This link talking about Campbell Newman's Anti-Environment policies came in from a horrified Pleiades:
Newman’s administration has:
- Dismantled all carbon abatement and climate change schemes — including research into clean energy and programs that encourage people to reduce their carbon footprint — when it eliminated the Office of Climate Change.
- Pulled state government support from the $1.2 billion Solar Dawn solar research and power plant — which was destined to be the largest in the world and would have given Queensland a clear path to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.
- Eliminated more than 1,400 jobs across government departments dealing with environmental concerns, as part of a plan announced in the September budget to shed a total 14,000 positions across the Queensland public service through redundancy and “natural attrition”.
- Announced that it would roll back the Wild Rivers legislation that protects areas from development and mining in the Cape York and Western Rivers areas — despite a pre-election promise to leave the western rivers alone.
- Flagged changes to the enforcement of the Vegetation Management Act which regulates how and when landholders can clear native vegetation.
- Lifted the ban on shooting flying foxes, despite the endangered status of some species.
- Proposed changes to the management of national parks that would open them up to tourism, allowing more access for 4WDs, horses and bikes in some areas.
- Announced plans to remove the South-East Queensland urban footprint, which determines the density of development in the region, a planning tool conservationists say protects koala habitat and safeguards biodiversity.
- Prioritised development in the Great Barrier Reef area, with plans to approve projects that UNESCO has asked the government to delay, given the condition of the reef.
In total, such changes have led critics to say the government has put development first and the environment last.
“Whatever the rule book was beforehand, it’s now open slather,” says one former Department of Environment and Resource Management employee, who now works with government in the private sector and therefore wants to remain anonymous.
“[Under the previous Labor government] the environment was an important part of the decision-making process. You couldn’t just go and do whatever you wanted without giving thought to how it impacts on the environment … Under this government they’re just freeing it up so you don’t have to think about it.
“They are just going to town on everything — any piece of environmental legislation.’’
Oh boy, that's some list! "Queensland - Perfect One Day, Newman-ed the next."
For all the prattle that politicians say just to get elected, the worst might have been Newman's promise of having a stronger focus on the environment so that he could speed up mining and development approvals. It seems the strong focus he is talking about is a strong focus to eradicate any kind of environment. It's clearly Orwellian 'Doublespeak' to promise a "strong focus on the environment" only to do away with any and all regulations protecting the environment.
It shouldn't be surprising. If you put into government somebody with a radical agenda and a significant majority, then it stands to reason that they will go to metaphorically burn down the house. It would be okay if it were only their metaphorical houses, but there is only one world; he's burning down the whole block. When he allows these mining and developing interests to proceed without any caution or regulation, he's doing it at our expense in other states.
It's some pretty evil shit.
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