The Things You See

with (TRUTHFUL) PHIL BIANCHI Lazy Pigs and Vandals

The message of don’t trash the bush, take your rubbish home, respect the environment, leave only footprints has been belted out ad nauseam, yet it doesn’t seem to be getting through to some. These people don’t give a hoot.

Why do people vandalise? I’m not going to turn this article into an academic discussion, but safe to say it’s out of frustration, to draw attention to a cause, to make money, or a game. Vandals work alone or in a loose or organised group. By the way, Dr Google tells us Vandals were an ancient Germanic people associated with the senseless destruction and sacking of Rome, under King Genseric, in 455AD. Sounds like some of us may have a strong genetic link. I have a home spun theory. Humans are mammals, and some say we are the top of the animal hierarchy because of our intelligence, mathematics ability, etc. I beg to differ. Maybe so with some. In any sectors of the mammal kingdom males fight each other for dominance over the herd and then get to mate with the females, thus perpetuating the strongest genes. Things are different for humans, with no head-butting or seeking to overthrow the alpha male. I feel however that some human males have what I call the ‘Biggest Willy Syndrome’. They need to show off in front of fellow males and try to outdo each other in daring. It’s almost, "Look at me I’m tough and brave". Hence with some, we have vandalism, fighting and other reckless behaviour. It’s like they’re thriving in being pigs and suffer from the malady antiestablishmentarianism. A sign saying ‘Please don’t …’ with some is almost a guarantee that they will. Okay, enough of the bush psychology. Here are numerous examples of what I have been confronted with over the years in the world of 4W driving. Some years ago at Durba Spring on the Canning Stock Route, a group of yahoos on motorbikes jumped into the pools, washed themselves with soap and generally behaved like idiots. In doing so not only did they spoil everyone’s peaceful camping, but they also made the water impossible for use. What were they thinking? In mid-June 2022 the Canning Stock Route re-opened after being closed due to COVID for over two years. Within a month, yes only four weeks, travellers had already left rubbish, not buried their poop, left toilet paper and wipes blowing around, burned sleepers from a recently restored well and used a well lid as a bbq plate and chopped down live trees in camping areas. How lazy, disgusting and repulsive are some of us?

In July 2022, while on a trip out to the Great Victoria Desert, I stopped at old Yeo Homestead on the Anne Beadell Hwy. I found toilet paper blowing around, despite there being a long drop Parks and

Garbage on the CSR.

Wildlife toilet in excellent condition nearby. We found someone pooped behind the homestead rather than use the toilet - they kicked a few leaves over it and the paper and left it. And they left the fire pit at the homestead smouldering. At Niagara Dam, a green, still standing, mulga tree in the carpark had been partially chopped into. At Hospital Rocks camping area, bottle caps were nailed in a large pattern into a tree. Why? How many campfires have you seen with glass, mainly stubbies, thrown in them? Glass doesn’t burn so why throw it into the fire. If you’re able to carry it in full of liquid, the least you can do is take it out with you. After all, it’s now empty. Almost all truck bays are adorned with fluffy white flags (toilet paper and wipes), all kinds of cans and empty packets. Most truck bays have bins, but no bins for them! Oh no, just throw it on the ground. Then there’s dumping of rubbish such as used tyres and household rubbish in truck bays, just to avoid fees. We’ve all seen empty 44-gallon drums out in the deserts, if any have the top missing, you can guarantee someone will have dumped their rubbish thinking the council will come out and empty it. Some years back, I was coming out of Steep Point and was parked up pumping tyres to road pressure. An elderly chap stopped and seeing the drum marking the corner, he got his neatly tied bags of rubbish and put them in the drum. When we advised him he shouldn’t do so, he replied, "Won’t the council collect it?" In August 2022, Conrad McKee was driving the 1300km Anne Beadell Hwy from east to west. He decided to clean up the track and collected three trailer loads of rubbish.

Vandalised mulga tree at Niagara Dam. "There were empty stubbies, empty lolly wrappers, two bull bars and quite a few tyres, old oil drums, empty jerry cans where people had bought fuel, tipped it in and just placed them on the side of the track," he said. He emptied his trailer at communities. Why did he do it? "I just wanted to mix it up a bit and do something for the track and for the country," he said. That’s the spirit Conrad, if all of us adopted a bit of your philosophy, Australia would be a much better place. It may be an overdone cliché, but take your rubbish with you and leave only footprints.

Tree adornment at Hospital Rock. Rubbish collected along the Anne Beadell Hwy. Photo: Conrad McKee.