I READ an interesting quote from the federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester who said: “The further you are away from the natural environment, the more likely you are to vote Green.”
This is not only a truism, but also highlights a huge problem in Australian politics, our environment and, as a consequence, environmental politics.
Because unfortunately we are getting decisions being made based on the views of those who do not understand the environments they claim they want to protect, fuelled by like-minded city-based politicians with a focus on votes rather than positive outcomes.
Never has this been more evident than throughout implementation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
The plan was built on a political need to shore up these city-based environmental votes, while also protecting important seats in South Australia. Communities in blue ribbon eastern seats were considered expendable.
Now we have a plan with poorly modelled volumes that were legislated in 2012 and, because of the Greens’ balance of power, cannot be changed, even despite unequivocal evidence (highlighted during recent flood events) that delivering such volumes from upper Murray storages to the South Australian lower lakes is impossible without man-made flooding that will cause damage to public and private infrastructure.
This is environmental madness, all to achieve political gain. But it will have no impact on the majority of Green supporters and city environmental ideologists because, as Chester says, they are the furthest away from this natural environment.
They don’t live it, they don’t understand it and, if truth be known, while they claim to care, in reality the cost of their latte is probably a higher priority.
Do we get frustrated at the nonsensical decisions that adversely impact our communities and the natural environments in which we actually live? You bet we do.
Laurie Beer
Mayrung, NSW
