Climate Bullying – A Deviant Behaviour
During and after every cyclone, flood and fire, the main push is to tell us that we are resilient. I’m sick and tired of being resilient when the Government, as perpetrators enable natural disasters and devastation to wreak havoc on us! I seek to introduce a new concept of climate bullying for discussion.
Climate Bullying
We often speak in terms of climate denial and climate activists, in doing so we merely point out a difference of opinion. Importantly, we fail to frame the problem in human terms, as one of perpetrators and victims. However, using concepts from Workplace Bullying literature, we can see there are antecedents and consequences of climate bullying.
Climate bullying similar to workplace bullying can be defined as:
Repeated and persistent negative acts towards communities and individuals, which involve a perceived power imbalance between Government and targets and create an environment conducive to natural disasters of which the negative consequences are felt by the target.
Adapted from Salin, 2003 and Einarsen, Hoel and Cooper, 2000
For many years, research has shown us that climate change will have a significant impact on the frequency and intensity of natural disasters. Within each community, disasters have devastating impacts of lost homes, lost infrastructure, isolated communities and economic and business losses.
For the victims of natural disasters, the personal impacts are mild to severe psychosomatic disorders. These include, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and suicide. In addition, economic loss, homelessness, poverty, hunger and death as a direct impact of natural disasters. In addition, direct health impacts that may result in severe discomfort, disease and death.
Climate Bullying is the act of intentionally enabling an environment that is conducive to natural disasters.
Climate Bullying is a Deviant Behaviour
Deviant Behaviour is just one construct of workplace bullying. This is because deviant behaviour may also attack an organisation and not just a victim or target.
Similarly, the Government does not intentionally cause harm to the Government with this behaviour. They have a set of mechanisms and structural supports via the media to excuse such deviant behaviour.
However, Climate Bullying by the Government does share similar factors with Workplace Deviance:
It is voluntary behaviour
It violates the norms and beliefs of the country
Threatens the well-being of the country and its citizens
Dimensions of Climate Bullying
Climate Bullying as a form of deviant behaviour, also shares the same dimensions as workplace deviant behaviour (Sharma, 2019). These are:
Perpetrator/s
Intention
Target/s
Action
Consequence
Inside and Outside Perpetrators
Perpetrators of Workplace Deviance are both insider and outsider perpetrators. That is people who work for the organisation and those who are outside of the organisation.
Similarly, the deviant behaviour of Climate Bullying has inside perpetrators of Government. These are the leaders, speakers, policy developers. The outside perpetrators are other political parties, the media and those with vested interest in energy resources.
Intentional and Unintentional Harm
Intention may be to cause harm intentionally or unintentionally. An intentional motive is for any political party or independent to willingly reject legislation that will have a positive impact on reducing climate change. This is because they do not believe that climate change is real and there is no need to act on climate change.
An unintentional consequence of harm may be for any political party or Independent to willingly reject action on climate, for either a political motive to gain relevance or sustain power. This may be to insist on changes and demands that are perceived as stronger action, but are not practical, or will not be accepted by the public, because of the perceived hardship caused by the perceived stronger policy. It is an unintentional consequence of harm, if the political party who sustains power by popular vote, is the party who does not believe action is needed, because the public reject the hard-line demands of alternative parties.
Community, Political and Individual Targets
Targets are both Organisational and Interpersonal in Workplace Deviance. In Climate Bullying, Targets are communities, political rivals, individual citizens, individual activists, the science community and anyone advocating climate action. The aim is twofold. To discredit the notion that climate change is real and requires action and secondly, to discredit those who seek action.
Action
Action is the process of participation. However, action may be active or passive. An example of Active Action is a rejection of climate action. Passive Action impacts on quality of life. An example is Liberals removing Labor’s qualifications for disaster recovery funding. Another is refusing to meet with the Fire Chiefs or call an emergency COAG meeting.
Action may be direct or indirect. Direct Action intends to cause harm to a target. This is normally interpersonal. An example is the campaign to discredit action on climate change by the Liberal Party and media trying to discredit the then Labor Government by creating a ‘Carbon Tax’ scare campaign, when it was not a tax at all. Another example is the attacks on youth climate activist Greta Thunberg.
Outside perpetrators also use direct action to create scare campaigns to discredit political opponents, with similar deceitful campaigns. Such as the Greens political party and media promoting Stop Adani and the Climate Convoy to regional Queensland. That is, despite the fact that such parties were knowledgeable that one mine is not the panacea to climate action, and that there are significant and complex challenges to ‘stopping Adani.’
Indirect Action has an unintended consequence on others. An example of indirect action is one region suffering the consequence of a natural disaster, due to climate inaction. This is although their geographic boundaries do not have necessarily high carbon emissions (i.e. a rural community).
An example of an external perpetrator indirect action is former Labor Leader Bill Shorten, unable to lead action on climate change by assuring blue-collar workers of security, among the fear of job losses, political opponents were inciting and the competing demands of city progressives; resulting in the election of a climate denialist Government.
