Meanwhile, also on Sunday 16 July, Hughes Aviation (Hughes Pastoral Group) (Gympie) Pilatus PC-12//47E NGX VH-8HP was noted departing Mackay Airport for Miranda Downs before it then flew to Mount Isa and Lake Nash.  During the afternoon it flew from there to Emerald Airport and Keeroongooloo. 

Late on Sunday 16 July, Helicorp (Toll) Leonardo S.P.A. Helicopters (Agusta) AW139 helicopter VH-XIU "Rescue 902" took to the air from Rockhampton Airport to complete a flight to Camp Growl within the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA) and back to Rockhampton Airport.

On Friday 14 July, recently registered Helibiz / Heli Lift Bell 205A-1 VH-WOC was spotted as it arrived into Rockhampton Airport.  It looked to have flown up from Redcliffe via the Sunshine Coast and Bundaberg Airport.

On Thursday 13 July, American-registered but Australian-based Gulfstream Aerospace G-V-SP (G550) bizjet N360LF was noted arriving into Hamilton Island Airport from Sydney.

While a trio of Seair Pacific / Istlecote Textron Aviation (Cessna) 208B Caravans were noted completing some Fly-in Fly-out (FIFO) runs in the region.

On Wednesday 12 July, Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Sikorsky MH-60R Seahawk 'Romeo' naval combat helicopter N48-018 (Code 918) "Tiger 18" was spotted visiting Bundaberg Airport.

On Wednesday 12 July, Australian Army Boeing CH-47F 'Foxtrot' Chinook helicopter A15-301 was spotted visiting Rockhampton Airport. It was heard to be using the radio callsign of "Chainsaw 12" and flew in from and back out to the North-East - possibly from and back to the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA).

On Tuesday 11 July, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Boeing B737-7ES / E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraft A30-005 was noted completing airwork at Hervey Bay (Fraser Coast) Airport.

File photo

The Wedgetail was flying as "Wedgetail 04" and looked to fly up from RAAF Williamtown to complete the airwork which included several missed approaches.  It then returned to Williamtown.

AI experts say that AI could potentially start new cults, become an influential propaganda machine, disseminate misinformation and fake news, incite widespread public distrust of the media, thus corrupt free speech, and can ultimately defenestrate democracy.

Today, the Australians for Artificial Intelligence Safety Group created an open letter calling for the Australian government to take AI safety seriously and regulate the industry.

Despite calls around the globe and mounting concerns of the real-world harms that AI contributes to, a spokesperson for Australians for AI Safety Group said Minister for Industry and Science, Ed Husic, dismissed these warnings stating they are darkly negative. Members of the government, then, are not taking the catastrophic or existential risks of AI seriously, unlike other countries including Singapore and the UK. Singapore has created the AI Verify Foundation, working to develop AI testing tools to enable safe and responsible AI. Similar safety-focused government labs are proposed in the UK.  Australia is yet to propose a national lab of this kind.

The Wires Bianca Mulheron spoke with Professor Peter Vamplew, an expert in information technology at Federation University on the increasing dangers of Artificial Intelligence.

 

Produced By: Bianca Mulheron

First aired on The Wire, Friday 21 July 2023

The post The Dangerous Future of Artificial Intelligence appeared first on Fraser Coast FM 107.5.

Over 75% of Queenslanders formally and informally were engaged in volunteering work in 2020, that is 3 million people. And this week, Volunteering Queensland has announced it will be undertaking the 2023 State of Volunteering in Queensland Report to explore and better understand the current state of the sector post Covid-19.

This report is a follow-up from the first report in 2021, which was the States first in depth study of the nature, scale and value of volunteering in Queensland.. 

Three years on, post COVID-19 shut-downs, a catastrophic SE Queensland natural disaster, and significant changes to our volunteering eco-system, finding the health of the sector is more vital than ever, and speaking with The Wires Aryana Mohmood about this is Rikki Anderson, Project Manager for the State of Volunteering in Queensland Report. 

Produced By: Aryana Mohmood

Featured In Story: Rikki Anderson, Project Manager for the State of Volunteering in Queensland Report

First aired on The Wire, Friday 21 July 2023

The post Volunteering Queensland announces second State of Volunteering in Queensland report appeared first on Fraser Coast FM 107.5.

Despite the Federal Governments intervention in the energy market, customers will see their electricity prices soar by as much as 25% depending on their region. With breaking news of impending gas shortages due this winter, Australians are in desperate need of alternatives to using gas for heating and cooking.

Surprisingly air fryers have become a beacon of affordability to Aussies, as they use significantly less power than conventional ovens. While pressure cookers are inexpensive and allow families to use cheaper ingredients, meals can be ready within 20 minutes music to the ears of many time-poor families.

The Wires Aryana Mohmood spoke to Emma White, Food Technologist and Founder of the Why Meat Co. about how appliances can help beat the cost of living and provide simple money-saving meals that Aussies can make at home.

