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Bill remembers the punters
Volume 32 #08
August 2, 2017
Our furry colonisers I was an assistant carer for a rescued infant flying fox back in the early nineties. Despite its species’ habit of peeing on itself – anyone over the age of 60 can sympathise with that – it was an endearing and intelligent character. During that time there was a local farmer who persistently shot flying foxes while his neighbours went to the trouble of netting their crops. While reporting on the furore surrounding his actions I visited some of the wildlife carers and saw the dedication they put into helping these native animals. So I have developed a blatant prejudice in favour of small native critters, cute or otherwise. At the same time, however, I can appreciate the distress of farmers seeing their hard work destroyed and that of residents overwhelmed by the stench and noise of a flying-fox colony near their homes. Sometimes early in the morning in Mullumbimby the pervading fragrance is Eau De Flying Fox. The destruction of rural habitat by humans is often the reason for flying foxes taking up the urban life. The problem then falls into a local council’s hard basket, and it’s not one that can be conveniently lost in a filing cabinet. To that end Byron Shire Council has bitten the bullet (the metaphors are flying thick and fast) and written up a draft flying-fox camp management plan covering the impact of flying-fox colonies in Mullumbimby, Bangalow, Byron Bay and Suffolk Park. The draft plan – available to download from this week’s agenda papers – is very thorough in listing a number of camp-management options, from doing nothing to acquiring properties. Among the thoughtful options are providing alternative habitat for the flying foxes and ‘appropriate land-use planning’, which many of us would like to see for the Shire’s future in general if planning controls can be wrested from the sweaty grasp of the state government. The plan’s authors have also listed the perceived advantages and disadvantages of each option so that councillors can make – we hope – an informed decision. If all goes to plan at next Thursday’s Council meeting, the draft plan will go on public exhibition from Saturday August 5 until September 1. If you care about native animals and/ or social amenity I suggest you study the plan and make a submission. In the meantime if you find an injured flying fox – don’t touch it, it could be carrying the hendra or lyssa virus, but human infections are very rare – call wildlife carers WIRES on 6628 1898. You can also find out more about the critters and their important role in preserving biodiversity at wires.org.au/ wildlife-info/wildlife-education/flying-foxes and at animalsaustralia.org/issues/flying-foxes.php. – Michael McDonald
The Byron Shire Echo Established 1986
I
t is time, perhaps past time, to take Bill Shorten seriously. In spite of Labor’s long-running lead in the opinion polls, it is far too early to declare him a certain, or even a highly probable winner. There are many who point to his nagging personal unpopularity as evidence of an insuperable hurdle to his success. A friend of many years’ experience in Labor politics still regards him as unelectable: too much baggage from the union movement, too much expediency and not enough principle, essentially a political hack rather than a visionary. If it were not for the multiple failures and disappointments of Malcolm Turnbull, my friend avers, he would have been dumped long ago for Anthony Albanese, Chris Bowen, Tania Plibersek – almost anyone with a spark of charisma and authenticity. But for all Shorten’s supposed opportunism, there is no denying that the opposition leader has found a bandwagon that suits him, and which he may yet turn into a juggernaut to destroy the coalition government. And to be fair to the man, it is not all about chasing the shades of Jeremy Corbyn, Bernie Sanders and yes, even Donald Trump down the populist path. Shorten has now articulated inequality as his lodestone, but it is a course he has been pursuing long before the time he became Labor leader. Last week’s orations to the faithful and those beyond were signalled in what was then regarded as foolhardy commitments: changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax, his campaign against company tax cuts and the big banks, and his attacks on the entitlements, perks, and rorts of the rich. Of course the government and their media cheer squad dismiss all this as class war,
the politics of envy; well, they would, wouldn’t they? They’re doing very nicely out of the system as it is. And when Shorten added family trusts for wealthy tax avoiders to his hit list, the premature expostulation of ministers went ballistic over an attack on the legitimate interests of farmers and small business, who would not be caught up in Shorten’s plan. If there is to be a class war, they are up for it: let’s hear it for the privileged class! But the Reserve Bank governor, Phillip Lowe, contradicts treasurer Scott Morrison’s claim that inequality used to be rising
time he goes home to his harbourside mansion. So Shorten, yet again, is on the front foot, leading the debate. And he is also moving beyond retail politics to a glimpse of the big picture. He has renewed his championship of Indigenous reconciliation – that is a given. But he has also proposed fixed four-year terms for federal parliament, as is the case in most of the state houses. Admittedly it was easier to reform them because they could be done by legislation; in Canberra it would require a referendum, which is why Shorten
Shorten may yet turn into a juggernaut to destroy the coalition government. by Mungo MacCallum but is now falling; in fact, says Lowe, inequality is increasing whether you measure it through income (not too bad) or total wealth (definitely a problem). And more importantly Turnbull, Morrison, Barnaby Joyce and the rest of them seem totally unable to explain why their slogan of jobs and growth (which Turnbull, absurdly, claims to have delivered) has in any way improved the lot of the mass of punters who are suffering stagnant or falling wages and conditions, unaffordable housing, constant price increases for household energy and general insecurity while they watch the fat cats get fatter, smugger and more avaricious. This may be the politics of envy, but there are good reasons to be envious, and simply waving them aside from within an expensively tailored suit is not going to help, especially from a prime minister whose legendary wealth is paraded every
challenged Turnbull to join a bipartisan push. Turnbull ducked; he had more pressing matters to attend to. And the so-called conservatives at Newscorp were derisive, indulging in an orgy of politician-bashing. In fact the idea follows not only Australian but international usage; non-fixed three-year terms (which in practice works out to about two and a half) are an exception and have fed into instability, ad hoc government and voter resentment about being sent back to the polls so often. Serious politicians and commentators have urged fouryear terms for decades. But such is the febrile, belligerent nature of the current climate, any proposal from Shorten must be clobbered at sight. Which of course means the revival of the republic debate, once Turnbull’s great aspiration, must now be deferred indefinitely – the longevity of the Queen is the current excuse for
procrastination, but our prime minister has already signalled that the affection shown to her grandchildren and even great grandchildren may still be an insuperable obstacle. Shorten’s timing is impeccable: the imbroglio over citizenship, in which parliamentarians are compelled to abjure their ties to the country of their birth or their family but must swear allegiance to a foreign, hereditary monarch is indeed an anomaly that cannot rationally be justified. Shorten’s schedule to the appointment of an Australian head of state is a long one – two parliamentary terms at least, possibly three. But that is not necessarily a bad thing: it suggests that he is thinking for the long term, to basic change rather than the tinkering that has characterised much of the agenda of successive governments for most of the last decade. It will not, says Barnaby Joyce while giving aid and support to the water rorters and boasting about how he had secured their portfolio from a compliant Turnbull, create jobs; true, and that is another imperative altogether. But it could be something to hope for, a reason for those doing it tough to make them feel a bit better about themselves. At the very least it will not do Shorten any harm, and as Turnbull and his troops continue to struggle for traction in the midst of what appears to be indecision and confusion, that is a plus in itself. So William Richard Shorten, once considered a stop-gap until someone better came along, is now a serious contender for the big job. There is still a long way to go, but he has already given the coalition a real fright and there is obviously more to come. Watch this space, watch this man.
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12 August 2, 2017 The Byron Shire Echo
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