Consequences
Consequences can be both constructive and destructive. Constructive deviance may be a politician crossing the floor or a traditionally supportive cross bench rejecting support to the Government and breaking with norms and behaviours that exist. Another example is compliant media organisations that have traditionally provided free campaigning for climate denial parties, criticizing the Government’s inaction. This type of constructive deviance may push the Government into action.
Destructive Deviance is any actions that results in harm to the country and citizens, as a negative consequence of climate inaction.
Enabling Climate Bullying
The enabling factors of climate bullying are adapted from Salin’s (2003) Enabling Factors and Processes of Workplace Bullying. The enabling factors for climate bullying are motivating structures, precipitating processes and enabling structures and processes.
Enabling Factors of Climate Bullying (Adapted from Salin, 2003)
Enabling Factors of Climate Bullying, as you can see from the framework above, are complex. I will briefly outline each area. However, each individual factor requires much deeper discussion.
Motivating Structures
The motivating structures for enabling an environment of climate bullying essentially revolve around power. The desire for political power. The bowing to the powerful media moguls who deny climate change, that can make or break a Prime Minister. The power of the financial benefits of corporate donations.
The rewards and benefits of appeasing climate denialist media moguls and corporate donors is of course the ultimate power of Government.
With a supportive structure of a compliant media, a climate denialist Government can effectively campaign using propaganda about the negatives of climate change to using voter complexity as the basis to divide and rule. On the flipside, outside perpetrators can also use climate change to divide and rule, as we have seen at the last election with the noted regional / city divide between blue-collar workers and progressives. More on that later.
Precipitating Processes
The decision to not act on climate change is underpinned by a number of events or existing structures. The existing structure of coal mining is one factor. Coal mining is heavily concentrated in multiple regions. Australia is the largest exporter of coal mining in the world. Local communities and entire regions are heavily impacted by the existence of mining. Coal communities are targeted to wear the entire burden of climate change. This then creates another event where competing political interests compete over the approach to change.
Due to a high concentration of mining jobs in multiple regions and the national and local economic impacts; moving away from coal, creates fears of joblessness and poverty and economic instability.
Politicians and compliant media enable a jobs versus climate action argument. This is where the argument for a complex scenario is reduced to black and white. The Liberal Government’s argument is that we must not act as it will kill jobs.
The climate activist side is that must kill existing jobs and destabilize communities and transition them to something else. The first idea is idiotic and dangerous, and the second idea is privileged. As Labor leader, Shorten tried to straddle both idiotic and privileged arguments. If we return to indirect action discussed earlier, this straddling just caused confusion by angering progressives and leaving blue-collar workers feeling insecure.
It appears that Labor now has taken the pathway that is aimed to unite the interests of both blue-collar workers and progressives. This proposal uses our strengths in regional communities and utilises our blue-collar workers to transform communities and tackle climate change domestically and also globally. How that is received is yet to be seen. As I have written about previously, it will be a hard sell to progressives.
Enabling Structures and Processes
Climate Bullying exists due to the perceived power imbalance between Government and people. The Government also supported by compliant, climate denialist media moguls creates a further power imbalance. Opposing opinion is barely given the light of day. In addition, the Government, media and other vested interests can use social media to further ingrain climate inaction. On the flip-side, external perpetrators of activist groups and supportive mainstream and social media, can inflame the need for radical action and workers are ‘just a consequence’ or climate denialists can inflame fears about joblessness.
The cost to a climate denialist Government, so far, has been a low cost. Through simple slogans and the support of the media, the Liberal Party has won office in 2013, 2016 and 2019. This has further legitimised for the Liberal Party, that they have a ‘mandate’ to not take any urgent action on climate change.
Dissatisfaction and frustration relate to the environment that victims of bullying exist in. In comparison to workplace bullying literature, this can be summed up as the competing interests between economic stability and climate action.
Climate action policy instability, unclear goals, and a complete lack of worker centric climate action debate, has fostered an anxious and aggressive environment within this policy area.
Mining regions rejected the Labor Government at the last election. This has now created an environment where some are now calling for the Labor party to abandon blue collar workers in regional communities. This will just reinforce both motivating and precipitating structures discussed above and further enable a culture of climate bullying.
Prevention of Climate Bullying
With the greatest natural disaster in our history burning around us; it is of the very positive assumption that we must do all we can to prevent climate bullying. To do this, it is important to bear in mind the dimensions of deviant behaviour and also the factors and actors within these frameworks, that enable a culture of Climate Bullying to occur.
I have adapted Einarsen et. al.’s (2018) workplace bullying model of systems we can use to prevent Climate Bullying and enable positive action.
Ethical Infrastructure
It is a reasonable argument that climate bullying is an unethical practice. Ethical infrastructure are systems and processes designed to stamp out unethical practices. Essentially, this framework details how we, as the people, can use resources and systems to destroy the culture that enables climate bullying and the perpetrators who inflict it upon us.
The resources available to us are a Government majority, Financial Resources (including in-kind) and the level of commitment we have. This includes a shared vision.
Systems
The systems we can use are:
Climate Action Legislation
Insist every single day for climate action legislation. Moreover, Labor’s Anthony Albanese has delivered a policy direction speech that will act on climate and mitigate joblessness and poverty and create security for blue collar workers. This will unite blue-collar workers and city progressives.