Produced By: Aryana Mohmood

Featured In Story: Emma White, Food Technologist and Founder of the Why Meat Co.

First aired on The Wire, Friday 21 July 2023

The post The secret to affordable meals providing relief amid soaring energy prices appeared first on Fraser Coast FM 107.5.

Today a new book about medicinal bush called Wardlada Mardinidhi  was launched in Port Lincoln, South Australia.

Written by Galinyala Barngarla woman Evelyn Walker and Professor Ghilad Zuckermann, the book gives the Barngarla community another resource to know about native plants in the Barngarla language .

The Wires Eduardo Jordan spoke with Evelyn Walker to find out more

Image: Image of farm in South Australia, Image courtesy Cloudfront

Produced By: Eduardo Jordan

Featured In Story: Galinyala Barngarla woman, Evelyn Walker

First aired on The Wire, Friday 21 July 2023

The post Book about medicinal bush launched to learn more about Barngarla appeared first on Fraser Coast FM 107.5.

Why the Wests experimental a la carte approach to fighting their seemingly cock-sure yet obtuse proxy war against Russia has netted such terrible results for Ukraine.

In this episode of the Patrick Henningsen Show on TNT Radio which aired on July 19, 2023,  Patrick talks with independent French researcher and journalist Freddie Ponton, discusses US-UK-NATOs military debacle in Ukraine, and why the Wests experimental a la carte approach to fighting their seemingly cock-sure yet obtuse proxy war against Russia has netted such terrible results for Ukraine, while simultaneously pushing Europe into financial deficit. All this and more. Listen:

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With the rise of the public-private mass-censorship industry, federal agencies have built a command and control communications pipeline directly into Big Tech with frightening implications for the future of free, open and democratic societies.

In this episode of the Patrick Henningsen Show on TNT Radio which aired on July 18, 2023, Patrick talks with former US State Dept. official and executive director of Foundation for Freedom Online, Mike Benz, about the rise of the public-private mass-censorship industry based in Washington DC and Silicon Valley, but whose tentacles now span internationally. Federal agencies like the DHS (and its censorship arm CISA), the FBI and others have built a command and control communications pipeline directly into Big Tech, and deploy weaponized A.I. tools where they can enact speech control operations and manipulate political outcomes, and even elections. We discuss its emergence following Crimeas breakaway from Ukraine in 2014, and its proliferation in the aftermath of the 2016 election of Trump. All this and more. Listen:

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Its now beyond debate: NATOs expansive alliance can no longer call itself defensive.

In this episode of the Patrick Henningsen Show on TNT Radio which aired on July 17, 2023, Patrick talks with geopolitical analyst George Szamuely, a senior fellow at the Global Policy Institute, host of The Gaggle and author of Bombs for Peace: NATOs Humanitarian War on Yugoslavia, about the history of NATOs creeping encirclement of Russia, and how it set the stage for the Wests current proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. He also explains why the alliance can no longer call itself defensive, as well as its dangerous abuse of the Article 5 provision and why its not meant to be an attack on one is an attack on all a veritable fait accompli to WWIII. Who in their right mind really wants that? All this and more. Listen:

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The recent terrorist attack carried out by the US-UK-NATO axis and their Ukrainian proxy is an attempt to disable Russias Kerch Bridge which connects Crimea to the Russian mainland. Will their plan work?

In this episode of the Patrick Henningsen Show on TNT Radio which aired on July 17, 2023, Patrick talks with Irish journalist based in Moscow Chay Bowes, about the recent terrorist attack by the US-UK-NATO proxy regime in Kiev, as they attempted to disable Russias Kerch Bridge which connects Crimea to the Russian mainland and isolate Crimea in the process. Kiev still insists that they plan to retake Crimea, although this seems like a highly unrealistic projection. Was this an act of desperation by Zelensky and his handlers in Washington and London? How is this affecting Russia, and what will it mean in terms of the Black Sea security and Grain Deal? All this and more. Listen:

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A bit of history for the region on Monday 3 July, with the first scheduled Fly-in Fly-out (FIFO) charter flight operated by National Jet Express (formerly Cobham) touching down at Moranbah Airport.

https://www.facebook.com/NationalJetExpress

On Monday 3 July, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Boeing B737-7ES / E-7A Wedgetail Airborne Early Warning & Control (AEW&C) aircraft A30-006 was spotted completing airwork at Rockhampton Airport.

Seemingly on a deployment to Rockhampton Airport for upcoming joint military exercises, on Monday 3 July, Helicorp (Toll) Leonardo S.P.A. Helicopters (Agusta) AW139 helicopter VH-XIU was spotted arriving from Townsville as "Rescue 902".

VH-XIU "Rescue 902" looks to be currently supporting Australian Army helicopter operations as it usually operates from the Army's Robertson Barracks in Darwin which is the home of 1st Aviation Regiment which operates Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopters.

