Save Moreton Bay Rally

[Fafnir]

Few thoughts to add. Courier Mail/Sunday Mail were sent press releases and contacted by phone on a number of occassions leading up to the event. With more time on our side I am sure we will have more success there in the future.

Identities are a tough one, there are ample reasons why people in the public spotlight would not want to get involved, but hopefully some will come around. Get one or two onboard and others might feel more comfortable joining in. Time is a little against us though. 3 months would be fine to combat this draft plan, except that they deliberately launched it just before Christmas/New Year.

Sunday's could be better for many people, but unfortunately there are likely to be less people in the city to see the protest. Which is possibly why Saturday was chosen?

Cloud 9 I hear what you're saying, but we are also fighting the public perception of fishermen being rednecks. Stunts like interupting the City Cat, or blocking traffic won't help our cause. Of course if come the March deadline the powers that be have not paid attention, then it might be time for a more gloves off approach?

[Black_Rat]

Maybe a televised public debate between the EPA & fisherman both Rec and Pro complete with the "worm" !

Seriously though a public rally in the city would get attention but then all sorts would come out of the woodwork and probably turn to shit with slanging matches.

A combined effort at the same time (another motorcade) at the Goldie, Brisse, and Sunny coast through the city center would show a united front.

[Chris Ryan]

If we do Sundays we could get more people, we can also lose people involved in other things/commitments. It is a delicate balance and one we are weighing up for next time with a LOT of thought before announcing the exact date.

The traffic light thing was an issue and one we have already looked at fixing next time. If we get many more people, the Police will give us an escort and control the lights so we can get a clear run. However we did get complete clearance without the need for permits due to our intention to follow the road rules and not hold up traffic (other than for a few overheating gearboxes)!

On water, thus far we need to speak with the Water Police as impeding commercial operators (ferries, charters and the like) is a big NO NO. Yeah I understand the need for actions to get attention, but if we get sheer numbers, I am talking well over 1000+ boats such that you can walk bow to bow from one bank to the other will attract attention. Also since the weekend we have had offers to get very high profile people along so we just need to get the plan started and off we go. Parts of this started yesterday, more being done possibly tomorrow but needless to say this will grow and be much bigger than last time with the added help being offered.

Unless we fix the problem we face as per Jeremy's signature says - Apathy is the Enemy, it won't matter how much advertising and planning is done, if fishos simply don't back this in force it is hardly worth the cost and time those involved spend in organising these things.

Cheers,
Chris

[Poodroo]

If we do Sundays we could get more people, we can also lose people involved in other things/commitments. It is a delicate balance and one we are weighing up for next time with a LOT of thought before announcing the exact date.

The traffic light thing was an issue and one we have already looked at fixing next time. If we get many more people, the Police will give us an escort and control the lights so we can get a clear run. However we did get complete clearance without the need for permits due to our intention to follow the road rules and not hold up traffic (other than for a few overheating gearboxes)!

On water, thus far we need to speak with the Water Police as impeding commercial operators (ferries, charters and the like) is a big NO NO. Yeah I understand the need for actions to get attention, but if we get sheer numbers, I am talking well over 1000+ boats such that you can walk bow to bow from one bank to the other will attract attention. Also since the weekend we have had offers to get very high profile people along so we just need to get the plan started and off we go. Parts of this started yesterday, more being done possibly tomorrow but needless to say this will grow and be much bigger than last time with the added help being offered.

Unless we fix the problem we face as per Jeremy's signature says - Apathy is the Enemy, it won't matter how much advertising and planning is done, if fishos simply don't back this in force it is hardly worth the cost and time those involved spend in organising these things.

Cheers,
Chris

You know that I asked a question based on that very thought if we were going to have police doing traffic controls for us. For any future road convoys I think we need to do what it takes to get the police to help us with it because the lights were a right royal pain in the posterior. We still got noticed out there but it would have been much better if we could have remained in one large convoy. Was still a good effort though Chris and I hope you are holding your head high with what you managed to achieve with some good help. Hats off to you mate.

