Further to my previous post, in which I thanked Anonymous for the tip-off to the site where one could access background documents used by the Murray Darling Basin Authority, I want to have a rant, a real rant about what could be (please prove me wrong, Networkers) propaganda - in short, false information - being reported and shouted out by all and sundry.
The Australian Government seems to have fallen for the three card trick of this propaganda to announce the appointment of the Windsor Inquiry and the MDBA appears to have been brow-beaten into pursuing yet another socio-economic study of the Murray-Darling Basin. The paranoia of a hung parliament or more like the story of the boy, the man, and the donkey demonstrating that you can't please all of the people all of the time.
I have a feeling of foreboding; a feeling that people that should be listening are not listening, not paying attention. I have a feeling of foreboding that people who should know better are giving in to the baying crowds of the Coliseum.
I wonder, considering a Labor Govt is making decisions, how many seats are really at stake because of last week's hysteria. The uproar came from New South Wales (OK an election there next year - but if they lose, as predicted, the pain is likely to be dished out by seats outside the Murray-Darling Basin) and, from my vantage point, appears to be stirred up by the NSW Irrigators. I was at Shepparton and while the response was strong, it was not like the voices from New South Wales. The remaining Victorian community engagements are yet to come. However, if they are like Shepparton, strong but courteous will be the order of the day.
Last night, the NSW Irrigators told the Twitterverse this:
So, Networkers, what is all that buzz we are hearing - Truth or Propaganda?
The Australian Government seems to have fallen for the three card trick of this propaganda to announce the appointment of the Windsor Inquiry and the MDBA appears to have been brow-beaten into pursuing yet another socio-economic study of the Murray-Darling Basin. The paranoia of a hung parliament or more like the story of the boy, the man, and the donkey demonstrating that you can't please all of the people all of the time.
I have a feeling of foreboding; a feeling that people that should be listening are not listening, not paying attention. I have a feeling of foreboding that people who should know better are giving in to the baying crowds of the Coliseum.
I wonder, considering a Labor Govt is making decisions, how many seats are really at stake because of last week's hysteria. The uproar came from New South Wales (OK an election there next year - but if they lose, as predicted, the pain is likely to be dished out by seats outside the Murray-Darling Basin) and, from my vantage point, appears to be stirred up by the NSW Irrigators. I was at Shepparton and while the response was strong, it was not like the voices from New South Wales. The remaining Victorian community engagements are yet to come. However, if they are like Shepparton, strong but courteous will be the order of the day.
Last night, the NSW Irrigators told the Twitterverse this:
This morning, the same folk are telling the same Twitterverse this:
And this from an organisation whose constituency tends to prefer the National Party, hate Trade Unions and their members, and pour scorn on people fighting to preserve the land and waterscapes of this country in good order for ensuing generations - including those who bring us food and fibre from the land.
If this is the public voice, I wonder what they are saying sotto voce to their members, their local organisers, their rabble-rousers.
This is why I think that there are times
when agri-politics needs to be spelt aggro-politics!
So, Networkers, if you want to view or access all the information that the MDBA has on the internet at this time, please go here and scroll down. What's available will probably satisfy, more than satisfy, the needs of most Networkers. And then there is the variety of research that CSIRO claims to have carried out for the Murray-Darling Plan. See the fact sheet embedded below:
So, Networkers, what is all that buzz we are hearing - Truth or Propaganda?
I would comment on this dribble, but, honestly, I can't be bothered.
ReplyDeleteDear Networkers,
ReplyDeleteA footnote. I think that the Anonymous above should not be confused with the Anonymous provider of information. Reason to believe this is Richard Widows with whom I have been having a to and fro over at Twitter. http://twitter.com/#!/richwidows
While Richard may be Anonymous here - he is not anonymous everywhere
http://au.linkedin.com/pub/richard-widows/12/b06/9a7
Well, Brigid
ReplyDeleteYou know my opinion on all this.
We will get a compromise upon a compromise.
.
My old college (in Rome) was founded in 1622 with the name of "Propaganda Fidei" ("Propagation of the Faith").
The Soviets took over the concept of "propaganda" and perfected it. Goebbels had a pretty good grasp of it too.
.
The Agrarian Socialists in Australia are running rings around the Gov't over all this; and the MDBA may in fact be "running dead" on this anyway.
The whole game stinks.
But the Labor Party are going a long way towards losing the battle.
There are no Labor seats (as you know) in the MDB. Not even in the NSW State Parliament.
Denis
Denis,
ReplyDeleteit has been suggested to me that the MDBA makes common reference to their findings being subject to the Water Act (especially the Act's stated purpose of environmental restoration through increased flows)which in turn sends signals. It has been suggested to me that this could well be deliberate.
Could it be that the MDBA or some of its members such as Mike Taylor are indulging in a bit of dog-whistling?
The agricultural lobbies are now quite open saying they want amendments to the Act. Will this escalate to the point where they say they want a whole new Act?
The Labor Party since 2007 has been on the road to appeasement across a wide range of policy areas with a heavy emphasis on appeasement of those who do not vote for it.
Your point about the Labor Party holding no seats in the MDB is not true. I held this view - until yesterday when I thought I would check my facts before putting my views in print.
I started out with going to the Parliamentary website and going to the state list of MPs. I started off with Victoria. There are Federal members within the MDB - Bendigo and Ballarat for instance.
Now how you assess this is open to debate - how much does the MDB debate influence these urban areas.
I would suggest there is some influence - and particularly when you look at pipeline developments in that area. Castlemaine - which is knee deep in people keen on environmental solutions - isn't far from Bendigo and it has had severe problems during the drought. So it is a bit hard to tell how much MDB considerations penetrate and how deeply.
The other thing is the Labor Feds would also be conscious of State elections. For instance, the seat of Seymour in which Jan Beer is running as an independent is within the MDB and is held by Labor. The Labor member does not even mention water as an issue on his site - but clearly it is an issue for many people within that electorate. However, one assumes the local member is drawing his votes from a lot of the urban sprawl developing in that electorate and the sprawl is more interested in schools, hospitals and other services. The seat of McEwan is another.
So while electorates both Federal and State may be dominated by non-Labor members of parliament, one has to tread cautiously.
The other reason to tread cautiously is that serious environmental matters have to be dealt with in the MDB and, as far as possible, locals have to be part of the solution. Now, not all locals care and - as I heard in Shepparton - some poor scorn on the term 'environment'. So an integral part of the solution is getting local business and agricultural support.
If you watched yesterday's National Press Club Lunch, you will have noted the impressive role of Arlene Buchan from the ACF (as well as the MDBA) in all of this. I liked her description that everyone (reference to the agricultual lobby) was still in the tent - although some were grumpy.
Hi Brigid
ReplyDeleteI had overlooked the Seymour electorate (State), but the "Goldfields" electorates are so dry as to be insignificant as "MDB Towns". Loddon and Campaspe Rivers flow either side of Bendigo and do head to the Murray. But any streams in the Ballarat area, (few) flow south into the Moorabool River and into Corio Bay at Geelong.
Neither of those towns identifies as MDB towns. and one surely is not at all.
Apart from those details, we are in agreement.
I relied on the Federal electoral maps produced by the ABC's Anthony Green, in an analysis I did prior to the Federal election. Red seats nearly exclusively in cities. Blue and Green in the bush, plus posh suburbs in cities.
As a generalisation it is about 98% correct.
Cheers
Denis