Go Lloyd!!!!!!!! The practicality of us going over a different system say that this just won't happen in the foreseeable future. For a start the whole system here is built around export, will you buy some obscure product instead of wheat? On another point, it was a waste of time G. W. Bush having a colonoscopy on the weekend, they should have just asked our Prime Minister John Howard what he saw while he was up there a few weeks ago. David C
----- Original Message ----- From: "Lloyd Charles" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, 30 June 2002 3:13 PM Subject: Re: Should Australia go native? > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: Tony Nelson-Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2002 1:19 AM > Subject: Should Australia go native? > > > . He thinks it's time to stop pretending that Australia has a European > environment; the introduced garden plants which made early settlers feel > at home should be replaced with native species (amongst which he claims > there are many equally attractive) and > agriculture should stop producing such inappropriate crops as wheat and > sheepmeat. He claims that, at current levels of consumption, a population > of only 7-8 million could be supported sustainably (as opposed to the > current 19 million, let alone the 50 million called for by business by > 2050). It sounds persuasive, but I've not heard any arguments against. > > Hi Tony > Just so you wont be dissappointed I'll do it . > I dont know flannery or his history but there are plenty of his ilk > around and most of em have a couple of things in common > # usually never been involved in any form of agriculture for profit > # most make their living interfering in the livelihoods of other people in > some field that almost never directly impacts on themselves > # its normal that the most vocal of them are in secure taxpayer funded > work - public "service" or the education system > You should by now be able to decide that I am extremely biased > Now for the garden plants - some readers will already know that Australian > native plants - specially eucalypts - are some of the most inflammable > vegetation on earth - a eucalypt forest fire in full flight makes what is > happening in the western US at the moment look like a backyard Bar-B-Que - > (I apologise to those affected by these fires but its essentially the truth) > so at the urging of the flannery brigade we went ahead and planted half > suburbia down to Aussie natives then people wonder why we have problems with > bushfires. Northern hemisphere ornamental plants make much more sense for > most suburban plantings - most of our urban population lives in places with > adequate rainfall to grow them - they are in the main fire resistant in > summer - and the tree species are a whole lot more attractive in most > cases. > Our wheat and sheep farming system is equally as appropriate to our > landscape as most other extensive farming is anywhere on the planet - the > wheat sheep zone of central - southern New South Wales and Victoria is in > better shape ecologically than at any time since 1900 - doubters need only > go look at photographs of the countryside 1900 to 1945 and their mouths will > shut very quickly > Tony my ancestors were squeezed (or starved ) out of the western bit of > England (Wales) about 1850 - if this character and his mates had their way - > you better move over and make some room cause we will have to come back > home. You can bet your life that when the population of this country is > reduced to its 8 million carrying capacity Mr flannery will not be among the > first volunteers to find alternative accommodation. > These people have a desperate lack of common sense! of course agriculture > is an artificial and un natural system, as is all organised human society. > Why dont these people wake up and do something constructive. > >
