car pooling - sharing the trip with one other person will halve the cost of transport. Once carpooling has become an accepted option, there may be an opportunity to operate a small commuter bus service between the major rural towns of Benalla, Wangaratta and Mansfield.

In the cities, they are already promoting the use of bicycles. In the rural areas, this will probably translate to motor bikes and 4 wheel farm bikes for running local errands or travelling to work.

At some point, the higher prices charged by the local store will look as attractive as paying the premium to travel to a major centre for supplies. This might offer enough incentive for local stores to develop buying groups to operate mini-supermarkets or maybe develop the old time general store/trading post of our forebears.

Of course, Internet shopping will become more popular. You will buy lotto tickets online, pay your bills, and buy goods by mail order - probably from the other side of the world.

The time has come to investigate all those fuel savings modifications we hear about on TV. Obviously, converting to gas is now economically back on the agenda. The experts say that if you travel more than 20,000 kilometres/year, gas conversion will cost you nothing. My Ford ute operates on gas or petrol. It costs me $30 to fill the 75 litre gas tank and I get 400 kilometres on a tank. That is less than half the price of operating the same vehicle on petrol.

Nationals Senator Boswell raised the ethanol issue in a speech to Parliament last Thursday stating, “There is overwhelming evidence that ethanol blended fuels were necessary for a cleaner and healthier nation.” Interestingly, he stayed away from the economics or the peak oil debate.

The car makers are currently promoting their hybrid vehicles but they can do more. You can read more on this subject here. The Hirsh Report showed that it will take 10 years for enough cars to be replaced with better fuel options before the oil will run out.

Governments won't let national economies collapse so the answer will have to be along these lines. So, while fuel prices rise, think before you drive.

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Related: Petrol barrels towards $1.30

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Unfinished Business: Kath Bergamin disappearance

The Upper King Valley was recently maildropped in a bid to solve the Kath Bergamin dissapearance. It is three years since Kath vanished, and somebody must have a clue.

Having raised her family in Cheshunt, Kath was well known in the Upper King Valley. We owe it to her to solve the mystery.

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Name: Kath Bergamin
Date of Birth: 11th Dec. 1964
Build: Slender
Height: 175cm
Hair: Short, fair
Eyes: Green
Last seen: 18th August 2002

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Circumstances: Kath Bergamin, mother of three, disappeared from her Brien Crescent home in Wangaratta on Sunday evening, August 18 2002 and has not been seen or heard from since - which is considered to be out of character.

She was last spoken to by a friend around 7.15pm on that day.

A charcoal Toyota sedan and red Toyota four wheel drive were seen in the vicinity of the Brien Crescent area on the night of Mrs Bergamin's dissappearance.

Anyone who may have any information which may assist police in their investigations should contact Wangaratta Police Station on 5723 0888, NMPU on 1800 000 634, or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000

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Related Article: (Sat, Nov 09, 2002) Vital links to murder found

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Council election management in question

Extract from RCoW Council Agenda - August 2005

During 2004 Victorian councils undertook an electoral representation review in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Act and are now preparing for elections on 26 November 2005.

The Victorian Electoral Commission (VEC) has provided councils with estimated costs in conducting the November elections. The Rural City of Wangaratta has been advised by the VEC that the estimated cost of conducting the November election on Council’s behalf is $66,000.00. This is an increase of $14,000.00 (25%) over that charged by the VEC in conducting the March 2003 council elections.

The Wyndham City Council has written to all Victorian councils expressing concern that the process and the methodology for electoral representation reviews was not well articulated and was conducted in a manner which reflected favouritism. Also of concern is the cost increases indicated by the VEC for conducting elections and that the VEC appears to have a monopoly as the only body equipped to conduct elections involving a proportional representation voting system.

Accordingly the Wyndham City Council has called upon councils who also share these concerns to support their call in asking the Municipal Association of Victoria and the Victorian Local Governance Association to make representation to the Victorian Government to review, reassess and implement appropriate changes to:

• the process and methodology for conducting electoral representation
  reviews;
  
• the establishment of a best value protocol for the competitive and realistic
  costing of municipal elections conducted by the Victorian Electoral
  Commission; and
  
• encouraging the State government to establish a competitive tendering
  regime, in relation to the conduct of municipal elections, to comply with
  the Code of Tendering.

