Painting Fakes

Last year I wrote three letters to the Prime Minister urging him and his government to get serious about climate change (you can read them here , here , and here ).  Then we had some bushfires.  Unprecedented, nation-defining fires in all six States and the ACT.   Surely after this we couldn't keep going with business as usual?  Well apparently, to all intents and purposes we still might.  So I wrote another letter.  I've been agonising over this one for more than a month.  How do you say to the leader of your country, a very publicly practicing Christian, in the politest terms possible that it is time to repent?  Anyhow, this week I finally finished it and popped it in the mail. Bearing in mind that there is a heated internal debate in the Coalition on this subject, and also that Scomo's office is stacked to the rafters with coal industry stooges, I also sent copies to all the Queensland LNP Senators, as well as to my local (Labor) member to whom I have sent a

So, I finally got a reply to my previous letters to the Prime Minister (you can read them here and here ).  At least, I got a letter from the Prime Minister which was apparently prompted by my letters.  It's essentially a piece of spin, assuring me what a great job the government is doing on climate change.  If only that were true! Of course I didn't have high expectations and I have decided to discipline myself to be persistent in this correspondence, so unlike the PM's staff, who ignored everything I said and just spun their own lines, I decided to reply point by point.  Here it is for your enjoyment! Dear Prime Minister Thank you for your letter of 13 November in response to my letters to you on climate change. It is heartening to me that you have not followed the lead of some of your colleagues and tried to cast shade on the science of climate change – it’s a relief not to have that discussion. It’s possible I would have been more reassured by your le

So, I never got an answer to my last Dear Scomo letter.  So instead of waiting forever, I wrote him another one. Dear Prime Minister Jon I am still awaiting your reply to my letter of 14 June, but I thought that I would write to you again given that events have moved on since then. Back in June I wrote asking you to lead your government into a more positive engagement with the issue of climate change.   I suggested you needed to move Australia towards more willing and enthusiastic participation in global mitigation efforts, planning for our economic transition to net zero emissions and getting serious about adaptation. While you have not replied to my letter the actions of your government since then have left me with little confidence you are getting to grips with this important issue, despite your reassuring words. You have repeatedly assured Australians that we are well on track to meeting our 2030 emissions reduction targets.   Yet official government data conti

Here's the text of a letter I just sent by snail mail to our dear Prime Minister. Dear Prime Minister First of all, let me begin by congratulating you on your and your party's recent election win.  You have been handed a huge and difficult responsibility, and I pray for wisdom and compassion for you and your colleagues as you lead us over the coming three years. I should perhaps say, by way of honesty, that I didn't vote for your party.  I disagree with you on a number of things I regard as important.  However, one thing I know you and I will agree on is the value of a democratic system in which governments are elected and removed peacefully by the people.  This system requires all of us to compromise at times.  So I am happy to have the opportunity to graciously accept the choice of the majority of my fellow citizens, as I know you would have graciously accepted the opposite outcome. I am also not a member of any political party, nor a loyalist.  If Labor had won