‘ju:femaiz

Following on in the glorious footsteps of the Australian brethren with comments from the past head of the ailing National Party, John Anderson:

… actually they’re (the Greens) a home for the people who in the 1950s would have joined the communist party. They are watermelons, many of them green on the outside and very, very, very red on the inside. Media Watch, 13/09/2004

We now have the comments from the head of the Federated Farmers of New Zealand, who, struggling like the dear junior coalition partners in Australia to deal with the weight of science and the economic cases for incorporating externalities into the cost of materials and produce to better reflect the true price and cost born by the society has resorted to the old “you’re a big meanie who’s trying to hurt us (me)” ruse.

…environmentalists (are) conducting a war against the human race… Sydney Morning Herald, 18/07/2006

Something tells me the tables are turning when they can lay little evidence to further disregard and ignore the external impacts of such ventures as mining, transport, energy, farming etc. What he fails to recognise is the support for conservation measures across the political spectrum, including amongst his own support base. Indeed, many farmers have started to realise the benefits of following farming techniques espoused by the various “green groups” such as crop rotation and not overstocking the land in the good times (sounds pretty basic, but apparently the farmers don’t understand the long term effects). Then again, if the farmers have the same sway in the land of the long white cloud as here, they can undoubtably rely on government handouts when their business is effected by non-optimal market and environmental conditions, without the need to prove that they are managing their business properly.