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Now is the Winter

but we hope and pray it will not be of our discontent. There is far too much of that these days anyway, and the world of wine and food should unite mankind in happiness.

The Rudd Government is now over six months old and despite Rudd’s facial features, it’s not a baby any more. It should be doing things, but instead it seems to be caught in its own spin, which is exactly what this editorial predicted would happen. Look at Blair to see the future of Rudd. Get him moving on his promises, or get him out before he does nine years of damage to Australia. Do we need three hundred thousand new migrants with all their emotional and political baggage brought into a rapidly slowing economy? No we do not. The country is full until its environmental footprint is much reduced. The skills shortage can and should be filled from within. Learn to do it here, from Australians who have the training to impart. Give greater opportunities to people over thirty, forty and fifty years of age to retrain.

Instead of responding to the rising price of petrol with a call to increase oil production worldwide (did Labour not say during the Election that a fossil fuel energy policy was backward and destructive for Australia?) - why is Kevin not pumping immediate help into alternative fuels especially solar and ethanol and radical incentives for lesser vehicle use per person? More clean and reliable and rapid and regular buses, trains and trams around the nation. Heavy fines for dirty exhausts. Telling people that excessive vehicle use is not good for the environment or their own health. You couldn’t fault John Howard on the virtues of daily walking, no matter what else he has been blamed for by a variety of Labour and media hacks. And he never introduced a means test for solar energy panels, either.

The import of the self-righteous shaven talking head of Peter Garrett was supposed to be a new environmentally brilliant coup for Labour. First test, Whalesaving? Half hearted result. Tasmanian Pulp Mill? Not convincing handling yet; granted that if it is not built in Tasmania it will be built somewhere overseas where lesser environmental protection will surround it, but can you see Labour enforcing any effluent controls vigorously once the mill is running? Or will it be up to Gunns shareholders to become activist in the protection of Tasmania’s fragile sea environment (that is so full of valuable seafood)?

The ACT Kangaroo Cull? Nice imagery to show the world. The American passenger pigeon was once so numerous that the sky was black with them. Now it is extinct, slaughtered by Americans on the premise that it would always be around in excessive numbers. Value today what we have today and protect it for our future, and keep it local.

Recycling? Every industry especially our wine industry uses polystyrene foam (Styrofoam) but there is no recycling of it here. Kevin, buy the German machinery to do it, and fast, if your Government has any genuine green commitment. In the meantime, you the Australian consumers, need to avoid the stuff wherever you can (e.g. your own coffee cup not a polystyrene once-only cup) and use what you unavoidably receive for the drainage layer in potting plants. Orchids seem to like it. Landfill does not need more of it.

Foreign ownership? This will be a real test of Labour, won’t it? Tony Blair let many British assets of great value slip into foreign hands impoverishing the nation indirectly. You never succeed in re-nationalising something you have already sold off. This is particularly relevant to mining where the customer wonders why he should not buy the supplier. If we sell the quarry will we have anything of value left to our ownership in the nation? Will Foster’s be declared a national treasure for the extent of its brands and not allowed into foreign hands? If the sale of Hardy’s to foreigners is anything to go by, a much sharper set of teeth for the ACCC is needed. For the other leading wineries particularly those which are privately owned and not listed, do you care if they are owned by foreign interests? Arrowfield is Japanese and Orlando Wyndham is French. Would someone like to do a PhD thesis on foreign ownership within the wine industry and how it has performed both for its owners and for the employment of Australians? If labels and bottles and corks are made overseas what content is truly Australian? What help is the Rudd Government proposing to increase Australian content in packaging?

More on Recycling; is Stelvin more difficult to recycle than a bottle that had a cork in it? Some say so. If that is true, then new recycling measures are needed for the nation. Would someone please start a noisy BAN on clear plastic tasting cups NOW and would the rest of us remind the wine industry that plastic tasting cups are not recycled and are just environmentally bad. They also do very little to show the wine off well to the taster.

Celebrate something good and very special this winter with the visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI for World Youth Day and purchase some of our tribute to him “Cardinals’ Choice” wine red and white which will help two Catholic small wine producers of good quality. You will be able to watch Mr Rudd on the Papal dais claiming his Catholic roots just as Hillary Clinton seemed to find kin with every state of the Union on her campaign trail! I do hope that our Supreme Pontiff (who is well used to politicians) will offer up with his Masses on our soil a special supplication to Our Lady Help of Christians Patroness Saint of Australia to keep this nation safe from harm during winter and summer, and to give us the brains and the courage to care for its economy and environment. As they say in Maerktl, Bavaria, home village of His Holiness, “Prost!”