Indeed over the weekend, VH-XIU "Rescue 902" flew over from Darw...

On Friday 30 June, United States Marine Corps (USMC) Lockheed KC-130J Hercules 167108 (Tail Code QB-7108) was photographed arriving into Rockhampton Airport from RAAF Base Richmond.  It was heard to be using the radio callsign of "Raider 52".

2-Sense podcast

This week on the Australian Property Podcast I was joined by Chris Bates to discuss the big three property news stories of the week.

We discuss Domain's house price forecasts, which anticipate new highs, and also record mortgage repayments expected next year. 

Tune in here (or click on the image below):

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) is conducting the amphibious Exercise Sea Explorer along the coast of North Queensland.

As mentioned previously, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Canberra-class landing helicopter dock (LHD) ship HMAS Adelaide (III) (L01), along with the Bay-class landing ship HMAS Choules (L100), have been in waters off Bowen over the last week. They have been the launching points for various amphibious landing exercises on the Bowen foreshore, as well as multiple helicopter insertions of personnel and equipment.

On Friday 30 June, Cirrus Design Corp. SF50 Vision Jet wearing the American registration marking of N616TS looked to fly into Hervey Bay (Fraser Coast) Airport from Nambucca Heads (New South Wales) before it then departed to Cairns. 

On Friday 30 June, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Boeing C-17A Globemaster III transport aircraft A41-208 was spotted visiting Rockhampton Airport.

Making a spectacular arrival into Rockhampton Airport late on Friday 30 June was Atlas Air Boeing B747-446 N480MC. It touched down from RAAF Base Amberley as 'GTI8269' / "Giant 8269" and had earlier flown across from Honolulu.

I was stunned earlier this week when I heard the federal Greens had been accused of being in an Axis of evil with the Coalition in blocking the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF). Sure, the Greens call for rent controls is misguided, but the Greens central critique of the HAFF was sensible. If youre actually going to invest in social housing, which is the Governments intention, the HAFF looks like an ineffective and roundabout way of doing that. It requires the Government to borrow $10 billion to, as the Greens put it, gamble on the stockmarket, with the hope of generating a sufficient return to fund social housing.

Historical data on equity returns versus borrowing rates would suggest the Government could come out ahead in the long-term by following this strategy, but obviously it is risky and its silly to tie social housing funding to the outcomes of investments managed by the Future Fund, which would look after the HAFFs funds. The strategy also couldnt be used on a large scale because the more money the government tries to borrow, and hence the more bonds it needs to sell, the higher its borrowing costs as the market demands higher interest rates before it buy the additional bonds and lends the government more money. As a former Treasury official, I also hate the idea of the HAFF because setting up and running these types of funds absorbs the time of officials which could be better spent. And they complicate the task of public financial management. As Cameron Murray argued in a podcast conversation I had with him a few months ago, if the government wants to fund social housing it doesnt need to set up the HAFF: Odd way to fix housing crisis proposed by Aus. Govt: invest in stocks first w/ Dr Cameron Murray, Sydney Uni.

In my view, the federal government misstepped by adopting this odd policy from the Grattan Institute. It looks like Prime Minister Alabanese had to take charge last week and announce a $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator, which was a real win for the Greens and acknowledgement the HAFF policy was a failure and really was not required after all.

On the Social Housing Accelerator, I should ackno...

On Tuesday night I was on a panel discussing the Queensland state budget at an Australian Taxpayers Alliance (ATA) event held at the Paddington Tavern. One of the points discussed was the spin regarding the biggest-ever surplus for Queensland of $12.3 billion in 2022-23, even though the Net Operating Balance, the budget balance favoured by the government and reported by the media, swings into a $2.2 billion deficit next financial year, which is the financial year the 2023-24 state budget is actually for (Figure 1). And, after that, there are only small surpluses projected over 2024-25 to 2026-27 for the Net Operating Balance. Furthermore, there is another measure of the budget balance, the Fiscal Balance, which tells a different story, of substantial budget deficits over the budget forward estimates.

At the event, among other issues, we considered which is the most appropriate measure of the budget balance, the net operating balance or the fiscal balance? 

The Net Operating Balance is the difference between revenue and expenses from transactions, that is operating expenses including wages and salaries and purchases of other goods and services. It also includes depreciation to account for the consumption of capital goods (e.g. from wear and tear) in the current period. 

In contrast, the Fiscal Balance includes all current period capital expenditures in its calculation, not just depreciation. It is calculated as the Net Operating Balance less Net Acquisition of Non-financial Assets (i.e. which is more-or-less total capital spending less depreciation). Because the Net Acquistion of Non-financial Assets is typically positive, the Fiscal Balance is generally lower than the Net Operating Balance. For example, in 2022-23, Queenslands Net Operating Balance is expected to be $12.3 billion, but the Fiscal Balance is expected to be $6.8 billion, because net capital expenditures are expected to be around $5.5 billion. 

