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Some good news in Qld (at the moment!)

To: Sonja Ross <>
Subject: Some good news in Qld (at the moment!)
From: Kim Sterelny <>
Date: Thu, 16 May 2013 07:18:39 +0000
Dear All

I was also born in the country, though have long lived in the city, and I know 
how emotionally and financially brutal drought is. But it is still worth 
remembering that using national parks as fodder of last resort (i) removes or 
reduces the incentives for precautionary farming — drought is normal in 
Australia, and farming practices and farming finance needs to accommodate that 
— and once this is done once, it will be almost impossible to resist the 
demands to do it again when drought returns in other places, and (ii) it will 
penalise those farmers who did reduce stocking rates as drought began to 
threaten.

Kim




Kim Sterelny
Philosophy Program
RSSS, ANU

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On 16/05/2013, at 5:05 PM, Sonja Ross wrote:

Hi Jill,

No, I don't think those fires did get much notice down here.  No mention is 
made of that in the item we were responding to, but I think my question still 
stands i.e.  why is the life of a cow more important than that of a bird/ wild 
animal/ possibly irreplaceable plant which may not have been tested for it's 
drug properties which may save people's lives?  I grew up on a farm so am 
sympathetic to the problems, but at the same time I think we shouldn't always 
be putting wild areas at the bottom of the caring basket.

Thanks for mentioning the fires.  I hope a mutually satisfactory solution can 
be worked out.

Sonja

On 16/05/2013, at 4:55 PM, Jill Dening wrote:

It seems that people are not aware of the devastating wildfires that ripped 
through those Nth Qld properties a little while ago. Vast areas of grassland 
were burnt. It was big news in Qld at the time, but perhaps didn't get an 
airing further afield.

Jill

Jill Dening
Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia

26° 51' 41"S 152° 56' 00"E

On 16/05/2013 4:30 PM, storm wrote:
The cattle don't have to die of starvation. Good farmers work
proactively to move stock before the situation gets to that stage and
will shoot cattle before they suffer.  It's part of the gamble that
is living off cattle and other livestock.

It's very disappointing to see the RSPCA quoted. They are out of line
supporting poor farming practice and promoting the suffering of birds
and other wildlife in the national parks.

storm




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