Buraucracy

 

Bureaucracy

 A mate of mine is up before the court for disturbing a watercourse, which will likely end up costing him a barrel of money, and fair enough, some may think he deserves the penalty, but before jumping to conclusions, let me explain. The law was set when I was a forest ranger back in the ‘80’s… and I guess that working for the government, I too was a bureaucrat, and because we were a government department, we had to know, and tried to comply with the rules set down by office-bound bureaucrats who influenced the politicians but actually pushed paper with no real experience about the practical realities. And those of you who support the penalty, very likely have never owned or been responsible for a sizable parcel of land.

 The rule was, ‘water courses must not be disturbed, and a watercourse is where water flows regularly or infrequently.’ Think about the infrequently bit… when it rains, water flows down the slightest folds of land, where sometimes a mere trickle passes… which may be construed as a watercourse by nosey bureaucrats. Your footpath could be one. So, when we were logging, machinery couldn’t pass through those folds nor could we pull logs through them. Now I’m an environmentalist, and I understand that the world’s water is in peril… I also understand that it is ideal to keep silt out of water, but nevertheless, the rule makes ordinary operations unworkable.

 For instance, we totally ignored the rule when we were roading… of course we needed access so the roadline crossed many waterways, and in creeks and streams we built culverts where vertebrates and invertebrates would have been disturbed or even killed. We couldn’t avoid silt getting into the watercourse either, so we didn’t try. But because of the actions of geology, silt will always find its way into waterways sooner or later on its way to the sea… it’s a part of the natural process.

 We are under attack from bureaucrats, but we usually blame the politicians, who are culpable in that they don’t stand up for the general populace. The government taxes a fair whack out of our income, and they grab another handful from every service we use and everything purchase through a goods and services tax… another fifteen percent is creamed off. We call them ‘rates’, our council charges what amounts to be a property tax which pays for our town roads and street lighting, utilities as well as other services, but they have slowly become involved in non-core activities that are pet projects of the councillors… or the bureaucrats within, or through tules set down by governments. And then there’s the regional council who cover a much larger area, these people are responsible for ‘environmental’ matters but also have their dibs in compliance for many works, or allowing innovation. Our one didn’t really need a new office block, but they built a palace anyway, with the resultant inflation of the rate bill… twenty years ago, an hour’s pay was enough per annum to keep the council going, but nowadays, we’re paying a week’s wage every three months!

 Here's another earlier, encounter: One day I received a phone call from a bureaucrat attached to the old Lands and Survey Department, ‘because they wanted my expertise to gather evidence fit the prosecution of a sheep run for burning some snow tussock’. I was responsible for fires we used as a tool to prepare land for tree planting. It was quite a journey to the homestead, so I headed off at the appropriate time… I could have travelled with the Lands and Survey team, but they were a bit anti-forestry for my liking. Arriving earlier than them Frank’s missus made a cup of tea for us, and over the teacups, he told me the Lands and Survey were going to fine him $20,000, which was a heap of money in those days. Soon the Lands and Survey guys turned up in their flash vehicle, dressed in ‘farmer going-out-gear’ although they were straight-out townies. And straight away I could tell the young bucks had no farming or burning experience, which I supposed was why they called me in. They oozed friendship, while in the back of their minds, they wanted to rip $20,000 out of Frank’s pocket! I travelled with Frank out to the site in his vehicle to show them I wasn’t necessarily on their side… my message zipped over their heads.

 The site was a shady face of about 200 hectares and still black from the burn, which, was nice and clean; any farmer, or indeed forester, would have been pleased with it. Frank had done the right thing and applied of a burning permit from us because he was a neighbour to the forest, he also had to get one also from the Lands and Survey Department. Their permit stipulated that there had to be ten percent snow cover at the time of burning and that he wasn’t permitted to burn in a northwest wind. The danger, it said, was that the fire would kill the snow tussock. Now, first you have to figure out why he wanted to burn the snow tussock. The reason is that when mature, snow tussock is unpalatable for sheep, it grows to waist height and holds moisture which makes the sheep’s wool cotty because of the dampness… cotty wool is low-valued. However, after burning, the soft regrowth is very palatable to sheep and allows clovers to grow between. The other factor is that during summer, the dry tussock becomes a fire hazard from lightning strike and left unburnt, such fires are difficult to control.

