The meeting showed huge community concern over our deteriorating living conditions and what the future holds. There are many community groups with detailed knowledge of the mechanisms and laws around what is happening in their various specific trouble spots. These people are community-minded, dedicated, and well informed.
My first memories are of when I was a tiny sapling amongst my contemporaries bordering the fence line of a sprawling four bedroom house, a house which was the height of fashion in architecture back then in 1912. It was a lovely environment for me to grow up in as it was for the children who lived in the house. They used to spend a lot of time with us outside, especially in the warmer months. They had a swing suspended with ropes from a branch of one of the larger trees. Mostly they took it in turns, but occasionally they would quarrel over whose turn it was next. One of the children built a tree house in that same tree and used to sit up on high, higher than I was, reading his favourite books and eating biscuits.
Eventually the children grew up and moved away but not before many happy social occasions in that garden which became more complex and beautiful as we smaller trees grew, spreading and intertwining our branches, casting a filigree shade on the lawn.
The day the house was sold, we all looked on with trepidation. The first couple who had bought it moved to another city after being there for nearly thirty years We had enjoyed this family who didn't make a lot of demands on us and included us in their alfresco entertainment, rarely causing any cuts or abrasions of our roots with the lawn mower.
The house was auctioned and we trees were an important part part of the marketing campaign! I was thrilled and proud. The older trees had acquired an absolute grandeur of scale with their straight trunks. Although I say it myself, I was a very attractive … with delicate blossoms in summer. I was developing a character of my own. The house sold at auction for more than twice what "my family" had paid all those years ago. The new family had three children, already teenagers. We didn't see the same games played in the garden, but the children did spend a lot of time with us. The boys used to kick a football to one another, often bumping me in the same place on my trunk each time. It didn't really hurt, but was a little annoying. Despite this minor irritation, we were all good friends and co-existed happily. By this time I could see out into the street. I could not see over the house but, as I was near the fence, I had been looking out into the street for some time. It was interesting watching the passing trams, the cars, all in different colours, and the horse drawn vehicles. I came to know when the grey horse would pass by with ice for the ice chest inside our house and the brown horse hauling the bakers cart. They were happy days and I was never bored. I saw things slowly change over the next couple of decades. I no longer saw the horses, I saw more cars. The trams still rumbled along the track on the road. One day I got a terrible shock! I had been very friendly with a eucalypt over our fence. He was about my age but quite a bit taller. He used to enjoy watching what went on in our garden and we would chat over the fence. On this terrible day there was an ear splitting noise. I saw a man aloft in the next door tree. He was cutting off the branches some of which fell on top of me and into our garden. The next door tree looked terrified and was moaning with pain. I didn't know what to do and felt paralysed with grief. My friend was being decimated before my eyes. It was my first loss. I was sad when our first family left but I am a tree and I felt far more about losing a fellow tree than about people. Furthermore, I knew that our family was happy to be leaving, and were looking forward to new adventures. This loss of one of my kind, so sudden and unexpected, touched me at my very roots. Within an hour my friend was gone. I watched as, branch by branch, he disappeared and, finally, with a loud crack, he was felled to the ground. I was devastated, as were my contemporaries and the older trees. A silence fell in our garden for the next week. Gradually we started to talk and expressed our fears to one another. If this could happen to our neighbour what was to stop it happening to any of us? Apart from this fear things did not feel the same without our friend and neighbour. We were in shock, in fact, especially me. For the next few months I looked over the fence to see what was happening, why my friend had been removed. Small green sprouts started to appear and by summer there were a number of red fruits, tomatoes The man next door pulled on some of the leaves sprouting out of the ground - carrots , things he seemed to value highly and collect in a wicker basket. I could see that this produce could not have been grown with a large tree over shadowing and taking up space but was it worth the sacrifice? As years went by I got used to the new climate since our neighbour had been felled. I accepted the afternoon heat on my western side which had previously been shielded. Decades went by. The view into the street was far busier but less varied and interesting . The cars became large and square, more like buses. The trams still rumbled by, but sported a different more streamlined look. My job of absorbing carbon dioxide became harder and I felt tired more often. Fast forward to 2018. The house was sold again. We trees were not at all a marketing feature this time. The board at the front showed an ominous red outline around all of us seen from above and in context with other neighbouring properties. We were in the firing line. I could see that. The red outline meant that all land within it could be utilised, built on, and be a rental earner. Auction day came. The property sold for $2.16 million. The house did not count at all. People hardly looked inside. This