Council has received a letter from Wyndham City Council seeking support.

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Source: Agenda - RCoW Council Meeting Agenda (pdf)

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The Watchdog urges readers to contact their councillors and show support for council to support Wyndham Council in this action.

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Are biofuel crops an alternative for North East farmers?

In the post of Wednesday, August 03, 2005, Are we ready for Ethanol in our petrol?, I ended the article with,"Many local farmers have been searching for a new crop to boost their income and the local economy. Maybe ethanol producing crops are the answer. It is certainly a ground floor opportunity to replace crops such as tobacco throughout the North East region.".

If you thought that was amusing, let me show you the value of such an idea.

The US Department of Energy is interested enough in the Peak-Oil debate to commission a report on the subject. Released in February this year by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), and titled “Peaking of World Oil Production: Impacts, Mitigation and Risk Management,” the report examines the likely consequences of the impending global peak. It was authored principally by Robert L Hirsch and is now available on the Internet in pdf format here.

On the subject of biofuels and ethanol, the Hirsch Report said:-

Bioethanol is produced as a transportation fuel largely in only two countries. In 2003 the US produced about 2.8 billion gallons and Brazil produced 3.5 billion gallons. All of this ethanol is produced by conversion of starch to sugar and fermentation to ethanol. In the US ethanol represents about 1.4% of the BTU content (2.0% by volume) of gasoline used in transportation. Current costs for ethanol production in the US are said to be $0.90 per gallon,148 which is equivalent to a gasoline price of $1.35 per gallon. Because of recent increases in energy costs current costs will be somewhat higher. Grain ethanol provides only a modest net energy gain because of the energy required to produce it. USDA calculated a net energy gain of 34% for a modern corn to ethanol plant, but there is considerable controversy over the real efficiency of the process. Most of the energy used to produce ethanol comes from natural gas and electricity. The production of ethanol uses only about 5% of the corn crop in the US. Significant expansion is possible but at some point there might be an impact on food prices.

Cellulosic ethanol is currently being produced only in two rather small pilot plants but is capable of producing about 40% conversion of cellulosic biomass to ethanol while providing all the energy needed for the process and exporting a modest amount of energy as electricity. It is anticipated that successful research may reduce the cost of cellulosic ethanol to about $1.10 per gallon by 2010. If this occurs the potential ethanol to mitigate peaking is high. Using only waste biomass and grass grown on land currently in the conservation reserve could produce 50 billion gallons of ethanol which would be equivalent to 35 billion gallons of gasoline or 17% of current US consumption. This could be achieved without any impact on current food production and at prices only $ 0.35 per gallon higher than refinery prices for gasoline. Since ethanol has an RON of 130 and a MON of 96 it raises the octane of the gasoline to which it is added and has a premium value as a result.

... give it some thought!

This topic will be revisited while oil prices remain over $65/barrel

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Associated article: Where is the Hirsch Report?
Associated article: Howard spells out end of three uranium mine policy
Associated article: Australia in uranium talks with China
Associated article: China uranium talks: Downer
Associated article: Oil Prices Continue to Surge, Hitting $66 a Barrel
Associated article: $90 for a tank of petrol

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Watchdog Update: Telstra and the USO

How Telstra'a Universal Service Obligation (USO) will be met

Update: Unwired launches low-cost internet phone (Registration required)
Update: Satellite backers vow cheaper broadband (Registration required)
Update: Telstra broadband boost
Update: Telstra enjoys 3G services pick-up
Update: Telstra boss, Govt in 'constructive' talks

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In the last few days, there has been a flurry of activity on the Telstra front. Today's radio announcement that the Telstra Boss was to provide a plan to use satellite and radio broadband carried VOIP telephone services to rural communities is in line with last week's Watchdog article. Whilst his meeting with the PM has been held, we are still awaiting the outcome.

