The recent refugee arrivals

There is a great line from modern history that is often used when a problem needs to be highlighted: "Houston, we have a problem". Well, it is not Houston that needs to hear this, but rather the state of Victoria. So: "Victoria, we have a problem". We need to talk about Victoria's water crisis. It is right up there as one of the most critical issues of our day.

As weird as this sounds.... There are some religious folk out there, who actually welcome the destruction of the environment. As hard as that might be to believe, some people are ok about it. They say it is “inevitable” and must happen to fulfill Biblical Prophecy (especially as in the Book of Revelation). The world will see a third of the trees die; a third of the rivers become unusable; a third of all fish life destroyed… and more. It is all written in the good book (the word “good” suddenly seems quite inappropriate!). So they say.

Since my last installment about climate change deniers down in the south east metro area of Melbourne... the letters have continued in our local papers.

The Greens do not oppose fuel reduction burns.

It had to happen. The extreme right of the Christian faith has decided to attribute the tragic bush fires in Victoria to the wrath of God punishing us for the decriminalization of abortion legislation that was passed last year. Here is a news report from the Brisbane Times.

What a terrible time for Victorians. Unbelievable.

It seems impossible to say something meaningful at the moment. Of course, we feel for those who have suffered the ultimate loss of a loved one (or more than one loved one). And for those who have lost all their belongings. Surely every Victorian has shed tears as we have been watching the horrible news played out on our tv screens.

But at times like this, the strength of the Australian spirit does surface. There are, and will continue to be, great outpourings of practical help for those who have suffered.

I have met good intentioned people who sometimes say "Nice to meet you, you do seem like a good candidate; I will put you number 2 after Labor (or Liberal)." I try to tell them that putting us 2 after a major party, is the same as if they put us last. There is almost no chance in the world, of us getting that vote. The major party won’t drop out of the preference race (under normal circumstances) and the vote wont get counted for the Greens.

In recent weeks I have landed in the middle of a "letter to the editor" debate about climate change. The local south east Metro Melbourne papers have had some fun with it...

Initially I wrote a letter in response to a gentleman who was saying that Rudd's inaction on climate change was probably a sign that it is not really happening. Here is what I wrote:

A terrible injustice against a now older woman in Australia