was land value only, and the value was 300 times that of the land and the brand new house back in 1912! A feeling of doom come over me. I knew nobody would ever live in the house again. No children would ever again swing from our branches. There would be no more footballs kicked into my trunk, no more lazy summer afternoon parties in the shade of our branches. The bulldozers arrived. I trembled to my deepest roots. One by one members of my family were cut down as had been my friend from next door all those years ago. This time it was devastation. By the end of the day, nothing was left but me standing right on the edge near the fence, alone. I was just a specimen, a reminder, a nod to what had been before. As night fell, the cries of displaced possums reached me. Distress was in the air. My loneliness and fear were overwhelming. What was my future? What was going to surround me from now on? Now my roots are surrounded by concrete. I stand alone in an expanse of paving and concrete. I am dwarfed by a six storey block of apartments. Most of my view to the street is blocked by the width of this characterless edifice. It doesn't matter. I have lost interest as I have no company apart from two displaced magpies who now have nowhere to search for food. "……nothing but acres of tar and cement…..where are the lilacs?…all of it's gone….."
Loss
Acceptance
Under attack
The next day all was quiet. No work was done and rain fell on scars of what had been a haven in suburbia, a quiet place of contemplation. All was awash with gritty tears from a heavy sky.
A few days later the excavations began. Different coloured layers of clay were exposed as the earth that had supported my family of trees was discarded as a waste product of what was about to be constructed. My fate
It makes me think of an old song that I used to hear through the windows of the sprawling four bedroom house
Hoddle Street is a very long road in Melbourne, Victoria. Congestion in Melbourne is reaching ludicrous and unforgivable proportions. The treelined part of Hoddle Street is apparently being sacrificed without public consultation for the no-win race of government-engineered population growth.
Ian Hundley, of Protectors of Public Lands,Victoria took these photos yesterday of the before an after tree removal for lane widening in Hoddle street Melbourne. He wrote:
"I checked out the Hoddle Street capacity road works today. See photos taken from the Vere Steet footbridge (near Collingwood Town Hall) to the south which shows trees retained and to the north which shows where trees have been removed from the median. Also one of the signs which declares this is a project to connect communities. We must try to contain the mirth on that one - if they pull it off it will be the first traffic sewer to have brought communities together."
The sign Ian refers to reads, "Streamlining Hoddle Street-Connecting our communities." How completely facile! It must have been coined on a morning tea break without realisation that "streamlining " in this case means de-tree lining!
All this destruction is to help accommodate the additional 100,000 cars each year in Melbourne. The only way to widen a long established street like Hoddle Street is to either knock down houses and appropriate land or remove anything not absolutely necessary, that won't cost the government money, and for which the voices of complaint, from the avian inhabitants and the long-suffering public will not be heard.
I did not hear any public announcement of the removal of these trees. They are just gone. What difference will the additional traffic and the absence of the trees make in the immediate area to the noise levels and the temperature? So much of the local environment in Melbourne is being ripped apart to make way for population growth that if residents can't mitigate any of the damage it will just lead to feelings of hopelessness and despair. This plays into the hands of the growth manic state government and the various lobby groups feeding from growth.
Jill Quirk is the Secretary for Protectors of Public Lands, Victoria and was the long-time president of the SPAVICTas Branch of Sustainable Population Australia.
St Kilda Road and Hoddle Street widening to accommodate larger volumes of road traffic in Melbourne means bulldozing hundreds of beautiful, mature trees, cultivated in a time when people appreciated the importance of natural shade and beauty. This vandalism is caused by willful promotion of overpopulation by the Victorian State government. Furtively supported by an equally venal Opposition, invited economic mass immigration-caused population growth marches on like an invasion preceded by bulldozers, jack hammers and all manner of violence towards our environment and display of might by state governments. Australia grew by over half a million people between July 2016 and July 2017, although natural increase actually declined, almost certainly due to rising costs affecting Australia's fertility opportunity.[1]
Excuse me, but it seems that Pauline Hanson was right, at least on the numbers: We are being 'swamped' - at a rate of Overseas immigrants 63.0 : Australian citizens and residents 36.8 - by the numbers - wherever they come from. These latest growth figures were due 63% to overseas immigration; only 36.8% from natural increase between July 2016 and July 2017. (See the latest ABS graph and details below.) It doesn't matter where they come from; the point is that accommodating these numbers is overwhelming our native animal habitat, our infrastructure, our social organisation, our legal and planning system (which is changing to remove public consultation over expansion and which simply does not enforce wildlife protection laws) and our democracy - because government is more interested in feathering the pockets of the growth lobby than serving the electorate, keeping housing prices down, providing education to young people and helping local business.
