The infiltration of WA Government decision-making by cashed-up US eco-lobby group, Pew, continues.
In an edition of The West Australian on September 28, Pew placed a full-page colour advertisement advocating for maximum sanctuary areas to be imposed in the proposed south coast marine park.
Remembering that the maps for the proposed marine park and sanctuary zones have yet to be released to the public, how is it that Pew has so much insight into the details of the proposal, before it is publicly released?
When interviewed on ABC recently, the Environment Minister tried to joke off the fact that US-based Pew had any engagement with the WA Government. Yet the Minister knew full well that he had already appointed Pew to chair the environmental advisory group for the marine parks, and locals weren't getting any say.
And in Parliament recently, he outrageously advised in response to a Parliamentary Question, that during the public consultation process, proforma letters sent in from overseas Pew members will be given equal weighting to hand-written submissions from people in Esperance. Pew has since come out and publicly confirmed they are working alongside Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA).
Did the Minister know this at the time, or is he distracting the fact that DBCA is openly placing Pew's agenda and its US dollars ahead of WA communities, WA lifestyle and WA's food security?
Once again, Pew's advertising propaganda isn't based on science or facts, but rather "feel-good" ideology and division. It's a bummer when science and facts get in the way of a good fallacy.
In this week's edition of ProWest, WAFIC has peeled back the latest mistruths to expose the facts, and it makes for very concerning reading, as the end-game will see West Australians deprived of access to local seafoods for their fish and chips, and see their future dollars spent on inferior quality frozen seafood shipped from illegal and unsustainable fisheries from developing nations. Good job, Minister! Well done, Pew! However, I'm not so sure that all West Aussies will lovingly embrace you when that happens.
The covers are coming off one layer at a time, and it's time DBCA and the Environment Minister explained why they are preferencing US dollars over the important views of local people and impacts on WA lifestyles.
The question begs as to whether there might be something untoward going on?
Surely not! Maybe there are some – how do we say – "close personal relationships" driving this?
Might there be some "financial incentives" at play, which may be of interest to the authorities? There's simply so many questions.
You can read a partial update (there's more to come soon) in this week's ProWest here.