Palm Cove News

JUNE, 2003

Public liability reform alive and well

WHEN THE backpacker establishment Palm Cove Retreat closed down in February due to high public liability premiums, this newsletter wrote to Warren Entsch seeking answers.

Replying, the federal MP said reform was happening. "The reforms should reduce the number and amount of claims on insurance companies, and the saving in costs will certainly be passed onto consumers," he wrote. A joint communique of ministers meeting on insurance issues in Perth on April 4th stated :"The Commonwealth has indicated that if necessary it will review the extent of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's powers....if it becomes clear that cost savings are not being passed on to consumers."

The changes, some of which were already law or would be law on July 1st, include liability of doctors, other professionals, emergency service operators, recreational service providers, community care, and others. Changes in relation to capping of liability claims would be dealt with by respective State Governments, Mr Entsch said. He said the Commonwealth and NSW governments in particular had been quick to pass the required legislation.
Local State member, the Hon Steve Bredhauer (phone Cairns 4051 3849), would advise on changes for Queensland, he said.

 

Top training free at SES

VOLUNTEER recruits for SES are given the same quality training as police, fire brigade and ambulance - and it's all free, says Tony Watts.

Tony, head of Palm Cove/Buchan Pt branch of the State Emergency Service, said the training includes chain saw operation, emergency building repairs,rescues, searches for missing persons, lost bushwalkers, flood control, map reading, navigation, GPS training, boat handling, radio communications, bush skills, and more.
With the move interstate of some of its experienced members recently, the branch now welcomes new recruits to start as soon as possible.
"Now is the time to start training to be in time for the next cyclone season," Tony said. "We will take anyone aged 16 or over. No one is paid, but our purpose is to protect life and property and to alleviate suffering and hardship caused by disaster. We also have a social club, good fun, and regular BBQs."

The branch meets 7.15pm-9.30pm Wednesdays on the hill side of Capt Cook Highway opposite Novotel. Tony is on 0408 500 029 or 4055 3524.

 

Cove People

 

GREEN SHE IS

Liz Tonkin is one ball of fire. Head of housekeeping at Novotel, she is also head of Palm Cove Green Team.

We met Liz at the team's monthly get-together which meets every second Tuesday in front of Village shops at 8am. The team then cleans the beach. The result that day? Very little to clean up, a few butts along the nature strip mainly. "The beach was remarkably clean," Liz said. "We must congratulate the council and the esplanade's resorts for cleaning their patch of beach. The job now is to keep it clean."
Originally named The Novotel Green Team, The Palm Cove Green Team has achieved plenty in its first year. It has :

* Recycled glass, plastic, cans, white office paper and cardboard at Novotel while eradicating the noxious Singapore Daisy.

* Introduced rubber instead of disposable gloves, plastic bin liners, use of half-used toilet rolls and tissue boxes in staff areas, sweeping instead of hosing, staff training in correct use of chemicals, changing wattage of globes, and saving water.

* Encouraged guests to re-use sheets, to put towels to be replaced in baths and turn off lights and TV when leaving the room.

* Assisted the Clean Beach Challenge which resulted in Palm Cove winning Australia's Cleanest Beach.

"All it takes is a little bit of effort from a lot of people and we can achieve a common goal," she said. "The team's main aim is to make people aware of the environment."

Originally from Perth, Liz now lives in Kuranda and commutes to Cove.

 

NEWSPAPER EDITORS

like a beat-up story. The more sensational they can make a story, the more newspapers they sell and the more profit the proprietors gain from advertisers caught up with the emotion. Likewise with TV
The latest beat-up story affecting our particular locality is the Irukandji menace. Having been scared witless by the killer Chironex fleckeri box jellyfish, most people are swimming inside the net enclosure between the months of October and May. We are now told that the tiny Irukandji jellyfish may be here until July.
The number of deaths from Irukandji can be counted on one hand, yet we suspect the victims were killed by their own heart attack or stroke rather than jellyfish. Let's look at some figures for Australia. In the ten years to 1990:

* 8 people died from crocodile attack.

* 19 people died from lightening strikes.

* 21 people died from bee stings.

* 32,000 people died in car accidents.

* 520,000 people died from heart attack.

Deaths from shark and box jellyfish combined in that decade could probably be fewer than that from crocodiles.
When a shark took a swimmer in Port Phillip Bay in the 1920s (probably that bay's only known fatality), Melbournites kept out of the water for more than a decade despite the uncomfortable heatwaves that fry that city every summer. Today, thousands swim in the bay, and we know of no shark-proof nets.
Ken Moss, manager of Uninet, the company which makes the stinger nets,says Irukandji are present or highly likely to be present only when conditions are calm, i.e. less than 10 knots.
"Such conditions occur infrequently, a few days per year mostly, and not at all in some years," he said in Northern News, Feb/Mar.
When box jellyfish first became newsworthy years ago, we were told they came close to shore only when the water was calm, the water temperature was warm, and the winds, if any, were from the north. The reason? When waves stir up the bottom, the jellyfish can't see the bait, so they stay out in deep water where visibility is good enough to catch breakfast.
These facts should be more widely acknowledged. The risks are there, but they should be neither under-estimated nor over-estimated.

 

Published by Jerry Dukes
52Terebra St, Palm Cove 4879. Ph 40591610; Fax 40590058
Email : jgdukes@ozemail.com.au


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