COSTUMES, make-up and props formed the basis of a colourful protest outside the Hastings office of Flinders MP Greg Hunt.
The piece of street theatre organised by Environment Victoria and enacted by members of community groups in Mr Hunt’s electorate, revolved around what they claim is a missing piece of Liberal Party policy: a policy for the environment.
A search of the Liberal party’s website reveals that “issue 14” of the party’s “plan” is a document titled Protecting our Environment, which lists its accomplishments as protecting the Great Barrier Reef; tackling climate change; supporting “on-ground” environmental projects; protecting threatened species (and Australia’s heritage); and having a “one-stop shop” approach to assessing the effect of developments on the environment.
On Sunday, former Liberal leader John Hewson told a rally in Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s Sydney electorate that the Coalition’s lack of action on climate change was a national disgrace.
He said targets set by both major parties were inadequate and called for a bipartisan approach to protecting the environment and an end to “short-term politicking” on the issue.
Cat Nadal, a “safe climate campaigner” for Environment Victoria, said “everyone involved” in the protest outside Mr Hunt’s office “came from either the Dunkley or Flinders electorates”. Ms Nadal lives in Melbourne.
“We’ve met with both Mr Hunt and Chris Crewther [Liberal candidate for Dunkley] and are convinced that they’re convinced their environmental policies are adequate. But we don’t think they are,” Ms Nadal said.
No one emerged from Mr Hunt’s office during the demonstration and the protesters delivered a “Missing – Liberal Party plan to stop global warming” poster to Mr Hunt’s staff.
See also, “Six way contest with only one winner”
First published in the Western Port News – 28 June 2016
