politics... pfft

You know, when I was growing up I was under the impression that living in a democracy meant that I'd have a say in what goes on in my country. Now I realise that I can say all I like, it doesn't mean it will make one ounce of difference. It seems like anyone who doesn't agree with Ms Wong can expect to be belittled and shouted down. Doesn't exactly sound like democracy to me. Parliament is like a kindergarten, or preschool.

Right now the Australian Government is biding their time to try (again) to get their emissions trading scheme passed through parliament. As one journalist put it, this Government consists of "urban armchair environmentalists". Now I have nothing against trying to lessen our negative impact on the environment, in fact it is an admirable goal. But not at the expense of jobs (roughly 34,000 people are employed on farms producing beef alone), income and general quality of life for the people who don't happen to live along Australia's coastline, or in Canberra. It all boils down to, for me, the inclusion of agriculture in the scheme.

The average beef farmer will find himself paying roughly $50 per head in tax to cover cattle carbon emissions. When you take into account that most areas are still suffering from drought conditions, and farmers have to ship in feed, pay for farm workers and don't have time to work another job... well let's just say I doubt any profit will be made. As things stand now, beef farmers are, on average, in debt. You only have to read The Land newspapers' classifieds to see the numbers of rural houses and properties now up for sale, with people getting out before things get any worse for them.

The thing that really made my blood boil was one environmental advisor actually saying that it would be a good thing if this was the end of the beef industry. He has obviously dismissed offhand that most farms are now taking a sustainable approach, with livestock being excluded from areas that are being allowed to regenerate. Most farmers are members of land management groups such as Landcare. He has clearly ignored that demand for Australian beef is high, both here and overseas.

We're being told that eating less red meat will be healthy for us, even though I've always been lead to believe by members of the health profession that red meat is an essential source of iron in a regular diet. I am not vegetarian by any stretch of the imagination, and I cannot imagine myself adjusting to a diet without beef.

We're being told that cattle release far too much carbon into the atmosphere. Well so do humans, we breathe it out! Are we the next big taxable item? Maybe they can tax us for every day we breathe. Honestly, I find this ridiculous. The carbon that is released from cattle does rise into the air. Then it falls back down with the rain and seeps into the soil. Trees use carbon in the air to produce oxygen. Carbon is the basic building block of life. I only needed a basic high school education to learn about the carbon cycle, so I am astounded as to how many people think carbon in any form is bad.

I kept myself calm when the Government announced its water buy-back scheme, just as drought conditions were starting to improve and farmers stood a chance of getting slightly ahead. I understand the need to conserve our waterways, even if irrigation is tighter now. But this, this has the potential to kill an entire industry, put thousands of people out of work, and quite possibly plunge us right back into the economic mess we're supposed to be just getting out of.

Clearly, I don't agree with this final version of the emission trading scheme. And it's just as clear that only the politicians will get the final say. Unfortunately for me and many others, our state politicians all seem to be city-centric and forget that anything this side of the Great Dividing Range exists, and the current federal Government are majority urban-area representatives. I would love for these people to travel out this way, see the state of the roads, see the state of the schools and hospitals, and actually talk to the people who actually live here rather than rely on reports from people based in Sydney. It's scary how many city dwellers and Labor supporters have absolutely no idea of the implications this legislation could have, and they are outraged by the initial defeat of the bill in the senate. Perhaps the Government can try explaining to them, in lamens terms, exactly why it didn't pass. To introduce the proposed scheme as it is now is economic suicide.

I know, it's very unusual for me to be so opinionated about anything and it's not like I really understand everything there is to know about politics or this ETS, but I am selfishly scared about my own future here. I want to eat beef, I want to keep living in rural New South Wales rather than have to move to Sydney or Canberra, and I want my family and their jobs on a small cattle property to survive. I was seriously considering moving overseas somehow if this bill had passed straight away. There would have been no point for me personally to have stayed.

Don’t even get me started on how the scheme will affect grocery and electricity prices and impact on average-income families, as well as pensioners and students.