Fear underlies attacks

Ros Irwin, Caniaba

Already the coalition are attacking independents, including Hanabeth Luke, who’s standing for Page at the election. It seems that because independents are standing in coalition-held seats they’re criticised as not being really independent and should state whether they would support Labor if they win the election.

Perhaps the reason these, predominantly women, are standing in predominantly coalition seats is that they want this current government gone, and that’s the best way of ensuring they do.

Instead of sledging independents, critics should find out more about them and see what makes them different from coalition candidates. As just one local example, Hanabeth Luke is an amazing young woman. She is a scientist and teacher who developed and runs a course in regenerative agriculture, which many farmers now see as essential to their ongoing productivity. She is a woman of great personal courage, which has been her record, starting with bringing victims of the Bali bombing to safety, rescuing marine life as a volunteer and, right through to more recently, rescuing flood survivors in her tinny, be they humans or other animals.

Hanabeth has gone out of her way to personally provide post-flood assistance in the Evans Head area where she and her family live, regardless of the attention – or lack of it – by politicians and the media. Her commitment to us is to fight for decency and honesty in government, badly needed right now, for fair allocation of funding, housing for our families, and addressing climate change. To find out more about Hanabeth, go to www.hanabethluke.com.au. How refreshing it would be to see someone with those commitments and of that calibre representing us in Page and not the coalition, with its lack of transparency, unacceptable position on climate change, and failure to address disasters in an equitable and speedy way!