Barcaldine’s
Tree of Knowledge in western Queensland became famous as an important meeting
place during the Great Shearers’ Strike of 1891. Because of its role in the
formation of the union movement and the foundation of the Australian Labor
Party, it was heritage listed in 2006.
Shortly afterwards it was poisoned and died.
In
thinking about the Tree of Knowledge a friend who recently visited Barcaldine commented
on attitudes towards knowledge and fact in today’s world.
On one
level we see so-called “alternative facts” promoted as reality over actual
facts. Factual news reports are dismissed as “fake news” not because they are
false but because these reports do not suit a particular person or group. So we
have a new version of political spin and propaganda.
While
the “alternative facts” and “fake news” are largely associated with the US,
there is concern that this labelling of inconvenient truth or knowledge in this
dismissive fashion could become common here and elsewhere around the world.
Currently
much more worrying in Australia is a growing refusal to accept scientific
knowledge in the formation of policy at a political level. This is particularly disturbing for those
concerned with protecting the natural world for current and future generations
of humans and other life forms.
There
are numerous recent examples of how scientific knowledge about how best to
protect the natural world is being ignored by government departments and
politicians. These bureaucrats and politicians are captive
to short-term economic plans or vested interests.
Federal
decisions which ignored scientific knowledge and advice have included the
reduction in marine park protection to allow fishing over a much greater area
and the plan to reduce the environmental
water recovery target in the
Murray-Darling Basin in the interests of irrigators.
In NSW
the changes to biodiversity laws and to management of native vegetation despite
scientific advice, are already seeing increased land-clearing and habitat loss
which is threatening the survival of vulnerable species such as the koala.
Our
political leaders often claim they make decisions based on the best science but
this seems to happen very rarely. It’s time this changed.
- Leonie Blain
This article was originally published in the VOICES FOR THE EARTH column in The Daily Examiner on August 6, 2018.
