Wow I see you know a lot about the reef Paul.

Hardy Reef, that we used to take day trippers to, is 36,600 acres. Hook & Line adjacent reefs are similar in area.

As a city slicker Green I doubt you know it takes 26,000 gallons of water to irrigate one acre. How much oil do you think it would take to smear 100,000 acres of reef? Something approaching 3 trillion gallons should do it.

Like all green garbage propaganda, a few seconds arithmetic shows what absolute garbage it is.

Paul,

By your own standard "Rent-seeking is the use of the resources of a company, an organization or an individual to obtain an economic gain from others without reciprocating any benefits to society through wealth creation."

by your own measure Unions are rent seekers. They have a revenue stream of $93m p.a. yet represent only 14% of workers.

Cigarette tax helps people with their terminal cancer and pays fat cats who spread wealth to estate agents.
Oil companies and speculators help those who worry about AGW and waves coming in to island homes. Oil shares cool the planet.

Nah Shadow, a bad example. A good example would be that bus load of Liberals who took illegal back handers from property developers in NSW without reciprocating any benefits to society.

Not the good folk of the likes of the CFMEU!

Paul,

The prime rent seekers are the parasitic greens who take $ms in backhanders from the unions to protect them from the consequences of their criminal activities.

I see the "Goodfellas" of the crime family CFMEU got a $2.4m fine for their illegal activities, so the payoff to the greens might be a little less this month.

I wouldn't say that we are a 'nation' of rent-seekers, but we certainly seem to have more than our fair share of individual bludgers who are rent seekers; and we will continue to have these parasites as long as we have Left, Socialist politicians, which is what we now have. A good dose of Right-wing conservatism is the only thing that can save Australia.