David Papps
@davidpapps.bsky.social
Conservationist. Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder 2012-2018. AM. Veteran of forest wars. National parks advocate. Unabashed fan of greenie academic activists. Swans tragic. Close friend of Charlie the Bichon. It's what you do, not what you say.
Reposted by David Papps
You cant protect nature if you wont protect native forests from chain saws & bulldozers
Great column by Virginia Young on Labors deeply flawed new ‘nature laws’…the ones that’s are so flawed the mining industry are desperately lobbying the Liberals to vote for them
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
Great column by Virginia Young on Labors deeply flawed new ‘nature laws’…the ones that’s are so flawed the mining industry are desperately lobbying the Liberals to vote for them
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
Australians are being asked to believe we can protect nature by exploiting it faster and with less scrutiny
The point.com.au
thepoint.com.au
November 22, 2025 at 9:29 AM
You cant protect nature if you wont protect native forests from chain saws & bulldozers
Great column by Virginia Young on Labors deeply flawed new ‘nature laws’…the ones that’s are so flawed the mining industry are desperately lobbying the Liberals to vote for them
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
Great column by Virginia Young on Labors deeply flawed new ‘nature laws’…the ones that’s are so flawed the mining industry are desperately lobbying the Liberals to vote for them
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
Reposted by David Papps
#Victorians! Our State Library is being trashed by a series of executives with no experience or understanding of public collections. Many hired as 'temps' without full process, who then caused scandals & exodus of specialist & librarian staff: a full wreck looms. www.theage.com.au/national/vic...
State Library proposes major cuts to staff and services
The library plans halve the number of reference librarians it employs and reduce the number of computers available for public use in a move that has outraged staff.
www.theage.com.au
November 22, 2025 at 12:05 AM
#Victorians! Our State Library is being trashed by a series of executives with no experience or understanding of public collections. Many hired as 'temps' without full process, who then caused scandals & exodus of specialist & librarian staff: a full wreck looms. www.theage.com.au/national/vic...
Reposted by David Papps
This would be the biggest solar farm on Earth! Why it’s on a bilby stronghold, next to Lake Woods a wetland of international significance for waterbirds.
It needs rigorous environmental impact assessment. I’m at a loss as to why it’s not on cleared land.
Submissions will help.
It needs rigorous environmental impact assessment. I’m at a loss as to why it’s not on cleared land.
Submissions will help.
SunCable’s Muckaty Solar Precinct Proposal
Have Your Say
Closes November 25th
See our case card and submission writing tips here:
www.lettersfortheenvironment.com/suncables-mu...
Have Your Say
Closes November 25th
See our case card and submission writing tips here:
www.lettersfortheenvironment.com/suncables-mu...
November 22, 2025 at 6:46 AM
This would be the biggest solar farm on Earth! Why it’s on a bilby stronghold, next to Lake Woods a wetland of international significance for waterbirds.
It needs rigorous environmental impact assessment. I’m at a loss as to why it’s not on cleared land.
Submissions will help.
It needs rigorous environmental impact assessment. I’m at a loss as to why it’s not on cleared land.
Submissions will help.
Reposted by David Papps
Australians are being asked to believe we can protect nature by exploiting it faster and with less scrutiny
-Virginia Young
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
-Virginia Young
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
Australians are being asked to believe we can protect nature by exploiting it faster and with less scrutiny
The point.com.au
thepoint.com.au
November 22, 2025 at 8:45 AM
Australians are being asked to believe we can protect nature by exploiting it faster and with less scrutiny
-Virginia Young
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
-Virginia Young
thepoint.com.au/opinions/251...
