A Man Named Dick* Commentary by Captain Paul Watson Sea Shepherd has come under fire by some bogan named Dick from Tasmania Say who? Apparently Dick is upset that Sea Shepherd has intercepted an Antarctic Toothfish poacher? Just who is this guy named Dick? We are not really sure why this man who describes himself a Liberal Party Senator for Tasmania would be defending outlawed toothfish poachers? Who? Dick Colbeck- Liberal Party Senator for Tasmania. Oh wait, I get it, Dickie from Taz - one of Tony Abbott’s bully boys, so I guess no explanation is required. Apparently if anyone speaks out against environmental destruction, this guy Dick can be counted on to defend absolutely anyone that environmentalists oppose. After Sea Shepherd’s ship the “Bob Barker” caught the Nigerian flagged pirate fishing ship “Thunder” fishing illegally in the Southern Ocean earlier this month, Dick issued the following statement: The Australian government does not support and is in no way associated with the activities of Sea Shepherd and does not condone any dangerous or unlawful acts at sea. No one should be taking the law into their own hands - the law of the sea must be paramount for all parties in all circumstances. Now why would a Tasmania Senator say something like that? It’s mystery because first of all the “Bob Barker” and the “Sam Simon” are not Australian ships. They are Dutch ships. The “Bob Barker” is skippered by a Swede and the “Sam Simon” is skippered by an Indian. Secondly, the poacher was not intercepted or caught in Australian waters. It was intercepted due south of India some 6000 kilometres from Tasmania where Dick resides. Third the “Thunder” is on the Interpol purple list and is the most notorious poacher operating in the Southern Ocean. The “Thunder” is the illegal operation here, not Sea Shepherd. And fourth is the fact that this ship has been operating with impunity for a decade with very little action taken by any government, including Australia, to stop it. Dick then went on to say that, “the government did not need Sea Shepherds help in ridding Australian waters of illegal fishing vessels like “Thunder.”” Obviously Senator they did not need any help because it is difficult to help a government that it not doing anything about the problem. Sea Shepherd found the poacher within 10 days of leaving Hobart and shut down its illegal operations, something that Australia has merely been talking about doing for a decade. And it looks like Sea Shepherd is doing just fine without any help from Australia. But this is not about poachers for Senator Dick. He has decided to defend poachers everywhere in his attack on Sea Shepherd, because to him the poachers are simply businessmen and Sea Shepherd is obstructing the profits of their business. Dick is consistent in speaking out in defense of the thugs raping the planet and his priority political agenda is defending the profits of business, no matter how criminal, unethical or ruthless that business might be. He has been championing a bill to make it illegal for environmental groups to boycott any company that damages the environment. Earlier this year he was critical of the boycott of palm oil and forestry products by companies that kill Orangutans. Also earlier this year Dick failed in his bid to delist 74,000 hectares of forest from the Tasmanian World Heritage Area. Dick from Tassie is adamant about deny information to consumers on the destructive operations of corporations claiming that environmentalist have an unfair advantage over business. He has been a longtime advocate of expanding clear-cut operations in Tasmania and is prepared to restrict freedom of speech in his effort to promote freedom to profit. With regard to cracking down on illegal logging Dick had this to say. “The laws do not require businesses to become amateur detectives investigating the legality of their timber. They only require businesses to take reasonable steps and ask suitable questions about the origin of the timber to assess if there is any risk the source may have been an illegal operation.” Yes sir, it looked like Dick took a strong stand on that issue. Lots of money is being made from illegal fishing and whaling and that money buys lots of influence. Ships like the “Thunder” rake in millions in profits while employing virtual slave labour from third world nations. What Dick is saying is that a notorious purple listed, ruthless, pirate fishing operation should not be harassed by conservationists because it is an interference with illicit profits. So well Dick sits at home in Tassie watching Footie this week, the battle wages in the Southern Ocean to protect the toothfish and Southern Ocean ecosystems. As the crew haul up and confiscate illegal gill nets, not one of them will be giving a second thought to the fact that some guy named Dick from Tassie, some 6,000 kilometres away, says they should not be doing that. One thing for sure, Senator Richard Colbeck is definitely a man named Dick. You can contact Dick from Tasmania here: Senator Dick Colbeck 5-7 Best Street, Devonport Tasmania 7310 PO Box 603, Devonport Tasmania 7310 [email protected] * Apologies to all other individuals named Richard. examiner.au/story/2786159/colbeck-critical-of-sea-shepherd-action/
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 14:31:13 +0000
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