Fascinating as alpha male v. alpha male struggles are, they're almost completely irrelevant to real progress in 'green issues'. The challenge for Rudd & co. will be remaining credible in the context of our worsening economic, climatic, and militarist woes; ditching the 'growth is good' dogma beloved of corporate looters might be a start. Garrett has blown what little remaining credibility he had with his systematic lies on Green preferences, anybody who thinks Labour will make a difference will find their delusion hard to maintain.

What puzzles me is Rudds passivity. Why for eg isn't he trumpeting the obscene oil extraction laws being railroaded thru in Iraq by USs current puppet? Sure Rudd isn't mad enough to try and stop the feeding frenzy, but he could surely use it to tactical advantage against John tax-deductible-terror Howard.

Natasha may not be in a green network, it seems, so she may be out of touch. As I wrote in a previous post, all environmentalists I know are increasingly disillusioned with Peter Garrett, who is now only taking a stand on issues allowed by the ALP heavies, while he throws to the wind more important environmental issues, like coal mining and its impacts, or logging, which are taboo for his political masters. His credibility is rapidly depleting. A shame to see Garrett morph into a political poodle, especially when he allows himself to be wheeled in to oppose environmental groups or the Greens party, which are seen as a small threat to the ALP. I wonder what he thinks these days when he looks in the mirror.

It appears to me that Rudd is Beazley is disguise

I think that environmental issues, especially as played out in Tasmania, will be one of the real tests for Labor at the next election. Labor is not a party with a coherent position on an issue, but rather, is a party that has decided to forge policy by backing 'causes' and movements (also known as jumping on the bandwagon).

Of course, sometimes causes conflict with each other (e.g. the environmental movement in Tasmania v. the Forestry union). Where does Labor go on an issue where they allegedly represent both sides of the debate? Labor is notoriously bad at choosing sides, as evidenced in a number of past elections.

Uranium is also another very sensitive issue for Labor.

Howard is going to exploit these tensions to full effect. While Rudd is a media tart, it doesn't really matter whether you can perform well in the media, but rather, whether the media asks the correct questions. If the media grows tired of Rudd, he won't stand a chance.

If nothing else, this will be one of the most interesting elections since Keating v Hewson.

I find the enviroment debate amusing on one side we have the greenies who say no to everything.
There was peter garrett as what has been said the traiter to himself and the cause

the liberal and labor parties brown nosing but really they still fight argue and get less done.

Now i know that a balance is required between enviroment and economy and since that nobody has yet worked that out it seems.

I must be a rocket scientist.

Its easy and should have been done long ago.
Global worming, climate change well it has been comming for the last 10 thousand years and climate change well we do have autumn, summer,winter,sring.

If the other counties of the world keep polluting at an increasing rate then our greenies should complain at the.
And another thing re rudd he has already done a flip flop on Industrial Relations so what is next.

Labor in shift on IR laws
Patricia Karvelas
January 10, 2007
LABOR would retain controversial Howard government laws allowing the nation's 800,000 contractors to set their own deals with employers in a new push to recast itself as a friend of the aspirational class.
The Opposition, which just weeks ago voted against the legislation, yesterday backed the intention of the laws to allow genuine independent contractors the flexibility to arrive at their own work arrangements.
But Labor independent contractors spokesman Craig Emerson foreshadowed possible toughening of the laws to prevent "sham contractor arrangements" being forced on workers by unscrupulous bosses

“Everybody wants to be green in the new political environment”

Whaaht?

Comeon! There might be a bit on an increased tendency to want to be seen to be a bit green, in keeping with some level of concern about climate change and perhaps few other issues here and there. But that’s about the end of it.

I suppose I need to define true greenness: espousing genuine sustainability and striving as hard as possible to get the powers that be to take it up. It’s as basic as that…. An NO ONE in our political arena comes within a bull’s roar of it!

Every sod is still worshipping the absurd continuous growth paradigm, that is leading directly to constant and unending increases in greenhouse gas emissions despite possibly some per-capita reductions, increases in water-consumption despite more restrictions on personal use, and increases in pressure on our resource base and environment in general, in a time when we need to be steadily decreasing those pressures or at the very least, stabilising them.

