More news about one NSW Northern Rivers fireground; "people came in droves" to defend the rainforest

Nightcap National Park in August 2012. Image: Kris Excell, Flickr 

Watch ABC TV "7.30", Community Defenders help fight rainforest bushfires here (5 mins. 17 seconds).

When more than 40 bushfires raged across New South Wales last month, one community gave fire fighters some welcome support.

It happened in and around Mt. Nardi, Nightcap National Park and Nimbin in the Northern Rivers region.

The local volunteer Community Defenders worked "their guts out" according to a NSW Rural Fire Service (NSWRFS) crew leader. 

"And I'm so proud of them. Without the volunteers we would not have contained this fire."

Hearing that the World Heritage-listed Gondwana rainforest was under threat people from miles away "came in droves" to help the defenders protect that forest.

It is believed that at least one hundred people were working with the Rural Fire Service crews on duty during November.

ABC News, 9 December 2019. Image: Felix Schafer-Gardiner

While the Rural Fire Service volunteers fought the fire on the frontline, the Community Defenders did the work behind the scenes. 


In the past, the fire service would have tried to do both.

"The communities sought good and strategic advice from us and they worked with us", [NSWFRS] Captain Mantscheff said.

"Huge control lines were being consolidated and constructed.

"Their marvellous feats of endurance to drive them and construct six-lane highways that would make it very difficult for the fire to get across.

"It made our firefighting job so much safer.

"It bought time and no one lost a home there because of the work that was being done.

"Man oh man, they stepped up in such a way that we, all of us in uniform, were just completely blown away and continue to be because they're still out there now."

One NSWRFS volunteer tweeted about everyone working on that fireground in November; "It was an absolute honour and privilege to work alongside all those people".

Fire did eat into the national park, but it did not destroy it all.

In December fire ignited in the Mt Nardi area again and as of 10 December 2019 it was listed as being under control. The local community continues to help.

Volunteering levels in Australia and on the NSW North Coast

There has been some talk in local media about volunteering levels, with one bright spark suggesting that volunteering be made mandatory.

But are volunteering levels in Australia in such dire straits?

If one looks at available statistics it appears that Australia is fairly well served by people willing to give their time and effort to local communities.

The same can be said for the NSW Mid & Far North Coasts.

Here is a breakdown of volunteering levels.

Volunteering Australia, 27 June 2017:

The 2016 Census revealed that Australia’s population is 23.4 million people. Of this:

* 3.6 million people or 19.0% of the population aged 15 years and over are engaged in voluntary work through an organisation or group.

  This is a 1.2% increase from the 2011 Census  results, where 17.8% of people responded they were engaged in voluntary work.

* The rates of volunteering are highest among males aged 45-54 years at 302,612 people.

* The rates of volunteering are highest among women aged 35-44 at 399,889 people.

* Overall, the rates of volunteering are highest in the 45-54 year age group at 679,602 people.

Prior to release of 2016 Census results the Australian Government released, Giving Australia 2016,  Individuals: Volunteering Overview:

An estimated 43.7% of adult Australians volunteered a total of 932 million hours in the 12 months prior to when surveyed in 2016. On average, volunteers gave 134 hours of their time over 12 months in 2015-16* or about 2.5 hours a week. The median number of hours volunteered annually was 55 hours (half did more and half did less).

*Participants were surveyed over February to September 2016 about giving in the 12 months prior.

Women are more likely to volunteer than men,  people aged between 35 and 44 are more likely to volunteer than other age groups, with 45–54 year olds the second most likely to volunteer, and volunteers 65 years and over volunteered the most hours on average.

Some 38.2% of people responding both volunteered and donated to nonprofit organisations.

The average donation was $1,017.11.

Volunteer Australia, submission, July-August 2017:

A 2017 Senate inquiry report into the Future of Australia’s aged care sector workforce also highlighted this with, “83 per cent of residential facilities and 51 per cent of home care and home support outlets utilising volunteer staff.” The inquiry also heard that “there are five volunteers for every paid worker in the not-for-profit sector, at a value of about $290 billion per annum. In 2016, 23,537 volunteers provided 114,987 hours of care to older Australians in residential facilities.”

