WESTERNPORT BAY For the first 14 years of my life, my family lived on the south west coast of Scotland. We lived by the seaside. It was beautifully bleak. The beach there was locally referred to as the shitey shore. On any given day whilst swimming, you could easily encounter a bobbing floater. I didnt realize it at the time, but at some point, politicians had decided, that public health and safety, in the overall scheme of things, was really not that important. In 1967, we travelled by ship to Melbourne. It was a wonderfully strange feeling, arriving in a new land. Even now, whenever I arrive back in Melbourne, a most wondrous city, I am transported back to that day, sailing into Port Melbourne, with the lone bagpiper on the pier to greet us. Everything was different from what I had known. You could drive in any direction, and within an hour or two, be sitting on a beach, in a totally pristine natural environment, which was unique in the world then, and is even more so now. I made friends who surfed. I did not myself. I became obsessed with trying to play the guitar. Im still obsessed, and still trying to play. But I so loved going down the coast to Phillip Island, and swimming, or just hanging out, being constantly amazed at the big surf of the ocean, or the quiet though unpredictable waters of Westernport Bay. What struck me then, and still does now, is the fact that many Australians seemed to take what was in effect, their own back yard for granted. I can tell you, in my wanderings across the globe, that the many and varied Victorian coastlines, with accompanying spectacular wildlife, is remarkable, and indeed most special. The Victorian government is presently proposing to transform Westernport Bay, into a super port, for super container ships. Under the plan, the Port of Hastings will have a capacity of 8 million shipping containers a year by 2035, and 11 million per year by 2050. At the moment, the Port of Melbourne handles 2.5 to 3 million containers a year. It will be busy, very, very busy. Last November, 16 environmental and community groups released a joint statement calling for a halt on Port of Hastings expansion plans based on the huge impact this development would have on Westernports environmental and recreational values. You get the idea. I am not suggesting that environmental and recreational considerations should always trump the economic, indeed it rarely has or does, but I believe that serious scrutiny should take place, before momentous decisions like this take place, that affect us all. The government is proposing something big, that apparently will have far-reaching positive economic implications, according to their predictions, that we the public, will have to accept. Unless we object, and continue to object, and momentum builds to the point where public outcry becomes too loud to ignore. Therefore, the immediate future is crucial. Details of opposition to the project, can be found online, such as this link, preservewesternport.org.au/s/PreserveWesternPortDiscussionPaper-Final.pdf You may well ask why I am bothering to weigh in on this issue, as at present, I live thousands of kilometers away. Apart from the fact that I was asked to, there are personal reasons also. In the early 70s, it seemed obvious to my friends and I that climate change was real. Whilst the government is not necessarily the enemy, there is often cause to be suspicious of their motives. We got excited when Gough got in, and look what happened to him. The Queens representative sacked a democratically elected government, during an apparent constitutional crisis. People took to the streets, but then they mostly just went home. Now Gough is gone, but will never be forgotten. He was brilliant in so many ways, an unapologetic idealist living in the real world of the day. He gave us hope that true social democracy was not only desirable and possible, but perhaps even inevitable, if we are to survive and thrive, and avoid the consequences of our missteps, or simply our collective silence. I make no excuses about what side of the political fence Im on, though it could be argued that someone took the fence away. So what I feel about this proposal to industrialize Westernport, is not necessarily based only on rational, logical thought, taking in the intricacies of both sides arguments, its emotional. More than anything, its a feeling. Its a feeling that those with all the power in the State of Victoria, are trying to bulldoze a project that exists at best in most peoples peripheral vision. But, it does, and will affect us all, not to mention the health and well-being of the incredible biodiversity of the region, which may suffocatingly suffer, should this project become a reality. Its a big subject, with long reaching and long lasting implications. I would encourage anyone to inform themselves of what is going on, a mere stones throw away, and make a noise, as big as you can, if you object. It is our own back yard after all. Its up to us the public, to voice its opinion. When I think of my adopted homeland, I get a feeling that is difficult to explain. It creates space in my head and heart. A knowledge that there still is, in some measure, a grand physical environment that is as it was before, that exists for the benefit of all life forms, those seen and unseen. A sense that we are part of a place that is truly unique, and not just like everywhere else upon the Earth. When I first arrived in Victoria, the ground felt different under my feet. In a little over an hour from Flinders Street station, I could stand on land looking out to sea, and feel connected to a physical environment that was humbling, inspiring and somehow eternal. We are indeed lucky people, living in a lucky land. A land that we are all the caretakers of, for ourselves, and more importantly for those who come after. It is part of what connects us to each other. I myself dont have any children, but you may have, or grandchildren even. You may fancy a spin down the coast, to relax on a spring day. I dont know about you, but when I find myself driving down to Phillip Island, skirting beautiful Westernport, I like to forget about the industrialized world for awhile, and not be reminded of it in such an overbearing manner. I like to see the horizon without it being interrupted by line after line of super container ships some over half a kilometer long. And when your child asks you the questions from the back seat, Daddy why is the water black, why cant we swim in it anymore and why have the penguins and the whales stopped coming? You may well have to answer, Well thats because we let all the big ships come in, back in 2020. Why dont you look at your iWatch, and take a look at some photos of how the bay used to be?” Before we did nothing to stop it. In times like these, I ponder the beautifully prophetic words of Robert Burns, in his poem To A Mouse, when he states, Im truly sorry Mans dominion Has broken Natures social union An justifies that ill opinion, Which makes thee startle, At me, thy poor, earth-born companion, An fellow-mortal! More power to you. Colin
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 19:00:27 +0000
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