A wake-up call on the environment

Natalie Cromb’s excellent article (“The economics of reparations”, March 10–16) highlights the fact that our First Nations sovereignty was the first externality of the venture capitalists and developers arriving in Australia since 1788. They then added environmental damage, including habitat destruction and pollution, and the value of ecosystem services they relied on to the list of externalities. As Natalie pointed out, any realistic representation of reparations for the losses and harm done to our First Nations people would bankrupt the country. Similarly, if our agricultural industry had to pay for the habitats it destroys and environmental harm it causes, on top of the use of ecological services from soil, air and water, it would be far from profitable. Industries pay for licences under so-called environmental protection legislation to dump their waste on land, in the atmosphere and to waters, both above and below ground, again treating the harm caused as an externality. Our current occupancy and use of Australia is far from sustainable or economically viable and relies on screwing over both the First Peoples and environment. The failure of our government to even comprehend this is highlighted by their marginalising of Indigenous communities, support for fossil fuel mining and failure to have an effective policy to control land clearing and carbon discharge.

– Brynn Mathews, Cairns, Qld