The article below shows that trials are already underway.

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The farce of rural road maintenance

The great letdown by the Rural City of Wangaratta since amalgamation has been the upgrading of rural roads throughout the municipality. RCoW often uses the excuse that they have over 2000 kilometres of unmade road and they cannot seal them all. The reality is that probably less than 20 kilometres have been sealed in the 11 year life of the municipality.

At this rate, it will take over 100 years to seal our 2000 kilometres of unmade roads. Considering that the worlds oil supply will run out within 40 years and that bitumen is a by-product of oil, our rural roads will never all be sealed.

In my own area, the upper King Valley, there is a road section that needs to be sealed more than most. The Edi Upper primary school, located on the Edi-Cheshunt Road (a.k.a. the back road), is one of two schools in the State of Victoria still on unmade roads.

In the RCoW Register of Roads, the function of the Edi-Cheshunt road is classified as 'Rural Collector' providing a route ...through residential, industrial, agricultural, tourist and forest traffic nodes and the Rural Link and/or Declared road network. In other words, the Edi-Cheshunt road is more significant than the 'Rural Access' roads that service your property and less significant than the 'Rural Link' such as the Wangaratta-Whitfield Road.

Not only is the school located on an unmade road, the Edi-Cheshunt road is of such poor quality that the Rural City of Wangaratta puts a 12 tonne ban on it from July to November. Yet, at the same time, it is a school bus route servicing both primary and secondary school bus services. The school bus also has to negotiate other 'Rural Access' roads with 12 tonne limits such as the Lake Buffalo-Whitfield Road.

The Edi-Cheshunt road was part of the original pioneer road between Wangaratta and the Upper King Valley. The 2.1 km connecting link now known as Cook's Gap Road (previously Chapel lane) was also part of the original road. Many years ago, an island was placed outside Cooks dairy farm to redirect traffic to the right past the Edi Upper primary school. Cooks Gap road enjoys the lesser 'Rural Access" classification and is not subject to the 12 tonne winter ban. To this day, it is used as the main track as it is 1.5 kilometres shorter than the official Edi-Cheshunt road diversion.

The Edi-Cheshunt road and Cooks Gap road form a circular route that has caused consternation to local residents since the beginning of 2004 when the back road was declared a heavy vehicle detour awaiting repairs to the Cheshunt bridges. Signage anomalies were reported in The Watchdog including 60kph signs inside 40kph schhol signs and
60kph sign mounted upside down (09kph) on Cooks Gap road.

This nonsense continues to this day. A couple of months ago, the RCoW removed all speed signage from the area. All 80kph and 60kph areas have now become unrestricted.

The latest absurdity is the erection of a 'Give Way' sign on the throughway of a T Intersection. The throughway is at the junction of the Edi-Cheshunt road and the Black Range Creek road. At this T Intersection, the Edi Cheshunt road diverts at right angles from the throughway taking you past the Upper Edi primary school.

Those of us who live in the area know where the road goes and what precautions are necessary. However, travellers from outside the area would not have any idea of the hazard of this signage. Vehicles facing the give way sign can not readily determine if there is anything to give way to and vehicles approaching the throughway have no idea that there is a give way sign on the throughway. In any other road jurisdiction, this type of signage would be illegal.

What makes the Rural City of Wangaratta so special?

Tolmie residents tell Sykes

Tolmie residents raised a series of local issues with the Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes, when he visited the area last week.

A key concern is the speed at which traffic drives through Tolmie. Bill Sykes has contacted VicRoads to explore the possibility of lowering the speed limit from 80 kph to 60 kph. He also advised residents to continue to liaise with police to assist in ensuring compliance to the current 80kph limit.

Several of the issues raised (including road maintenance and tourism promotion) were local council matters. Bill Sykes recommended that residents invite their local councillor, Don Cummins, to visit Tolmie to discuss the issues.

Bill Sykes said, “Publican, Ron O’Dwyer, advised me that an application for funding to enable repairs to the Tolmie Sports Ground Hall is being submitted via the Mansfield Shire Council. He also took great pride in informing me that Tolmie would be hosting the World Championship Woodchop next year.

