Miscellaneous comments from 25 August 2012

In brief: The question of whether Australia should welcome population growth or avoid it remains unresolved. The issue raises its head in public debate in different guises – from controversies over importing labour to fill vacancies in booming industries like mining, to temporary work visas and refugee quotas, from pressure on infrastructure and services in cities to boosting regional areas. Pantera Press have published a guide to both sides of this debate in Why vs Why™ Big Australia, being released 22 August 2012. The book presents an accessible and balanced view of both sides of the argument for and against a big Australia aimed at a mainstream audience. In conjunction with the release, YourView is raising the issue for public debate. Unlike other forums, YourView identifies the collective wisdom - the considered collective view of the participants. Below, we'd like to hear your view. But first, consider the cases for and against made in the book: Yes Case Dr Oliver Hartwich and Jessica Brown No Case Mark O’Connor Please VOTE Even the title is already tainted with bias, beyond logic!

Wendy Shirley, Executive Officer of the South Australian Volunteer Fire Brigades Association was interviewed on ABC News Radio just now. She called for the reinstatement of regional volunteer support officers who were removed a year ago. She rightly complained of the burden of paperwork imposed up on volunteer bush fire fighters which is leading to dwindling numbers of people prepared to volunteer. The call to reinstate the federal public servants who once managed volunteer bush firefighters also raises the question of why volunteer firefighters should not also be paid for their work.

That fewer are prepared to volunteer for volunteer firefighting services seems yet another consequence of fewer and fewer people having time for rest, recreation, personal interests or community service.

This is a consequence of the increasing cost of living and the overall complexity of life. The living costs that are constantly going up include principally housing rent or the interest on finance necessary to pay for a housing mortgage. On top of that, population growth, compounded by poor urban design, force many families to buy a second or even a third car where, barely a generation ago, one was more than sufficient. Many hours have to be spent every day by at least one member of each family commuting to and from work, schools, universities, shops and other amenities often in gridlocked freeway traffic.

One way or another more of those who provide services should be rewarded for the services provided. This society's excessive reliance on voluntarism is a symptom of the mean spirit of economic rationalism that was explicitly introduced without any electoral mandate by the neoliberal Federal 'Labor' Treasurer Paul Keating in 1983. Economic neoliberalism has since become the doctrine to which all state and federal governments are expected to adhere by corporations and their newsmedia.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr says Chinese investment in Australia is a good deal for the Australian nation. Treasurer Wayne Swan's approval for the sale of Australia's largest cotton grower, Cubbie Station, to a Chinese-dominated consortium. "We accept the situation that our biggest customer (China) will, from time-to-time, see it appropriate to own a bit of an Australian business," Senator Carr told Sky News on Sunday. The Weekly Times "China can continue to underpin a great deal of prosperity by buying from us, but on the way through, they will want to do a bit more of what they're already doing," he said. Just because China is a strong export customer of Australia, it gives then no rights to our freehold, our agricultural land and water rights. Carr is confusing short-term financial gain with long term prosperity and national interests. It's a mistake commonly made by politicians, who are only accountable for their times in office. "That would be a good deal, that will keep them buying from us", he said. It sound very much like that if we want to guarantee that China remains our customer, we must continue to grease their palms by allowing them to buy massive amounts of Australian assets. Ironically, Bob Carr was a excellent Premier for over 10 years, and rightfully believed that Sydney was "full". He's also the patron of Sustainable Population Australia. Bob Carr is a "big picture" person, not one for details. He spent on infrastructure, and this caused State debt. As Premier he hosted the world’s best Olympics in 2000 and achieved the nation’s best school literacy levels. He was made a life member of the Wilderness Society and created 350 new national parks. He also ended duck shooting, and is a patron of Voiceless. However, this time he is letting his country down. He is undermining Australia as a sophisticated country by assuming that we have to submit to the superpower of China. The purchase by China would introduce more complexity to the Murray-Darling plan under which water will be demanded from the Lower Balonne. The station was created by amalgamating 12 floodplain properties to give Cubbie a total of 51 water licences. Its huge water storage dams stretch for more than 28 km along the Culgoa River, part of the Murray-Darling system. The water is used to supply 130 km² of irrigated cotton and other crops including wheat, which brings in about $50 million a year. Either he is blindly following Party policies, in an effort to secure his career, or his judgement now is impaired. Maybe Bob Carr's prime has passed and he is going down the route to conservative, global party politics. If we are accused of "xenophobia" then rightly so! The fears are quite legitimate considering Australia is the driest continent with limited fertile soils - and our government is one of the most pro-globalization in the world!