Regardless of whether you have points of difference, it is essential to support Labor’s plan as the major party, so the left can unite, instead of fight on this issue.
The Greens Party must cease combating Labor as their major threat and seek unity in the way forward on legislation, well prior to an election. The fight can occur in Parliament once the Liberal Party are removed from power.
Education
Education about Climate action must be ongoing. However, as I have tried to implore people for the last four years to do so; climate action education must be worker centric.
We can no longer to afford to allow ignorance of the impacts of the structural changes to coal regions to continue unopposed. Every single person must make a commitment to educate themselves on the impacts of structural change in regional communities.
We do not have the time to insist on perfectionist policies. Clearly, we are too desperate for change to insist on our idea of perfect policy. We must look to the most likely Left party to form Government and absolutely insist that Labor policy is promoted and not rejected as imperfect.
The luxury or privilege of denying regions targeted to carry the entire burden of change, agency as participants of change, we can no longer accept. We must actively listen to regional workers and work with them to find solutions.
Education about climate change and required action should be inclusive of regional, city and rural communities. It should unite farmer and worker, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, the wealthy and homeless. We can no longer tolerate the narrative of pitting worker against worker and community against community, as has been the narrative now from climate activists for so long.
Education must also share the burden across the entire country, instead of just on regional Australia. Education about reducing impacts in cities and structural changes required in cities, is urgently required.
Unified Communication
With the outcome of the last federal election where regional communities voted strongly against ‘the Left’ and re-elected a Morrison Government. It is essential for ALL Climate action communication to be unified with the worker central. If Party Leaders and Activists are unable to find a way to unify workers at risk of joblessness and action on climate change; they should hand the conch to someone else.
Sanctions
I cannot reiterate enough how imperative it is to heal the divide between regions and cities to stamp out climate bullying. Parties and Organisations must impose sanctions on any leader or speaker who is unable to unify blue-collar workers and the communities of coal regions and action on climate change. They must formalise a strict penalty and replace leaders who exacerbate and thrive on division.
Voters must impose sanctions on any political party who attacks Labor as the main opposition party, who is in the most likely position to implement climate action. We must speak out loudly and clearly against any party who focuses their activism and campaigns against the party who can replace the climate denialists and indeed, those who are not focusing every last bit of energy on the climate denialists in power. No longer should we tolerate division on the left of politics. We must recognise that it is Labor as the major Left party who will implement action on climate change; and the points of difference can be debated, once Labor is in Government.
There must be sanctions within the Media. High-profile journalists must unify and rebel against pressures to conform to promoting political parties not committed to climate action. They must call out amongst their own cohort any journalist who promotes inaction on climate change, or who makes apologies for ineffective leaders.
The ultimate sanction is against the Government. A commitment from voters to formalise the removal of the Liberal National Party Climate Denying Coalition, who perpetrate Climate Bullying.
Resources
A Government of climate denialists is the major barrier to overcome. We must commit today to elect a Government that has the power to implement climate action. We must aim to wipe out the Liberal Party, National Party, Pauline Hanson’s One Nation Party, The Katter Party and any other minor or Independent supporting a climate denialist Government. This needs to be done at every level of Government.
We must continue to build financial resources. So, this means a commitment of personal donations to any party or Independent that supports action on climate change.
Importantly, In-kind donations are also priceless, so therefore, make a commitment today to join a political party. My personal preference is the Australian Labor Party who can make a real difference as the major party. Issues based activism is fine; however, it is Government that implement legislation, not activist groups. Volunteering in campaigns is crucial for success.
As we know, the election is two and a half years away. However, this means that there is plenty of time for the Government and the compliant media to implement scare campaigns on every other topic to divert our attention away from the disaster that is burning around us and taking precious lives.
Importantly, the commitment must be made today, that you will never waver. That you will remain resilient to campaigns and propaganda from the right. Above all, even if you are a generational voter of the Liberal or National Parties, that you will commit today to remove them.
Put the Liberals and Nationals Last. It’s where they put You
To stamp out climate bullying that prevents action on climate change, which then results in the most devastating consequences, it is critical, for every single person in the country must make the commitment today that they will put the Liberal and National Parties LAST on their ballot.
Our future depends on it.
References
Einarsen, Kari et al., (2019). Antecedents of ethical infrastructures against workplace bullying: The role of organizational size, perceived financial resources and level of high-quality HRM practices. Personnel Review, Vol. 48 No. 3, pp. 672–690.
Salin, Denise. (2003). Ways of Explaining Workplace Bullying: A Review of Enabling, Motivating, and Precipitating Structures and Processes in the Work Environment. Human Relations, Vol. 56 No. 10, pp. 1213-1232.
Sharma, Naman. (2019). Analyzing Workplace Deviance in Modern Organizations. IGI-Global, Pennsylvania, USA.
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corvus boreus -
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not again -
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wam -
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Return to home pageThe big difference between climate denial and climate activism is that ‘climate activism comes from a position of privilege’.
This is in spite of the fact that ‘climate change disproportionately affects the disadvantaged’.
Or so I’ve been informed.