The WCW will be part of the Tolmie Sports to be held over the weekend of February 11 and 12, next year. This will be the 120th Tolmie Sports to be held - a tradition as great as the Mountain Cattlemans bash. You have to be there!

Gabby Mehegan and Rick Leary expressed their concerns regarding the council’s decision not to attend call outs to injured wildlife, as this put an extra burden on their already stretched resources.

Michelle Bellville and Rowena Sladdin are keen to have improved mobile phone and broadband access.

The local post contractors found some unsealed roads rather slippery on wet days but they manage to continue to get the mail through.

Bill Sykes said, “I will pursue the issue of Australia Post contract treatment of fuel prices. Apparently Australia Post adjusted mail delivery contracts based on fuel prices – the problem being, Melbourne prices were used. Country operators who pay 10 to 15 cents a litre more than city prices are disadvantaged."

“This appears to be similar to the recent Woods Point / Jamieson mail delivery contract where city based bureaucrats make decisions in isolation of the realities of country Victoria."

Bill Sykes concluded, “I enjoy catching up with people in our small communities and learning first hand about their concerns and achievements. I will get to Tolmie again later in the year and catch up with people in the evening so that I can have a chat to those who work outside of Tolmie during the day.

Government funds interactive council websites

Spread over more than 3,000 square kilometres, resident dealings with the RCoW council offices can be a time consuming exercise. Sorting out building applications and many other tasks would be so much more convenient if they could be done online.

To make this possible, the federal government will provide $5.8 million to enable councils across Victoria to provide services to their local communities over the internet.

This project is part of the latest round of Networking the Nation projects funded from the proceeds of the part sale of Telstra.

The Rural City of Wangaratta currently has limited online service delivery. This funding announcement could assist them over the next two years to improve services to Wangaratta communities by making important services accessible over the internet.

These will include tenders (documents already online - submissions not online), planning and building applications, new payment options and a range of information on community facilities. It would enable residents to comment on development proposals using the internet, pay their rates online and improve the capacity of local businesses to sell to local government.

The project has been recommended by the Networking the Nation Board based upon a strategy put forward by the Municipal Association of Victoria. All 78 councils in Victoria have been consulted and are working collaboratively to develop the project.

Let us hope the Rural City of Wangaratta takes up the challenge.

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Source: $5.8 million to put Victorian Local Government online

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Victorian Bushfire Inquiry pays dividends

The 2002/2003 bushfires burnt around 1.3 million hectares of our land – the largest bushfires since the tragedy of Black Friday in 1939.

Whilst those of us who went away to fight these fires experienced a lack of co-ordination between the different services, the state and federal government inquiries have accepted that there needs to be a better organised response.

Reviews such as the Inquiry into the 2002-2003 Victorian Bushfires and the 2003 Auditor-General's Performance Audit of Fire Prevention and Preparedness have made recommendations to improve how we prevent, prepare, respond to, and recover from fire.

Funded by the Victorian Government, the Integrated Municipal Fire Management Planning Project (IMFMP) has been established to implement these recommendations. The objective is to coordinate all available resources including the CFA, DSE, Local Government, SES, Police, etc. to respond to emergencies.

At a recent social function in Whitfield, Project Manager Gary Cook, seconded from Wangaratta CFA advised that the program is on target to to release an Initial Discussion Paper on Integrated Fire Management Planning which will include a number of options for consideration. I am hoping for email advice from one of the CFA readers when the paper is released so that we can pass on the information.

After feedback from the stakeholders and the community, a Draft Position Paper incorporating appropriate feedback from the Initial Discussion Paper will then be released for a further period of consultation until the end of November, and the final comments will be considered for inclusion in the Framework to be presented to Government for sign off in December 2005.

RCoW Councillors and those people standing for election to Council should bring themselves up to speed by visiting the link below so thay may be ready to implement the new system for the 2005/6 fire season.

