Australian politics suffering from collective madness

The reluctance of Australia's two major parties to fix our environmental disasters feels like a state of collective madness, writes Sue Arnold.

ACCORDING TO internet searches, collective madness is defined as a state where a group of people share unusual behaviours, physical symptoms, or delusional beliefs without an obvious organic cause. It's also known as mass psychogenic illness.

Given the current state of politics and governments in Australia, the limited choices available to voters, and the increasing division and conflicts in our communities, it seems reasonable to ask whether the nation is suffering from collective madness.

Or more to the point, is Australia under the control of two major parties suffering from the illness?

There’s no question that Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton are excellent examples of the definition. On the one hand, our PM, who doesn’t appear to have the word “environment” in his vocabulary, is touting his credentials on renewable energy while approving major oil and gas projects. Labor’s plans to generate 82 per cent of Australia’s energy from renewable resources by 2030 don’t make any sense given the ongoing approvals of fossil fuel projects.

Australia's Greens not so green anymore

For a party that should have the environment at the top of its priority list, the Greens seem to have abandoned biodiversity loss in favour of other policies.

Conservation group Lock the Gate reports three massive coal expansion projects have moved another step forward in the federal environmental approval process, following the approval of three giant coal projects in September.

The three new expansions would collectively be responsible for more than one billion tonnes of lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions, equivalent to more than double Australia’s domestic annual emissions.

Dutton, not to be outdone in demonstrating his zero environmental creds, wants nuclear power. The CSIRO has examined and costed the proposal announcing that it would be twice as expensive as renewables and that long lead times mean nuclear won’t make any significant contribution to zero emissions by 2050.

Dutton dismissed the CSIRO report claiming a small modular reactor – which is not yet commercially available – could be producing electricity by 2035, with a first large-scale reactor working by 2037.

The CSIRO says the first nuclear reactor could not be built until 2040 and would cost up to $16 billion each to build. The proposed sites include Lithgow, the Hunter Valley, Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, Tarong and Callide in Queensland, Collie in Western Australia and Port Augusta in South Australia.

The CSIRO report found bringing in regulations, legislation and then planning, financing and permitting for nuclear, followed by construction, would take at least 15 years in Australia.

Nuclear power plants use fossil fuels during construction, mining, fuel processing, maintenance and decommissioning.

Then there’s the question of offshore wind farms in the marine environment with strenuous denials that they could cause any problems. In fact, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) details a long list of potential problems including an increase in ocean noise which could affect marine life, including fish and whales.

Labor continues double-speak on forestry issues

Amid talk of managing forestry and environmental conservation, Labor governments continue the destruction of forests across Australia.

Labor has announced plans for six offshore wind farms claiming the Government ‘hopes to harness “some of the best wind resources in the world” with the proposed developments’, according to The Guardian.

In response to the plan, Dutton vowed to scrap offshore wind zone, rip up the contracts and sink a $10 billion project off the coast of Port Stephens in NSW.

How many people will need the energy generated by these conflicting policies? According to the Liberal Party, ‘Labor is on track to shoot over 400,000 for the second consecutive year and could even surpass 500,000 arrivals’.

This number is in spite of Labor Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil saying in September the Labor Government would halve migration from its record high.

Dutton vowed to slash permanent migration to 140,000 a year with deeper cuts to the number of overseas students who enter the country. That figure changed to 160,000. By December, the revised Liberal policy is to ‘set a “realistic” target to ensure intake is lower than the Labor alternative’.

Neither Dutton nor Albanese have done the sums on the increased carbon emissions that will result from increased migration, whether 140,000 or a whopping 400,000.

Apparently, both major parties believe climate change can be dealt with by ignoring the contentious issues such as migration numbers requiring infrastructure, housing, schools, hospitals and shopping centres.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports Professor Peter McDonald, a leading population expert, says there are more than 80,000-100,000 persons presently in Australia whose temporary visas have elapsed, with no sign of departure.

Biodiversity losses and environmental issues are non-events with both major parties. Neither Albanese nor Dutton has any interest in the ongoing drastic loss of fauna, flora, riparian zones, native forests and ecosystems.

News Corp’s fossil fuel advertising dressed as news should be illegal

News Corp's unethical support for the fossil fuel industry is propaganda dressed as news and requires some kind of regulation.

Mainstream media has collectively joined the circus by ensuring anything environmental is also a non-event.

The Australian Conservation Organisation reports that Dutton indicated he’s ‘yet to be convinced on the need for a national environmental protection agency’.

ACF CEO Kelly O’Shanassy says “the Federal Opposition has shown no interest in supporting critical reforms to Australia’s nature laws”.

Not to be out-Duttoned, Albanese killed off a deal with the Greens to pass nature-positive legislation in November. The deal would have included a national environment protection authority.

The Guardian reported the response from Felicity Wade, the national co-convenor of the Labor Environment Action Network (L.E.A.N.):

“The EPA was an election commitment. It has been in the National Platform since 2018 and is backed by 500 local ALP branches. It is core to our claim of caring about the natural environment.”

In the meantime, voters continue to be fed government and opposition propaganda, News Corp and mainstream media political bias, lies and misinformation whilst critical issues are censored, one-sided or simply ignored.

The U.S. is facing collective madness as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take over the presidency with a cabinet made up of billionaires, Putin puppets and sexual offenders.

Australian voters are being offered a different kind of collective madness — one that threatens to ensure the only policies governments and opposition parties have to offer promote chaos.