At the event, I said that from the perspective of judging the state governments impact on aggregate demand and potentially inflation, as well as understanding the governments need to borrow and accumulate debt, the Fiscal Balance is the most appropriate budget balance measure. ATA Chief Economist John Humphreys also expressed his preference for the Fiscal Balance over the Net Operating Balance, given its the closest to the underlying cash balance which is the preferred measure of the federal governments budget balance. 

Over the budget year and forward estimates, from 2023-24 to 2026-27, fiscal deficits (i.e. Fiscal Balance deficits) are expected to total $25 billion. Incidentally, over this period, genera...

Queensland general government revenues are $60 billion higher than once expected over 2020-21 to 2023-24, but debt is only $23 billion lower, with total spending revised up by around $32 billion. Some of this is understandable due to higher inflation and population growth, but much of it is due to policy choices, such as power price rebates. 

Since the current Queensland Treasurers first budget handed down in December 2020, estimates of total general government revenue across 2020-21 to 2023-24 have been revised upwards by $60 billion. The 2020-21 to 2023-24 time period is relevant because these were the four financial years forecast in the Treasurers first budget. Revenues have been higher than first expected because the economic recovery from the COVID-recession was much stronger than expected, meaning higher payroll tax and stamp duty revenues, and because of super-high commodity prices, primarily coal but to a lesser extent oil and gas, associated with the invasion of Ukraine. Partly, the revenue revisions were associated with the Governments new royalty regime which imposed additional tiers of royalty rates.

At the time of the 2020-21 budget, Queensland general government debt was projected to increase to over $88 billion in 2023-24 and the total non-financial public sector was projected to increase to $130 billion. The non-financial public sector excludes state-owned financial corporations such as Queensland Treasury Corporation and Queensland Investment Corporation. Such entities can hold substantial amounts of debt unassociated with the usual business of government or traditional government trading enterprises. For instance, as well as borrowing money for the general government, QTC borrows additional money and lends it to local governments, universities, and private schools, among others.  

Thankfully, higher revenues since the 2020-21 budget have resulted in lower estimates of government debt in 2023-24, but not by as much as might be expected. Lets consider the general government sector and Ill aim to examine the total non-financial public sector including the government-owned corporations in a future article. The state Treasury is now forecasting debt levels of $65 billion for the general government and $111 billion for the non-financial public sector in 2023-24. For the general government sector, total debt is only $23 billion lower, despite $60 billion of revenue upgrades. Whats going on? 

Since the 2020-21 budget, total operating expenses over 2020-21 to 2023-24 have been revised upwards by around $30 billion, and capital expenses have been revised upwards by nearly $2 billion, meaning around $32 billion of additional spending. Around $14 billion of these additional expenses could be explained by higher inflation, average wages growth, and population on my calculations, which leaves over half of the increase in expenses due to explicit government policy deci...

Platypus in Petrie Creek

The Platypus is enjoying something of a population boom around Queenslands Sunshine Coast following three years of above-average rainfall. However, the Queensland Government is under pressure to follow the rest of the country by banning a type of yabby trap that is needlessly slaughtering Platypus and other aquatic wildlife, posing a local extinction threat in times ahead.

Patypus in Petrie Creek

During drought conditions the monotreme population drops sharply, with survivors sometimes being confined to isolated pools for instance in Booloumba and Little Yabba creeks - or making hazardous journeys overland in search of better habitat. Right now, however, the animals are being seen locally in watercourses where theyve long been infrequent or absent;

...

Last year on budget night, Queensland caught the coal industry off-guard, announcing three new upper-level tiers to the states royalties regime.  Queenslands previous royalty schedule had only two brackets: seven per cent up to $100 a tonne, then 15 per cent for coal sold above $150 a tonne. The changes brought in progressively high rates []

Around the corner from my Brunswick St office, at the RNA showgrounds, work is underway on the Exhibition station upgrade so its ready for Cross River Rail, Brisbanes new subway system. This appears to have necessitated traffic control on Gregory Terrace, the latest of many disruptions associated with the mega project. With all the disruptions, cost blowouts, and the possibility public transport usage wont recover to its pre-COVID trajectoryits now at only 80-90% of pre-pandemic levels according to the Brisbane Timesits legitimate to question whether Cross River Rail was a good investment of public funds. Its looking more likely the critics were right about the project, which could ultimately cost in the order of $10 billion. 

As questionable a project as Cross River Rail is, at least its not as bad as the $100 billion Melbourne suburban rail loop the Victorian Government green-lighted and which is receiving billions in federal funding, despite the state government not submitting a business case to Infrastructure Australia (see Daniel Andrews Suburban Rail Loop proceeds without business case). 

