The political reality

Hello all

If you live in Victoria, you would know that last week, one of the Herald
Sun's own journalists, John Ferguson, ran an opinion article on a subject
that would bore most people but is significant for users of this group.

Basically, the Greens are likely to hold the balance of power in the upper
house of the Victorian State Parliament after the next state election.

What does this mean for fishermen (fisherwomen) ? More marine parks,
limited catches and possibly no live baiting. This opinion piece can be
read at our website (www.countryalliance.org - under 'opinions').

About a month earlier, Peter Hunt from the Weekly Times ran a similar
opinion article - so it is not as though John is going paranoid.

Both articles refer to a research paper by the Parliamentary Library
Research Service which shows the Greens will have at least 2, maybe 5 seats
in the upper house and hold the balance of power. This means they will have
the ability to trade off any regional recreational past-time with the
government on any legislation they want passed. The research shows this
threat is not just a figment of anyones imagination but the likely outcome
of upper house reform.

The Country Alliance is looking to register as a political party as a
couterweight to the greeny threat. We are not anti green or anti
environment but against environmental decisions that have no factual or
scientific basis.

The handling of the marine parks issue is a case in point. What possible
harm can a fisherman (woman) do from fishing from a beach in a marine park ?
Victoria does not have an effective political voice for the fishing
fraternity - we hope to fill this mantle.

Are you a fisherman (fisherwoman) interested in preserving the future of
your pasttime ?

CA
www.countryalliance.org