Thoughts with our neigbours across the Tasman

10 comments on “Thoughts with our neigbours across the Tasman ”

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1. Inventory2 1

   8 February 2009 at 10:41 pm

   Agree 100% Dancer – our prayers are with those affected, and with those who are having to clean up the carnage.
2. Con 2

   8 February 2009 at 11:39 pm

   I’ve only been living here 6 months but two friends have relatives whose houses have been destroyed near Melbourne – with no-one injured thankfully. But the weather has been dire here in Melbourne … yesterday was the hottest day since records began in 1855 (46 degrees), and coupled with high winds it’s inevitable there’d be widespread destruction.

   We’re going to have to get used to it though.

   Dr Jones, acting head of the National Climate Centre, said it was anticipated Australia would experience a two- to four-degree celsius warming this century.

   “We’re going to be routinely seeing 45-degree temperatures in Australia come the end of this century under global warming,” he added.

   “We’re seeing large increases in heatwaves globally over the last 100 years. That’s going to continue, it’s going to accelerate and really … people are going to have to get used to these sorts of heatwaves, they’re going to become a lot more frequent.”
3. Pascal's bookie 3

   9 February 2009 at 6:43 am

   Yeah. It’s just horrible.
4. higherstandard 4

   9 February 2009 at 7:47 am

   Very sad and something that the Australian’s rightly fear every Summer.

   It looks like the scale of this may be even more grim than the disasters of the 1920s, 30s and 83.

   What’s particularly horrific is that they think some of the fires may have been deliberately lit.
5. John Dalley 5

   9 February 2009 at 11:59 am

   HS. They say more than 50% are suspected as being started by arsonists.
   The Aussie PM in saying they are mass murders. I couldn’t agree more and one would hope that those who are caught are charged with mass murder.
6. Pat 6

   12 February 2009 at 1:35 pm

   Check out this from smh.com.au

   Green ideas must take blame for deaths
   http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/green-ideas-must-take-blame-for-deaths-20090211-84mk.html
7. Pat 7

   12 February 2009 at 1:46 pm

   The opening paragraphs:

   “It wasn’t climate change which killed as many as 300 people in Victoria last weekend. It wasn’t arsonists. It was the unstoppable intensity of a bushfire, turbo-charged by huge quantities of ground fuel which had been allowed to accumulate over years of drought. It was the power of green ideology over government to oppose attempts to reduce fuel hazards before a megafire erupts, and which prevents landholders from clearing vegetation to protect themselves.

   So many people need not have died so horribly. The warnings have been there for a decade. If politicians are intent on whipping up a lynch mob to divert attention from their own culpability, it is not arsonists who should be hanging from lamp-posts but greenies.

   Governments appeasing the green beast have ignored numerous state and federal bushfire inquiries over the past decade, almost all of which have recommended increasing the practice of “prescribed burning”. Also known as “hazard reduction”, it is a methodical regime of burning off flammable ground cover in cooler months, in a controlled fashion, so it does not fuel the inevitable summer bushfires.”
8. gingercrush 8

   12 February 2009 at 1:46 pm

   The author makes some points in that article. But wholly blaming the incident like that article seems to do is quite simply stupid and a disgusting example of journalism. And what building in environments prone to fire danger. What about the policies of the fire department and government. Hell if you wish to, what about the consequences of global warming (I for one don’t exactly like this being blamed on global warming nonetheless others will see it as a factor. There are so many issues around these fires, that gutter journalism just isn’t needed.
9. Pat 9

   12 February 2009 at 5:10 pm

   The “Greens” are going to face a backlash in Australia as this issue becomes centre-stage. Inevitably as depair turns to anger they will be looking for who is to blame.

   http://www.smh.com.au/national/fined-for-illegal-clearing-family-now-feel-vindicated-20090212-85bd.html?page=-1

   “They were labelled law breakers, fined $50,000 and left emotionally and financially drained.

   But seven years after the Sheahans bulldozed trees to make a fire break — an act that got them dragged before a magistrate and penalised — they feel vindicated. Their house is one of the few in Reedy Creek, Victoria, still standing.

   The Sheahans’ 2004 court battle with the Mitchell Shire Council for illegally clearing trees to guard against fire, as well as their decision to stay at home and battle the weekend blaze, encapsulate two of the biggest issues arising from the bushfire tragedy.”
10. gingercrush 10

    12 February 2009 at 5:56 pm

    Undoubtedly its an issue. But my point still stands. That, that article was terrible. And you may be interested in Poneke’s article on this which has seen plenty of replies. I’m not actually sure this is a Greens issue and that infact many Greens will disagree with such policies espoused in that article.

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