“WHY,” asks Mario, my Italian journalist colleague, “why would any government do that?” We are standing on a pontoon in the Whitsunday Islands, rinsing off the saltwater after a dive in what is one of the most spectacular parts of the Great Barrier Reef.
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I have just explained to him that our government has given the green light to a foreign company to dump three million tonnes of mud from the bottom of a coal harbour into our Great Barrier Reef.
No morals, no conscience: despite Environment Minister Greg Hunt having condemned this practice in the past and despite warnings by scientists that the disposal could spell the end for this most treasured of global natural assets.
The corals in the world’s largest reef are already under mortal stress because of agricultural runoff, introduced species and because of climate change.
Mario shakes his head in disbelief. I often have a hard time explaining the crude nature of Australian politics to foreign colleagues.
I would rather tell them how wonderful and beautiful my country is, the country I love.
The Budget has not made my task easier.
To explain why the Government and their lackeys in the media talk about a “budget emergency” when our deficit is ridiculously low compared to that of other countries, is quite a challenge.
But it is the attack on the so called “ordinary” Australian that is hardest to comprehend – after all these are the people the politicians should represent.
This Budget is an assault by cigar smoking, blue tie wearing, overpaid middle aged men on workers, farmers, labourers, builders, teachers, pensioners, the young and less fortunate.
Straight from the trenches of class warfare, one could think.
Billions of dollars will be cut from health and education.
One can only guess what effects these policies will have for an ageing population in an interconnected world where our kids compete for jobs against students from countries that – in contrast to our Government - put the future of their youth first. Well, at least we have enough money to purchase warplanes and give tax concessions worth billions to the ultra-profitable mining industry.
The introduction of a doctor’s fee is the obvious beginning of the end for the universal health care system Australia can rightly be proud of.
But the free market extremists in the Government hate it.
Then there are the cuts to your ABC and of course the dismantling of the wind- and solar energy sector by the so called “climate change sceptics” in the Government, and the coal lobbyist behind them. The result is the loss of thousands of current and future country jobs, as companies give up on Australia and take their business elsewhere.
A future based on sustainability is robbed from our children.
The lies and deceit by Prime Minister Abbott and his Government are so obvious that even conservatives like Queensland Premier Campbell Newman - not exactly known to be a Leftie - are shocked.
But should we be surprised? Certainly not.
People should have done their homework before going to the ballot box. It was all there, in black and white.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott is simply ticking off the list of demands given to him by the Institute of Public Affairs, a front for big business, heavily sponsored by the likes of Gina Rinehart and Rupert Murdoch.
The paper is still accessible on the internet. Check it out and you know what, and who, will be next.
Mario and I are chatting with marine biologist Emma.
A country girl from Victoria who has fulfilled her childhood dream of swimming with dolphins. Now she is even getting paid for it.
She reminds me of our young people in Goulburn, most of them wonderful, promising kids.
But will they have the same opportunities, or will the fear of an unbearably high HECS debt push them to trade in their dreams for a job of flipping burgers? The Barrier Reef directly and indirectly employs well over 50,000 Australians – scientists, boat captains, fishermen, tourist guides, hotel receptionists, cleaners.
Mining along the Queensland coast, on the other hand, gives a few thousand people a job. Despite this, resource projects like the disastrous dredging of the harbour always win in what can only be described as a war between the Government and the environment.
Jobs are the first to go when the reef is crumbling.
So much for long-term economic management.
I now have an answer for Mario: “They do it, because they know they can get away with it”.
I hope that I am wrong.
* Urs Wälterlin is a Swiss born journalist and foreign correspondent who lives with his family on a farm near Goulburn. He is the founding president of The Goulburn Group (TGG).
E: redbacknews@gmail.com