Perhaps an informed person could post the employment statistics for industries mentioned in this article to show their relative importance as job creators, remembering that broad acre mining and broad acre farming are becoming fully automated with AI controlled machinery driven from air conditioned offices in distant metropolitan cities … for the comfort of the fewer number of operators … and the increased profits of the foreign owned multinational corporations … including the many corporations that legally pay no Australian taxation.
Good one Trish!
NEC,
Not really my specialty and well above my pay rate.
I can, however, offer some comforting info on the phylum Tardigrada (tardigrades), the members of the animal kingdom most likely to survive the global bio-climatic catastrophe that humans are currently busily engineering.
Colloquially known as ‘water-bears’ or ‘moss-piglets’, these tiny 8 legged semi-aquatic invertebrates have been found everywhere from sub-zero benthos through to boiling fumeroles, can survive total desiccation in suspended animation, and are one of the few animal types unaffected by gamma radiation.
Tardigrades are the only animal type that has survived experimental exposure to the vacuum of space
https://www.livescience.com/57985-tardigrade-facts.html
Our planet’s future is in safe claws; the tardigrade shall inherit the Earth.
Across Australia, coal mining accounts for half of one percent of all jobs (0.5%)
In Queensland, coal mining is just 1.1% of all Queensland jobs. Coal mining comes in far behind far bigger employers like health, education, retail, agriculture, public administration, construction, as well as accommodation and food services, which is heavily linked to tourism, and manufacturing.
In North Queensland, coal mining is the eleventh biggest industry, accounting for 4% of jobs, meaning 96% of North Queenslanders do not work in coal mining.
There are around 40,000 jobs in tourism in reef regions on the North Queensland coast — twice as many as in coal mining, according to ABS data. Other estimates put the number higher at 59,000.
If the infrastructure for Adani is built, it is likely that the rest of the Galilee will be developed. Putting millions of tonnes of new coal into a stagnant and falling market will drive down the price of coal and put existing coal-mining jobs at risk – an estimated 13,000 according to TAI.
https://medium.com/@TheAustraliaInstitute/explained-adanis-continuously-changing-jobs-figures-e2a67baac540
“there are significant and complex challenges to ‘stopping Adani.’
Seems like there are even greater challenges to ‘starting Adani’
http://statedevelopment.qld.gov.au/resources/guideline/cg/adani-outstanding-approvals-milestones-reached-03-12-2019.pdf
Speaking of bullying, howls this tweet from failed Liberal candidate, Warren Mundine?
“ The people who have stopped hazard reduction have blood on their hands. First people’s in this country have survived bush fires for thousands of years. How? Hazard reduction!!! It’s not rocket science!!! #auspol”
Trish, where does Adani and development of the Carmichael basin fit now in your thoughts?
Emissions from fossil fuels cause death for millions of people. The use of fossil fuels is accelerating climate change. The acceleration is stated as being faster than during any previous epoch shown by the identifiable artefacts/proxies created in the past; displayed in ice cores, coral, pollen, vegetation, rock samples etc.
There are a number of satellites which are providing data on a daily basis which display the effect of greenhouse gases on the atmosphere.
Meanwhile, we have a PM still trying as hard as possible to maintain a business as usual approach to fossil fuels. The LNP sought to white ant the proceedings in Madrid and gained the scorn of the International community meeting at Madrid as a result.
When we have the drought and terrible fires in Australia, Victoria Falls at Zambia/Zimbabwe running at a trickle, the runoff from Greenland and Antarctica being at a record rate, and numerous other examples occurring; we have a very reckless and dangerous government doing bugger all to create policies to deal with the matter.
It has been alleged that Morrison is a criminal:
https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/your-pm-is-an-arsonist-an-interview-with-climate-expert-dr-saleemul-huq/?fbclid=IwAR3Msr3FH11FzsokOij9cqxe-Q5YedKwcpcK3Fv6oqxrCqFoDdirzawIGvE
We need real action, every continent has had a taste of what climate change involves, a business as usual approach as presented by the LNP and to a lesser extent ALP, means an intensification of climate woes. Australia is at the top of the heap in relation to the export of fossil fuels. We have been told by scientists where fossil fuels need to be left. Trish, I am not a member of the Green Party.
Keith (if I may),
Re opposition to the proposed Adani/Carmichael project; That hole is not yet dug and probably won’t ever be. If climate activists are really serious then why aren’t they trying to shut down the mines that are already operating?
Re opposition to continuing expansion of already operative mines; Why are you trying to kill off ‘blue collar’ jobs? You must really hate ‘regional’ workers.
Catch 22, Sociology 101
Perhaps all the non coal industries which make up the other 98.9% should be donating to the more left leaning of the major political parties on the proviso that they ban coal? I mean to the political parties this is all about money, nothing more, nothing less. (Despite the significant impacts it has on the planet and all of us). Perhaps this is where our energy (as woke progressive inner city left leaning raving lunatics) should be put? Encouraging the 98.9% to start doing this?
Labor and Greens must work together! We all must unite to fight the LNP!
