Australian and international politics from the point of view of a Greens member from the western suburbs of Sydney. These are the personal views of Joel MacRae not the Greens party.
A fantastic post from Oz Politics on the Greens and Howard's politics on the nuclear debate. It certainly smells of Howard style of tactics doesn't it? My feeling is that the Green vote will only incrementally increase over the next decade. After that, I think it will depend on the weather.
posted by Joel MacRae @ 4:09 pm
4 comments
I am the Greens candidate for the seat of Londonderry in the upcoming NSW state election. I am 25 from the western suburbs of Sydney. I have studied BA/BComm at University of Sydney completing honours in Political Economy. I am also a teacher and have worked in the Senate Office of Kerry Nettle. I also hope to start a family with my partner Bec.
4 Comments:
It does seem that Howard's initiated this so-called "debate" to muddy the waters and wedge the opposition but I think you can make it backfire on him. Throughout the last half of the 20th century the word "nuclear" had a negative connotation in the minds of most of the elctorate. The mere mention of the word produced images of mushroom clouds and Chernobyl and Three Mile Island etc. The word went off the political radar for a while and Howard's attempted to reintroduce it in a more positive light - as a solution not a problem to avoid. Labor and the Greens need to recapture the debate and more specifically, the word. To my mind the negative connotation needs to be re-established, so that the mere mention of the word in any debate is a turn-off for voters. This could be done by trying to refocus the debate on the dangers and risks inherent with nuclear. You need to focus on the national security implications. Do nuclear power stations make us more vulnerable to attacks? What are the potential consequences of an attack on a nuclear power station? Is it possible for rogue states and others to get a hold of our uranium and for what purposes? You also need to focus on general safety concerns: do we really trust the government and private corporations to protect us from another Chernobyl or Three Mile Island? How comfortable do we feel about storing nuclear waste? Words are powerful (think of the use of words like "politically correct" or "anti-American"). You need to re-take control of the word. The issue could also easily wedge the Liberal Party if you continue to hound them to name sites. The second Sydney Airport is in the two-hard basket because it wedges both major parties equally. I also think we need to recognise the economic and political interests behind the new nuclear push. Who benefits from a nuclear power industry? More importantly, who benefits from an enrichment industry? My feeling is that an enrichment industry is the main goal of this debate, not a power generation industry.
Oh and sam I totally agree with your suspicions about who will behefit from such a push: the uranium and enrichment industry.
Sam, you make a very valid point. One of the key strengths of Howard is his ability to frame the debate, particularly with using language. Turning nuclear into a positive term will be hard to fight against because i think people are so eager for a quick and easy solution and will believe Howard and his spin-doctoring.
Rest assured the greens with our little media coverage are using it to trumpet the negative aspects of Nuclear Energy. I have already read dozens of media releases from Greens MP's stating how bad it is and the scary consequences. I myself have done it a few times in the local papers (letters and media releases that have been published).
I guess we all have to contribute to fighting Howard's misinformation.
Joel, you might be interested to have a read of the new report handed down yesterday by the House Standing Committee on Industry and Resources. The Report is here: http://www.aph.gov.au/house/committee/isr/uranium/report.htm.
Chapter 11 (specifically paras 11.154-11.247) is particularly alarming. It talks about the negative perceptions and "misconceptions" surrounding nuclear energy and recommends (re-)educating Australians on the benefits of nuclear energy. At some points they point the finger squarely at the Green movement for this negative perception. Wider dialogue about these issues is a good thing, however, the clear intention of this Government and the nuclear industry is to spin "nuclear energy" into something that is nice and soft and cuddly. I hope the Greens and Labor get on the front foot and counter this strategy and remind Australians of the real risks and dangers of this path they're trying to push us down.
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