A Prod from the Deep North

Keith Davis

6 years ago

Most of us bumble along from week to week. Each week has its thought points, and things done or things to do. I’ve bumbled along over the last week, here in Qld, here in the best State in the Federation, doing an excellent job of avoiding all of the things that I was supposed to do. Which left me time to notice a few things …

I notice that the Adani Mine is being promoted despite polls showing that the majority of the Australian population are against the approval. The trite national press is presenting it as a battle between the Yokel Qld, Us and the Progressive Southern Them, and that, quite frankly, is just a load of hogwash. It is a smokescreen blown out there to hide the fact that the majority of people do not want their taxpayer dollars gifted on a grand scale to prop up an uneconomic mine. Those soon to be wasted dollars would be better off spent sheltering the homeless and raising Newstart.

I notice that the appeal against the approval of the Sekisui mega-eyesore-resort at Yaroomba Beach here on the Sunshine Coast (yep … in the best State in the Federation) is slotted to be heard later this year in the Planning and Environment Court. In case you don’t know there were a record number of community objections against this multiple high-rise edifice, yet the Sunshine Coast Council flew in the face of sanity and community wishes and approved it. It brings up questions about the power of money to influence outcomes. It brings up questions about the power the Development Lobby still has here in Qld. It brings up questions about a certain legacy issue pertaining to Sekisui House … a particular $50,000 donation. Queensland, beautiful one day, covered in concrete the next.

I notice that Religious Freedom Legislation is raising its head again. I don’t need it. I freed myself from religion years ago. When you think about the fact that the overwhelming majority of Australians don’t attend Church then you are left holding the word Secular in your hands.

I notice that Ken Wyatt is the first Indigenous Man to be promoted to head Indigenous Affairs. I wish him well in his role. I hope he has the oomph to carve through and make a real difference. I hope his colleagues in government don’t get in his road. That latter hope is a pretty forlorn one.

As for the above photo … it was used to illustrate an article I wrote about Machine Intelligence (AI) and the implications for humanity. With a bit of thought-twisting it could just as easily have been used to describe the outcome of the last federal election. We now have dullard party machine-men in charge with intelligence copiously conspicuous by its absence. A lot of us got what we didn’t vote for. Greed trumped humanity.

Did I mention that Queensland is the best State in the Federation? Out of my window I can see blue ocean, blue sky, warmth, semi-tropical green (yeah, OK … some concrete too), and all sorts of interesting progressive type people milling about. If you live south of the border you are welcome to pop up and visit, and it cannot be said often enough, the best State in the Federation!

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Keith Davis is a citizen journalist. He is an implacable foe of social injustice, and he is a strong believer in the inevitable implementation of a Universal Basic Income in Australia. He has a varied background, including print media publishing, not-for-profit group administration, and Indigenous sector project management. He fully supports the notion of Treaty. He writes from the heart, believes that whimsy and thoughts out of left-field have at least as much power as logic and reason, and does not limit himself to any one particular topic or theme.