Except when it’s called for and necessary, like you know, when the country is on fire, but it’s more important to keep plugging away at division by creating irrelevant discussion on:
An incoherent misunderstanding of privilege
The left’s apparent new pro-stance on automation and championing that jobs are irrelevant
Obtuse comments about Adani jobs, a mine that will never start, that are completely irrelevant
And the Left’s new apparent shift away from caring about jobs altogether to pretend they are so minute in number, they have no impact on society
And pretending that the greatest change since the Industrial revolution is no big deal
And being totally silent on the common enemy!
But hey! Way to go for missing the entire point of the article…again. Well done. Huge thumbs up. Huge!
Also. Thx Jaquix. Appreciated.
“Labor and Greens must work together! ”
OMG Finally!!!
Trish, every article you write attacks the Greens. You usually spend more time railing against them than you do against the government. Those of us who couldn’t give a rats arse about political parties despair. And then you attack people here who try their damnedest to make politicians of all stripes listen.
Mundine, like Latham has proven himself incapable of any loyalty beyond that of self interest. What seems to be a call for vigilante pyromania under the rubric of traditional practices without acknowledgement of the loss of traditional knowledge and changed circumstances should provide a useful scapegoat.
Its those firebugs wot dun it.
This obfuscation and shifting of responsibility has already been tried out from the start of the fire season. From the reduced funding and narrowed window of opportunities for safe hazard reduction burns to the inevitable clown playing with matches.
We have always had bad environmental practice in Australia, those who brought it, perpetrated it, supported it, advocated it. Some of us have observed the history of our environmental decline over more than a century, and stupidity, abuse, ignorance, wilfulness and arrogance have fuelled profiteering, social position, wealth, class attitudes, social division. It has been for more than a century, the country party types, their enlisted and semi enslaved supporters, who have abused this nation’s face and body severely. Soil practices, water practices, de-forestation, mining ruthlessness and carelessness, the pests, plagues, introduced stupidities, ignorances, wilful assertions of Britishness, all foreign to the requirements Australia has always had. We have not ever faced the needs of adaptation and proper occupation. We are so “western” in a land of great delicacy, vulnerability.., BUT, this was a free grab, a slab of continent, a good thing to be someone, make money, and who Effing cared..? So erosion, drought, flood, abuse, occupation, rotten practice sent the kiddies off to private school and further, into areas of social and political control to further deepen the stupidity. Half of the old mallee and wimmera topsoils would fly off into Bass strait and the Tasman by stupidity of practice, salination took paddock after paddock of the Riverina, whole sheets of irreplaceable soil from Queensland went, gone forever; it took thousands of years to make a little good topsoil and a few stupidly abused years to lose that soil. The nation is pitted, pocked, holed, gullied, shafted and ruined, all for the old country party mentality, supported by corporate controls and theft from urban professional conservatives. Famed figures like Menzies, who couldn’t farm, figure, calculate, work or be silent have contributed mightily to this. So, do not listen to turds with larynxes, the A Jones, A Bolt, B Joyce, P Hanson types and a hundred more, for their conventional range of attitudes and strident bullshit will ensure our continued, possibly more rapid, decline. Where will comprehensive change in attitude arise?
Who are being bullied by whom?
Boobby’s caravaners bullied or bullies?
The median income in Australia is $48,360 before tax, according to a report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics this month that analysed data from the 2016/2017 financial year.
The people should be voting labor but, to use teacher’s language, “many are easily led:” into voting, for jobs. against their own best interests
Facts like 1.,1% meaneth not, kaye’s rat’s arse to those in townesville. Clear the air loonies admit liability and explain what the aim behind the timing.
ps
The dilubbransimkims party trades under a name without the need of principle.
corvus boreus
Fair question.
It is a matter that ought to have been considered decades ago. In the1990s in the USA the battle began between the science of climate change and fossil fuel corporations; maintaining their profits and increasing it was the corporate strategy. The fossil fuel corporations won the battle through the misrepresentation of science by using third parties such as Heartlands. The IPA in Australia has a lot to answer for also.
The full development of the Carmichael Basin would ensure global temperatures would rise faster than they are now. The human costs world wide would be far greater than being experienced now. The Murdoch press ensures that Australians to a large extent are shielded from what is happening overseas in relation to climate change.
I have written a number of times that coal needs to be left in the ground, implied by the second last sentence above. Maslow’s pyramid of hierarchy clearly supports your view that people reasonably well off can spend time considering matters other than survival.
In the USA a number of coal mining companies are going bankrupt. There are more jobs available in the renewable energy market than in coal mining. Through artificial intelligence many jobs will no longer be available in mining. The invisible hand of Adam Smith does not work in transit within an economy it must be led by clear policy something missing at present.
Yes, Kaye Lee. Make sure she is kept honest this time. Allors!
Keith,
I reckon discussion of ramifications and repercussions of runaway climate change are probably best conducted on another thread.
At the moment this particular author is focused on trying to woo Greens and greenies (aka ‘spew-inducing, bird-dogging, dead-to-me filth’) back into a united progressive cause.
Trish
Palmer spent million’s of dollars at the last election on advertising, he has hopes of mining the Carmichael Basin. So Adani is not over until it is over, I do agree that it appears as though it will not go ahead. But, we need to keep the pressure on to ensure it remains that way.
