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Greens Adam Bandt MHR represents a slice of inner-city Melbourne where the political ecology of Fitzroy, Kensington and the like allows the most precious specimens to flourish in a micro-climate of inane self-righteousness. That’s a not a matter of mere opinion, but empirical fact, as demonstrated by Bandt’s strident opposition to the former state Liberal government’s plans for a tunnel that would have run beneath some of the enclaves the represents.
If actions reflect belief, Bandt believes it a good thing for his constituents and their children to breathe exhaust fumes 24/7, courtesy of the tens of thousands of commuters and their cars which daily clog the narrow streets. When the Labor government of Premier Daniel Andrews squandered more an a billion dollars to scrap the tunnel contracts it had inherited, Bandt all but danced a jig.
This stuff goes down well with the sort of voters who profess to love Mother Nature while choosing to reside in an urban landscape that has buried her beneath an endless acreage of tar and bricks. Bandt, you see, knows what his Greens electorate values most, which is hypocrisy with a hefty dash of hype. No wonder that Cyclone Debbie, currently knocking North Queensland for six, attracted his immediate comment. Apparently high winds are caused by coal-burning power stations, with children in particular being placed in dire peril by all that reliable electricity.
This was too much even for Bill Shorten, a man of few known principles. Was the Greens MP daunted by the Oppositiion leader’s critique? Far from it! Indeed, he lifted the level of his frothing a further notch, as per the Facebook post atop this post.
One of the many arguments for building that now-scrapped Melbourne tunnel was that it would have made the streets much safer for strollers and cyclists. Yet, unlike those power stations Bandt so detests, he positively loves bicycles, despite their proven risks and hazards.
1471: That’s the number of cyclist casualties – those seriously injured or killed – on Victorian roads in the year from July 2012, according to VicRoads’ CrashStats website. Of those casualties, 88 per cent happened in a crash with a vehicle. In 8 per cent of casualties there was no collision and no object struck. Just 18 cases involved a cyclist-pedestrian collision where the cyclist was injured, and in three cases an animal was to blame for the cyclist’s injury.
Follow the link below for the latest stats on bicycle-related fatalities in Victoria. Cyclists figure prominently.
