A couple of years ago, after yet another raft of draconian legslation by the Palaszczuk mob, and after fragmented and ineffective resistance by our peak bodies and conservative political parties, Green Shirts formed. It was formed to provide a medium for cohesive action. People of any organisation could remain a member of that organisation yet become a Greenshirt. It was a group to provide a link between disparate groups that the state government delighted in dividing and conquering. It was not just about Agriculture, but also about all the other industries and communities facing the neglect, being wilfully misunderstood, and being used as scapegoats for political advantage and idealism.
Suffice to say, the attempt to create unity was an almost complete failure. Defending your own patch, cannibalising other groups, and not being too edgy or you might not get the next drip feed of pay off money from the very mob that are grinding us into the dirt, were all a whole lot more important than actually standing shoulder to shoulder and saying enough is enough.
Oh there was plenty of talk, a whole lot of platitudes, but when the guns were firing, stoic allies were few and far between – and “friendly fire” was frequent. Fighting over the last couple of chairs on the deck of the Titanic became all consuming.
Direct talk, calling a spade a spade, actually “doing” rather than virtue signalling, seemed and seems to be a threat to the established way of doing business. There have been some who have tried to use this organisation for their own ends. To use us to further their own aims rather than to further the aims of those we stand to defend. There have been others who came in white hot, but their ardour soon cooled and the idea of a long protracted war – which this was always going to be – was not palatable to them, and they have drifted away.
Make no mistake. This is a war, not a battle. There is hard grinding work aplenty with only a few hard won victories to celebrate. The choice is to accept, and walk to our inevitable demise with our heads bowed, or to fight with all the associated effort and pain – but with the risk of winning.
In Townsville last Friday, representatives of a number of organisations met. The aim is to coordinate the push for the implementation of an Office of Science Review as proposed by Peter Ridd. This is NOT to get rid of the Reef Regs, but rather to be a body that tests the rigour of ANY science that regulation and legislation is based upon. It is about ensuring veracity not acquiescing to populism. It is about auditing ALL areas – not just things relating to agriculture.
It was at the end that someone said that is was great to see groups united to pursue a common cause. The tragedy is, however, that the opportunity to unite was there a couple of years ago, and it has taken further dire imposition to force a wider and more collegiate view of the big picture – and the terrible consequences of continuing to pursue self interest over common good.
There are some who will be offended by this – so be it.
But this is my truth, this is the thing that has consumed me for years now, and has cost some of us immensely. I am not noted for taking backward steps and it is a skill that I am unlikely to learn now.
I invite you to join me. Fight with me – a fight that someone must fight – and that someone needs to be you and I.
By Marty Bella.
