Hyatt Coolum Development

"Sunshine Coast Council needs to stop approving developments, " says Vegan Warrior, Jaylene Musgrave. The juggernaut that is bulldozers clearing land and councils hell bent on more housing estates, more shopping centres and turning anything that has trees and wildlife on it into a concrete block needs to be halted. Native animals are now seen dead on roads rather than in their natural homes. The Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital in Queensland near the Sunshine Coast sees over 7000 native animals each year, the majority because they are fleeing machinery that is destroying their homes.

Land-clearing Victims

The juggernaut that is bulldozers clearing land and councils hell bent on more housing estates, more shopping centres and turning anything that has trees and wildlife on it into a concrete block needs to be halted. Native animals are now seen dead on roads rather than in their natural homes.

"If we don’t stand up and start making some noise and demanding land be kept for wildlife, we will only have ourselves to blame," says Jaylene Musgrave, who founded Australia's Vegan Warriors in 2008. Jaylene was recently nominated for the Pride of Australia Medal 2010, which recognises people who give themselves without fear or favour and people deserving of our thanks and recognition.[1] You can download a video about Jaylene's work here.

The Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital in Queensland near the Sunshine Coast sees over 7000 native animals each year, the majority because they are fleeing machinery that is destroying their homes. Ms Musgrave says that Vegan Warriors’ barrister, Peter Lavac, has approached Sunshine Coast City Council to stop the over development of the region.

"Council needs to stop approving developments," she says.

Lend Lease: Land-clearing profiteers

On 4 September, Vegan Warrior spokeswoman, Jaylene Musgrave, stated that, "Following several emails exchanged between Vegan Warriors and Lend Lease requesting the developers start putting their money where their mouths are and financially support the rescue, care and rehabilitation of the thousands of native animals injured and displaced by their bulldozers, it seems it is much easier to talk up their environmental kudos than actually do anything substantial."

International alarm at Australia's overdevelopment and wildlife depletion

She complained that that mass land clearing happening on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland, Australia, has attracted the attention of the international press, including the BBC, which commissioned a photographer to fly out to Queensland.

http://koalaland.com.au/6-30-with-george-negus
#10;<a href=" http:="">http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hack/stories/s3220058.htm

Lend-Lease should underwrite the damage it does to Australia's wild spaces and creatures

She described Lend Lease as having a website that "boasts that they 'replenish the planet' and work 'holistically' with the environment. She found these "huge statements" confusing, and her group contacted the developer corporation to ask for an explanation.

"We were told by the Project Manager of the Hyatt Coolum Development, which has left roos and birds without their homes and hit and killed by cars, that we should contact Main Roads to organise signs warning motorists of wildlife."

Jaylene says that this isn't her group's responsibility. She thought that the developers should have already arranged for such signs. She wondered why they did not attend to this as soon as possible.

According to Vegan Warriors a serious financial commitment to the wildlife cause would be a good way for Lend Lease to show that it really cares. Since the Sunshine Coast Koala Wildlife Rescue Service operates 7 days a week without any funding and rescues thousands of animals a year because of the impacts of development, Lend Lease might begin with some good works there. For instance, the rescue service desperately requires a new truck and it would be of great benefit for Lend Lease to donate one.

"Lend Lease, who make millions upon millions through bulldozing the homes of our wildlife need to make financial commitments that equate this, not just donations for local nurseries. The Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital takes in over 8,600 native animals a year, and these are the lucky ones who make it."

Vegan Warriors have extended an open invitation to Lend Lease to ride shotgun with the twin brothers who run the koala rescue service to witness first hand the devastation being caused by over development.

For comments, contact Jaylene Musgrave at veganwarriors[AT]live.com.au
www.veganwarriors.com.au
PH: 0448 310 640

NOTES

[1] "Supreme Master Ching Hai's organisation is the distributor of the award. This is an organisation with bhuddist-like values and a female leader. You can read more on Wikipedia about Ching Hai. Although the organisation has been criticised for a corporate approach to business and the leader for self-publicising, others might see this as putting the enemy of the environment's own methods to good use. Financial inscrutability has also been implied, but the sums involved seem quite small and the criticisms lacking detail compared to what one usually expects of reports on corporate financial misbehaviour, such as with Enron, or Australian political party shell companies. Candobetter.net would be interested to have comments and more information for and against this organisation. It is hard to sustain criticism for an organisation which appears to offer substantial support and publicity to people all over the world who are kind to animals and try to save the environment, especially when our economies are entirely dominated by organisations hell-bent on destroying our surroundings and life support base for profit. The fact that the organisation has a female leader is also an unusual and positive attribute in a world where most religions have male dominated corporate bases.

According to Supreme Master Ching Hai, "The Quan Yin Method requires two and a half hours of meditation per day and adherence to five precepts borrowed from the Five Precepts of Buddhism:

Refrain from taking the life of sentient beings.
Refrain from speaking what is not true.
Refrain from taking what is not offered.
Refrain from sexual misconduct.
Refrain from the use of intoxicants."

Readers may also wonder if candobetter.net has a religious or vegan bias. No. Candobetter.net is a website for reform in democracy, environment, population, land use planning and energy policy. Our writers come from various walks of life, but they all have a commitment to these principles. Human forces working for the environment are rare and you can find initiatives for such reforms in unusual places, some of which do have religious and vegan bases. Conversely, human forces working against the environment are vast, obscenely wealthy and multitudinous and include religious, political and corporate organisations which benefit from property development and consume everything, including their own children's future.