Clearly we can do better in infrastructure decision making across Australia, and one positive step toward that was suggested by Allegra Spender and her fellow Teal MPs last month when they proposed to legislate for compulsory disclosure of estimated costs and benefits of any major project proposed for Infrastructure Australias priority list (see Allegra Spenders tweet below). This seemed eminently sensible to me, so I was aghast it was knocked back by a Government-Opposition team up. Both major parties have a mutual interest in continuing the current system which provides insufficient protections against pork barreling it seems.

It is disappointing that the ALPs commitment to integrity didnt survive the move to the government benches. We dont...

 

Masked Owl

We spent a couple of weeks visiting four national parks in north-east NSW for three nights each that wed missed in the past. First off was the Cypress Pine Campground in Boonoo Boonoo National Park (below), just across the Queensland border. The park adjoins Queenslands Girraween National Park.

Much better facilities here (generally the case with NSW versus Queensland parks) and nice big camp sites. Platypus was seen frequently in the creek below the camp but the only image was the poor effort below of one swimming past a Little Pied Cormorant.

The Constitution gives some Australians more rights than others. Or in the words of George Orwell borrowed by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, some Australians are more equal than others. They are called Tasmanians.

Why is that so? Because the founders thought that the smaller colonies would not have a reasonable say in the affairs of the Commonwealth. They could be silenced or squeezed out.

So, the founders provided that each colony on becoming a state in the federation would have a minimum of five members and each would have an equal number of senators, irrespective of the size of their population.

In the first House Tasmania got the five minimum members and has had them ever since even though its population would warrant fewer.

The inequality between the states was part of the federal compact a nation for a continent and a continent for a nation, as it was expressed at the time.

That federal compact, of course, completely left out some of the people who lived on the continent the indigenous population, who were expressly not counted for the purposes of determining how many members of Parliament each state would get.

That was rectified somewhat in 1967 when the Constitution was changed to count them.

But that did not acknowledge that since 1788 Europeans have come to Australia dispossessing Indigenous people of what was their land. That process only stopped in 1993 with the recognition of native title.

And still there is no recognition of the prior occupation and ownership and continuous connection with the land.

With what we know now, it is surely time to bring Indigenous people into our federal compact and go beyond recognition, and to give a voice to Indigenous people, in an equivalent way to which the people of the smaller colonies got an extra constitutionally guaranteed extra voice.

No one says that it unfair that Tasmanians get one senator for every 45,000 people, but in NSW it is one for every 680,000 people. No one says it is unfair that Tasmania gets one MP for every 108,000 people, but in NSW it is only one for every 175,000 people.

And even with that more equal electoral advantage, Tasmanians are behind people in other states on just about every socio-economic measure. Just like Indigenous people. The Voice is the very least we can do. Yes, a truth commission and a treaty would be better. But unless the Voice is approved, they will never happen.

The Tasmanian example is instructive because Tasmania could well be the decisive state. If Queensland and Western Australia vote No and the overall majority is for Yes, the Tasmanian vote will decide: their Yes means Yes wins; their No means No wins.

Tasmanians should reflect on this and reject Duttons specious, narrow, self-serving argument that if Yes wins Indigenous people will be more equal. Just as it has been rec...

One bird slowly circling overhead. A really good view with binocs. My second positive I'd of this species in my area in 51 years of birdwatching. But had a few more sightings that I were not sure of.

The Australian Government is moving in the right direction, but not fast enough, with fiscal policy if it wants to fight inflation. It appears too reliant on the expected cessation of pandemic-related stimulated measures to support its claim that the Budget is contractionary. And arguably it should be running a bigger surplus in 2022-23 and a surplus rather than a deficit in 2023-24, if it wants to make a substantial contribution to the fight against inflation. This is clear from Treasury estimates presented in the 2023-24 Budget, as explained in this article.

In defending his Budget, Treasurer Jim Chalmers observed Our budget is contractionary when inflation is at its highest, as quoted in The Australian. Is it true the Budget is contractionary? Critics have argued the federal government isnt being fiscally responsible because spending is increasing. This is true, but the size of the economy and government revenue are also increasing. What matters is how spending and revenue changes compare with what they would be in a fiscally-neutral scenario. How should we judge the governments fiscal impact or impulse with respect to the economy, or whether its aggregate spending and revenue choices make sense given the state of the economy? 

According to IMF economists Garry Schinasi and Mark Lutz in the 1991 Working Paper Fiscal Impulse:

The IMF measure of the fiscal impulse is the change in the fiscal stance, which is an estimate of the initial amount of expansionary or contractionary pressures placed by the budget on aggregate demand. This measure of fiscal impulse attempts to remove changes in the actual budget balance that are transitory in a cyclical sense.

The fiscal stance can be considered as an estimate of what the budget balance would be if cyclical influences (i.e. the state of the economy relative to its trend) were removed. The fiscal impulse is the change in the fiscal stance, and it tells us whether the government budget will add more or less to aggregate demand in one budget year than in a previous year. 

