The NR excels in high welfare dependency and high youth...

The NR excels in high welfare dependency and high youth unemployment. The biggest employers are government (Healthcare and Social Assistance, the University and Councils).  NR private enterprise is failing.

Big retailers are closing down in every town and there are whispers about more to come:
https://www.facebook.com/LismoreRadio/posts/632736013489648

A foodbank has been established in Kyogle offering subsidised groceries.   One wonders what effect this will have on the legitimate local IGA supermarket. Will this need to rethink its existence too?
http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2014/06/24/4031770.htm?site=northcoast

It is suggested that tourism replace the Timber and Dairy industries, both in serious decline.  With the drought, why not include Beef too?

The solution proposed is the Northern Rivers Rail Trail (a walking and bike trail between Casino and Murwillumbah):   
http://www.northernriversrailtrail.org.au/benefits/community

What does tourism give back?  They leave their rubbish behind, littering our highways; and they’re  profligate with their water use too.

Perhaps a better alternative is that a gas pipeline follow the Rail Trail to connect with the Tweed gas infrastructure?

Major Jenny Dowel knows that tourism is in decline in the Northern Rivers (-7.5% p.a.).  As  President of NOROC she released the Northern Rivers Social Profile 2013, comparing the Northern Rivers decline with the mid-North Coast’s increase:
http://www.nrsdc.org.au/regional-social-plan/3956-northern-rivers-social-profile-launched.html

With poor road maintenance and little tourism investment, tourists are likely to remain in the coastal towns. Lismore, Casino or Kyogle are not a destination – they’re a thoroughfare for travelers to more exciting destinations.

Could Cr Dowel’s $300K expenditure on street sculpture (a Qld import) have been better spent on roads, for example?  I hear a number of high street parking spaces have been sacrificed for this sculpture, upsetting retailers and the public alike.  More closures to come?
http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2014/07/16/4046963.htm

So, yes, we need the gas.  The economy of the NR is in terminal decline.

We are not the Hunter Valley.  Vignerons and Bloodstock are protected because they are multi-million dollar investments, employing thousands.

I don’t know why the hairies are worried about sugar cane and macadamia.  Just because a PEL has been issued, it doesn’t mean there is gas within it.  

The Hunter and the Northern Rivers share a similar land area, the Hunter has nearly 3 times the NR population because they have jobs and industry and we do not.

Finally, Tasmania is introducing new anti-protest laws. They’re jack of the Greens.  NSW, where are you?  Step up.  Protect your industry and workers.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-08/unions-stage-an-anti-protest-protests-in-hobart/5658160