The cause of the growth is Australian state governments' constant invitations to overseas immigrants to come and settle here, greatly magnified by internet reach since the late 1990s. Immigration marketing is typified by the illustration we have labelled "Immigration Hype", which depicts a young couple with a baby in a leafy suburb. The reality, of course, is that both young couples with babies and leafy suburbs are declining - due to incredibly high rates of immigration. Although population growth is the number one subject on radio, TV and print media, it is promoted slickly as 'vibrant', 'booming', 'bonanza', 'housing investment opportunity', and the constant citizen and resident protests [See /taxonomy/term/582 and /taxonomy/term/1193] are hardly ever even reported outside https://candobetter.net, thus many Australians feel alone in the midst of this onslaught.
Our governments don't listen to us, but they have even stopped talking normally to us. Instead they repetitively sloganize us about how 'livable' our cities are, like crass advertisers, backed solidly by the growth lobby mouthpiece of the mainstream press and the ABC. The latest boast that they are making is that Australia's population growth will move our economy up to 11th largest economy in the world. It's about as impressive as listening to teenagers boast about how much they can drink; we know it's going to end in a mess.
Our standards of living and quality of life are all plummeting, so we can only fear the future that our unrepresentative governments are socially engineering us towards. We have been a net-importer of petroleum for years. Our land is 30% hot desert and 40% non-arable rangeland. Our major inland river basin has been in ecological strife for more than a century and we are told that climate change will reduce rainfall. We face life-threatening increases in temperature and we are expanding into bigger and bigger heat-islands, called cities. Our non-consensual population increase policy will turn this land into a Mars. This land was wrested from a population that inhabited it sustainably for 60,000 years! And this is progress? Not!
Whilst immigration rates have gone up yet again, over the July 2016-2017 period, Australia's natural increase has actually declined. This decline can be explained by Virginia Abernethy's theory of the Fertility Opportunity,[1] where people see that the future looks dim, so they choose not to have children. This is surely the feeling young people must have as immigrants crowd in by the hundreds of thousands in an economic environment of ongoing deterioration in an already declining quality and standard of living for all but a tiny elite. See http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/living-standards-in-decline-as-real-wage-growth-stagnates/news-story/a95f1b82064fd39e919deec3fd0a9a91
For the 12 months ended 30 June 2017, Australia's population growth rate of 1.6% was above that of the world at 1.1%. Australia is growing at a faster rate than every selected country except for Papua New Guinea (2.1%). The Philippines and Singapore were the next fastest growing countries (both at 1.5%) followed by Malaysia (1.4%) and South Africa (1.3%).
According to figures from the United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs, Australia's population ranked 53rd highest in the world in 2017 and is projected to rank 56th by 2050. By 2050, India is projected to have displaced China as the most populous country with 1.7 billion people compared with 1.4 billion in China.
|
POPULATION, GROWTH RATE AND RANK (a)(b), Summary
|
||||||
|
|
||||||
 |
ESTIMATED RESIDENT POPULATION
|
PROJECTED POPULATION
|
RANK
|
|||
|
2016
|
2017
|
Growth Rate
|
2050
|
2017
|
2050
|
| Selected Countries |
million
|
million
|
%
|
million
|
no.
|
no.
