Melbourne Unitarian Peace Memorial Church

Recently it was my pleasure to speak at the Sunday service in East Melbourne. The following are some of my thoughts expressed under the title above. The channel deepening project (CDP) is so huge and complex that I felt that to tie it together under this personal title might help manage the diversity and convey some of the important features for the congregation to hear and consider. There are some later additions, given the project is proceeding at this time and other events have occurred.

What I have learned about… Port Phillip Bay
The formation of this Victorian icon explains a lot. It began life as the flood plain of the Yarra River. The indigenous inhabitants hunted and fished there. The ocean level outside the Heads was much lower than today. The Yarra meandered from the north down to the Entrance (or Exit may describe it better) where there was a waterfall which joined it to the sea below. Smaller creeks and rivers also fed into this plain. The “pathway” of the Yarra gave rise to the present “channels”. Some 10,000 years ago, the sea level rose and spilled into this region as if it was a giant saucer. The word saucer conveys the shallowness of the present bay: over 50% of it is less than 8 metres deep. This natural process produced a shallow, almost totally enclosed embayment, the cause of its uniqueness and of its problematic aspect for large-scale international shipping. In a rough analogy, the width of the entrance at the Rip can be equated with a single 6 metre gate into the MCG. Huge resulting pressures at such a location, whether it be an eager crowd or a massive volume of water on each tide.

The implications of this are many. Its shallowness allows for light penetration right to the bay floor in most parts. This in turn enables photosynthesis to occur, and the great biodiversity of Port Phillip is the result. This is the drawcard for divers: sites in Port Phillip are world class. A large percentage of plant and animal species is found nowhere else on earth. The Sponge Gardens comprise a community of some 115 species. The Victorian National Parks Association sent in a nomination to have the community listed as threatened under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (a task only made necessary because of the CDP, as they were not threatened before then). Unfortunately, as they say, “the sponge gardens now find themselves in a Catch 22 situation. The Federal Environment Minister, Peter Garrett, has approved the CDP under this same Act, which means the community can no longer be protected.” It is being destroyed as you read this.

One of Port Phillip’s precious abilities is in the mundane but vital task of nutrient recycling. Several waterways enter the bay: rivers, storm water outlets and the Werribee Treatment Plant. All carry nutrients capable of enhancing plant growth, but at worst causing massive algal blooms. The nutrients come in the form of plant matter, fertilizers or just plain dog poo – but all carry nitrogen compounds. Our bay has tiny organisms capable of releasing this nitrogen and recycling it back into the atmosphere. To destroy these organisms is to risk tipping the balance of nutrients in the bay to an irreversible degree, and to place the bay’s unique and free recycling service in jeopardy.

I learnt, too, of the bay’s value in a more monetary sense. Through its attraction as a recreational playground it directly supports a wide range of businesses which thrive on tourism, recreational fishing, diving and other aquatic activities. Right down to fish and chips and an ice cream from the local shop nearest the beach. Commercial fishing and aquaculture derive a living from it. And then there is its inherent value “as it is”. Modern research, known as ecological economics, is beginning to put a monetary value on what is known as “natural capital” – look up Robert Costanza via Google to read more.

Politics and Process
The CDP has been pushed by the Bracks/Brumby governments from its inception. Many have asked – and who is pushing them? Big business? International shipping companies? Potential stevedoring interests? Overseas demands? One thing is certain: it is deemed so critical that the democratic process was gagged in the 2007 SEES Inquiry. A complete replacement of the previous EES Panel which forced further work in 137 areas to be done – hence the need for a “Supplementary” Environment Effects Statement. A smaller, less qualified panel – while Justin Madden told us the change was necessitated by availability of the original members. WRONG. And a ban on the normal cross-examination of witnesses – which drew criticism from the likes of Julian Burnside QC and the withdrawal of his services to the Port of Chris Canavan QC. All this in the State of Victoria, not Denmark.

Strategies
A thriving industry exists, if one has the resources, to pound away relentlessly at a few simple messages. Unfortunately, the media is often the vehicle of such communication. The average person’s understanding is limited to what is disseminated. The majority does not have the time nor the dedication to pursue the more complex facts, hence, the “spin doctors” win easily. There is apathy in the community and fickleness in the media – what is “today’s story” is bypassed tomorrow, and any idea of public education by long-term follow through of THE FULL story is a myth.

It was a shock to me to learn that business leaders attend seminars to learn strategies to deal with ordinary protestors: how to denigrate them and their message. Blue Wedges ending up on a list of Pirates kept by the US Naval Intelligence may well be a derivative of such tactics.

Reporting can be slanted by omission ($2 billion profit – but no qualifying phrase “over 27 years”), by half-facts (the toxic sediment will be placed in a confined underwater location – no mention of a minimum of 140 days before any capping) or plain untruths (such as the continued peddling of 80,000 jobs being at risk, even after the SEES specified the number as 13,748).

Connections
Other ramifications include a fourfold increase in truck traffic, relocation of the Wholesale Markets, concurrent massive plans for Westernport, scant regard for regional Victorians calling for rail freight upgrades, and more.

The Law
I learned to revise my opinion of the efficacy of the law, its focus on seemingly pedantic semantics “while Rome burns” – and to understand why Dickens wrote “the law is an ass”.

The People
Many good people have given their thinking ability, time, energy and money to oppose the CDP and challenge its basis in today’s world – with evolving market forces, climate change, peak oil, acknowledged over-consumerism. It would appear the juggernaut of the CDP rolls on, the proponents blithely assuring us that all is well. How to stop a juggernaut powered by such resources? Only time will tell. And if they are wrong – who will explain to the children?

Patsy Crotty
Blue Wedges
12/6/08