For further information on IMFMP Project Contact
Garry Cook (Project Manager) - 03 9262 8697 Stan Hendy (SES) – 0419 381 343
Shaun Huguenin (DSE) – 0429 020 632 Andrew Andreou (CFA) – 0419 561 259
Norm Free (Local Government) – 0419 521 717
Email: fmp-project@cfa.vic.gov.au

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Source document: IMFMP Home Page

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A deer price paid by Mountain Cattlemen?

"Has the State Government done a dirty deal with the Victorian National Parks Association to replace cattle and mountain cattlemen in the Alpine National Park with deer and shooters?

Did Mr Bracks and Mr Thwaites want to court some shooters votes but at the same time retain their green support base?

Did they say to the VNPA "support us on this one and we'll do in the Mountain Cattlemen?"

Is that why the VNPA has laid off the deer issue?

The Mountain Cattlemen have been evicted but deer enthusiasts are delighted with the new arrangements. Makes a mockery of all those environmental concerns the State Government listed in support of banning cattle."

... Information from the links below.

"Bundarrah Days: Life in the Australian Bush" is a new BLOG started in June to follow the fortunes of the Mountain Cattlemen.

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Source Document: Deer me.
Associated Article: Rolling Stags Gather No Moss

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Why did I became a Cattle Producer?

I live on 10 acres just out of Whitfield and I purchased a few cattle to keep the grass under control.

Now, I could hardly be called a farmer but, to send my couple of cows to market, I have to be registered as a cattle producer and produce a little plastic card with my Property Identification Code (PIC) when I sell an animal. I have another little card with my Wangaratta Cattle Exchange identity.

I feel real important with a roll of tail tags also with my unique PIC. In the last couple of years, it has got real hi-tech with the National Livestock Identification System (NLIS) electronic ear tags. Of course there is that all important documentation detailing the life history of both of my animals.

Recently, I heard that the authorities are looking at a tagging system for the hay bales that I grow on my property and feed to my cattle. If that comes in, I will probably have to keep a diary of which bales were eaten by Maisey and her son, Red.

Now, the State Government wants me to enter a written contract with the bloke down the road to take my animals, probably one at a time, to market. The poor bugger will have to give me an information booklet containing rates determined by the government at least three days before a contract starts or the bloke can be subject to penalties.

I should have bought a slasher!

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Associated article: Transport dilemma
Associated article: Tags now essential

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Commonsense solutions to country taxi crisis

The Nationals Member for Benalla, Bill Sykes, says Northeast Victorian taxi operators have come up with a list of commonsense solutions to the country taxi crisis.

Bill Sykes met with Northeast taxi operators earlier this week at which Hans Zonneveldt from Cobram tabled a summary of practical changes which would ease the financial burden on country taxi operators.

Dr Sykes said, “The commonsense solutions fall into two categories. The first category offers solutions which involve no cost to the Government and the second category will remove the current discrimination against country operators and/or produce better results for money spent on our needy, disabled and frail elderly.

“The options which come at no cost include better integration of country taxis into community transport systems. Successful trials have been conducted in Mount Beauty and Maryborough, where taxis provide a great proportion of the transport needs of people attending medical appointments and community activities.

“Further to that, country taxi operators, especially those in small communities, should be exempt from the requirements to provide a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week service and allow operators to do less late night work during the week, whilst retaining the late night service on Friday and Saturday nights.

“Allowing taxi operators in smaller country towns to get their yearly Roadworthy Certificate locally rather than travelling long distances to regional centres is another simple cost saving measure.

“Simple regulatory changes to licensing of areas and removing the ridiculous and costly need for border taxis to be accredited in both Victoria and NSW would again reduce the cost of operating and improve efficiency at little or no cost to the Government.

“The current subsidy system could be made much fairer by country taxi operators receiving the same subsidies for providing wheel chair accessible taxis as city operators currently receive. At the present time country taxi operators miss out on $1,300 a year for each wheel chair accessible taxi (WAT), plus $3.30 for each booking and $1 per kilometre to travel to each call out.