There is no perfect way of estimating the fiscal stance, and hence the fiscal stimulus, but various organisations such as the IMF and Treasury have tried doing so. While the Treasury doesnt explicitly indicate the fiscal impulse of the budget, it does provide measures that help us determine whether the Government Budget can be considered expansionary or contractionary. The Treasury gives us an indication of the fiscal stance of the Government in the Fiscal Strategy and Budget Outlook chapter of...

A flock of budgerigars landed beside me when I was observing Other birds in open grassy area with patchs of trees right beside the road that leads to Broadwater camp ground before rangers house. Very rare sighting , not on ebird list.i was very surprised. Must be at its eastern limit in that area 48 birds observed in 2 days.

The big economic question for 2023 is how much the Australian economy will slow down in response to interest rate increases, regarding which we should expect more to come. Queenslands economy will benefit from a high-performing mining sector, but theres little doubt well slow down, too.  

The federal budget forecasts GDP growth in 2023-24 of 1.5%, down from 3.25% in 2022-23. Australias population is forecast to grow 1.7% in 2023-24, which implies a slight fall in per capita GDP. Behind the slowdown is a reduction in dwelling construction (-3.5% change) off the recent peak associated with pandemic-related stimulus and a reduction in consumer spending growth to 1.5% in 2023-24, down from 5.75% in 2022-23. If the slowdown is worse than expected, it will be because the Treasury, and the RBA for that matter, have underestimated the impact of rate rises on consumer spending. 

We know retail turnover in real terms is falling as households cut back on purchases of durable goods. This is likely due to a combination of rising prices, interest rate increases, and Australians returning to overseas holidaying. Queensland experienced the largest fall in the March quarter with real retail turnover falling 2.2% compared with a national average decline of 0.6% (Figure 1). 

...

 

Arabian Oryx

Following a visit to Ghana (the next six posts on this blog), Bill Watson and I had two days in the United Arab Emirates to break the journey home 23-24 April, 2023. We stayed in the Ibis One Central Hotel in Dubai. On the first day I headed south to Kite Beach and Al Sufouh Beaches to look unsuccessfully for Socrota Cormorant, but had to make do with some interesting sights as an introduction to the UAE.

<p>Congratulations to Jordy Groffen and Roy Farman, each a recipient of the 2023 Ric Nattrass Research Grant! Jordy is a PhD student at James Cook University, and Roy is a PhD student at the University of New South Wales. Here is a summary of their work, in their own words.</p> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="alignleft is-resized"><img alt="" class= "wp-image-1116" height="234" src= "http://www.qldfrogs.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Roy.jpg" width="374"> <figcaption>Roy in his PhD lab at UNSW. Photo courtesy of Roy Farman.</figcaption> </figure> </div> <p>Roys research will aim to use the Quaternary fossil record of Queensland to explore the biogeographic ranges of fossil frogs and compare those ranges to living frog species today. Additionally, he aims to to compare the fossil frog response to climatic change events compared to living frogs.</p> <p>Roy says:</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote"> <p>I intend on using my taxonomic guide of Australian frog ilia, as well as MicroCT scans and geometric morphometrics to identify fossil frogs from Queensland and then compare the biogeography of extant and fossil frogs from Queensland fossil deposits. My project will benefit frogs in QLD by increasing our understanding of palaeobiogeographical patterns, understanding of skeletal elements among Australian frogs, the evolution of Australian frogs and their relationship between other species, as well as increasing our understanding of the types of frogs present in Queensland during the Tertiary and Quaternary periods.</p> </blockquote> <p>Jordys research will focus on the Nursery frogs (<em>Cophixalus</em> & Austrochaperina), which are terrestrial breeders with direct development eggs are laid in moist leaf-litter and are attended through development by a male frog. As eggs laid on land are predicted to be at risk of desiccation from higher temperatures and lower moisture, predicted from a changing climate.</p> <p>Jordy says:</p> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote"> <p>Breeding biology of these species is very poorly known. I will study parental care across <em>Cophixalus</em> species, under varied environmental conditions in the field (low elevation, upland areas, heatwaves, drought), to uncover the details of nest choice and parental care.</p> </blockquote> <div class="wp-block-image"> <figure class="alignright is-resized"><img alt="" class= "wp-image-1117" height="395" src= "http://www.qldfrogs.asn.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Jordy.jpg" width="322"> <figcaption>Jordy out in the field testing equipment. Photo...</figcaption> </figure> </div>

In November 2022, a team of QFS volunteers returned to Kroombit Tops National Park to undertake additional monitoring and surveys for threatened frogs as part of the Kroombit Threatened Frog Project a project funded by a Community Sustainability Action grant awarded to QFS by the Queensland Government.

On this trip, QFS volunteers assisted with the deployment of acoustic recording devices at potential release sites for Kroombit Tinkerfrogs being bred in captivity at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. The release of captive-bred animals into the wild is vital to the long-term survival of this critically endangered species in the wild. Acoustic recorders deployed at Kroombit in November 2022 will be retrieved from the field on the final QFS Kroombit Frogsearch in late February 2023.

