THE TWEED
MONEY
MATTERS
www.tweedecho.com.au Volume 3 #29 Thursday, March 31, 2011 Advertising and news enquiries: Phone: (02) 6672 2280 editor@tweedecho.com.au adcopy@tweedecho.com.au
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LOCAL & INDEPENDENT
Keep me on track says re-elected MP Luis Feliu
Re-elected Tweed MP Geoff Provest has challenged residents to hold him to his election pledges, which include a major planning study for a rail link between Coolangatta and Casino. The rail corridor for the study, which Mr Provest said he wanted done by the end of this year, potentially covers the seats of the three re-elected sitting National Party MPs for the Northern Rivers: Mr Provest, Thomas George in Lismore and Don Page in Ballina, who convincingly won their seats last Saturday in the landslide which toppled the Labor government.
Rail money ‘committed’ In the leadup to the election, Mr Provest announced at a public rally that his party would undertake a $1 million planning study for the rail line and after the coalition’s victory said the government had ‘committed’ the money for the track extending south from Coolangatta airport. Rail campaigners such as Trains on Our Tracks (TOOT) and other candidates had criticised the National Party MPs for reneging on a promise made at the previous state election to build a commuter rail service with six services a day at a cost of around $100 million and replacing it with a promise to conduct another feasibility study. Mr Provest told media, after winning the seat for the second time, that he wanted to start talks soon with the Queensland government over the rail plan and other cross-border issues such as business taxes. He said he was also committed to finding a location for a new police station and an increase in police
numbers to match the area’s population growth, claiming ‘when I make a commitment I follow it through and stand behind it.’ The former Tweed Heads Bowls Club manager took the seat from Labor’s Neville Newell in 2007 after the Labor government’s axing of the Murwillumbah to Casino rail service in 2004 boosted his chances. This week, he firmed his grip on the seat with an increased margin of around 22 per cent. The Greens also improved their vote from last state election, with first-time candidate Andrea Vickers doubling the Greens’ primary vote with over 15 per cent of the total vote, while Labor’s candidate Reece Byrnes suffered the average statewide swing against Labor of around 16 per cent. (For latest figures visit the NSW Electoral Commission website.) Mr Byrnes said he would ‘hold’ Mr Provest to his promises. Mr George had suggested before the poll that the election was a ‘referendum’ on the proposed controversial Byrrill Creek dam as part of the infrastructure needed to cater for Tweed shire’s expected population growth. But Susan Stock, the Greens’ candidate in the Lismore electorate, which takes in most rural parts of the Tweed Valley including Murwillumbah, rejected the claim, saying the polling booths at Kunghur and Uki were the closest to the proposed dam site and both voted overwhelmingly for the Greens, who are opposed to the dam. The issue has divided the two National Party MPs covering Tweed Shire. Mr George declared his support for a new dam, which would be in his seat, at a public rally just before the election, putting him at odds with
Intruders wreak havoc on wildlife Murray Simpson
One of Australia’s rarest shore birds is feared to have fallen victim to rampaging four-wheel drive vehicles on Fingal Head’s Letitia Spit. The Tweed Bird Observers group says it has been monitoring a pair of beach stone-curlews at Kerosene Inlet at the tip of the spit – but neither has been spotted since September last year. ‘We’re putting that down to the activities of vehicles and dogs,’ said Tweed Birders secretary Linda Brannian. The National Parks and Wildlife Service says there are less than 14 known breeding pairs of beach stone-curlews in NSW and when a nest was discovered at Brunswick Heads this summer it attracted wide attention. ‘A 24-hour watch was mounted on the nest site to keep intruders at bay,’ said Ms Brannian, ‘but we’ve had no such luck at Letitia Spit. ‘We carry out a monthly survey of all shore birds at Fingal and we’re dismayed at the number of illegal cars on the beach and dogs creating a discontinued on page 2 turbance.
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Fingal Head locals Adam Clarke and Daniel Cusack hold the new sign, watched by Elder, Auntie Bonnie, in the background. Photo Jeff Dawson
‘Stone-curlews are very secretive and well camouflaged but their nests are very vulnerable to predation.’ Rampaging vehicles have caused growing alarm among Fingal interest groups and last week they banded together and erected signs warning drivers they were on private land if they left the road. Police were invited to the gathering but did not put in an appearance.
Turtles in danger Fingal Head Coastcare president Kay Bolton said they were specially alarmed at the havoc wrought on the nests of leatherback and green turtles. ‘The coastal vegetation is being destroyed by bush bashing and the creation of a network of illegal roads and large areas of vegetation including Banksia forest have been destroyed by fires,’ she said. ‘The fragile wetlands are being rapidly degraded and destroyed. Letitia Spit is home to many migratory birds like the little tern which are protected
by international agreements but all these illegal activities are destroying their habitat.’ Fingal Head Community Association president John Parker said the issue had been discussed at several meetings and members were extremely concerned at the vandalism of a fragile environment and the threat posed by four wheel drives speeding through the village and down Letitia Road. Much of the land is owned by the Tweed Byron Local Aboriginal Land Council and their members say they’ve had enough. ‘It’s so dangerous living on Letitia Road these days,’ said one resident. ‘Cars barrel down there creating a dust cloud and we’re frightened for the safety of children and old people. Someone is going to get hit soon.’ Other activities impacting on the spit include illegal boat launching, quad and motorbike riding, rubbish dumping, camping and dangerous and illegal fires.