“Similarly, given that country taxis have been recognised as a proxy form of public transport, appropriate more general subsidies should be considered, as in Melbourne, where public transport is subsidised by over $2 billion per year.

“Furthermore, operators of buses used for public transport are subsidised for the cost of alterations to achieve disabled access – why can’t a similar subsidy be applied to WAT in country Victoria. (Note: WAT cost twice as much as a standard taxi).

“The issue of banning advertising on taxis needs to be revisited in the light of advertising being perfectly legal on public trams and buses. The revenue from advertising would offset many basic operating costs and has little,if any,downside.

Dr Sykes continued, “If the Minister for Transport and his city based bureaucrats would only listen to country taxi operators the taxi industry would not be in the current crisis.

Dr Sykes concluded, “I call upon on the Minister for Transport to immediately implement the above commonsense solutions and use his proposed review to explore broader issues such as extensions of the Multi-Purpose Taxi Program.”

Media contact: Bill Sykes(03)57622100 or 0427 624 989

RCoW set to save up to $1,000,000 a year

Cost shifting from the Federal to State and on to Local government was first tackled five years ago when the 'Australian Local Government Association' (ALGA) began lobbying the Federal Government.

Two years later, Local Government Minister Wilson Tuckey began an inquiry into 'local government and cost shifting'. A year later, the Committee report - Rates and Taxes: A fair share for responsible local government - was tabled in Federal Parliament and had bipartisan support.

The report estimated cost shifting accross Australia's 700 councils to be between $500m to $1.1bn a year. That is between $700,000 to $1.4 million per municipality.

The lobbying came to fruition with Today's meeting of the Local Government and Planning Ministers Council in Melbourne agreeing to the development of an intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between the three spheres of government that will help ensure fair treatment of local government in its financial dealings with its state and federal counterparts.

Let us hope the new council to be elected in November will benefit by the removal of cost shifting. We may even be able to convince the RCoW to mow the rural parklands which they have avoided in the past citing that it would imply cost shifting fronm DSE to the RCoW.

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Associated article: Ministers give green light to cost shifting agreement
Associated article: Joint media release - Jim Lloyd/ALGA
Associated article: Australian Government's response to the Fair Share Report
Associated article: Key points summary

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Are we ready for Ethanol in our petrol?

The price of oil rose to a record of more than $62 a barrel on Monday as news of King Fahd's death raised concern about Middle East instability.

On Tuesday, ABC radio reported that petrol prices in excess of $1.20/litre can be expected to remain with us for five to ten years. The real question is how high will fuel prices rise and when will it affect the way we move around.

The real nightmare for Australia is that crude oil production is falling rapidly: from 218 million barrels in 2000 to 130 million in 2004. Bass Strait is running out, and while new fields keep opening, they are much smaller. The industry warns that within another decade, we could be producing just 230,000 barrels a day while consuming more than a million.

If you visit the Oil Depletion website, you will be convinced that in our lifetime, there will be no oil left. The image link above will take you to a series of articles discussing life without oil.

As reserves dwindle, prices will inevitably go up. At some point, you will think twice before driving into Wangaratta, you will consider car pooling to get to work, and you will accept ethanol as an alternate fuel.

Ethanol, a biofuel, is derived from grain, sugar, and agricultural waste such as straw and grasses. In Brazil, it is compulsorily added to petol to stretch their resources. It is only a matter of time before Australia adopts the same policy.

Canadian Iogen Corp. has devised a way to use enzymes to produce cellulose ethanol from agricultural waste, such as straw. Conventional ethanol, widely used in the United States, is typically produced from corn or sugar cane. G-8 leaders' cars were fueled by cellulose ethanol at the Gleneagles, Scotland, summit held in July.

Proposed plants would process 700,000 tons of agricultural waste to produce approximately 200 million liters of ethanol. Iogen hopes that fuels from grasses and other agricultural by-products could eventually replace 30-50 percent of U.S. gasoline.

Many local farmers have been searching for a new crop to boost their income and the local economy. Maybe ethanol producing crops are the answer. It is certainly a ground floor opportunity to replace crops such as tobacco throughout the North East region.

