Michael Roche: "It’s certainly serving a good use for some of these NGO franchises, so they’re attracting financial support and they are attracting a range of supporters, rank and file supporters.  So they are getting some grip, but that is of concern to use because groups like Greenpeace seem to be able to say anything and do anything without challenge, whereas industry has to present facts and science.  The environmental activists seem to be able to get away with making outlandish claims which don’t actually have any basis in fact. Well take exports of coal from Queensland.  Last year Queensland exported 180 million tonnes of coal. Now Greenpeace will tell us that by the end of the decade Queensland will be exporting one billion tonnes of coal.  It’s simply not going to happen.  There’s not the global demand for that boosting in coal exports from Queensland, there’s not the wherewithal, the investment dollars, the port capacity, rail capacity to achieve that outcome.  But if you make that claim and say it often enough it’ll start to get repeated, including in the main stream media.  So we have to rely on the facts.  We have to point out that historically coal exports in Queensland have grown year on year by about 5% per annum, whereas the Greenpeace numbers, to be believed, would require a sudden uptake in growth to about 20% per annum.  Well the media tends to give a pretty easy ride to the environmental activists and their claims.  Industry has to always make sure that it’s story is based in facts, in statistics that are verifiable, that we aren’t allowed and nor should we, go out and make outlandish claims.  We have to always stick to the facts and I don’t think the media holds to account the environmental activists for basically what they are telling, which is a whole bunch of lies."

Categories: Activism, Industry
Author: Michael Roche