Consultation frustration still lingers at local level

Sir, To Russell Douglas (“Fight for our communities” PT 17/2/17) and Knox Durrant (Letters, PT 14/2/17) thank you for sharing your frustrations in dealing with our governments whether in the form of elected representatives of the people or our rather optimistically-named public servants.

All they seem to offer is “consultations” after which the input of citizens is forgotten as soon as the ink is wiped from the whiteboard.

When Barry O’Farrell, given the most emphatic direction to clean up the mess left by the previous ruling party, thanked “the people everywhere across this state, including in the country, in the regions and in rural New South Wales who voted for real change to make people’s lives better across this state...” those of us in the remote and loyally conservative Riverina were heartened by his words.

Our optimism soon gave way to despair. Enquiries into firewood supply and into the management of public lands came and went.

Three premiers later we are still in the same position we were in when the ALP was banished.

I imagine it is much the same for those who have been fighting the iniquitous Murray Darling Basin Plan.

These are both environmental issues and our problems stem from the blind faith governments place in the conservation movement and the city-based green vote.

As marine biologist Walter Stark put it in a 2014 blog post: Environmentalism has redefined the fundamental concept of being a stakeholder. Despite having nothing invested and with no risk to themselves, environmental non-government organisations [NGOs] have managed to claim the status of stakeholders in remote matters and be accorded an equal voice to those whose entire lives, livelihoods and assets are being affected.

While ever our politicians are prepared to believe all the nonsensical notions put forward by the eco-loons we will continue to come out second-best.