"NEIN! NEIN! NEIN! NEIN! NEIN!!!
OK, phew, its alright, I've got it out of my system now.
Now, you are probably all wondering what the hell is wrong with me if I am simulating the behaviour of a fictional/real historical evil mastermind, particularly when this is supposed to be an optimist's haven, but I could not honestly believe my eyes when I picked up The Age this morning.
You're probably wondering what the hell is wrong with me. Isn't it good that China has just signed a $50 billion deal with Australia in which PetroChina will purchase 2.25 million tonnes a year of West Australian LPG Gas over a 20 year period? Isn't it beneficial to our economy in these tough times considering the project will be worth 5 per cent of the nation's gross domestic product? And won't it help you personally considering your dad works for Woodside in the oil and gas sector?
The answer to all these questions is most definitely a "Ja, Ja" and another big "Ja" but unlike everyone else in this country, I am seeing the downsides to this agreement which are very likely to occur.
Firstly, 20 years is a long time and as we have seen, a lot of things can change within that time period. For instance, entire economies can crash in less than a day, dictatorships can rise and fall and terrorists can singlehandedly cause the complete reformation of the way we think about our international defence strategies. Therefore, how on earth can we gauruntee that in 20 years time, we will still have enough gas to supply China and then us as well. I know that hundred hours of research is put into this but we know from past experience that no amount of scientific research is fool-proof for the future.
Secondly, what are the ecological benefits of this exchange? Why isn't China paying us $50 billion to produce the first solar panel field that can produce more than 80 gigawatts/hour? (that is currently the world record from the Parque Fotovoltaico Olmedilla de Alarcón in Spain) The answer to this is because in the end, it is so much easier to build one pipe into the earth's core and suck up a whole load of gas then construct solar panels spanning across hundreds of square kilometres. Sad really that we're so lazy don't you think?
Finally, I believe this deal was orchestrated more to prove that China and Australia's diplomatic ties are still strong despite all the controversy caused by the Melbourne International Film Festival's screening of The 10 Conditions of Love, a documentary about "the life of a fearless woman who has paid a terrible price for becoming an international symbol of her nation’s struggle". Frankly, I think $50 billion could make a lot of people forget about Chinese film directors pulling out the festival in protest or hackers replacing the entire MIFF website with an animated waving flag and the words
"We like film,but we hate Rebiya Kadeer!
We like peace,and we hate East Turkistan terrorist!
Please apologize to all the Chinese people!
Hacked by oldjun!"
I have never been a big fan of the Chinese government and you can probably guage this from this blog's tone but I want to reassure you that no I am not on the latest anti-anti-depressant recently released on the market (I don't think one actually exists so don't bother looking for one). I am merely attempting to make you all see the other side to today's top story. Whilst superficially this agreement between the Chinks and the Ockers is a good deal, I think we seriously need to look at the bigger picture in terms of where this world is heading and why major contracts like these are only proving to make our current economical and environmental situations worse.
On a lighter yet less enlightened note however, I fully support the government's achievements in creating nearly 6000 jobs and also ensuring my Dad will keep his job at least for the next 20 years.
So with that, I bid you all good day and remember, don't worry. Be Happy!
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