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What we need -- not only for Australia but also for our whole region -- is a national disaster management strategy so that emergency services -- fire fighters, electricians, health personnel, temporary housing pods, carpenters, builders, etc -- can be quickly and strategically deployed no questions asked. Aligned that with a volunteer army akin to the Country Fire Authority and ready use of the wasteful imperialistic indulgence known as the Australian Defence Forces. Indeed the 'army' et al needs to be retrained as a civil defence force whose primary role is disaster management.. . and NOT war. And a set plan that shields the victims from financial duress from either mortgages, bank loans, unemployment alleviated or the collapse of small business turnover. The welfare payment system at the moment is simply an extension of the brutality of Newstart. Thereafter we need a corp of engineers and an on-call and mobile workforce that can rebuild destroyed housing and infrastructure in any region effected. We also need state run insurance offices that put the victim ahead of the profit motive, underwritten by the government itself. And an ongoing plan to engineer defences against these extreme weather events. Implicit is an acceptance that we are facing a climate change emergency where these extreme weather events -- bushfire, storm, cyclone, flood, -- are now routine *and to be expected.* We either do that or abandon huge swathes of the country to the changing elements....and where I live on the coast line, that's precisely what they are considering so long as working people bear the brunt of the shift.It's supposedly between us and our insurance company. Pity about the family home.You're on your own and under neo-lib-think infrastructure builds aren't an option. Meanwhile across the Pacific: - Valparaiso fire: thousands evacuated as blaze threatens Chilean city <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/14/valparaiso-fire-thousands-evacuated-as-blaze-threatens-chilean-city> The Greater Valparaíso <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gran_Valpara%C3%ADso> metropolitan area, including the neighbouring cities of Viña del Mar <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vi%C3%B1a_del_Mar>, Concón <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conc%C3%B3n>, Quilpué <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quilpu%C3%A9> andVilla Alemana <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Alemana>, is the second largest in the country (803,683 inhabitants). And on the Indian Ocean: - Cyclone Olwyn: Recovery efforts hampered as critical infrastructure knocked out in Carnarvon <http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-14/carnarvon-critical-after-cyclone-olwyn/6319666> : "The cyclone follows a number of natural disasters that have wreaked havoc > on Carnarvon in recent years, including a devastating flood in December > 2010 and January 2011 that caused $90 million damage. > "Before the 2010-2011 floods, they'd just gone through a huge drought," Mr > Brandenburg said. > "Then there was a locust plague and then we had bushfires in 2012 so lots > of crops were damaged. > "It's just been one after the other, now we've got the cyclone on top. > "It's a real struggle out there for the growers at this point in time, the > last four to five years have been pretty horrendous."The impact of > Cyclone Olwyn comes just days after growers celebrated the arrival of a > historic river flow, following more than 12 months of drought. _________________________________________________________ Full posting guidelines at: http://www.marxmail.org/sub.htm Set your options at: http://lists.csbs.utah.edu/options/marxism/archive%40mail-archive.com
