Two of the hottest topics currently are asylum seekers; in particular Muslim asylum seekers and the Paris Climate meeting. I guess for us conservatives, this debate is heightened because of the change in government leader.
In the past, we appeared to have a clear divide between Labor, Greens and conservatives on both of those issues. But I wonder if it really was that clear cut. If you are pro you must be on the left. If you are against, you must be on the right.
I’m a conservative. I support the Liberal Party, have done for years, but that doesn’t mean I’m devoid of compassion for other people or the environment. I can see the merits of controlling pollution. You only have to look at countries like China to see the disastrous impact of millions of cars on the road and their air quality problems. Companies pumping chemicals into waterways wreck havoc on wildlife. I am deeply concerned about deforestation and the impact on the environment; land degradation, plants and animals and air quality.
I believe as a society we should do all we can to protect the collective environment. Doesn’t mean, however, I buy the myth of global warming or support the exploitation of developed countries as a cash cow to prop up failed governments, the UN or IMF. I certainly don’t support closing coal fired power stations, but I do think developing technology to deliver cleaner fossil fuel production is a good idea. I detest blights on the landscape and seascape in the form of wind turbines; costly, ugly, killing fields and depending on where they are they can be grossly inefficient. Large scale solar farms are equally reviled. I do like the idea of solar panels with battery power storage, thus taking homes off grid; brilliant idea. I’m also a huge fan of hydropower.
The question of asylum seekers is a vexing one. I am pleased the LNP had the fortitude to stop the boats and to deal effectively with the odd one or two who have attempted to land here since early 2014. But I also don’t support closing the front doors to some who are in desperate need of a safe haven. Hence, I supported ex Prime Minister Abbott when he announced we would be taking an additional 12,000 persecuted minority Syrians from refugee camps. Prime Minister Turnbull has supported that decision as expected.
I find it fascinating that people on social media cheer on Kurds fighting ISIS and rebels in Iraq and Syria, but scream NO to relocating some of the Kurdish men, women and children here. I trust our intelligence and immigration people will do their jobs selecting who comes here. Let's face it, we don’t have to import terrorist. We only have to give lunatics access to the Internet to learn all they need to know to cause a problem here. We aren’t Europe. We are an island we control who comes here. I simply can’t support closing everything up and erecting the No Room At The Inn sign.
So yes, I’m a conservative. It doesn’t mean I should have to say no to every initiative to improve the environment. It doesn’t mean I should have to support a closed door asylum policy. Because I do support some of those initiatives and share those opinions doesn’t mean I’m a closet Leftie. It simply means I’m a middle of the road conservative and proud of it.