|
|
|
||||||
| Australia |
24
|
25
|
1.6
|
38
|
53
|
56
|
| Canada |
36
|
37
|
0.9
|
45
|
38
|
46
|
| China (excl. SARs and Taiwan) |
1 404
|
1 410
|
0.4
|
1 364
|
1
|
2
|
| France |
65
|
65
|
0.4
|
71
|
22
|
28
|
| Greece |
11
|
11
|
-0.2
|
10
|
82
|
98
|
| Hong Kong (SAR of China) |
7
|
7
|
0.8
|
8
|
104
|
111
|
| India |
1 324
|
1 339
|
1.1
|
1 659
|
2
|
1
|
| Indonesia |
261
|
264
|
1.1
|
322
|
4
|
5
|
| Italy |
59
|
59
|
-0.1
|
55
|
23
|
36
|
| Japan |
128
|
127
|
-0.2
|
109
|
11
|
17
|
| Korea (South) |
51
|
51
|
0.4
|
50
|
27
|
41
|
| Malaysia |
32
|
32
|
1.4
|
42
|
45
|
50
|
| New Zealand |
5
|
5
|
1.0
|
6
|
125
|
126
|
| Papua New Guinea |
8
|
8
|
2.1
|
14
|
101
|
86
|
| Philippines |
103
|
105
|
1.5
|
151
|
13
|
13
|
| Singapore |
6
|
6
|
1.5
|
7
|
115
|
120
|
| South Africa |
56
|
57
|
1.3
|
73
|
25
|
27
|
| Sweden |
10
|
10
|
0.7
|
12
|
89
|
93
|
| United Kingdom |
66
|
66
|
0.6
|
75
|
21
|
26
|
| United States of America |
322
|
324
|
0.7
|
390
|
3
|
4
|
| Viet Nam |
95
|
96
|
1.0
|
115
|
15
|
16
|
| World |
7 467
|
7 550
|
1.1
|
9 772
|
. .
|
. .
|
|
|
||||||
| . . not applicable | ||||||
| (a) Selected countries include major OECD countries, the world's most populous countries, Australia's closest neighbours and trading partners. | ||||||
| (b) Selected country and world estimates and projections for 2016/2017 and 2050 are from United Nations World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision (medium variant projections). | ||||||
| Source: Australian estimates - this issue of Australian Demographic Statistics (cat. no. 3101.0); Australian projections; Series B in Population Projections, Australia, 2012 (base) to 2101 (cat. no. 3222.0). Selected country and world estimates and projections - United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2017). World Population Prospects: the 2017 Revision, custom data acquired via website (medium variant projections). | ||||||
Your reference for the graphs and quotations from the Australian Bureau of Statistics is: http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Latestproducts/3101.0Main%20Features2Jun%202017?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=3101.0&issue=Jun%202017&num=&view=: Annual Population Change, Year ending 30 June 2017.
The Fertility Opportunity Theory: "The causal relationship between perceived opportunity and desired family size is described as the fertility opportunity hypothesis. The fertility opportunity hypothesis accounts for either rising or falling fertility rates.
Absolute level of poverty or affluence is not the primary factor driving decisions and action. Motivation derives from perception. Perceptions arise relative to past experiences or by comparison with a reference group. Thus, the fertility opportunity hypothesis applies in hunter-gatherer societies, agrarian societies, and both developing and industrialized countries. The belief that resources are ample, or not, develops against a specific society’s baseline expectations.
Whereas some demographers still write as though modernization and prosperity are necessary preconditions for smaller family size, the fertility opportunity hypothesis documents a nearly opposite dynamic. People in all types of societies work to limit births when they perceive that resources are shrinking, margins are smaller, and competition has stiffened." Cited from Virginia Abernethy, "Fossil Fuel Energy and Fertility Rates," Vanderbilt University, 2004. https://media.eurekalert.org/aaasnewsroom/2004/2Abernethy-FossilFuel-Paper.doc
There is an urgent need to translate our environment back into its true value. In a decade the price tag given today will look like a joke and we will ask, ”How could we have relinquished that land, (that river, those wetlands) for such a small sum?”
Over the last 40 years our environment has been increasingly spoken of in the public domain in terms of its monetary value. This was reinforced to me at a recent meeting where the speaker made it clear that tree and general nature conservation arguments must be expressed to the powers that be and associated bean counters in these terms. The attribution of a dollar value to something so complex and so vital to us as our natural environment is absurdly inadequate yet it has blinded and desensitised the minds of many to actual values. A translation back from the dollar is needed.
