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Is there no place free from vested interests, the clawing fingers of Chinese expansion, where greed rules and to hell with the pristine wilderness?
The fight to save the Kimberley - the worlds last great pristine wilderness - from inappropriate mining, gas and oil exploration has only just begun. Not to stop the development of our resources but to see it done sustainably in one hub and not all over the most sensitive and beautiful areas of the Kimberley which will destroy it forever. Chinese corporations are involved in most of the projects.
Now a friend has returned from a low key eco holiday on the small coral island of Niue, the westernmost tip of the Cook Island chain which is self governing in association with New Zealand. NZ provides its main aid and where most of the population live. My friend went to dive with the whale sharks and enjoy the modest resort and the natural beauty of the island. It's barely 50kms in circumference, with magnificent pristine rainforest in the centre dotted with small villages. But local gossip has it that a large Chinese company are going to put in a big luxury resort (the island doesn't have wonderful beaches)probably in the pristine forest. Yet hardly any one goes there. 1500 live on this coral atoll. Seems the plan is the island gets the resort and the Chinese get the fishing rights which is one of the main industries. One can only imagine what will happen when the Chinese get into the Pacific with their drag nets and longlines. And why are there Chinese families living there, running small businesses and waiting around? Apparently two years residency in Niue gives you access to New Zealand citizenship. Ah ha.
I so want to slap those smug ignorant superstitious faces of those Burmese generals. I was nearly as angry when I saw the self satisfied mug of the head of an Australian bank retiring with the highest ever executive payout of 80 million dollars. No human being is worth that much. And then you see those Burmese monks trying so hard to help their people. And we don't hear what has happened and continues to happen to the monks in Tibet struggling still to prevent China erasing every vestige of their culture and religion.
Sad and greedy times we live in.
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