Tuesday, March 09, 2004
The rural-urban interface?

It is often claimed that there is a huge canyon of misunderstanding between the urbanite liberals and the salt-of-the-earth rural types (the true Australians).

Nowhere is this misunderstanding more acute than in the rapid clearance of remnant natural vegatation and regrowth areas in freehold Queensland.

The Beattie Government has pledged to stop broadacre clearing and regulate what people can do to natural eco-systems on their own private land - often huge tracts of it.

While regulation of private land is instituted the world over (in treaties such as RAMSAR), it has created a good deal of misunderstanding in Queensland: mainly do the absolute polarisation of opinion between city dwellers (who do their shopping at Coles/Woolworths and take their lead from the opinions of the Wilderness Society) and those that live in rural areas (growing the food and regurgitating everything that the Property Rights Association tells them).

Where does the 'truth' lie ? Nowhere really. It is always going to be contested and will never be decided objectively by 'experts' and scientists coolly informing public policy making.

Alas it will be decided at the level of politics. People make their informed judgements from the opinions they read, the news stories in the paper and how it is reported, friends and groups with which they empathise. It is never empirical decision, but one where subjectivity is filtered through values and prejudice, played out in power politics.

Fortunately, in Australia, this power politics is played out through democracy and a free press (free, if you own one, that is). Decisions can be reversed as quickly as they can be implemented. Beattie may win this battle (albeit, no doubt, with huge concessions along the way), but that will not protect Queensland's remarkable forests forever.

These two cartoons from The Australian very sharply portray one view (also my view) of forest policy in Queensland. (Bear in mind, Queensland is big, but remnant vegetation clearance is increasing year on year. Last year, an area the size of Devon was cleared, net.)

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