Feco, I've just watched your video of the C-130 tanker crash and found it quite informative. I've seen the crash a couple of times on TV and thought that the plane may have got lost in the bushfire smoke at the site but it looks as though there could be a bit more to it. We'll know more shortly, it's a sad business.
I'm surprised that you would be hearing about cuts in our Forestry and Parks departments, looks as though it might have been going on for a while, among a few other well hidden things. And now we're beginning to find that the chickens are coming home to roost. Over the years I've decided that most politicians and political parties aren't worth wasting breath on, perhaps more so over here where life earlier on seemed to be a bit easier, but times are changing here as well and the old pork barrel is beginning to get found out. Bearing in mind that on top of having a Federal Parliament we also have 7 State Parliaments as well, that makes a lot of hungry politicians and it's my misfortune to know a couple of them. Wouldn't give two bob for the lot. At the moment and naturally enough we're hearing a lot about how we're going to deal with the bushfire threat in the future and every man and his dog seems to be on the bandwagon, at a cost of course. In some ways this is a bit of an odd country, in spite of my moaning and groaning I'm still in touch with a number of younger fellows who are involved in the Volunteer bushfire brigade, giving up their time and sometimes pay to do a fairly thankless job. There's hope yet, and I think rain is forecast later in the week so who knows. Next week I might sound completely different.
It’s very sad all round. Without everything else, that type of flying is pretty tough. I don’t think the C130 is the most nimble aircraft around, and that low to the ground and being disorientated, you need a lot of luck to get out.
I started doing a bit of research on the fires. I appreciate it has been very hot, but it just seemed as though there was something else.
The one thing that kept getting repeated was lack of forest management.
It seems, and you will know this better than me, that the fires are inevitable in summer, but with management they are containable.
Lack of management is squarely down to budget cuts meaning the work didn’t get done.
Politicians again screwing it up.
On the subject of politicians, the U.K. is holding a UN Climate Conference in Glasgow this coming November.
Glasgow in November is hardly likely to convince anyone of global warming, but there you go.
The conference chairman was Claire O’Neil (nee Perry) former Tory Energy Minister in the last government.
Ms Perry was the typical brainwashed politician when she got the Energy Ministers job, but credit to her, she changed.
She listened to what people told her, and was personally quite approachable.
She seemed to grasp that there is a major problem and it needs tackling.
Of course that doesn’t sit well with the Government and to certain extent she became marginalised.
So she stood down as an MP at the last election, and took up a role fronting a number of climate change lobby groups, including the UN conference.
Anyway Boris sacked her from the Conference role on Friday night ( nice timing on Brexit day) replacing her with someone from the governments business department.
Claire may not have been everyone’s cup of tea, but she is passionate about the role she is now doing.
Which probably meant she would not be popular with the politicians. Home truths and all that.
It is spectacularly stupid to think she will go quietly now she is free of government control.
Greta may have a new ally
