A tribute to “Greenban warrior” Jack Mundey, Michael Moore’s film Planet of the Humans and concern about the environmentally destructive Toondah Harbour project are discussed in letters published by Redlands2030.
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Vale Jack Mundey: a green warrior
Jack Mundey (Image by Honi Soit with thanks)
Jack Mundey and his fellow unionists saw at the outset that the jobs-versus-environment debate is a sham construct. Workers can have both, if they only insist on it.
Consider how radical the green bans seem now when the CFMEU (the successor to the Builders Laborers Federation) colluded with the far-right against Stop Adani protesters at the last federal election, and national president Tony Maher tells Crikey his union will never oppose a new coal mine that creates jobs.
Yet new coal projects will literally make the planet uninhabitable for kids, not just those of the inner-city greenies, but the kids of regional coalminers as well – a much more serious threat than anything the BLF stared down 50 years ago. The CFMEU could, if it wished, stop the Adani project dead tomorrow (and with coal prices plummeting and projects being shelved, many coal companies would thank them).
Unions across the world round could, if they wished, stop new fossil fuels forever.
Toondah Harbour a real eye opener
I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Redlands 2030 members and in particular President Steve, Secretary Chris and Treasurer Tom.
Finding out about the Toondah Harbour project has been a real eye-opener to me.
To quote Kelly O’Shanassy: CEO of the Australian Conservation Foundation in the tell-all ABC radio segment by Steve Cannane The bird and the businessman: A billionaire developers plan to build on a protected wetland. “It tells me there’s a disturbing manipulation of environmental law and decision making in this country. If you have enough money and enough influence then you can wield that power to essentially convince ministers to make a decision that’s in your financial benefit. That’s not how environmental law should operate.”
I knew this kind of thing was happening in Australia with the Adani coal mine, but I didn’t know this type of thing was in my own back yard and that Toondah Harbour or the “Cleveland Bay” were scheduled for destruction.
I understand and support the need to upgrade the area. Especially car parking for Island residents and visitors to Stradbroke Island, but I do not agree with putting 3,600 units in the bay. I do not agree to destroying an internationally protected, kind of like “World Heritage” wetland.
It’s just another step towards being like a Gold Coast and I do not want that!
I love our bayside living, I love G.J. Walter Park just the way it is and I love living in the Redlands.
So I would like to say thanks to your team. Thank you for the efforts you have put in so far in bringing this destructive project out into the open.
Thank you for all your hard work and efforts. It takes truly remarkable people, who are volunteers (unpaid) to not just care for our environment but to actually get out there and try to make it a better place for us all to live in.
TK
Capalaba
Planet of the Humans
Recently I watched the Michael Moore documentary, Planet of the Humans.
Arguably it dares to say what no one else will — that we are losing the battle to stop climate change on planet earth. We are losing because we are following leaders who have taken us down the wrong road — selling out the green movement to wealthy interests and to corporate Australia (and America).
It is a sobering assessment.
Because of the impact of COVID-19 on theatre going around the world, Moore has generously relessed it on YouTube where it can be viewed for free and it has already had over 8 million views.
Moore’s film is the wake-up call to the reality we are afraid to face: that we are in the midst of a human-caused extinction event. The environmental movement’s answer is to push for techno-fixes and band-aids is too little, too late.
DJ
Cleveland
Editor: Planet of the Humans has attracted some criticism for its contentious claims about renewable energy as discussed by Ian Lowe in: 3 times Michael Moore’s film Planet of the Humans gets the facts wrong (and 3 times it gets them right)
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Redlands2030 – 19 June 2020
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