Article out to mislead
The article headed “Future damage must be stopped” (p19, The Border Mail, April 19) should have appeared as a paid advertisement rather than masquerading as hard news.
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It was simply an ad for a propaganda film opposing the Adani coal mine in Queensland.
The piece was replete with misrepresentations, grand assertions without supporting evidence and sensational claims.
For example, the reference to 12 billion litres of water required annually.
It sounds a lot when expressed in milk bottle sizes but let’s put it into perspective.
I am an irrigator in Northern Victoria and have an annual allocation nearing two billion litres.
In other words, I and only five other irrigators out of the thousands in the Murray Valley use an equivalent volume to that needed by Adani.
That equation demonstrates how the article was designed to scaremonger and mislead.
Coal mined by Adani will generate electricity for millions of Indians who presently rely on burning dried animal dung for energy with all the environmental detriment that entails.
Who are we to deny them a tremendous leap forward in living standards?
I have concern for Ms Esler’s yet to be born grandchildren if they are to be subjected to lectures based on unfounded and plain wrong assertions peddled by green activists and accepted without question by their grandmother.
Bill Baxter, Norong
Ideologists ill-informed
There are alarming similarities with a number of present issues in Australia, whether it is shark attacks, mining development or food production.
Each of these is threatened by environmental ideologists, many living a comfortable city-based life, who don’t have “skin in the game”.
When the WA Government tried to control shark numbers in the interests of human safety its proposed actions were abandoned after public protest. But who led the protesting? The protesters were not surfers or swimmers … their lives were not jeopardized by the increased shark population.
Regardless, the noise of this minority forced a government back down.
In regional Queensland where unemployment is rampant the $16.5 billion Adani project will be the economic saviour for many communities.
Yet the project is threatened by green activists, who again are mostly arguing from the comfort or their city abodes.
Menzies Research Centre executive director Nick Cater described it as “the fanciful claims of the fruitcake fringe”, commenting that “the interests of workers are sacrificed for environmental populism”.
Then we have water policy, which is again led by this same green element who are not invested in the affected communities, nor have any genuine understanding of either water resources, food and fibre production, or the link between the two.
They support a flawed Murray-Darling Basin Plan, at a cost of $13 billion to the Australian taxpayers which was recently described by former NSW Director-General of Water Resources Peter Millington as “an inappropriate piece of legislation that expressly prevents integrated river basin planning” and shows “a lack of consideration of food security and food and fibre productivity issues over the short, medium and long term”.
Three separate issues with one common denominator – ill-informed green zealots with unhealthy political clout.
If the day ever arrives when our politicians are prepared to stand up to this minority and make decisions in the best interests of our nation, we will all be a lot better off.
Time for our politicians to truly represent the best interests of our nation.