Data from acoustic recorders deployed at potential release sites will provide important baseline data on the current abundance of Kroombit Tinkefrogs, against which the success of the proposed captive release program can be assessed.

Dr Ed Meyer

 

Egyptian Plover

Following our visit to Mole National Park in northern Ghana (following post) we headed north, passing many traditional villages, before reaching the town of Daboya on the White Volta River.

A Western Banded Snake-Eagle (below) was seen along the way.

 

Forbes's Plover

We arrived at Mole Motel in Mole National Park in the northern savanna belt of Ghana late in the afternoon of Day 13 of our tour of the country for a four-night stay. Our rooms overlooked the surrounding savanna and a large waterhole. The first bird I saw from my room was an Abyssinian Ground Hornbill near the waterhole. Our first full day at Mole saw us in the morning along the Brugbani Road in sparse woodland that had not long been burned.

Mole Motel

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Nkulengu Rail

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White-bellied Pangolin

Following our successful encounter with the White-necked Picathartes (following post) our minds turned to another creature well-known from rainforests in the vicinity of Bonkro in central Ghana: the White-bellied Pangolin. Pangolin sits high on the wishlists of many critter lovers. The only mammal to be wholly covered in scales, the survival of several species is in the balance as pangolins are slaughtered in their tens of thousands. Pangolin scales are considered to have considerable value as traditional medicines in east Asia, especially China and Vietnam, but there is no evidence supporting this. Shy and harmless, the pangolin is believed to be the worlds most heavily trafficked mammal. As pangolin populations in Asia disappear, the trade increasingly has shifted to Africa, where the four pangolin species are now absent or rare throughout their ranges.

Before our tour, the group agreed with my suggestion for a $US50 reward for anyone in the villages around Bonkro who found us a pangolin, the stipulation being that we had to be taken to the pangolin and not the other way around. A man with tracking experience came forward and one of our Ashanti guides, Ibrahim Entsie, also had past form in finding pangolins. With these two guys, our group set out at sunset on Day 11 of our trip to find a pangolin. This was not going to be easy. We followed the trackers up and down ridges, along creeks, through regrowth and primary rainforest - often in rough terrain with no paths.

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Rufous-sided Broadbill

Four years ago, I began planning a 21-day private tour of Ghana in West Africa in association with Ashanti, a highly regarded tour company based in the Ghanaian city of Cape Coast, to be held in April 2020.Then Covid-19 intervened. The trip finally happened from April 1 to April 21, 2023. We were ably assisted throughout the trip by our excellent guide Victor Owusu, his highly capable assistant guide Ibrahim Entsie, and our formidable driver Christian. A full trip report listing all participants, species lists and the like is to follow a series of blog posts.of which this is the first.  En route to Ghana I spent a couple of days in Singapore, where I indulged the shenanigans of a group of Smooth-coated Otters that have become used to people in Bishan Park.

Smooth-coated Otter in Singapore

Some of us arrived i...

 

Our group huddled beneath the sandstone rock ledge of a cave deep in the rainforest, hoping to indulge one of natures great ornithological experiences: viewing the pre-dusk arrival of the beautiful White-necked (or Yellow-headed as it was formerly called) Picathartes, also known as Rockfowl. This remarkable bird, its bright yellow head bare of feathers, returns to the cave where it builds mud nests late each afternoon to roost. Its humped back and long legs and neck add to its bizarre appearance. We had walked 30 minutes from the nearby village of Bonkro in central Ghana through the Nyamebe Bepo Forest Reserve to reach the cave. It was Day 10 of our 21-day Ghana tour.

The picathartes cave

Male Bird seen on Devils Break track approx 12pm on 25th April. Scarlet chest and obvious white forehead patch. Many images taken, bird seemed to be comfortable, feeding actively and moving from tree to tree quite quickly. No female sighted. Bird not calling and no playback was used. Was moving around in a 300m stretch along the ridge near path at top of hill. Observed for approx 45min before we moved on. No other birders sighted it that day but I was able to relocate it the following morning at 7:46am in the same place until 11:30am. Location: -27.520342, 152.86121

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Our first sighting of a pink eared duck at Dholes Rocks. May have been more around the corner but we only observed this one and it was feeding frantically. Very fast not like other pink ears we have observed.

