[jozzas]

The QLD government is doing some good work on water quality - particularly engaging with farmers, reducing pesticide and fertiliser runoffs, and reducing erosion. But it's all underfunded and therefore not coordinated or widespread enough.

The federal government has ignored these issues for decades while we've been burning coal for power and digging it up and exporting it to the biggest polluters.

It's disgusting, really.

[nojvek]

I lived in Australia for 10 years and got a chance to visit great barrier reef multiple times. It's what started my love for water.

Its not the same now. If by the time I have kids and they don't get to have the experience of lush underwater life, I will definitely believe we humans are cancer for the planet.

Australia is a rich and educated country. If they can't fix the mess they created I don't have much hopes for the other parts of the world.

[NamTaf]

We are a rich and educated country, however our politics is one that promotes extreme toxicity in the major parties towards any 'difficult' issues. Look at how non-committal MPs are about so many issues when interviewed. Never mind how much of a joke parliament is, especially during question time, where it's more important to score petty points against the other side than debate policy. You just have to look at the UK Commons question time footage for a very eye-opening contrast.

[NLips]

Are you saying that e.g. Prime Minister's questions is an example of good and useful debate?

If so, then I am so very sorry for Aussies...

[flukus]

Granted it's mostly from the outside looking in, but your politics does like a bit better than ours. There seems to be a lot less pressure to hold the party line for one thing, which is very rigid here and there seems to be more local engagement. I'd appreciate someone who has experienced both more closely to correct me though.

Much of the current trouble in Australian politics though is because we have the senate which is proportionally elected. I'd argue this is a good thing overall, but our two major parties (particularly the current one) don't seem to have realised that they have to negotiate policy to make it pass.

[speeder]

I am from Brazil, that theoretically has a fully modern democracy...

Parties learned to "negotiate" so well they became meaningless, frequently absurd laws pass that all parties allowed, you see multiparty tickets that include extreme left and right at same time, and when a big corruption scandal shows uo we find out almost all parties were involved...

I personally believe Brazil need to copy UK and put at least our monarch back in power, we had less political problems during monarchy (and much more infrastructure investment) and the royal family all live good noncorrupt lives (many run successful law abiding business, some are seen as example of ethics, for example having business that repair environmental damage instead of causing it)

[nsajko]

Well of course the former royal family is not corrupt, they are not in power!

At least in the current system, the politicians hold responsibility and can get exposed, prosecuted, and convicted for corruption (eg. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Car_Wash ), after which you can try to get somebody else elected; how would it be better if you put an arbitrary family in power?

[NamTaf]

Yes I am. I'm aware the implications of suggesting that PMQ looks like a quality debate compared with AU's Question Time. It's not even a recent development either: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/the...

[stuaxo]

It would be good if it were possible to directly crowdfund some of this research, since they are obviously starved for cash.

[milesrout]

Honestly, there should be no 'engaging with farmers'. There shouldn't be 'reductions' in pesticide and fertiliser runoffs. Erosion shouldn't be 'managed'.

This shouldn't be a conversation. It's been conversation and compromise for far, far too long. Governments should be being firm with farmers, they're incredibly damaging to the environment and it's not even a lucrative industry.

[inopinatus]

The often wafer-thin margins in the agriculture sector do not invalidate farmer's demands because food security is a most fundamental national security issue, even more so than energy or border control.

Conversely, and unfortunately, the Great Barrier Reef is managed by Australian governments basically as a tourist attraction, rather than a unique and fragile national treasure.

There is a (locally) famous quote from the Australian writer Donald Horne: "Australia is a lucky country, run by second-rate people who share its luck." (1964). A great many idiot politicians, jingoistic fools, and tourist offices are fond of repeating the first clause of this statement whilst omitting the latter, oblivious to the sharp irony of the full statement.

[FireBeyond]

> There is a (locally) famous quote from the Australian writer Donald Horne: "Australia is a lucky country, run by second-rate people who share its luck." (1964). A great many idiot politicians, jingoistic fools, and tourist offices are fond of repeating the first clause of this statement whilst omitting the latter, oblivious to the sharp irony of the full statement.

Yup. It's our very own version of "Born in the USA".

[milesrout]

'Food security' is quite irrelevant. Cattle and dairy farming is not a food security issue.

[jozzas]

Biggest pesticide and nutrient culprits are bananas and sugar cane.