Australian farmer Peter Spencer is in the 16th day of a hunger strike. He is sitting on a 2 metre platform high up on a 300 foot pole on his farm.
Australia’s King of Talk back radio Alan Jones interview Peter by mobile phone this morning. Click the image to go to the 2GB site and listen to this riveting interview.
Click image to listen to interview in full
Extracts from the interview:
Alan Jones: This man Peter Spencer is in the 14th day of a hunger strike to bring attention to his plight. He say’s – quote – the Government can compensate the carbon polluters – but not the victims of climate change like me.
Alan Jones: Perter Good morning.
Peter Spencer - Good morning
AJ – You’re up the pole with a mobile phone.
PS – I want to make a comment. This is not about Peter Spencer. This is about the 87.5 million tonnes (of CO2) which is the entire commitment that Rudd (Australian prime Minister Kevin Rudd) is going Copenhagen which is all the abatement they have to meet the Kyoto international treaty. The entire amount was met by these farms locked up across Australia. He’s go no other abatement to go with.
AJ – So the other way (to cut emissions) is to prevent you clearing your land so that trees retain the carbon?
AJ – The first thing is the Federal Government said that you can’t clear your land and that’s certainly true in Queensland and everywhere else, because by keeping the trees and making your land unviable for agriculture and everything else – then you are going to lock up the carbon.
Now am I right in saying there is something like 109 million hectares of Australian families private property under these sorts of management laws.
PS – Alan you have it spot on.
AJ – Lets go to the next step. And so by taking that land the Government has reduced our carbon emissions by 22%, which has enabled Australia to met it’s Kyoto Treaty obligations.
PS – That’s correct. It dropped from 130% to 108% and the Australian farmers paid the entire tab.
AJ – So basically the effected farming families have paid for all the cost of mitigating carbon dioxide emissions and thtas the only reason why Prime Minister Rudd can go to Copenhagen saying Australia has met its Kyoto targets.
AJ – So by reducing broad scale land clearing, there, Queensland and everywhere else since 1990, farmers have effectively offset what you call substantial increases in greenhouse gas emissions from other sectors, namely energy.
So without all of this Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions would be 30% above 1990 levels rather than where they are today and the farmers have been responsible for virtually the entire share of the nations greenhouse gas emissions reductions
PS- Exactly
AJ – So those efforts worth Billions of dollars have not been financially rewarded by the government.
PS – Their farms have been devastated. All of this has to be corrected.
AJ – So the levels of emissions reduced effectively by farmers is equal to eliminating the total annual emissions of NZ or Ireland.
AJ - Australia has been able to meet its international treaty obligations, pretending its a civilized and progressive and reformist state., but in the process has stole the citizens property, breaking even I supposed our most basic human rights.
Peter King: Yes and of course it has not been done in an obvious way and i think that’s why very few people other than yourself and others will recognize this problem. it all derives from article 3 in the Kyoto Protocol – a special dispensation to Australia.
AJ – Lets go back to Peter (Spencer). What exactly are you wanting. I know Peter King your lawyer is going to take this matter to the high court, but what are you wanting?
PS – First of all it’s day 16 of my hunger strike. We have been trying to get to court now – we’ve been in the high court a number of times trying to get heard and what they constantly do – they move to strike us out – so we can never present our evidence. Poor peter (King) has been trying now for almost 2 years, trying to get the case presented and hear the evidence – all the court does is look to see if we should be struck out or not.
AJ – So have you not eaten in for 16 days?
PS – No
AJ – Unbelievable. You say to Kevin Rudd in your letter, you say, Peter has written to Kevin Rudd – a long letter in part it says
As you prepare for Copenhagen think of us the Australians who paid the entire carbon tab while you rewarded the polluters, the power generators and the coal industries and lied to the people about our role. Please do not lie in Copenhagen. Tell the world how you achieved your targets and the fact that you stole your achievement. I beg you to show the world this submission and the attachments and see if they applaud you as the white knight of global warming. I’ll be placing it on the web and in the hands of the global media.
AJ – Now Peter, I must before i go, implore you. To say look, let the rest of us fight this battle for you through the media, through the public, through public opinion, we don’t want you to be sacrificed in the battle. Please think about coming down from that 300 foot pole that you are up. Give yourself a good feed, get the energy together so that you can continue to mount this case and I’m sure now the nation at large will be aware of the problem.I think you should take the advise of Peter (King), come down from the pole and we’ll start again.
PS - Alan can I just say something to you?
AJ – Yes
PS – Thank you very much. I’m not coming down, I’m not coming down until he (PM Kevin Rudd) to the terms that I gave him. He can dig a hole and bury me if he wants to. These Australian farmers have to be fixed.
Click here to visit and join Peter Spencers Hunger Strike Support group on the agmates Community network
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