Once upon a time there was barter: transfer of goods between place of origin and place needed in exchange for what was considered of equal value. Then there was “currency” which acted as an intermediary for this exchange.
Currency was and still is used for its convenience, as it allows for a time lag in reciprocation and the ability to store credit. It serves a purpose.
Fast forward a few thousand years and find yourself in Australia. In the early 21st century. Not only goods are given a monetary value - let’s call it a $ value- but all that we see around us, all of nature, including natural processes that serve our needs and are vital to our survival are not real to those in power unless they are given a $ value. The $ (a human construct ) has become the end rather than the means. Trees that shade our local environments, keep us cool and are home to the birds whose song we enjoy may only be retained after their effects are translated into an ongoing $ value as in the savings on air conditioning and road re-surfacing. The $, whose buying- power is in fact fugitive and changeable, becomes the ultimate “measure” of the worth of things !
Bays and waterways, national parks and wild life, are considered by governments in respect to their tourist-pulling power rather than their intrinsic value as our enduring heritage and common wealth. The cart now goes before the horse, the tail wags the dog and the $ is now our tyrant . This despotism turns our attention from what we have to what we can aspire to, what can be acquired at the local mega store, to fulfill our material dreams. Or so we think.
When we are thus distracted from our surroundings , we can, in the blink of an eye, lose what we already have.
Translation of everything into the dollar ($ ), reduces beauty and benefits to numerals, and completely ignores subjectivity. So the joy of seeing something or being somewhere is not counted. This imperative to see everything in DOLLAR ($ ) terms means that our governments, our bureaucrats are dissuaded from using their mature judgement, abiding instead by the formula. Normal everyday people now even talk this way, in $ terms as though this is the real currency of our environment.
There is an urgent need to translate our environment back into its true value. In a decade the price tag given today will look like a joke and we will ask, ”How could we have relinquished that land, (that river, those wetlands) for such a small sum?”
We have been had. The value of an urban forest must be seen for itself as a cooling, calming, wildlife-accommodating irreplaceable oasis to be enjoyed, rather than a $2 million piece of potential housing real estate. $2 million will look totally ridiculous in a decade and the loss is permanent. It cannot be bought back once it has been put to another use. The $ value is ultimately meaningless.
We need to see things again for what they are, not through the $ medium. $s are handy for every day transactions but ridiculously inadequate and inappropriate for a unique geographical feature or area. Let’s ditch our $ glasses and really see our world, maybe for the first time in some people’s lives.
Let’s not lose our world in the useless one-way translation into the $ dollar. Earth is not a tradeable commodity.
Dr Greg Moore will speak on “The Importance of Preserving Trees in Urban Landscapes” at Protectors of Public Lands Victoria Inc's 2016 AGM at Flemington Community Centre, Debneys Park, Mt Alexander Road Flemington. If arriving early you can relax in the foyer of the Centre. in 2 pm for 2:15 pm start on Saturday 19 November 2016.
Venue: Flemington Community Centre, Debneys Park, Mt Alexander Road Flemington. If arriving early you can relax in the foyer of the Centre.
PPL VIC is holding our 2016 AGM as follows:
Time and Date: 2 pm for 2:15 pm start on Saturday 19 November 2016.
Venue: Flemington Community Centre, Debneys Park, Mt Alexander Road Flemington. If arriving early you can relax in the foyer of the Centre.
Transport: Thanks to the City of Moonee Valley this is one of the most accessible community centres in Melbourne with a carpark at the front door; Trams - No 59 tram along Mt Alexander Rd and Flemington Rd. No 23 tram stop; Trains station on Upfield line nearby; and the Centre is on a Cycle Path.
Key Speaker: PPL VIC is honoured to have as key speaker Dr Greg Moore who will speak on: “The Importance of Preserving Trees in Urban Landscapes.” He is well known as Chair the National Trust of Victoria’s Register of Significant Trees and has been in this position since 1996. Many will remember him as Principal of Burnley College of the Institute of Land Food Resources at Melbourne University (1988 to 2007.) He was Head of the School of Resource Management at the University (2002 to 2007.) PPL VIC and community groups thank the National Trust for its work in protecting heritage trees and in particular the work with the recent campaign to save the Lemon Scented Gums in the road reservation in Flemington Road from the City Link Tulla Widening project.
Recent comments