Poodroo

[Cloud_9]

i still think we need to do a lap or 2 around the citythat would keep the boats in the city longer we can still abide by the road rules .
the in and out run is too quick.
Cloud 9

[Et the et]

Just a thought.

Is it a possibility that we could get some sort of “advert” in all the relevant local rags to debunk all the usual turtle/dugong/etc horror stories that seem to appear at regular intervals lately? - and state the real facts regarding the status of the bay – ie the sustainability of fishing etc, and point out the imminent threat of pollution/degradation from air port expansion/ foreshore development, etc.

My missus (who actually hates fishing) got into a huge argument with her workmates yesterday over the proposed green zones. The general public have no idea – they see the doom and gloom stories that the stupid editors of these papers publish and believe everything they say. We have to come up with a way of offsetting this!

Surely the BCFs/boat yards/tackle/bait shops etc could contribute to the cost of such a campaign? What about charter operators? Surely they are getting nervous?

Any big advert in the papers could also include a “call to arms” for the next convoy or whatever?

Just grasping at straws ??


ET

[stuart29]

I agree with ET. I was in Perth yesterday and the today show interviewed that guy from Seaworld who is always on the TV about turle populations in Moreton Bay. As usual he mentioned how many turtles die in the bay and that the deaths are caused by boat strikes and the ingestion of plastics. He didn't say how many of the total number of deaths were due to boat strikes and the implication there was that a vast majority were caused directly or indirectly by boaties.

At no point did he mention the pollution due to stormwater runoff or the chemicals that are leaching into the bay causing cancerous growths on turtles. Nor did he say that most of the plastics found in the bay are as a result of the constant amount of rubbish flushed out to sea every time it rains. This type of misinformation gives the public the wrong picture of people using the bay. As it was previously stated, most boaties are zealous conservationists as we all know what will happen if we don't look after the Bay.

[squizzytaylor]

Just a thought.

Is it a possibility that we could get some sort of “advert” in all the relevant local rags to debunk all the usual turtle/dugong/etc horror stories that seem to appear at regular intervals lately? - and state the real facts regarding the status of the bay – ie the sustainability of fishing etc, and point out the imminent threat of pollution/degradation from air port expansion/ foreshore development, etc.

I would have thought that the Fishing Party etc would be heavily envolved in this, I know down here when we went through it Robert Smith who was our local Fishing party candidate was out there with all guns blazing as were the local Ecofishers groups with ads, radio coverage etc.

Cheers
Geoff

[craftycarp]

At no point did he mention the pollution due to stormwater runoff or the chemicals that are leaching into the bay causing cancerous growths on turtles. Nor did he say that most of the plastics found in the bay are as a result of the constant amount of rubbish flushed out to sea every time it rains. This type of misinformation gives the public the wrong picture of people using the bay. As it was previously stated, most boaties are zealous conservationists as we all know what will happen if we don't look after the Bay.

The reason he doesn't mention polution etc is because the only way to stop the polution is to pick brisbane up and move it somewhere else. Thats not a vote winner in anyones book. No one mentions these things because that mr and mrs Joe average would have to admit that they are part of the problem.

[Tailortaker]

Dont know if it's been mentioned but there is a write up in the northern times about the rally and green zones, see if this link works (page 5, half of a page)
http://paper.questnews.com.au/papers/tnt.html
Cheers TT

[Chris Ryan]

There was also a Letter to the Editor published yesterday in the C/Mail.

[BrewGuru]

I love a good political fight, I am certainly in on the Brissie River deal and I will see if I can get some interest from our boat club, have we poached any of the boat clubs?
The final draft is an absolute nonsense

[Chris Ryan]

Not yet Brew, but details on the River deal are coming v.soon.

[timddo]

Is it possible to get premade logo's or phrases ( which we can pay for ourselves.). I went to the last rally and there were a few cars + boats which only had an A4 page on them ( including mine).