Why Now?

In a similar vein as my last post, here is a letter I recently sent to Tony Burke (minister for the environment).

 

To The Honourable Tony Burke,

As a strong Labor voter I have a serious question.  It’s about the super trawler.  There were 2 years between them (Seafish Tasmania) applying for a permit and your action to block them.  I’m against the super trawler, but I have serious questions about the process of blocking of it.  Why, in the 2 years of permit seeking, did you not raise the issue?  It seems that you only moved to block the super trawler after the public spoke up against it and it reached the mass media.  I’m actually a big fan of yours Tony.  I think you’re a reasonable, reliable, respectful politician. I like the way you talk to others and the way you passionately work for change for the things you believe in.  You have seemed to me to be a man who genuinely protects the environment within the confines of your role.  That is why this line of action seems incongruent with who I think you are. I’d like to know why you didn’t take action during the previous 2 year period.

Thank you for reading my thoughts.

Megan Orrin

 

I was incredibly impressed that he responded to me very quickly (the only minister to do so).  Here is his response:

 

The earlier application for the permit dealt with the quota but not the supertrawler.  Once the quota was clearly going to be assigned to the supertrawler I became concerned about issues like localised depletion and began to act.

Thanks for your comments too.

Tony

 

I love reasonable politicians who engage with the public.  Kudos to Tony Burke for being awesome.