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Associated article: Rising oil prices to hit rural businesses

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How Telstra'a Universal Service Obligation (USO) will be met

Nationals leader, Mark Vale, is making noises about holding the government to its legislated obligation to provide telephone services in rural areas comparable with city services.

While those of us who live in poorly serviced areas have seen no effort to upgrade the local telephone infrastructure, I believe the USO will be met with new technology. Those degraded copper lines to your telephone exchange will never be replaced as they will become redundant as will the exchange itself.

Since connecting to the HIBIS subsidised broadband Internet service, I have been exposed to the future of telecommunications with a technology known as the Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) which allows you to talk to any telephone in the world through your Internet connection.

Currently, this technology is being offered by third party developers with costs as low as 3 cents/minute for international calls to landline phones and free to Internet phones anywhere in the world. If this technology remains in third party hands, the Telcos will lose too much business. Whilst Telstra downplays the VOIP system, they have indicated they will provide a similar service next year.

Whilst this technology is still developing, it will get better. At the moment, using the satellite produces delays similar to those you see on satellite interviews on television current affairs programs. That is not good enough for a traditional telephone service and it probably never will be.

However, the real future will be using the VOIP telphone system in conjunction with radio Internet services which are still in their infancy. This will give you a service as good or better than the current CDMA mobile phone system at better than landline costs.

When you read Mark Vale's chest-beating demands of the new CEO of Telstra, Sol Trujillo, you can see that he too realises that new technology is the way to meet the USO.

In the meantime, (a year or so), I expect the government to dodge and weave and do nothing until the technology is ready. It may not happen tomorrow, but it will happen.

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Associated article: Telstra faces tougher licence conditions
Associated article: Telstra forced to serve bush

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RCoW Elections 2005: A need for change

The time has come to comtemplate local governance over the next three years. Are we prepared to accept more of the same or do we expect something better?

Whilst five of our current councillors have declared they will stand again, we need to find out what they stand for. Considering they were elected to represent wards, we need to hear from them how they plan to govern the whole of the municipality. Standing on their record simply means more of the same.

It has been eight years since amalgamation and the State Government, in its wisdom, has reviewed the performance of all local governments. In reducing the number of councillors and abolishing wards, the Victorian Electoral Commission obviously found need for change in the Rural City of Wangaratta. It is now up to the voters to elect those who can bring about the required change. But, what changes do we need?

We have no idea of the shortcomings the VEC found that caused them to restructure our municipality. However, as a ratepayer, I have some definitive thoughts.

I believe the council too readily accepts state government funding simply because it is available. Benalla turned down library funding because they could not justify the ongoing expense. Wangaratta, on the other hand, restructured the council office complex and the library to form a joined-up Government centre and entered a joint venture to relocate the library to the TAFE campus. The residents of the municipality have gained nothing from this venture except a debt amounting to several million dollars.

To combat the forecast stagnation in population growth over the next eight years, our council has gone for immigration - seeking migrants from overseas to keep the population growing. Our federal MHR, Sophie Panopoulos, boasts that Wangaratta has the lowest rural unemployment in all of Australia. The major unfulfilled employment in the region appears to be seasonal work in the orchards and vineyards. In the longer term, bringing migrants in may create more problems than it solves.

I believe a more effective option would be to go for in-migration ... attracting Australian citizens from the major cities. Much of the municipality could be classified as 'lifestyle amenity' which those seeking a 'tree change' lifestyle could migrate to. This would entail allowing five acre subdivisions throughout the rural areas where farming has become increasingly less viable.

Migrant seasonal workers will not bring families. Population growth is about babies being born. With children comes the need for infrastructure. That can only benefit the municipality as a whole.

Our council also needs to cater equitably to all residents throughout the municipality. Rural properties pay higher rates than urban properties yet there is a higher proportion of infrastructure development in the city than in the rural areas.

We have an opportunity to elect independent councillors not aligned with any particular interest group be it a ward, business, rural, or whatever. The need for change has been thrust upon us by the VEC restructure. Let us not waste the opportunity.