Not even Bob brown embraces true sustainability. He never has. Neither does Peter Garrett and he never has, not even when he was president of the Australian Conservation Foundation.

I’ll say it again; NO ONE in our political arena comes anywhere near addressing true sustainability, as espoused by Tim Flannery, Ian Lowe and a very small number of other well-known true environmentalists.

So, what this article is really about is an increased tendency for politicians to be a very pale shade of green by getting involved in what amounts to little side issues, while allowing the steamroller of antisustainability and antigreenness to just continue right on rolling.

Absolutely Ludwig, the politicians are still in nevernever land, right where most of the electorate wants them. As Monbiot says, we want them to try but fail, we want to be deceived. Otherwise we'd be doing something and not delegating responsibility to proven liars.

Well written, Dr Cica.
As for the rest, the comments say it all.
The best summation of all the arrogance, gutlessness, denial, neo-liberalism and associated corruption that constitutes the current ALP comes with the news on a parallel issue; the Murray-Darling in time of drought. This appears to have been unilaterally (mis)appropriated by Joh Bjelke-Beattie, fresh from his Mulrunji triumph, for his own state's vested cotton and rice interests.
The people of Brisbane, like the people in other cities will, of course, continue to go without.
Meanwhile, the ALP leadership unthinkingly cling to this "market forces" Bullsh-t along with all the other economic rationalist claptrap, encouraged by the Howard curmudgeons and rapacious big money.
Go, dried-up Cubbie and all its other archaic, tax-rorting, grant-roting inefficient, "bent" ilk.
And they call themselves "Christians". Millenarianists; more like!
The wetlands are to be drained. And the denial as to why Labor really lost the election, as to Tasmania, will continue. More brainwashing in an already brainwashed country.
Will Garrett, the man who so venomously flayed Labor for its first and worst sellout, in 1994 over Faulkner's proposed forest coups, ever show his shamed face again, in his old haunts? He can go down and admire all the maimed and dying Tassie devils, if he likes.
How can he dance when his bed is burning?

Yes more *Greens* pls, with a bit of extra help, I would hope.

Inddeed to me, as an associate Church member, this is no time for the *Catholics* and the *Greenies* to be squabbling for verily I say unto U, the "cynagogue of satan", 2 use a religious expression, moves 2 sacrifice more innocent iraqi children.

These are the same ones who put the children down the mines & up the chimneys, the same ones who refused the entry of the "Jewish" children 2 Australia in the face of *hitler et al* pre-WWII, the same ones who even after the horrors of the *nazis*, continued to abuse the *Children of the Stolen Generation*, the same ones who callously disredarded the deaths of in excess of 500,000 children during the anglo militant domination of Iraq and whose recent vile bombing campaigns have killed thousands more.

And now they go to fight street to street, amongst the *Children* in continuation of their perverted black mass.

This is *evil vs evil* & the innocents as usual get caught in between.

Our patron *Saint of Rooting* teaches that "Spirit & Matter" are inextricably interlinked. Therefore, we would suggest that the presence of a spiritual parasite on the non-corporeal level, can cause a bi-release on the physical.

As the braindopers with their substances are required to mop up the excess "dopamine" from the wet web shall we say, so too are the rituals and the shrinks required in order to fortify the "I" against the onslaughts & the epsiodes.

I would ask U to put aside your differences for now and consider how much worse the images will be soon be from Iraq, than the blackened ILLEGAL waste land in which *Browny's* image resides this day in the WkEnd Aust.

As Australia's 1st Independent Church, we have been marrying Gays since 1971 & I for one am very fond of *Browny et al*

If 2 Souls in Lov seek the Consecration of the Almighty, then no person has the right to interfere.

...Adam...

C'mon Ludwig - Tim Flannery a true environmentalist because he espouses true sustainability - you really are joking!

Tim Flannery swanned around Australia in an aeroplane to launch his book "The Weathermakers" at endless venues that were air conditioned (I was at the Alice Springs launch)while at the same time trying to convince us of his rhetoric and doomsday prophecies, is not truly espousing sustainability I'm afraid.

You will have to look at the hidden agendas that motivate these people Ludwig. In the case of Tim, its the bucks mate. He just wants to sells books to increase his royalties - he has to live the comfortable life we enjoy.