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EPBC Act independent review 2020
This week I have spent a lot of time looking into the 1999 Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act) which was proclaimed at its inception by Federal Government and environment groups to revolutionise the Commonwealth’s involvement in environmental issues and improve conservation outcomes. It is now over 20 years since the EPBC Act was legislated and evidence suggests that it has fallen consistently well short of expectations. Submissions into the effectiveness of the Act close today, but I am disappointed that, despite frequent reviews and recommendations, the EPBC Act continues to fail to properly protect our natural environment and endangered species.
My other concern is that the panel of reviewers for this year does not include any independent ecologists or environmental scientists. I wonder if this year’s EPBC Act review will just be shelved along side previous reviews, with no effective changes implemented.
– Felicity Holmes, Blackmans Bay
ABC’s Insiders – Have News Limited won the Culture Wars?
Last weekend’s ABC Insiders (19/4/2020) was a disgrace. David Speers is a right leaning, but fair journalist…after all who will ever forget him brutally destroying Michela Cash when at Sky News? Speers has a right to put his own stamp on Insiders, but the week before all guests, either past or present had worked for News Limited. Fair enough, but pointedly on air they mentioned the fact, which for many who like the ABC brand it came over as an ‘up you’ gesture.
Speers’ early job at the ABC is to win over the rusted-on Barry Cassidy devotees, and the aforementioned gesture would not have helped. Two of his guests this week were again from the News Limited stable. Greg Sheridan, whose looks and outlook mirror a 1950’s DLP senator, and Anika Smethurst, who is largely professional and matter of fact, if not lacking a little in charisma.
Greg Sheridan at the very end of the show accused the ABC of pursuing a vendetta against Cardinal Pell and accused it of group think on the issue. He is of course there to give his views but as a guest of the ABC his criticism was just old-fashioned bad manners. It was a fart in the cathedral, done right as the show closed, and discourteous to Speers and regular ABC watchers. Sheridan is given many opportunities to provide an alternative view on the ABC and has appeared on Q&A and The Drum. Speers should remember when choosing his guests that when it comes to culture wars Sky News are the masters- no one will ever do it better.
– Greg Cure, West Hobart
Editor’s note: Anyone who hates themself enough can watch the show again here: https://www.abc.net.au/insiders/sunday-19-april-full-program/12162738
Greg Hall’s call for the survey to be redone
WRAP welcomes Greg Hall’s criticisms of the state government’s postal survey. The survey has been truly lamentable in concept and execution, and problems were apparent before the advent of COVID-19. However, the focus of Mr Hall’s criticisms and the timing of their release call into question his motives. The essence of his belated disappointment is that all Meander Valley ratepayers ought to have received a survey.
It was reported as far back as 17 March 2020 that survey forms would only be mailed to 7,400 households in the Meander Valley. As a significant player in the debate surrounding the prison and former Mayor, Mr Hall must have known this figure represents less than half of people on the electoral roll in the municipality.
Yet Mr Hall did not complain at that critical juncture. He waited until now, when the survey is over and when the broad outcomes of the survey would be known by those in Government, to complain.
It may be that the results of the survey have come as a disappointment to the Government and to those who press for the Westbury prison. The public will never know unless the results are released.
The survey has indeed been a waste of taxpayers’ money. This does not mean, however, that the whole sorry drama should be repeated; there is no guarantee that any repeat would be better than the original.
The survey is what it is and WRAP calls on the Minister to release its results. We then ask the Government to let us know its next steps.
Westbury has waited long enough to know what the future holds in store for us. We do not need or deserve this anxiety on top of COVID-19.
– Linda Poulton, Westbury Region Against the Prison, Westbury
Tarkine defenders
I write to express my enthusiastic support for the activitists who are taking a stand again the native forest logging occurring in the Tarkine and surrounding areas. Peter Gutwein has made over 380,000 hectares of native rainforest available for destruction. It is home to rare trees and critically endangered species, and our iconic Tasmanian devil.
How can the Minister for Climate Change support this?
The government need to stop hiding behind a facade of being environmentally progressive when their actions don’t support it. We need to take a firmer stand in the face of climate change and protect our environment and ecosystems.
– Heather Summers, West Moonah
Why are we in lockdown?
As we all know the Federal Government’s strategy is to ‘flatten the curve’ so health services are not overwhelmed by patients needing COVID-19 emergency treatment. It seems to be working at this stage but has already caused huge social and financial upheaval and the government has been obliged to spend up big to help minimise the impact. How long this lockdown will have to continue is very far from certain.
We are in lockdown because our medical facilities could not cope otherwise and that thousands would die who could otherwise survive.
Our health system is stretched at best of times and now is most definitely not one of those times. This pandemic has clearly demonstrated that external threats to our society cannot always be countered by spending billions on buying more submarines or jet fighters or constantly reducing our civil liberties in the name of counter terrorism strategies. Had we spent similar amounts on building a stronger public health care sector we might have managed to cope better without spending hundreds of billions of dollars on compensation packages, bailouts, and forcing us into a recession or even depression that may take more than a decade to emerge from.
Japan and Germany have 13.4 and 8.3 hospital beds per 1000 and they are, for now, coping much better. Here in Australia we have only 3.8 which is close to Italy (3.4) This is only one of many factors but may help explain why UK (2.8) and US (2.9) are being hit so hard. Number of hospital beds per capita is only one indicator of a health system but it is a strong one.
– Pat Synge, Huon Valley
federal government’s coronavirus app