It would be good if the Greens and Labor could work closer together.
“Labor and Greens must work together! We all must unite to fight the LNP!”
Couldn’t agree with you more, Trish.
Might be possible if Di Natali wasn’t the leader of the Greens though. I find him a bit too divisive.
@corvus boreus: Thank you for that scientific gem. Mt student colleague Bob Hardy completed an MSc on tardigrades at UNE too many years ago.
@Kaye Lee: Thank you for the stats, KL. It is always helpful to be reminded of the small number of Australian jobs in the mining industries dominated by foreign owned multinational corporations legally minimising Australian taxation while exporting profits overseas for their international shareholders.
@Kaye Lee 030120 08:29AM: Thank you for identifying this trend. I was worried that I was being paranoid in the past.
@Keith: Indeed. In California I have seen a report that about 50,000 new jobs have been created in the alternative energy industry, installing and maintaining systems. This will likely increase as more people install solar panels.
“Labor and Greens must work together”.
Unfortunately it’s the Greens who seem to be unfairly wearing the blame for the current situation and are an easy target for the media and the otherwise uninformed. For the ALP to align themselves philosophically with them now would be a bad strategic move.
It’s up to the ALP to take an independent stance and clearly state their objectives and hopefully the Greens will align themselves with the ALP and not the other way around. The Greens failed to do so years ago when the ALP was in power and we are all now paying the price.
spot on michael the agenda of the diludbransimkims is questionable.
The crow is beginning to see why billy lost when he wrote:
‘Why are you trying to kill off ‘blue collar’ jobs? You must really hate ‘regional’ workers.’
Anyone else???
Woftam,
Do not presume to speak of or for me, troll.
I regard your ‘contributions’ as something akin to dogshit on a footpath.
I also agree that the Greens should start targeting seats held by the Nats who are truly a rabble right now (not that the Greens are without their own problems).
Farmers are suffering from drought and dying rivers and encroaching mines who have licence to take so much water. Unemployment is high in many areas with wage exploitation rife. Services are closing.
And all the Nats ever offer is pork-barreling funding – a road upgrade, a grant to a sporting club, and if they are feeling really progressive, some money for a local cultural event. The promise of hospital funding but only if re-elected is another common carrot.
Trish is right. We must find a way to unite progressives in the common cause of ousting the worst government ever.
Kaye Lee,
The hard-left of the NSW Greens removed their most effective cross-divide rural ambassador by engaging in acts of character assassination under the protection of parliamentary privilege.
Little hope to be garnered there.
“Labor and Greens must work together! We all must unite to fight the LNP”
As long as the “working together” does not deem some Alliance is necessary.
It would be nice if the Greens and their MP of 1 of 150 got behind Labor initiatives and the Greens accepted they will only ever be bit players and stopped attacking Labor at every given opportunity
I would welcome Independents, even Katter, working with the ALP if it was in the interest of the Country and in opposition to the LNP.
No formal agreements are necessary,no “alliances” just a vote with Labor when necessary and a voice against this noxious LNP
The first step in the Greens proving their worth,to work with is how they perform leading up to the QLD Elections this year and unfortunately I see it being no different from the last election when they spent their waking hours attacking Labor, and the Premier and Deputy Premier relentlessly with some very shoddy and untrue campaigns
Labor needs to concentrate on doing what it does best- Get stuff done and not be side tracked by a largely irrelevant Greens
Miriam, it would be even better if Labor faced up to ecology. They are not quite as bad as the LNP, but things like Adani and “development” in general indicate their thinking is still lodged in the twentieth century.
They were pitiful in backing the Coalition on secretive FTAs and surveillance/arbitrary detention/DR legislation.
As good as this piece is, no one disengaged with politics will read it. All too hard for them. Slogans cut thru. reason does not,
This comment was telling for me….
Barcaldine mayor Rob Chandler, whose son is a coalminer, says federal Labor lost ground in central west Queensland because it failed to secure the support of workers in the resources industry.
“For politicians to get up and just say, ‘Well, we are just going to close these coalmines, but we will retrain the miners.’ Retrain them into a $70,000 a year job when they are on $180,000. The banks would move into (his son’s) place tomorrow,” Chandler says.
I’m not so sure it is the inner-city folk who are the “privileged” ones harming Labor.
Where does his son live?
Buckingham Palace?
On Monday, as I step the door to my resume my main employment, namely doing physically demanding and sometimes dangerous environmental field works for the princely recompense of just over $30/hr, I shall, from this lofty position of privilege, bleed a single salty tear then weep a lone drop of purple piss pumped straight from my heart, just for the plight of all the poor blue-collar battlers struggling to get by on a mere pittance of $3,400 per week.
As an aside, ABS statistics for 2014 cited national figures of under 40,000 people employed in the coal mining industry.
At around the same time, the Abbott government was busy putting 15,000 Australians out of work in order to slash public services.
https://www.smh.com.au/public-service/tony-abbotts-legacy-15000-fewer-australian-public-service-jobs-20150915-gjnh4g.html
It would seem that some jobs matter much more than others.