German economist Philipp Bagus, author of The Tragedy of the Euro, told CBN News. "The problem is too high debt, too high deficits. The states are just too big," he explained. "This self-destructive mechanism could have been prevented." Energy has become a permanent and, perhaps, the most important matter at the latest three G8 Summits. If all the people we will have on earth by 2025 were to have Australia's present per capita oil consumption world oil production would have to be 15 times what it will probably be then. Impressive figures for solar and wind energy are often cited, but these refer to the best experimental sites and do not take into account the very high storage and transport costs and losses that would be associated with attempting to base current rich world living standards on renewable energy sources. The rising grain prices, food riots, and famine parts of the world have experienced in the past few years are purely an outcome of population growth to worry that at some point further growth will be limited by constrained food supplies. Our politicians may thus have an incentive NOT to fix the problems, since the problems promote the growth that swells government revenues. They see more economic growth as the solution to debt. In Europe and the United States, expected GDP growth rates appear to be trending toward expected contraction, rather than growth. This could be evidence of Limits to Growth, of the type described in the 1972 book by that name.

Full article on Global Research

Their demonstrations have shaken Quebec in recent months, and on September 20th students and environmentalists won major victories.

At her first news conference as premier, Pauline Marois announced that her Parti Québécois government had cancelled the university tuition fees increase imposed by the Charest Liberal government, and would repeal the repressive provisions of Law 12 (formerly Bill 78)

Charest had imposed in his efforts to smash the province’s massive student strike. Among other things, this will remove the restrictions on public demonstrations and the threat of decertification of student associations.

In addition, Marois has ordered the closing of Gentilly-2, Quebec’s only nuclear reactor, while promising funding to promote economic diversification to offset job losses resulting from the shutdown. And she will proceed with her promise to cancel a $58-million government loan to reopen the Jeffrey Mine, Quebec’s last asbestos mining operation.

End to Shale Gas Exploration

The new Natural Resources minister, Martine Ouellet, followed up by announcing an end to shale gas exploration and development in Quebec. ...

Regional Australia Minister Simon Crean has backed calls by sections of the ethnic business community in South Australia for Labor to support a Big Australia through policy decisions and incentives for immigrants.

Crean crosses PM's vision for Australia

"I believe in a Big Australia," Mr Crean told senior politicians and corporate heavyweight in Adelaide this week.

He's suffering from megalomania, and a "big" syndrome. It's hardly a "vision" but a reality-distortion problem.

At least he has identified the source of the lobby group - ethnic business community and not the mainstream voters. As Regional minister, he obviously is not listening to regional constituents, or the vast majority of Australian voters.

Over the next 30 years the number of over-65-year-olds will double. However, adding more migrants to dilute the ageing will create a Ponzi-like scheme, which will require further influxes of young migrants to compensate for their ageing! It's like selling snake-oil products to delude people that they can buy the elixir of youth.

Australia is already struggling to preserve the Murray Darling Basin, the Great Barrier Reef, and the tide of species extinctions.
The economy is a sub-set of the environment, not the contrary.

