A Nuclear Reactor for Bennelong?

I am passionate about an idea, for us, here now on this planet, for our children and for our future generations and, with Patrice Newell and Dr Karl and all of the other CCC members, we really are John Lennon’s dreamers.

We dare to dream, we dare to believe in an idea, that human beings are fundamentally good and capable of change, sometimes very necessary and dramatic change, revolutionary change.

I agree with eminent scientist Ian Lowe who said that the natural world gives us our sense of place, cultural identity and spiritual sustenance. He also said, and I totally agree, that future generations will find it difficult to understand our collective incapacity to acknowledge or respond to these problems.

They will rightly ask why we allowed this evil to go ahead, and yet I say evil is really so mundane.

Evil is not a mighty flood or fire, evil is not a world war-evil is more ordinary.
Evil is simply a decision to do, or not to do.

A single decision by a single person leads to change. Collectively the power of the will to make a decision for the betterment of our planet, and to put it in concrete terms, to see the end of coal production for example, is after all, just a decision.

People talk all the time about political will. What they are really talking about is the power of the decision, and the will to make it.

The havoc that will flow and is flowing and the pain that will be wreaked by climate change can be turned around, simply by making a decision.

Climate change is the single most important issue that faces us this century, and last, more so than the ever before we are all about to make history.

How will we choose to use our power to decide?

This election of 2007 is our chance to say no to those who have ignored the warnings and for us to begin the process of saving our planet for our children, it is too late for us, but we owe it to them.

We are faced now with a moment in time to make a decision

A moment or two in the ballot box where we are faced with a chance to make our federal parliament a place where the senate has a person who is entirely dedicated to and capable of, making sure that the issue of climate change is never ever left off the agenda, is never ever an ‘add on’ but rather is centre stage, and that person is Patrice Newell.

A very great deal of my work has been about giving a voice to those who have no voice, and now I find myself advocating for the people of Bennelong who need a strong voice in both houses of our Federal parliament.

We eschew power of itself for power’s sake and like the Sex Pistols who were the anti musicians, we are the anti- politicians.

I have now come to believe that the major parties have no real commitment to ceasing coal production. We are the biggest emitters of Co2 in the southern hemisphere, so all of our political leaders have failed us- therefore this is just too important to be left up to politicians.

We do not believe that politics is a career, we believe that a politician should have another source of income and that terms ought to be fixed. It is duty and a privilege to serve Australians who deserve the very best brains at work for them.

This old old country of our indigenous people cries out for some integrity, for a solution, for a remedy, for an answer, for a commitment to end once and for all the havoc we are wreaking on the rest of humanity through the mining of our resources.

In a world wrecked by oil, in a world wrecked by coal, now Mr Howard wants uranium to be his final parting blow to our planet.

25 reactors, one in Bennelong, he said on March 26 this year.

While I support the use of Lucas Heights solely for the production of medical isotopes I am against nuclear power. I am against it for two reasons, the first that there is no safe way to store the waste and the second that it can be diverted to make weapons, in Chernobyl a leak in the reactor has poisoned the earth and the rivers and the Europeans have learnt from it.

Why then is Mr Howard saying that he is happy to have a nuclear reactor in Bennelong and, he went on to say that in fact, it will be ‘a commercial decision’ and not a government one -- how astounding-- what do you residents of Bennelong say?

Do you want a nuclear reactor in your electorate?

Mr. Howard couldn’t care less because he won’t be around to live out the consequences, but our children will.

I am an advocate, I have always worked in the area of human rights. Climate change is a human rights issue.

It is the single biggest threat to our national security and will create millions of refugees around the globe.

I want to advocate for those of you who have no voice, I will be your voice in Bennelong.

Margherita Tracanelli
Monday, 5 November 2007