For anyone enviously salivating at corvus’ excessively generous wage, I would add the disclaimer that I am paid at well above the industry award due to being a well qualified, experienced (19 yrs) and provenly self-motivated professional in my chosen field.
Ps, I will admit that, when looking at things like the salary of Mr Chandler Jnr, I sometimes sneakily harbour a selfish wish that I had chosen a job involving environmental rapine rather than ecological counselling.
@corvus boreus: Job destruction by Lazy Nasty People misgovernments; Toxic RAbbott closed down the automotive assembly industry on an ideological whim costing about 30,000 jobs and losing about $200 BILLION per year in revenue. The slashing of Commonwealth Public Service jobs because the then incumbents believed in fearless advice rather than sycophantic dribbling allowed LNP carpetbaggers to reduce government policies to zero. In Queensland, the mindless Campbell Newman NLP misgovernment wrecked the Qld Public Service by stripping it down to less than necessary capacity in all Departments … all for an ideological libertarian whim.
So why are we worried about a mere 40,000 COAL miners across Australia when in California reports have about 50,000 new jobs created in the alternative energy sector?
If coal is so important, then where is the university faculty working to develop processes and products from coal AFTER alternative energy provides all the necessary electrical power for both industry and residential consumption?
“Labor and Greens must work together! ”
Thanks for pointing that out Kaye …
I have always thought that that was the most obvious thing on the political landscape, but that it still has to be pointed out from time to time says not everyone is up to speed yet.
As if the LieNP and Murdoch weren’t enough on their own to bring this country down.
FFS !
Go #TheALLiance of Greens/Socialists/Progressives/saneIndependents/LeftLaborLeft
Labor can’t do it alone and Labor can’t expect to reap the rewards alone either when #TheALLiance finally defeats the LNP, possibly as early as later this year.
Trish I have followed you on Twitter for some time now
You say “Labor and Greens must work together! ”
As a departure from your previous stance, how could any trust be placed in them after previous QLD,Victorian and Federal campaigns , all of which you were highly critical.
Did I miss something?
What’s changed?
All I seem is the Greens old thimble and pea trick, and the daily savaging of Labor on Social Media sites
Renewable Energy across Queensland’s Regions
July 2018
Queensland’s renewable energy projects committed since 2015: 5687 construction jobs & 273 ongoing. Projects proposed: 33975 construction jobs & 1,562 ongoing.
http://greenmarkets.com.au/images/uploads/GEM%20Reports/Industry%20Reports/Renewable_Energy_Across_Qld_Regions.pdf
Miriam, I understand your chagrin with the Greens – they are playing political games – but so are Labor.
From the New York Times:
“And yet, incredibly, the response of Australia’s leaders to this unprecedented national crisis has been not to defend their country but to defend the coal industry, a big donor to both major parties — as if they were willing the country to its doom. While the fires were exploding in mid-December, the leader of the opposition Labor Party went on a tour of coal mines expressing his unequivocal support for coal exports. The prime minister, the conservative Scott Morrison, went on vacation to Hawaii.”
https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/comment-australia-is-committing-climate-suicide/ar-BBYArAP?li=AAgfYrC&ocid=mailsignout
My animosity of the Greens extends well beyond Adani.
I understand #StopAdani is the perfect size for a bumper sticker, but once an Election is over even that campaign dies down,and the chance of Adani ever going ahead is minimal
I want a Stop Kevins Corner, Stop Clives 4 times bigger than Adani, Stop China First, Stop China Stone, Stop Alpha, Stop Galilee, or South Galilee or any of the other mines in production in the Galilee Basin.
Fortunately, or unfortunately Australia is bound by Laws and to this stage most of the listed mines meet the guidelines
There is an immediate need for #TheALLiance of Greens/Socialists/Progressives/saneIndependents/LeftLaborLeft to form so to oust this fascist LNP regime and return Australia to better standards seeking equitable opportunity for ALL Australians and not at the expense of the Environment.
Miriam,
Our government makes the laws and can change them.
From your link…
“While the Minister had agreed he had made an error and the approval should be set aside, the decision led to the Australian Government proposing to change the law to prevent “vigilante litigation” and “lawfare” by “radical green groups”.”
Most of the challenges have focused on judicial review of the approval process rather than the merit of the decision.
“There may be good grounds for disagreeing with the Minister’s decision, but that is not our concern in an appeal limited to the lawfulness of that decision.”
At no stage has the downstream effect on climate change been considered.
It is also up to our government to determine the royalties agreement – that has still not happened with the Adani mine. Nor have they gained approval for the operation of rolling stock on their railway.
The waste of water on mining should be enough to stop them. We could charge whatever we liked for that instead of just gifting them huge quantities of water when towns are having to pay for water to be trucked in.
We could stop the huge subsidies we gift to the fossil fuel industry.
In the Netherlands, appeal court judges ruled that the severity and scope of the climate crisis demanded greenhouse gas reductions of at least 25% by 2020 – measured against 1990 levels – because of the existential threat posed to their country.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/09/dutch-appeals-court-upholds-landmark-climate-change-ruling
There is a great deal that we could do to stop this madness.
thanks crow,
One day when you grow up you will realise that those who pick up dog shit are more helpful to the climate than those who circle around and move on their fixed path. Sadly there are many who don’t look and step in it.