 Frank had alerted me the he was going to burn, and I’d seen the smoke from the fire that day; it was blowing a bit from the  nor’west, but because it was back-burning down the hill, I knew it wasn’t dangerous to the forest, so I’d put it out of my mind. Frank tried to explain his position to the three but they were officious and didn’t really listen. Thinking I was on their side, they asked my opinion, and I gave it: ‘Do you guys seriously expect Danthonia to burn with ten percent snow cover?’ I asked, and they just looked at me. ‘That’s just nonsense, you are silly to demand it. Here on these hills with high humidity due to the coastal air, there are only a few days of the year that are suitable for burning and that is when a nor’west wind dries out the foliage properly. Frank is either allowed or not allowed to burn the tussock and if he is not, Lands and Survey should buy the land and retire it or pay Frank compensation for not farming it. I’m prepared to say that in court if it comes to it. Anyway, take a look! Every tussock clump is regrowing! Come on, show me one that isn’t.’ And we walked them over the area until they had seen enough. They were wearing cream moleskin trousers, which didn’t thrill them, because of the black ash that rose as we walked. And they were none too happy because they couldn’t find a single tussock that wasn’t regrowing. Frank phoned me a few days later to say he had heard from the ivory-tower Lands and Survey office, that they had dropped the case… which of course. was the right thing to do.

 While this sort of thing continues, and with consents and regulations on the increase, the bureaucrats too increase, making any money in your bank account flow out quickly. We are losing initiative and our rights, which threatens what democracy we have left. Liz Truss (ex-PM of Britian) said, ‘You’d expect a prime minister to be able to tell the navy to keep the boat people from invading our country. But the secretary of the Home Office, would not accept the order, saying, ‘It would be illegal to do so, because the nation has signed up to the United Nations’ Human Rights Convention.’ Governments have signed up all sort of United Nations declarations which are crippling nations, particularly the west. I’ll highlight one; the Paris climate accord and faux climate emergency. Since 1900… the aftermath of the little ice age, the global temperature has risen by 1.3°C. The following has been the effect on mankind: the population is five times greater; life expectancy has risen by 130%; literacy is up by 400%; GDP is 6.8% stronger; food production is up by 34%; extreme poverty is down by 700%; the weather death rate is down by 500%... all of which indicates the planet is doing quite well, so where’s the emergency?

 We have CEO’s welding more power than prime ministers, and CEO’s wielding more power than mayors. In my country, we have a centre-right government after a very leftist government… and while public or civil servants are supposed to be apolitical and work responsibly for any incoming democratically elected government… this time they have been actively working against our government. Worse, the previous government employed extra public servants just before the handover with long-term contracts and to pay them out is unaffordable in the current environment… an act that was undemocratic, uneconomic and corrupt. But they are not held to account because the mainstream media are with them.

 How does this come about? School teachers are among the public servants; universities, hallowed halls they may have been, but robust debate no longer exists on certain issues, but have they have staunch, even Marxist political ideologies where truths can’t be told and hard work is disincentivised. Logic and critical thinking can’t be tolerated so people use them are cancelled. For a couple (at least) of generations these people have entered the workforce infiltrating government departments, the judiciary, police and the media. This country isn’t alone in this… but can the ship be turned around?

 The iron fist of globalism is closing on the individual… who has heard of the UN’s 2015 Sendai Framework? It’s purported to make the world a safer place… preventing disasters by kicking people off their properties ‘for their own sake… and the sake of the environment’.