CLIVE PALMER AND GINA RINEHART – DESTROYING FANTASIA
Sue Arnold – Opinion November 26, 2013
Watching Four Corners program on Clive Palmer last night gave me nightmares.
I remembered the Never Ending Story which I used to read in bed at night to my husband as it was such a profound myth for our times.
Do you remember the story ? Bastian is having a hard time recovering from his mother’s death when he stumbles into a bookstore and learns of a book that’s “not safe”. Unable to resist such a temptation, he borrows the book and begins to read about the land of Fantasia, the land of human fantasy. The land is being consumed by the Nothingness, and the Empress is dying. A warrior named Atreyu is chosen to save Fantasia from the Nothingness. As Bastian reads the adventures, he is drawn into the story, identifying with Atreyu. Soon, however, he learns what the storekeeper meant about the book when he finds that the characters in the book seem to be aware of him, as well. All seems hopeless as the Nothingness is consuming Fantasia. Can Atreyu save them? Can Bastian?
There were monsters in the Never Ending story. Looking at the morbidly obese Palmer and Rinehart, who could help but wonder if Australia is Fantasia and that these mining magnates are the Nothingness consuming this ancient land. The Empress could be a symbol for Australia’s irreplaceable environment, wildlife, rivers, the vast agricultural lands feeding our nation.
Is the combined massive weight of Palmer and Rinehart an indication of their greed ? Is there any end to the gobbling up of precious places like the Bimblebox Nature reserve in Queensland ? Will the transmogrification of the Galillee Basin into a gigantic coal mine see Fantasia disappear, die ?
Australia’s resources must be like some gigantic smorgasbord for these people who have no sympathy, empathy, compassion or moral responsibility to future generations, only money. The great Nothingness.
Seeing the dinosaurs in the Palmer Resort was yet another verification that we are living in a 21st Century myth and that the bad guys are so sure of their place in society they can create manifestations of themselves as dinosaurs making more money as the public comes to gawk.
Jobs will be created says Palmer. Where will the jobs be in another 20 years when Fantasia has disappeared ? What about our kids and their kids ? Do they have any rights ?
Maybe the worst part of last night’s program was to realise that 8% of the vote in our recent national election went to Palmer’s party. Australians who voted in support of this mining magnate must be part of the nightmare. Let’s not forget the Greens gave Palmer their preferences.
There’s no sign of a Bastian or Atreyu . The people have been conned, Fantasia is dying.