Best you avoid my posts,
But keep trying to write, you will eventually understand that your 40k and kaye’s % mean f-ck all to a worker for whom a job (median wage $thousands lower than yours) or hope of a job is 100%, for whom a screaming caravan of job takers is frightening and for whom labor and the greens is a toxic slogan. QED you will see in 2029 the confession by the diludbransimkims of why boobby went chasing cash.
Dear rectal cancer,
Thank you for posting yet another dollop of regurgitated bile
I shall take your advice and join the majority here who completely ignore your disruptive senile rantings.
Do not ever address or speak of me again.
Jennifer A Meyer-SmithJanuary 4, 2020 at 10:03 am
“Looks like Trish, the fascist is control”
First your comment makes no sense and second, if interpreted as best I can
I take exception to you labeling Trish Corry “a fascist”
Miriam,
I’m sorry I spoilt your morning cuppa, but I think Trish is a big enough girl to fight her own battles.
On this one occasion, I will say sorry to Trish, as that comment was not intended for publishing, My mistake.
I also agree with Trish and many others on this stream (except you Miriam and a few other dinosaurs) that the Greens and Labor should be working together and I am glad that this belated realisation is now being revealed.
Go #TheALLiance of Greens/Socialists/Progressives/saneIndieslikeWilkie/LeftLaborLeft (shove Fitzgibbon & Marles)!
bile??
I realise why the loonies are so upset.
So many loonies spent 10 long years bleating a consistent rationalisation for the disastrous vote with the rabbott. Suddenly you and the silent lord,were devastated to learn that dog shit was right and your faith was worth nothing..
So like the rabbottians I will keep regurgitating partly digested information hoping that simple people of faith will think before bleating the party lines..
Funny that for 10 years little loonies have followed the party line repeating the inane excuses for boobby’s brainfart.
Oops, jennfer, kaye and the worc does that process sound familiar??
ps
I shall try not to write about something that shows the worc is not just a loonie because it upsets him.
the worc has a job
queenslanders want jobs in coal
boobby wants them out
two seats disappear
the loonies make 3 million
the green success sucks
Nick Cater writes about ‘quiet Australians’ in Spiked online , supported by Koch’s, while editor O’Neill (mates with Abbott and former (very) left inclined Clare Fox of nowadays Brexit Party) realised there is more money promoting the right and climate denialism.
The btl comments are mostly bonkers.
Wam Spam,
thanks for the acknowledgement.
Queenslanders very rightly want jobs, so they can take pleasure in knowing those jobs are ready, willing and able in the renewable energy industries and tourism.
I think what you are confused about is your particular selected type of Queenslanders want the Big Bucks jobs on offer in coal.
Sorry to make you wet your pants but if it is the difference between someone being on several hundred thousands of bucks per year as opposed to the Great Barrier Reef or dirty filthy oil drilling in the Great Australian Bight off WA, the Environment comes first in the minds on the multitudes of saner Australians.
Andrew, thanks for the link to “Spiked”.
It serves to reinforce my conviction that a large portion of the community are not just thick, but bordering on insane.
Your thoughts are true god and the bible, miriam, but the queenslanders that switched from labor because of the caravan and the media are the couple of thousand that are important these people are the same who switched from sullivan when he criticised a couple with a disabled child just before polling day they switched from lamb when xxxx just before polling day. These people are blue singlets or unemployed these people don’t read this blog or interpret the news, these people don;t watch the ABC beyond the news these people talk at bbqs and hear the ravings of conservative slogans unanswered by labor.who is not disposed to give them a counter/
These couple of thousand got frightened and elected scummo and whilst the loonies got their cash they lost labor the election and gave hanson their balance.
Mitiam, you are admirable even when I suspect you spent 10 years believing the story of boobby’s 2009 disaster. Perhaps even disseminating the party ‘reasons’?
It took you time to understand my diludbransimkim reference but the boys still rule. The bloke running this blog has his suspicions??
If the crow could think through his verdant haze he could see that I am not a troll but a stalker. Since xmas 2009 I have stalked the greens for cutting off their noses in spite at the labor-lnp bipartisan climate action. Their vote with the rabbott was in a fit of pique and we had 10 years of inaction. Could hypocritcal be a suitable term??
ps there are millions of lovely Australians who think differently to me you and the fence post and millions who think this government stinks but it is the few thousand who don’t think till polling day who set the government. The lnp has a machine approach to them labor hopes for a charismatic leader, birthday cake or clear air before polling day.
pps
I’m fond of pommie spam. It, and its derivatives, are a favourite amongst my ex-kormilda kids who had lots of it fried over xmas/
Hence, Wam Spam,
(I presume you were talking to me and not the long suffering Miriam Pottani)…
…the need for #TheALLiance of Greens/Socialists/Progressives/saneIndies/Labor to counteract the numbers of switched off non-discerning voters, who are easily manipulated by the LNP and Hanson options.