Hannah - Safari and Ball

  

 

• Wrote a letter to Prime Minister Scott Morrison expressing her concerns relating to the impact of government policy on climate change.
• Prior to lockdown began training as a cadet with the NSW Fire Brigade.
• Following diagnoses the family decided small school environment suited her learning better and her mum obtained a position of Head Teacher Science at Coleambally Central School.
• Has earnt may awards including Soroptimist Award and the HSIE Award.
• Received a scholarship to attend Scots School Albury as a boarder.
• Has always loved sports and being active, her family call her “Izzy Busy”.
• Has learnt various types of dance and studied drama.
• Growing up was encourage to look at the how and why of the world around her.
• Has a passion for science, particularly Biology, Agricultural Science, Environmental Science and Space.
• Is passionate and interested in Climate Change and Sustainability.

  

  

  

• Allocations are much lower when compared to historical expectations.
• Allocations are growing more slowly across the water year.

• RGA and southern NSW irrigation companies (MIL, MI, CICL)
• Peak bodies – National Farmers Federation, National Irrigators Council, NSW Irrigators Council

  

• MPs – water, agriculture portfolios; southern Basin electorates
• MDBA, NSW policy/operations, Commonwealth agriculture, water and environment

• What it might show about changed water-use patterns overtime.
• What policy/operational areas might be worth attention.

• Allocations are in black, and from early 2000 onward, include carryover.
• The black dotted line represents 100% allocation.
• The volume of water in Hume, as a percentage, is shown in blue.

• By simple comparison, water-use in the Murrumbidgee between 1997 and 2020 already sits comfortably within the new take limit +/- 20%.
• We can also see from the graph that up until Basin Plan commencement (2012-2013), water use in the Murrumbidgee closely tracked against NSW annual allocation policies.
• However, since this time, there have been significant gaps between the water that can be legally used and what is actually taken, and this gap has been permanent since 2016-2017.

Data/trends like this allow RGA to advocate for the following:

1. Reinstate pre-Basin Plan water use, so it better matches what can be allocated under the Water Sharing Plan, which is also what’s allowed under the Basin Plan.
2. More routinely lift both allocation policies and actual water use back up to the SDL.
3. In wet years in particular, push take higher within the +20% range.

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• Members to provide the name of one potential new member who will then be approached by the membership committee
• Member retention to be pursued as a matter of priority
• Initiate interest nights for perspective members
• Pursue possibility of Corporate Memberships 
• Friends of Rotary

• Continuing commitment to Farmers Market with some discussion on better advertising to draw more people to the monthly event
• Sunrice BBQ - a good revenue earner for little effort
• Rotary Ball - upcoming 27th July. Tickets available at Amato's, the Newsagency or from Roz. Some discussion about the need for security  and the possibility of approaching the Calos Club. Club will provide wine for official guests.

• A target of one vocational visit per month
• Actively pursue speakers for dinner meetings
• TED talks for those meetings where a speaker is not available
• Advertise Club activities in the Irrigator Community Notice Board
• Continue Facebook posts

• Greg will make a presentation on Foundation early in the new year

• Brian will continue Facebook posts
• Excellent photos of Changeover posted by Mary Anne 
• Irrigator Community Notice Board

• Danish exchange student expected soon
• Applications for outgoing Exchange

Community BBQ & Disbursements – 26 May 2018

Next Meeting 17 May – Visit to Walnuts Australia

Vocational Visit – Narrandera Pistol Club

Community BBQ & Disbursements – 26 May 2018

Council to support Rotary District 9700 Conference

Leeton Shire Council will provide support to the Rotary District 9700 Conference which will be held in Leeton from May 4 to May 6^th.

Council received two written requests from the Rotary District 9700 Conference Ogranising Committee in relation to seeking the hire fees to be waived for the use of the Roxy Theatre for the duration of the conference and for Council to host a Mayoral Reception for invited Rotary dignitaries on the evening prior to the first day of the conference.

Leeton will play host to approximately 200 visiting delegates attending this conference.

Leeton Mayor Paul Maytom said that Council, through the development of the Leeton Community Strategic Plan "Leeton On the Go: Towards 2030" identifies that developing a thriving and diverse visitor economy is important for stimulating our local economy.

"Hosting events in Leeton such as conferences is a great opportunity to increase business visitors to our town. This also sometimes incentivises them to come back to Leeton Shire as a visitor."

"On average, most visitors to Leeton spend an average of $143 per day. Based on these figures, the Rotary District Conference has the potential to inject approximately $57,000 into the local economy which is a substantial contribution."

Within the next 12 months, Leeton will host two other significant conferences those being the Murray Darling Association Conference and the Apex District event. These activities have already been programmed into Council’s schedule.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Paul Maytom Mayor

The driver screamed, lost control of the car, nearly hit a bus, went up on the footpath, and stopped inches from a shop window.

