“Spin doctor (noun) (informal):
a spokesperson employed to give a favourable interpretation of events to the media…”
And so we saw Tassal’s corporate engagement chief, Barbara McGregor, doing exactly that as she conducted a media tour over the salmon farm site in Okehampton Bay.
Hell Hath No Fury like an electorate scorned.
And as more and more Development Applications flood the Glamorgan Spring Bay municipality, residents are becoming adept at securing their own specialist advice and opinion and are becoming true frontline fighters. Amongst their number are scientists, town-planners, environmental specialists, journalists and most importantly, lawyers skilled at pulling apart legislation. No longer is a rate-paying base ignorant.
This is my bay.
It also belongs to many other people – the people of Tasmania. These are State waters, a beautiful sea that has provided occupation, recreation and ambience for many lifetimes of both indigenous people and newcomers.
When I talk of occupation, I talk of professions. I talk of fishermen – generations who have caught wild fish for a living. I had an uncle who was a professional fisherman. He would take his boat out and fish between the continental shelf and the shore of Tasmania, catching all manner of fish for the markets. But he fished sustainably and treated the ocean and what lived in it with respect, knowing that to over-fish would be cutting his nose to spite his face.
Today, a young family friend is also a professional fisherman, but thanks to climate change and an ecology altering by the day, his catch is sporadic and difficult.
Times have changed…
Social Licence. It sounds like approval to have a good old knees-up with friends, doesn’t it? A bit of a bash with those you know are likely to make you feel good. A party. And it’s not that not far off the mark…