The Cornucopia idea is one based on the Horn of plenty, that overflows for human welfare. It's based on the myth that when it comes to human desires, and whims, Nature will be forever bountiful and compliant with our dreams of riches and economic benefits. Other species don't have the same privileges, only humans. Sustainable Population Australia's Dr Coulter said "This is totally untenable in environmental, social and economic terms."

Minister Simon Crean's magnanimous and misdirected grandiose ideas need to be treated with a reality check, and maybe some therapy. He should study the constancy and beauty of Nature, the web of life, and comprehend that the permanence of the successful, most ancient, species on our planet have remained sheltered in long-surviving, untouched and stable habitats. We should be making plans to manage natural resource depletion, not aggravating misanthropic growth!

The vast majority of Australian do not want a "big Australia", something earlier Julia Gillard dismissed when she became Prime Minister, in response to Kevin Rudd's diplomatic blunder. Mr Crean's position puts him at odds with Julia Gillard, who has called for "a sustainable Australia, not a Big Australia". However, we are still heading towards "big Australia", only be stealth and not vocally.

Simon Crean not only is abandoning reason, is is committing political suicide by pushing our nation further towards a "big Australia" and inevitable implosion under the weight of human biomass.

Elephants are being killed for ivory. While elephants have some protection through the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), several African nations regularly request that CITES Conference of the Parties allow further sales of ivory from existing stockpiles. The trade in wildlife body parts is horrific, and decimating animal numbers - hurtling some species towards extinction. Please sign: ENDING IVORY TRADE IFAW

If you care about animals and want to protect them from cruelty,together we will stand side by side against live export on Saturday October 6 in Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra and Hobart. Despite assurances from the Australian Government that cruelty in the live export trade would be addressed, animals continue to be neglected, brutalised, have their throats cut while fully conscious, and recently, were buried alive. Tragedy after tragedy reveals that animals exported live will always be at risk. And yet, they continue to be sent. This sends the appalling message to the rest of the world that Australia accepts animal cruelty. The animals are depending on us — we must urgently let politicians know that caring Australians will not vote for political parties that support live export. This is your chance to join with others at a family-friendly event to rally for a kinder future for animals. Hear from Animals Australia investigator Lyn White, leading politicians, and other inspiring speakers Mass petition signing Other campaign activities Placards will be provided, including child-friendly signs Animals Australia Live Export Rally - get event details for you State

Enough land to grow food for a billion hungry people has been sold off in developing countries over the last 10 years, prompting international aid agency Oxfam to call for a six-month freeze. Land grab leaves a billion hungry Oxfam head of economic justice, Kelly Dent, said the world's hungry were most at risk from land grabs. Land-grabs, following direct and indirect investments in land by large European financial institutions, mean European companies are snatching up land, increasingly in Africa. This comes at the expense of local livelihoods and food sovereignty, in addition to causing knock on environmental devastation through land-use change. It's been argued that it would lead to food insecurity, hunger, poverty and convert the country from net food exporter to food importer – grave threat signs of which have already become visible. Foreign investors have bought up more than 100 million hectares of land in poor countries in the last decade in deals which could be contributing to hunger and poverty, campaigners have warned. The last global food price crisis in 2008 and 2009 saw land deals treble because they were seen as a profitable investment, Oxfam said, and with food prices at around record levels once more, there could be another wave of land grabs. In Africa the need for land has lead to struggles for state power in vastly overpopulated regions such as the Great Lakes Region and Rwanda and Burundi in particular while globally it is becoming ever more pertinent to national security concerns. Agriculture in Africa is in a very deep crisis, indeed. And we have to realize that four fifth of all farmers live of a small bit of land, on which they are cultivate some food on which they and their families live. They are being deprived by land robbery, by people coming from outside who have nothing to do with the country. These are predatory people who do not have the population/people of the country in their minds and hearts, but they have very different interests - in profits and their own nation's food security. It is estimated that there will be another billion people added over the next 15 years and yet another billion before mid-century. We have a food crisis, an oil crisis, a water crisis, soil crisis, shrinking economies, a jobs crisis, an immigration crisis and a population crisis. All these problems are harder to solve with a growing population exacerbating diminishing resources, adding to greed, terror and stress. Clearer signs of overpopulation and Limits to Growth would be hard find! Ironically, Oxfam refuse to recognise the problem of overpopulation as the cause of climate change- because under-developed countries produce less per capita carbon emissions, and they need more people of working age to care for the elderly! Population: why it’s a dangerous distraction on climate change (and makes us feel uncomfortable)

