Letter to The Editor - On the Road to China

     Greenies said “You can’t burn coal” – so we sent our coal to China. Then our factories and our smelters closed and followed the coal to China.

     Greenies said “You can’t eat beef” – so we sent our beef to China. Then burger chains and canneries closed and followed the beef to China.

     Greenies said “Protect the trees” – so our grasslands went to weeds. Then China’s wool cheques disappeared and sheepmen went on welfare.

     Greenies said “Don’t mention nukes” – so we shipped those fuels to China. Then Chinese power costs went down while ours just kept on soaring.

     Greenies said “You can’t frack gas” – so we sent our drills to China. Then geologists and engineers were fired and followed the rigs to China.

     Then blackouts came and jobs got scarce, so our kids chased jobs in China.

     Today we import what we need and our cash is shipped to China.

     And now we sit in flickering light, dreaming of times when factories and smelters flourished, work was honoured, explorers and builders were heroes, miners and farmers paid the nation’s bills, electricity was cheap and reliable, and to produce things was no crime.

     It’s time we sent all Greenies to China.

  Viv Forbes, Washpool, Qld