North Coast NSW Medicare Local, North Coast Health Needs 2014:

The percentage of people volunteering in each LGA on NCNSW is higher than the NSW average.

Northern Rivers Social Development Council (NRSDC) undertook a Community Wellbeing Survey to measure how people felt about their quality of life and to highlight current social conditions. Forty one percent of people reported they volunteered with a local group (36% nationally). Forty four percent of survey respondents felt valued by society and 90% felt that they could get help from family and friends if needed.

By 2016 these were the volunteer levels across the NSW Northern Rivers region:

* 18.2% of the Tweed LGA population;

* 19.5% of Richmond Valley LGA population;

* 20.7% of the Clarence Valley LGA population;

* 22.9% of the Ballina LGA population;

* 23.2% of the Lismore City LGA population;

* 25.0% of the Byron LGA population;

* 26.1% Kyogle LGA population;

were reporting doing some form of voluntary work in the last twelve months. [ABS Census 2016 & profile.id.com.au]

Overall it appears that an est. 21.1 per cent of the Northern Rivers regional population does voluntary work, which is a higher percentage than the 2016 NSW state benchmark of 18.11 per cent .

Basically volunteer levels in the Northern Rivers are holding steady at last count. Every local volunteer should give themselves a pat on the back!

International Volunteer Day 5 December 2014

On International Volunteer Day (IVD) 2014, we not only celebrate volunteerism in all its facets – but also pay special tribute to people’s participation in making a difference locally, nationally and globally. IVD 2014 highlights the contribution of volunteers in engaging people from the grass-roots in decision-making processes, ultimately creating space for participation that leads to: stronger governance, social cohesion, peace and sustainable development.

On 5 December, 2014 join us in recognizing all volunteers' commitment and applaud hundreds of millions of people who volunteer to make change happen. [http://www.volunteeractioncounts.org/en/]

Learn about Timebanking for Volunteers - Grafton Community Centre, Thursday 6 November 2014

Mayor: Richie Williamson LOCKED BAG 23 GRAFTON NSW 2460

General Manager: Scott Greensill Telephone: (02) 6643 0200

Fax: (02) 6642 7647

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 4, 2014

Opportunity to learn about Timebanking

CLARENCE Valley community groups and organisations who utilise volunteers have the

opportunity to learn more about Timebanking - a growing movement for the voluntary exchange of services between members – at a community engagement session in Grafton on Thursday.

Timebanking is based on a system that allows volunteers to exchange ‘time credits’ for the time they volunteer. When a member gives an hour of their time they are able to redeem a reciprocal hour in return or donate it to an organisation or individual.

It is a NSW Government initiative and the local session is being hosted by the Clarence Valley Council with a visiting presentation from NSW Volunteering.

Mayor, Richie Williamson, said members could help each other and organisations with all sorts of personal services such as gardening, computer tutoring, cooking or a host of other activities.

“It can also help non government organisations recruit volunteers and help coordinate the services they provide,” he said.

For more information, visit www.timebanking.com.au

Details

What: Timebanking community engagement session

Where: Grafton Community Centre, 51 Duke St, Grafton

When: Thursday (November 6), 1-2.30pm

Cost: Free

RSVP: Tomorrow (Wed) 10am

Bushfire volunteers in October 2013

With the exception of one celebrity part-time firefighter, all professional and volunteer firefighters and their support teams deserve our unconditional and heartfelt thanks.

Running from the flames during back burning in New South Wales October 2013 bushfires.....

https://twitter.com/702sydney/media

Iluka Landcare celebrating its volunteers 3 November 2013

When you visit Bundjalung National Park and Iluka Nature

Reserve, you are within the traditional homelands of the

Bundjalung and Yaegl Nations. In caring for these lands,

we show our respect for elders past and present and their

strong spiritual and cultural connection to this Country.

ILUKA LANDCARE GROUPS

Celebration of 20 years of Landcare Volunteer Work in

Bundjalung National Park

Open Day Sunday 3rd Nov 2013

Dates and details to be confirmed

1 Deadly Nation: "Indigenous life expectancy is at third world levels and Mr Abbott is racking up huge bills to do nothing about it while claiming credit for work he simply doesn't do!"