For a second everything went quiet in the cab, then the driver said, "Look man, don't ever do that again. You scared the daylights out of me!"

The passenger apologized and said, "I didn't realize that a little tap would scare you so much."

The driver replied, "Sorry, it’s not really your fault. Today is my first day as an Uber driver – I've been driving a hearse for the last 25 years."

• the ROMAC project of the Rotary Club of Young (bringing a young Timorese lad out to Australia and looking after him while he underwent his operations);
• the Batt for Rotary project of the Rotary Club of Griffith Avanti (Collecting used batteries);
• the rejuvenation of the Rotary Club of Oberon which has increased its membership from 3 to 15 Rotarians; and
• the Rotary Club of West Wyalong who has for many years participated in a City-Country exchange whereby Students from the City come out to experience life in West Wylong and students from West Wyalong go and experience life in the City.

“mherv … shining a light on men’s health in Rural Australia!”

Men’s Health Education Rural Van (mherv) is out and about in rural New South Wales to save lives ….

Sounds a bit dramatic maybe!… But plenty of rural men just drop dead in the paddock, because ‘nobody saw it coming’

Do you know that many men in rural Australia ‘haven’t had time’ to have a check-up with their doctor for months…. many haven’t seen a surgery door for years!

mherv’s job is to shine a light into the future for these blokes.  With a few simple tests, shining that light may reflect green, amber or bright red! … Just about anything that the mherv tests show, is easily treated by a local family doctor.  But if there’s an amber or red light it may need to be done soon.

It’s a five minute … non-invasive group of tests.

• Blood pressure just to check the heart isn’t too stressed.

• Blood sugar levels … just a pin-prick in the finger, to make sure there’s no type two diabetes … which is manageable even if there is.

• Cholesterol … just another pin-prick to see if levels are high and need attention.

• There’s also a test for bowel cancer … we’ll provide the kit, but that needs to be done later at home.

See! … nothing to it! But in the past when mherv has shown us a bright red light, we know that lives have been saved.

C’mon girls!  … don’t lose the one you love for the sake of a few minutes with mherv. Drag ‘em in!

A health check with mherv is completely free.  It is a community service provided by Rotary and our sponsors.

You will see and hear about mherv before the van arrives in town. Local Rotary clubs will make sure you know all about it. Where the van will be parked, and the times it will be open to do the tests. Rotarians will host the project, they are people you know from your district …they will be on hand throughout the visit.

Whatever happens it’s good news, either you get peace of mind or a bit of information that could save your life!

So…visit mherv … just man up and get tested! … Your family and friends will be happy that you did!

Next Meeting - 2 November 2017 - President's Night

AGM - 30 November 2017

Christmas Party - 9 December 2017

Venice - 2 August 2017 (am)

A rather slow start to the day today, woke at 610.  Have been for walk this morning through Dorsoduro and Santa Croce.  Below photos mostly from this morning - view from the Ponte Academia, the a close up of "fate of a banished man" then two views from the Rialto.

Dorsoduro really interesting and will try to get back there this afternoon.

Went for walk up north yesterday through San Polo and Cannaregio. Venice is just a maze of alleys and passageways - great for getting lost on purpose! 

Dinner last night was at a Venitian/Sicilian fusion restaurant on one of the Piazza's. Sitting outside looking over square. Still approx 30C. Perfect!

This was followed by a concert in a former church near the Academia - Vivaldi's 4 Seasons and Handel's Concerto Grosso.  Artists were great. Acoustics of the church were outstanding - great resonance - most noticeable in Largo in F moll from Fur winter the interpretation bought the pizzicato to the fore which was fantastic, however it seemed to lose a little of it's cleanness/crispness. It was great all the same.

I don't know if it was the 5:00am start, the 17km I walked, or the bottle of Soave I necked in approx an hour at dinner, but I was fairly tired and relaxed last night!

Anyway, time to start the day, more again soon

 

Athens - 5 August 2017

G'day all

It has been a couple of days since my last missive due to travel. 

So were to start, well let's start with today and see how far this beer takes me! Firstly may I say that I must be totally insane - that's right complete raving bonkers to be traipsing up hill and down dale inspecting dusty fallen down monuments in 35C + heat, but that is what I have done today.  23km, 30000 steps and 105 flights of stairs later and my feet are complaining! Beer is helping. 

There is a line from Marcus Aurelius's meditations to the effect "All is ephemeral; the fame and the famous". It was on the first guide board of the first monument that I visited today and it has stayed with me all day - what is being remembered by these monuments is not the people who constructed them, but our representations and reinterpretation of them. Anyway enough philosophising.

