Was it my imagination, or were rules established for this
chatline? I remember something about no commercial advertising, and I
have a glimmer of recollection about ‘no politics’ or something to
that effect. Not only is my memory slipping, but I can’t find the
rules anywhere.
Anyway, I can’t help raising a matter that might seem
a bit political.
I see that we are heading into a period of political debate
when a sharper edge will be put on the question ‘just how serious
is global warming?’ I see that Mr Abbott is moving to the position
that the planet ‘deserves the benefit of the doubt’ and ‘something’
should be done. I foresee that a future election might turn on just what people
think GW is responsible for. Indeed, the election might depend on whether
voting takes place on a warmish day.
As I understand it, a connection has not been definitely
established between global warming and the current prolonged dry period in south-eastern
Australia, although many people believe there is such a connection. Such
a belief could be another electoral factor, so no doubt we shall hear more
about it.
Getting back to the birds, ‘prolonged rainfall
deficiency’ has been pointed to as a cause in the crash in numbers of
woodland birds in SE Aust. I was reading a speech by Kelvin Thomson, MHR
for Wills, at Monash University, 23 November, in which all these issues were
run together. He said -
<< In central Victoria’s woodlands the number of
Kookaburras has declined by 30% in
just four years. The number of Koalas in Queensland and New
South Wales has
declined dramatically, and it is possible that there are now
fewer than 50,000 Koalas
left in the wild. The same study that found the 30% decline
in Kookaburras also
found a 30% or greater decline in Robins, and even greater
declines for various
Honeyeaters, Flycatchers and Kingfishers.
The study noted that eucalypt flowering had declined
significantly over the past 12
years of drought, and detected virtually no bird breeding in
the latest survey periods.
Some 30% of Australia’s bird species are now regarded
as threatened, and
internationally the number of birds listed as critically
endangered continues to rise.>>
In short, the looming question is: if you like birds,
should you vote for Kevin Rudd? Of course, each of us will answer that for
ourselves. Not everyone sees things in the same way, and nor should
they. Scuffles over political differences at the coming Christmas Party
are possible but unlikely, and would be very non-COG.
Simple birdwatchers though we are, we should not overlook
the divisiveness of this issue for some people. In the Monash speech, Mr
Thomson went on, after talking about the missing birds:
<< First, whatever the political pressures we’re
under, and no doubt they’re significant,
we have a duty to take a science-based, evidence-based
approach. I note that Senator
Nick Minchin recently said on Four Corners that climate change,
“for the extreme
left, provides the opportunity to do what they have always
wanted to do, which is to
sort of de-industrialise the Western world. The collapse of
communism was a disaster
for the left and really, they embraced environment as their
new religion”. >>
Dear me.