Cross posted with permission from 1 Deadly Nation: Unity in Diversity 13 August 2013:

 Abbott, the Truth and Cost of his Indigenous Volunteering

By now we’ve all heard it, as soon as criticism of the LNP’s policies on Indigenous Affairs (or lack thereof ) are raised the default position of LNP members, journalists and the apologists of in action is rolled out. Tony Abbott volunteers in Indigenous communities we are told, he goes for a week a year and these statements of “fact” are usually then followed by a barrage of holier than thou tripe about how much Mr Abbott could teach the rest of us….

So sure of this position, so much has it become the accepted reality, that statements from the LNP and journalists come to us on this subject with gay abandon. Take last night on the ABC’s Q and A program:-

CHRISTOPHER PYNE: We know that Tony Abbott works in Indigenous communities at least a week or two a year, and he has said that if he is elected Prime Minister that he will continue to do that and that he will take senior bureaucrats with him. He has done that in Cape York…

We know this do we? This just goes completely unchallenged and is gospel truth is it? Well here is what I know.

In August of 2012 Tony Abbott did indeed go to Cape York, but it wasn’t for a week or two as Mr Pyne suggests. It was for 2 days! It was a working bee of sorts and some of Australia’s business leaders were taken along to volunteer as well. Photos of Abbott with tools in hand were taken and the myth of Abbott the saviour of the Black man had a wonderful photo op. No problem so far until you examine the  Expenditure on Entitlements paid by the Department of Finance and Deregulation to Mr Abbott for this trip of “Volunteering”. And what do we find on page 12? An amount of $9,636.36, tax payer dollars, to fund the hire of a private charter flight for the 2 days. I don’t know about you, but when I volunteer to hammer in a few nails for a day or two I don’t ask the people of Australia to cough up 10k. That isn’t volunteering, that is the most expensive labourer in the history of Australia. I wonder what the sandwiches cost….(http://www.finance.gov.au/publications/parliamentarians-reporting/docs/P31/ABBOTT_Tony.pdf page 12.)

So was this a once off? Not on your life!

On another one of his trips to an Indigenous Community Mr Abbott was off to sell his version of the Wild Rivers Legislation to the traditional owners it would impact. Not quite volunteering as such, but policy is good and spending time in Indigenous communities is to be encouraged if it results in consultation that means that locals get their message across and this results in positive policy changes. So just how much did Mr Abbott listen to the local people of the Indigenous community he visited? How much was this reflected in his policy? Because hey, we know (or are told) he has the ear of the Black man…

”We do not support his shonky Bill,” said activist Murrando Yanner of the Carpentaria Land Council. ”We think it is badly drafted and legally unenforceable.” ”He will leave unhappy,” said Mr Yanner, who supports the existing Wild River legislation. ”His new Bill is a dogs breakfast.’

Well, that didn’t go to plan. It was neither volunteering nor listening to the locals. No harm in trying I suppose and if you spent the week out in the community helping it has some purpose, but little use if the status quo is maintained and you ignore the wishes of the people you supposedly assist. Well there is some harm and it wasn’t for a week. The harm comes in the form of another private charter flight, cost to the tax payer, $32,545.00. Because nothing says I volunteer to help those in need like a 30k ride in a jet. Oh and that week or two Pyne talks about? That trip that cost we the tax payer $32,545.00 in flights alone, was for just one night! (http://www.finance.gov.au/publications/parliamentarians-reporting/docs/T28/ABBOTT_Tony.pdf p29)

So when weeks are days and days cost tens of thousands of dollars and volunteering is photo ops and not listening to the traditional owners of the land you have to rename these volunteering trips. Tony Abbott’s very expensive, tax payer funded, private jet flown, not listening tours of outback Australia.

Next time an LNP member or journalist drops the “Abbott volunteers for weeks in Indigenous communities” line, call bullshit and then refer them to the figures. Three days and nearly $45000 in flights alone…, if that’s volunteering the rest of us are really doing it all wrong. Many of us, some one million odd Australians, do volunteer every year for community organisations, they slog their guts out, donate large amounts of money and never even ask for a thank you. The audacity of this public lie should be even more shocking when we remember that Indigenous life expectancy is at third world levels and Mr Abbott is racking up huge bills to do nothing about it while claiming credit for work he simply doesn’t do!