LAURIE OAKES, HeraldSun
RACHEL Siewert radiated righteous anger last weekend, after flying over the West Atlas oil rig spill in the Timor Sea, and her alarmist comments guaranteed the kind of media coverage politicians lust after.
The West Australian Greens senator claimed both the Federal Government and the company that owns the rig, PTTEP Australasia, misled the public by downplaying the extent of the spill.
“Literally, from horizon to horizon, you see the oil on the surface,” she told reporters.
“I’m extremely worried about the Kimberley coast because this is only 10 nautical miles, which is 20km, from the coast.”
Siewert handed out photographs she claimed proved her assertions, one of them showing reefs and mangroves on which, she said, the oil would have a devastating impact.
Then she watched with satisfaction as excited journos rushed away to file their stories.
It was, as it turned out, nonsense.
The slick from the West Atlas leak was nowhere near the coast.
The nearest oil was actually 148km from the coastline.
But when Siewert grudgingly admitted five days later that what she had thought was oil “could be algae”, there was virtually no media coverage.
As a result, many people still believe her original statements were true.
All care and no responsibility.
Who said it’s not easy being Green?
Bob Brown’s party is doing well at the moment, picking up support from voters disillusioned by what they see as Labor’s failure to deliver on environmental issues.
