Overwhelmingly, the residents of the Sunshine Coast value their quality of life and recognise that the State Government’s pro-growth development agenda is eroding this lifestyle and the natural assets of the region - notably, our precious koalas and their habitat. Make no mistake, the situation for our koalas has never been so dire.
The Sunshine Coast Environment Council has been mounting a mighty campaign opposing the Government’s growth policy and is organising a FREE bus to take residents to the ‘Listen to the voice of the people’ rally outside the Premier’s Growth Summit on Tuesday 30th March, joining hundreds of other SEQ residents who are concerned about the impacts of population growth throughout the region. According to SCEC, the summit “continues the assumption that growth is not only unstoppable, but welcome. It seems the only work the government seeks to undertake is how to squeeze more and more people into the area and convince everyone this is ok! This is neither what the science is telling us nor what the people want.”
Why is the Government ‘s South East Queensland Regional Plan based on such aggressive population growth projections? It all centres around the economy – the bean counters tell us we need to build a larger tax base (ie. significantly increase our working population) so that older Australians can be supported in their retirement, with healthcare and the old age pension. So their theory goes that future financial crises can be averted if we keep adding more and more people. Also, we’re reminded that the development industry needs to keep building “affordable homes” so that housing does not become unaffordable, and to keep their members gainfully employed. Moreover, the Government is heavily reliant on the taxes these new homes add to their coffers. So instead of the beautifully unique flora and fauna we have become accustomed to, and would like to retain, we can look forward, at the present rate, to being surrounded by a veritable sea of “affordable homes”. Great.
It begs the question, do people working in government and in the development industry not aspire to the same sort of future as the rest of us? What sort of quality of life do they want their children, and grandchildren, to inherit? Who on the Sunshine Coast doesn’t know a tradie who likes to head to the surf after he downs tools in the middle of the afternoon? Is that person prepared for the day when he will have to battle heavy traffic to get to the surf; to have to circle the car park endlessly to secure that seemingly elusive spot; to take his turn, once in the water, with fifty other people all wanting to catch the same wave; to accept the inevitable degradation of our marine environment as more and more people use and, sometimes, abuse it; to battle the traffic gridlock – again - to make his way home. You get my drift ... and we already have road rage, car park rage and surf rage to contend with today.
Please don’t let those people championing sustainability be voices in the wilderness.
To book your place on the bus please contact the Sunshine Coast Environment Council on 5441 5747. If you can’t attend the rally, there are other ways you can assist the cause – visit www.scec.org.au for details.
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