So I started with the Roman forum and the Temple of the Winds. Then climbed to the Aropolis and started by exploring southern side - Odeon of Herodes Atticus which has been restored and the Amphitheater of Dyonisis which has not. Then climbed to the top and walked around Parthenon and saw Temple of Nike. After Acropolis climbed to top of adjoining hill to the sanctuary of the muses. This was a very peaceful walk through shrubland. I must say that the landscape is very different from Italy. Very arid and stones. Reminiscent of home but with a lot more stones. Constant cicada chorus.

Following this Acropolis Museum which was a relief from the heat. Then following a bite for lunch, the Temple of Zeus - of which not much remains. Finally I walked back to the Ancient Agora and had an explore there including looking at the Temple of Hephaestes. As if that wasn't enough, I trekked across town to the Athens museum and inspected the sculpture collection. Collection is amazing but very foot sore by this stage so did not enjoy as much as I could.

Off to Santorini tomorrow

 

Naxos - 12 August 2017

Yassos 

I'm sitting here sipping a mojito at the Diogenes Cafe on Naxos Habour after a glorious day on Naxos. So I have been incommunicado this past week, however I am currently taking advantage of free wifi.

So we departed Fira on Monday for Ios and if memory recalls, I caught you up very briefly from Ios on Tuesday morning before we departed.

From Ios we set sail, and yes we did sail, for the smaller Cyclades. We had great winds and I had opportunity to steer boat (see below) - why am I living so far from the coast? Sailing is so much fun. After about 5 hours sailing we arrive at Schinoussa. Beautiful bay with crystal clear water and a beach bar. Moored in the bay and swam to the beach. Energetic afternoon spent reading and  drinking in perfect temperature. More energetic for dinnner as we had to climb to the top of the hill to the Chora to get to restaurant. Photos 3 & 4 are the traffic signage en route and view from top of hill looking back to boat.

From there we sailed to a tiny unpopulated Despotiko on the other side of the Cyclades. Weather was an it rougher and we were all drenched,  it hey that's all part of it.  BBQ on the beach for dinner - perfect.

Yesterday we sailed to Naxos. Spent yesterday afternoon wandering around Naxos Town. Very pretty - classic white buildings and little alleyways. Had first shower of the week so felt a lot better. Group dinner (all dinners thus far have been) at local restaurant- again food amazing.

Today I have spent hooning around Naxos on a quad bike. Interesting island. Very roacky and hilly. Also very arid. Visited mountain were it is said Zeus was raised. Highlight of course was all the little villages nestled in the hillsides - all whitewashed and gleaming.

 

Residential Aged Care

Residential Aged Care provides full time residential care for older people who are assessed as being in need of such care.  The assessment is carried out by the Aged Care Assessment Team.

Residents of Aged Care facilities are expected to contribute financially towards the cost of their care.  With this in mind, there are four fees/expenditures which must be considered:

1. Accommodation Payment

The accommodation payment is the amount paid in order to secure a place within an aged care facility (ie the amount paid to get your foot in the door).  Each facility sets its own Accommodation Payment amount for each room type that it provides in the facility and must publish this on the My Aged Care website.  (An aged care facility can offer more than one room type, and have different accommodation payments applicable to each room type).  The Accommodation Payment can be paid in three ways:

(a) by way of a cash payment - this is known as a Refundable Accommodation Contribution (RAC).  This amount is held by the facility and fully refunded when the resident departs (although they do not pay interest).

(b) by way of a daily payment - this is known as a Daily Accommodation Contribution (DAC).  This is equivalent to interest on the Accommodation Payment at a rate set by the Government calculated on a daily basis (it is not refundable).

(c) a combination of RAC and DAC - ie you can pay some of the Accommodation Contribution as a deposit, and on that part that you do not pay by way of a deposit, you pay a DAC in respect of.

The average Accommodation Payment in this area is a little over $400,000.00.

2. Daily Care Fee

Everyone pays the daily care fee.  The daily care fee is equivalent to 85% of the single aged pension.  Those who do not receive the full single aged pension are required to fund any shortfall themselves.

3. Means Tested Fee

In addition to the Daily Care Fee, an additional daily fee may also be payable based upon the Resident's income and assets.  Each resident is required to have an income and assets test undertaken to determine if this fee is payable, and if so the amount of the means tested fee.  There is an annual cap on the means tested fee which at the moment is $26,566.54.  This that once a resident pays means tested fees to that amount in any year, they cease to pay further means tested fees for that year (it does not mean that the maximum daily amount is $26,566.54/365).  There is a lifetime cap which is currently $63,759.59.  Once a resident pays this amount of means tested fee, they do not pay any more for the rest of their life.  It is roughly equivalent to 2.5 times the annual cap.  We note the average life expectancy of a resident in aged care is under three years for males and just over three years for females.

4. Extra Services Fees

Extra Services Fees may be charged by an Aged Care Facility for everything that is not included in the normal services provided by the facility.  For example, wine with dinner and haircuts.