Letters To The Editor

Dear Editor, I have become aware that an artist's iconic driftwood landscape creations on the beach located at Woody Bay (skirmish point) and Bald Point, Bribie Island have become a target of the Council's intention to demolish on so-called environmental grounds. I wish to protest this decision to remove these structures and know my sentiments are shared by many locals and visitors. (Dog walkers) The structures have been in place for over 4.5years during which time it has become a well-known and admired piece of environmental art. After 8 years of traversing the beach at these locations, an opportunity arose to showcase that 'even through catastrophe and disaster, one must continue to search for the beauty in nature. These pieces of art pay tribute to the natural environment at these locations. They use fallen timber occurring naturally in the areas and imitate various collects of timber occurring along the beach as the process of natural tidal erosion occurs. These fallen and floating timbers form timber piles all along the beach. I understand that the decision to remove these structures relates to an issue with turtle breeding in the area. If this is the case, I expect the Council is in possession of some definitive scientific study that has made a significant finding in favour of the complaint. If not, I expect there is some other tangible evidence that demonstrates the balance of probabilities that necessitates the structure's removal. The structures are strategically placed so as not to impede Police, Rangers, and commercial fishermen. Careful consideration was taken in and around where over the years pink ribbons were tied to the trees where potential turtle nesting spots are and the structures were positioned out of these zones. Surely all the 4WD vehicles, jet skis and boats pose a greater threat to the environment and turtles as they park up in the dunes around where turtle nesting occurs. (Just recently saw a turtle carcass with propeller gouges along its shell.) If the removal of the structures is the case, then I request that the evidence gets shared generally. If not, I insist that Council immediately suspend its decision to remove the structures and make the decision to leave these iconic beach features in place. It would be highly improper to arbitrarily remove the structures based solely on an unsupported complaint without first commissioning a study to determine whether their removal is warranted. I reiterate that I am opposed to the removal of the structures. They have become a wellknown and admired feature and landmark of the island. They have been featured in the local media as a point of interest and have been featured in professional photo shoots promoting the Island. Kind Regards Concerned Woorim Resident.

Dear Editor, Thank you, Michael Cavenor, for revealing your name and qualifications. The current "global warming” is affecting more than a physical structure. It has become a problem for the living biosphere. So, physics may not be sufficient to understand it. Clearly it helps to understand the way catalysts work, basic biochemistry, ecology, geology and even astronomy, subjects which I have studied for fifty odd years. The “almost everything" I referred to in my previous letter were some of the facts, (though I know nothing of a paper by Tansey 1859) such as the fact that a rise in temperature will cause a rise in atmospheric CO2. I did not ignore the comment when I explained how this fact contributes to the positive feedback cycle. Having lived in Armidale for fifteen years, I have experienced the role that H2O(g) has played in climate control ever since the end of the Hadean Eon. Simply because life-driven processes evolved to keep the chemical contributors to the world’s ecosystems in balance, does not mean they are negligible, as you imply. They are huge contributors, but man has pushed them out of balance, by artificial means. Unlike other countries, Australia is in the ideal position to make the most of renewable energy in its various forms to provide our needs, without resorting to nuclear, especially since it takes so long to establish. The only problem really is that politicians are obsessed with growing the economy, which cannot occur indefinitely. Remember: we live in an ecology, not an economy. Covid-19 has shown us that without getting the former right, there will be no economy. But more importantly, if anthropogenic carbon dioxide, CFCs etc are not the cause of the phenomenal temperature rise, at a rate unknown for millions of years, can you please tell me, and other readers, what is? Nothing else has changed enough to cause it. H.Beneke Dear Editor, The UN Framework Conference on Climate Change, which sponsors the COP meetings, has finally revealed its goal. To save the planet from Global Warming perhaps? Well, No. It’s to make the developed nations of this world, such as Australia, pay compensation to the developing nations, including China and India, for the ‘loss and damage’ that we have caused as a result of our historic contributions to Climate Change. The thought of us, with our 1% contribution to the world’s Carbon Dioxide levels, paying compensation to nations that are the world’s top emitters of greenhouse gases, is hard for me to swallow. Who took us down this path and more importantly, who is going to bring an end to this insanity? In the mean time we are shutting down our reliable coal fired power stations in the hope that solar panels and windmills will fill the energy void and, we are told, save us money. Our current bunch of politicians, and the ones that preceded them, have a lot to answer for together with the voters who demanded that we take the ‘looming catastrophe’ of Climate Change more seriously. We live in a country with abundant reserves of energy yet we see electricity prices rising at an alarming rate and we are being told to prepare for blackouts. It is time for someone to step in and end our commitments to UN wealth redistribution schemes.

Michael Bongaree