Good News! The French news France 2 JTof 9 October, report that 11 European countries have agreed to put a tax on financial transactions so the law will go ahead. No surprise that the major dissenter is the UK. Tax contemplated will be between 0.01% and 0.1% on every stock market transaction. Purpose to make the markets more responsible. France also would like to use profits to finance European institutions. Germany is against this use of the funds. This will set the cat among the pidgeons internationally, showing, once again, how democratically corrupt the Anglophone countries are. I predict that not only the UK, but Canada, USA and Australia will all try to hold out against this. I wonder if the Middle Eastern countries will come on board with Europe. I think that they probably will. Then, where will China stand? Interesting times.

Subject:
PETA: Letters Urgently Needed: 104 Rescued Bears Face Eviction
From:
Claire Fryer
Date:
Thu, 11 Oct 2012 15:34:36 +1000
To:
'Claire Fryer'

Hi Activists!

Our friends at Animals Asia Foundation need our help! Animals Asia’s Vietnam Bear Rescue Center has been rescuing bears from the cruel bile industry but now is facing a closure of its facilities without warrant. The eviction comes following an aggressive campaign by Tam Dao National Park director Do Dinh Tien claiming that the area is of national defense significance. Mr. Tien’s daughter has investments in Truong Giang Tam Dao Joint Stock Company, a company that has submitted an application for “eco-tourism” and hotel development of the site that the rescue center currently occupies. The eviction would cause the rescue center’s 104 bears to be removed from the facility and the 77 local staff to be without employment. The financial loss to Animals Asia would be upwards of $2 million USD but the tragedy of the loss of a home for these bears and the countless hours of hard work by their staffers, volunteers, and supporters cannot be estimated. Please join PETA in speaking up for Animals Asia Foundation by sending in a letter to the Prime Minister of Vietnam the Honorable Nguyen Tan Dung.

Animals Asia Foundation is asking for our help with letters and petitions. You can view more here.

You can send your letters to the Prime Minister by e-mailing [email protected].

Public pressure can often be the main impetus for change! To make sure your letter has a good chance of being seen, follow these tips:

· Put “Stop the eviction of Animals Asia’s Vietnam Bear Rescue Centre” in the subject line of e-mails.

· Be brief! Sometimes one short, pithy paragraph is enough—try to stay under 300 words (about half of one typed page). Conclude by asking for a response.

· Be polite and concise. Keep everything relevant to the closure of Animals Asia Vietnam Bear Rescue Center. Never be threatening or insulting.

· Make sure you include your name and address in your letter.

For more tips on writing effective letters, please see PETA U.S.’ letter-writing guide.

The following are talking points that you can rephrase in your letter to get you started:

· Animals Asia Foundation is working hard in Vietnam to help animals that desperately need it. The closure of their bear rescue center is uncalled for and unfair. The words and acts of Mr. Do Dinh Tien are not truthful. Please ask him to hold to the decision that he made with Animals Asia in 2008. This is not a defense issue, it is a greed issue! This land was promised for the rescued bears and they should not have to suffer for someone’s business interests.

· These bears have suffered enough. These bears need the stability and home that they were promised. Animals Asia is helping the country of Vietnam and the world. Any compassionate person would not want to support this forced eviction of Animals Asia.

Thank you in advance for your action for animals! If you have any questions, I can be reached at

ClaireF[AT]peta.org.au.

For all animals,

Claire Fryer
Campaign Coordinator
PETA Australia