Its disappointing when you find out that friends and/or family are of the denying ilk. I recently found out that a friend of mine (ex-workmate, and photography friend) is one of those and I was gobsmacked because this woman is otherwise intelligent and thoughtful. She shared a horrid graphic on facebook (not hers, someone elses)… I’ll see if I can find it again, and post it here, so you can all be equally horrified at the crap that goes down.
[edit] that didnt take long… read it and weep
I find it regrettable that some people cannot understand that some climate change causes are natural but that the majority of the changes happening now are induced by mankind.
But then I think back to the experiments that were done around how many people lacked the ability to choose delayed (but better) gratification over immediate reward and then I’m not so surprised 
Can’t find it… The Natural Confectionery Company… ad from a few years back… No one could resist the immediate reward…
Is it this?
That’s the one I was thinking of.
We really need planning and legislation that goes beyond the 3/4 year election cycle in order to respond to climate change. We have no long term planning going on because long term planning doesn’t win elections - tax cuts win elections.
The LNP in particular seem to have a policy of 'whatever the ALP is doing/did do, oppose it, regardless if it makes sense.
Something I admire about someone like Tony Windsor is that he was about working to get the best outcome for his electorate, even though he is more of a conservative. Sadly not much of that happens.
Won’t happen in the foreseeable future given the LNP’s makeup of a significant number of climate change deniers.
On a personal note:
I don’t trust the peanut gallery to plan anything and then keep their hands off it anymore. Just look at the NBN, NDIS, and Medicare… tertiary education to boot… as prime examples of what were supposed to be long term, national roadmaps to future prosperity. All torn down by politicians who want short term gratification for doing something self-destructive.
Interesting factoid: Almost all of them learned from the human cancer that was John Winston Howard. Which as far as I am concerned, any minister that links himself to the history of that man should be booted.
Up until 1996 we had somewhat of a bipartisan approach to policy, parties may not have liked each other. Fraser didn’t like Whitlam, but most of the succesful policies on migration and multiculturalism and reconciliation were rooted in the Whitlam era and continued in the Fraser and later Hawke and Keating era…
Something happened in 1996 that led to the nasty little desiccated coconut being elected and he undid all or most of the Hawke era reforms, tried to destroy the CES, created the misnomer about dole bludgers, tried to destroy Medicare and the right to tertiary education under HECS, and fully privatised the Commonwealth Bank, Qantas, and Medibank Private which were all components of getting a fair choice in the mixed market economy where the government had some control of inflationary and deflationary pressures.
Since then Scabbot privatised the Disability Employment Services, and Australia Post, Turncoat destroyed the NBN, and Scumo is now trying to rort the NDIS in the same way they rorted the CES and DES as institutions Labor created to give the most vulnerable in society a leg up. The apple does not fall far from the tree.
The thing is, the changes have sat for so long now that they have infected both sides of the house and I would not trust the average politician as far as I could throw them. The 1990s were the death of statesmanship and politicians acting for the common good of the people. Now its just a game of one-upmanship on both sides of the house.
@Orestes I share your thoughts on Howard. I know a lot of people who bang on about him being the best PM we’ve ever had and I have to hold back to avoid raging.
I do think that Abbott took the lack of bipartisanship to a whole new level. I think of the NBN and what it could have been, and then look at what it became just so Abbott could have a policy that ‘wasn’t what labor was doing’. Grrrr.
Talking of needing to show restraint from wanting to get arrested for regicide (well - primeminicide?):
Back on topic. I find the same people who bang on about him being the best PM we ever had are the same people who are conciliatory to his policies in that regard and doing things that are “practical” vs. doing things that are right.
When it comes to the environment we can’t do things that are “practical” like carbon sequestration. We don’t have time for practical reforms anymore we have to do what’s right.
In other words, I’m with Greta.
Never a truer word was spoken. Its about one-upmanship and getting what you can in the way of power and kickbacks, while you can.
I signed when it was about 84,000. Good to see its expanded so much. Do we really think the powers that be will even care about it? I lack faith.
Petitions are tabled and recorded in the Hansard Report (which is the recording of the events of parliament). The minister acknowledges them. There is no formal requirement to take action or even formally debate them in parliament unlike in some countries at a federal level in Australia. There is a good in depth report here about the history of petitions:
Yes, the linked Twitter post and its replies from the account it was posted from has some good points about signed petitions in parliament.
I tried to sign twice using my iPad and got an error both times?
O…K… ?
I don’t understand what you want from me here?
I was just wondering if anyone else in the thread had trouble signing?
And if they had had trouble did they have a solution?
I just signed in fine, so I’m thinking it might be user specific to you. Have you considered all the usual things, like restarting the device, clearing cookies, restarting your router etc etc? Hopefully one of those things will fix it. Good luck.
Regarding petitions and even protests, I just don’t think politicians care. I hope I’m wrong, but the realist (pessimist?) in me suspects they don’t care and it has virtually no impact on their policy making.
I’ll just quietly wait here with my one vote while the world burns…
