When it comes to the Greens my overriding sentiment is that they are generally well intentioned but also rather off with fairies when it comes to what is practically possible or politically sensible. So to be fair in the way that I address this election campaign i thought That i would go through what they propose and offer a few thoughts in response.
What is it with fringe candidates and fish and chip shops?
As a new policy for the 2009 state election campaign The Greens promised to set up a Greens’ ‘Job Agency’ to create “new green industry jobs” - set up as a partnership between the state and federal governments.
It will be linked to Infrastructure Australia and report to the Coalition of Australian Governments (COAG).
It will include a board of management with industry experts chosen to retrain people into emerging industries and provide seed funding to new businesses.
Yet another bureaucratic organisation to dish out the government largess? Oh come on do we really need that?
At the launch they also committed their support to keeping paediatric care at the Royal Brisbane Hospital, one of the biggest single issues of the 2009 election campaign.
The issue is creating nerves for the ALP in inner-city Brisbane, although the Royal Brisbane Hospital is in the seat of Brisbane Central held by the ALP’s Grace Grace with a 14 per cent margin.
Well I agree with them on this one because I live north of the river it is far more convenient for me and every other parent on the north side who has ever had to use the Children’s Hospital services than to have to go through the city and over the river to the Marter. Consolidating the paediatric hospitals into one may make sense to the doctors but the patients it is a horrible prospect that will make their families very distressed indeed. but then if this is a vote changing issue for you you would be better off voting for the LNP because to guarantee that this madness is stopped you will have to change the government; electing any Green candidates will not actually be able to put a stop to this mad scheme from the woman in red.
The Greens will replace the $1 billion Kenmore Bypass proposal with a light rail concept connecting to the main Ipswich line as part of a network for greater Brisbane.
This issue was raised by the Greens during the Brisbane City Council election in March 2008.
I make no secret of my love of trains and trams but that love is not based upon a desire to be obliged to use public transport but a love of the engineering. However I think that this sort of answer to the transport needs of Brisbane’s people. The sad fact is that public transport is very cute if the people it serves all want to go to the same places on a regular basis and if they have the time available to use the service. No light rail will serve the people of Queensland as well as a decent road network.
The Greens promised to stop bauxite mining on the Wenlock River, buy back the water that is allocated to the giant cotton-growing Cubbie Station and maintain their complete opposition to uranium mining in Queensland.
Aluminium is the metal of the Twenty first century it’s light weight and versatility, its resistance to corrosion makes it the ideal basis for many modern engineering solutions in transport, building and even appliances yet the Greens seem hell bent on making any exploitation of our huge reserves of Bauxite both difficult and more expensive. When it comes to Cubbie Station that is obviously not going to benefit the economy in this state and one wonders if Mr Lee has actually costed not only buying the water but also compensating the owners for the loss of their enterprise?
Uranium is one of those issues that really divides the Greens , on one hand the throwbacks to the 60′s are terrified by any use of this energy source and on the other there are the AGW true believers who insist that nuclear energy is going to be the planets saviour in the fight to save us all from frying …
Mr Lee said the Greens would also change Queensland’s current solar energy payment scheme from a feed-in tariff, to one based on the gross renewable energy produced.
“It will be calculated, like every research report that looks at this issue says it should be, on the gross renewable energy that households and schools and business, produce.”
brisbanetimes.com.au revealed last year that Queensland has the slowest uptake of solar power.
I am rather concerned about the plans to create solar thermal power stations in tropical Queensland especially as Cyclone Hamish bears down upon us. Looking at the designs in the Greens glossy PDF I can’t see how infrastructure like that would survive any sort of half decent blow. I don’t think that they have really though about it, but what do you expect from a fringe party who know that they will never hold the reins of power what they dream about is getting in to a balance of power situation so they can be the tail that wags the dog.
Queensland and its people deserve to have representative government that seeks tob serve the majority of the people and a vote for the greens will at best be wasted and at worst will deliver the casting vote to a bunch of unrealistic ideologues who want to impose their religious liturgy upon the rest of us.
Cheers Comrades
I have just posted a piece outlining my feelings to the Greens and their limited future in Australian politics. It has always been the perogative of the better-off amongst us to consider the environmental issues. The less fortunate are not able to comprehend why a Lungfish can stop a billion dollar project or a Carpentarian Rock Rat (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/04/23/2224689.htm?site=farnorth) should rate millions of dollars of expense when they are struggling to feed and cloth their own children and keep a roof over their heads. If the Green Party had taken a step back in these tough times and conceded that the Carbon Trading Scheme should be shelved then I would have more respect. But they have not. They want even more restrictions (and more money from our pockets) and do not care that more industries will close and lay off workers under the burden of the CTS. Eventually their idealism will be their undoing at the polls and we will see more sense from the Australian voters.
The Greens always have the luxury of knowing that they will never have to make their plans or schemes work and they play on the sentimentality of urban dreamers who basically have no idea how the real world works at all.
You forgot to add Iain,
….also, as they will never be in government, they will never have to face the repercussions of their ill thought out policy decisions.
The Greens promised to … buy back the water that is allocated to the giant cotton-growing Cubbie Station
Good, that’ll save the rest of Australia having to foot the bill for getting rid of Queensland’s water hoggers at the top of the Darling. If they do that then you’ll find everyone in NSW, Victoria & Sth Australia will vote Green at the next Federal election.
But as we have pointed out the Greens will never be in a position to deliver on that now will they Ray? so any gratitude that may be expressed by southern Greens is entirely moot.
Never in a position? Never hold the balance of power? Think again, it could happen one day. Stranger things have happened.
I’m not saying it would be a ‘good thing’, but some of their ideas (as you have said too) are worth taking up … like the Cubbie one.
You bloody water-hogging Queenslanders! Cheers.
Look Ray if the good Lord sees fit to give more fresh water to Queensland than the rest of the country you lot should be thankful that we give any of it to you southerners at all
Well, we (and Sth Australia, especially) could do with the flow being returned to the Darling right now. Then again, I’m not really worried about Adelaide dying of thirst, it’s just that, apparently, we’ve got to send them OUR WATER from the Murray since you guys cut off the Darling! And they don’t even appreciate it.
Well Ray if they don’t appreciate at it from you lot who follow the same faith (AFL) that they do then there is no chance that they would appreciate it from we northern heathens who follow the rival creed of rugby league. Thus I say let then drink sea water instead…
Good idea. Why isn’t S.A. building a desal plant like we are? What a dumb place to build a city anyway – at the mouth of a long river that is your only source of water, when obviously every other bugger is going to drink from it (and piss in it) first. Their forefathers were about as smart as they are.
Hey, there is no love lost between Vic & S.A. over the AFL. We loathe them even more than we loathe rugby. It’s because THEY are so resentful of Victoria’s obvious superiority.
New slogan for S.A. number plates – “The State of angst”
Well, Adelaide is not actually at “the mouth” of the Murray but it’s not far away and (believe it or not) the pumping point is way too close to the mouth and, in its natural state, would be saline. They’ve had to build a weir to separate sea water from fresh (or brackish). Like I said, dumb … really dumb.
Sorry to backtrack Ray… and apologies if I drift too much off topic.
but I was interrupted before replying this morning and I took exception to your comment re: Qld waterhoggers? Unless of course it was a sarcastic dig as I seem to miss that from time to time (eh PKD?) Last time I was in Bright I do not think ANY of Queensland rainwater ended up there! And last time I listened to the radio it was VICTORIA being attacked for hogging water… something about a 4% cap?
Maybe a topic for another thread?