It has been reported in the media that the Australian Conservation
Foundation has "formally rejected an invitation" to join the
Beyond Beef campaign.
Spokespeople for the A.C.F. have distanced their organisation from
the move to bring the cattle industry into line with the concerns
of good ecological management. The reason they have cited is that
"...some of the imperatives for the campaign are less relevant to
Australian conditions than they may be in the USA." (Sydney
Morning Herald 26-3-1992)
The ACF has focused on a narrow definition of the issues (grain
feeding, the destruction of rain forest). One spokeperson also
promoted the view that "... it has been suggested that exports of
Australian beef might actually help to alleviate this problem (the
destruction of rainforest) in countries where this does occur."
We must question what alignment of forces produces the narrow
focus of the Australian Conservation Foundation and the apparent
endorsement of the Australian cattle industry at the expense of
the interests of the country. Are the ACF leaders in bed with
their cousins from the farm?
It's not rain forest which have been "cleared" to make way for
beef production in Australia - it is Australia's First People who
have been pushed from the country and into the holding pens of the
pathogenic "communities" and fringe camps.
The cattle industry in Australia is not only historically based on
the violent dispossession of First People from their living
countries, it continues to vigorously oppose the recognition of
the rights of the surviving people.
In the Northern Territory in the 1980s cattlemen strenuously
opposed the granting of one kilometre square Aboriginal community
living areas to the traditional owners of the land and water the
cattle monopolise.
It is no coincidence that American cattle companies such as King
Ranch have been involved in the dispossession of First People in
Australia. King was involved in shooting Indian people to build up
his American properties. The pattern is firmly entrenched.
The way of life of the First People is a key component for the
properly functioning ecosystem. Their practices are crucial for
the ecosystem to reproduce itself in an ordered fashion. Remove
these practices from management decisions and you have removed the
ecological governor - the country runs wild.
The Australian ecosystem is running wild - and the beef industry
is a major factor in creating this nightmare.
The Australian politicians will not admit to the unwinding
disaster. They need the revenue from exports to buy more time to
come up with solutions to the problems of the mismanagement of
life by Europeans in Australia. They will be the last to admit the
need for reform - that is part of the problem.
Soil scientists have known for decades that the cattle industry is
effectively mining the country on a far vaster scale than that of
strip mining. They also know that until a new system of land
tenure and different values to those of short term profit making
are instituted, then the ecological disaster will continue. There
is no sign to show that there is a move to re-introduce the values
of respect for life into the cattle business.
Australia was previously under the earthed guidance provided by
the soft feet of First People. It is now under the hard hoof and
cuban heel of cattle/men. Both their soles and their souls are
covered in leather. They do not feel the subtle messages from the
country.
How, then, can we get a message through to our brothers and
sisters in the cattle industry that much of Australia is presently
running down - under a plague of cattle?
The European agricultural practices have been introduced into this
country without modification. They have been introduced by means
which actively exclude the input of wisdom from First People.
The Australian cattle industry, which has placed itself as the
power broker between the country's life spirit and the rest of the
world, seeks to promote "Australian beef - the land's gift". The
history of Australian beef is as bad as that of the human and
environmental abuse (slavery and pesticides/ fertilisers) which
produces Sugar - also promoted by these professional liars as a
"natural part of life".
Just what are the life-giving qualities of meat tainted with
genocide and ecocide? What is its Dreaming song? Who sings - and
who has been rendered silent?
The Australian Conservation Foundation is suffering from the same
blindness to the realities of the Australian situation which
characterises the Anglo-Australian elite.
While these people are happy to talk about Aboriginal ownership of
National Parks, they experience deep seated problems to
recognising the place of First People in mainstream life - such as
is implied by ownership of the country under pastoral lease.
Whose interests do they represent?
If the healing of Australia is to move from rhetoric to reality,
then we must begin to think about joint partnership ventures in
which the place of First People as owners of the country is
acknowledged.
The challenge in Australia is to bring the wisdom of the land
priests - the First People - into the mainstream of life. Their
voice is denied by the Anglo-Australian politicians who gain their
political experience "representing" Aboriginal interests in 'peak
organisations' (such as the Land Councils, Legal Aid Services,
Environment Groups)
In the present case, instead of 'matchbox' sized community living
areas and mere places on the boards of National Parks, First
People must be brought into the running of cattle stations as
partners - senior partners whose knowledge of Australian life
draws on an understanding beyond the ken of European notions of
science and beyond the understanding of European land management
'experts'.
The way of First People understands the country as LIFE. The
country is our eternal soul, and when we ship off the living
vitality - without putting something of equal value back in return
- then we are not just living off the fat of the land, we are
exchanging futures lives for the frivolous and fleeting thrills on
offer from the cash economy.
How can we get a message through the leather hides of our kin in
the cattle industry - and our kin who set themselves up over our
heads as our political representatives - that they must change
their ways?
Only beef produced in co-operative joint ventures with First
People as senior partners stands a change of being socially and
ecologically sound.
The A.C.F. elite has demonstrated its position on this matter.
Will the ordinary members of the Australian Conservation
Foundation, and other environmental groups, demonstrate their bona
fides towards Australia's First People and their commitment to the
real Australian ecosystem by joining the movement going Beyond
Beef and, in so doing, beyond genocide Australian style.