3 Pink-eared Ducks

<p>Back in the nineties, a history-conscious Queensland Treasury official saved a 1944 chart on Post-war Employment Planning from the rubbish bin during an office cleanout (Figure 1). On his retirement from the public service, that official gave me the chart. Notably, the chart includes Queensland state income estimates for 1939-40. These estimates were prepared by the late great Colin Clark, during his time as an economic adviser to the Queensland Government. </p> <p><strong>Figure 1. Chart on Queensland Government post-war employment planning</strong></p> <figure class="wp-block-image"><img alt="" src= "https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/jSpOoCqs9pVY13F9Vlth14yWF5KHTROmwpCrH5-HrJUDYw8s_oQRliMgy3Idltu0jeTkbQkn60RE0ufIl2n4jABQ1_DS8rADhzskcXJKDPpfqdUFvq0Z0ovnArl7Gux8sfkUH6TwIvaV7IyABOBc_nc"></figure> <p>Zooming in on Clarks gross national (i.e. state) income estimates for Queensland, we see the greater importance of agriculture in the States economy in 1939-40 than today (Figure 2).</p> <p><strong>Figure 2. Close up of Colin Clarks Queensland state income estimates for 1939-40</strong></p> <figure class="wp-block-image"><img alt="" src= "https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/nj5BgYMVns2FXjBW-cfxp0YwtKMf5S7SEEO9FoNPjW2I2XTzus0tyFOd3NqJhisg24RqiqMyCVHoSsRNZ-XQPBHHaxqQbwpQmoDq8k0d2e09B4dpD8oowV0QJccsV_bnTJbD3l_H-0VEbhubQxXu9fA"></figure> <p>In 1939-40, at the outbreak of World War II, agriculture (i.e. agricultural production & pastoral production) accounted for over 20% of the Queensland economy (Table 1). As in other economies, economic development has been associated with greater on-farm efficiency and people moving from the country to cities, generally to higher productivity jobs. The services sector was much smaller than today, as was the government, represented by public works, public administration, and railways in the table. Mining would be lumped in with forestry and fishing in Clarks other primary production category, which accounted for around 10% of the Queensland economy in 1939-40.  </p> <p><strong>Table 1. Composition of Queensland gross state income, 1939-40, Colin Clarks estimates</strong></p> <figure class="wp-block-table"> <table> <tbody> <tr> <td></td> <td>Millions of Pounds</td> <td>% of total</td> <td>% (net of indirect taxes)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Indirect taxes</td> <td>15.6</td> <td>9.5%</td> <td></td> </tr> <tr> <td>Domestic, professional & personal service

10.7	6.5%	7.2%
Rents

Flitting about late afternoon, catching insects in the grass.

Quite happy to feed in front of us, stayed for 20 minutes. Lots of photos and video. It came so close had to back of the zoom on my camera. New life time bird for us.

Two birds sitting with Maned Ducks in shade of water tanks.

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15 birds hawking over eucalypt open forest and pasture, ca. 11 km S of Boonah, before departing southward about 1800. Not a rare bird in SEQ (yet) but my first for the year.

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Louisiade White-eye

On the return leg of our cruise to Papua New Guinea we stopped for the day on February 3 in the Conflict Islands, a chain of small islands that are part of the Louisiade Archipelego. The Louisiades extend from the south-eastern end of PNG where the Coral Sea meets the Solomon Sea. 

They have several endemic bird species and four of these (plus two future splits) occur in the Conflict Islands. We were moored off Panasesa, the largest of the Conflict group, and transferred by tender boat from the Coral Princess to an island wharf. A path from the jetty crosses the island, passing through rainforest. 

 

Black-capped Paradise-Kingfisher

During our cruise from Brisbane to Papua New Guinea, we had an overnight port stop in Rabaul in east New Britain. This allowed an opportunity for a morning of rainforest birding on February 1. Ive visited Rabaul previously while working as a journalist and had limited opportunity to bird forest patches far from town. Most birders visit west New Britain and little is known ornithologically of the islands eastern half. I was able to organise a highly recommended tour with the Rabaul-based company Pauvu Tours (contact Tulipa Paivu tpaivu40@gmail.com) or find them on Facebook.

Rachael from Pauvu Tours

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Red-footed Booby

Weve just returned from a 12-day cruise from Brisbane to Papua New Guinea aboard the Coral Princess from January 26 to February 6. Ill post separately about productive birding experiences near Rabaul and in the Conflict Islands. This post is to give an idea of what to expect on a cruise of this nature and to outline what happened with seabirds along the way. Its important to note that seabirding from large cruise ships is difficult; youre a long way up from the water and birds are usually distant.

Wedge-tailed Shearwater

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The Eastern Grass Owl is regarded generally as scarce in Australia. In south-east Queensland it is restricted to tall grassland in coastal areas, often interspersed with sugar cane plantations. The Sunshine Coast is arguably the stronghold of the species in the region. Birds here are concentrated in the grasslands and plantations of the Maroochy River floodplain, and in isolated areas of wallum heath. Since moving to the Sunshine Coast in 2009, I have noticed a clear and sharp decline in numbers of Eastern Grass Owl locally. They were once resident in Yandina Creek Wetland and along the adjoining River Road but Ive not detected them there during recent surveys. Across the Maroochy River in the vicinity of Burtons Road near Bli Bli, I was aware of three pairs in different places on private property, to which I had access with permission from owners. This population is much reduced and any birds remaining are no longer nesting, as they had in the past.

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