Reposted by David Papps
The agency this week quietly changed its official language to suggest vaccines may cause autism, a claim that scientists say has no basis in evidence
CDC Vaccine Website Promotes Anti-Science Claims of Autism Ties
The agency this week quietly changed its official language to suggest vaccines may cause autism, a claim that scientists say has no basis in evidence
www.scientificamerican.com
November 20, 2025 at 4:21 PM
The agency this week quietly changed its official language to suggest vaccines may cause autism, a claim that scientists say has no basis in evidence
Reposted by David Papps
Rules meant to protect endangered gliders increase risk of localised extinction, scientists say www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
'Absolute madness': Environment groups decry glider survey results
New data points to the "systemic" under-reporting of greater glider dens within areas earmarked for logging in NSW, which scientists say could result in localised extinctions.
www.abc.net.au
November 20, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Rules meant to protect endangered gliders increase risk of localised extinction, scientists say www.abc.net.au/news/2025-11...
Reposted by David Papps
“Experts say the proposed legislation is full of problems, including excessive ministerial discretion and relaxing like-for-like offset rules.”
Another Labor special then. Try to legislate a do-nothing policy, pat yourself on the back for being so sensible.
Another Labor special then. Try to legislate a do-nothing policy, pat yourself on the back for being so sensible.
Will Labor’s environment laws actually address Australia’s biodiversity crisis? Five reasons to be concerned
Will Labor’s environment laws actually address Australia’s biodiversity crisis? Five reasons to be concerned
Experts say the proposed legislation is full of problems, including excessive ministerial discretion and relaxing like-for-like offset rules
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The Albanese government is overhauling national environment laws. It wants its changes to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act rushed through parliament before the end of the year.
But should they be? Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:15 PM
“Experts say the proposed legislation is full of problems, including excessive ministerial discretion and relaxing like-for-like offset rules.”
Another Labor special then. Try to legislate a do-nothing policy, pat yourself on the back for being so sensible.
Another Labor special then. Try to legislate a do-nothing policy, pat yourself on the back for being so sensible.
Reposted by David Papps
Environmental Defenders Office (@edolawyers.bsky.social, not active) have put out their updated assessment of the Albanese govt's EPBC reform bills
Not pretty
Not pretty
EPBC Act reform update - Bills pass the House of Representatives and draft Standard for Matters of National Environmental Significance released - Environmental Defenders Office
This updated analysis assesses how the EPBC Bills stack up against the Samuel Review recommendations; examines the newly released national standard for matters of national environmental significance; ...
www.edo.org.au
November 7, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Environmental Defenders Office (@edolawyers.bsky.social, not active) have put out their updated assessment of the Albanese govt's EPBC reform bills
Not pretty
Not pretty
Reposted by David Papps
“You’re basically saying you can trade koalas with a land snail in Tasmania or a small plant in north Queensland.” - Prof Brendan Wintle @biodivcouncil.bsky.social
What's wrong with @australianlabor.bsky.social's environmental law reforms 👉 www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... -@lisacox.bsky.social
What's wrong with @australianlabor.bsky.social's environmental law reforms 👉 www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... -@lisacox.bsky.social
Will Labor’s environment laws actually address Australia’s biodiversity crisis? Five reasons to be concerned
Experts say the proposed legislation is full of problems, including excessive ministerial discretion and relaxing like-for-like offset rules
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:10 PM
“You’re basically saying you can trade koalas with a land snail in Tasmania or a small plant in north Queensland.” - Prof Brendan Wintle @biodivcouncil.bsky.social
What's wrong with @australianlabor.bsky.social's environmental law reforms 👉 www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... -@lisacox.bsky.social
What's wrong with @australianlabor.bsky.social's environmental law reforms 👉 www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... -@lisacox.bsky.social
Reposted by David Papps
13. Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.
But also, long live Sodom and Gomarrah.
But also, long live Sodom and Gomarrah.
November 5, 2025 at 8:09 AM
13. Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.
But also, long live Sodom and Gomarrah.
But also, long live Sodom and Gomarrah.
Reposted by David Papps
12. I write this as someone brought up in and currently living in the countryside. There is much that I love about it, but also much I admire about cities. I don’t believe we need to set one against the other. But urban-rural conflict is one aspect of the constant effort to polarise and divide.
November 5, 2025 at 8:08 AM
12. I write this as someone brought up in and currently living in the countryside. There is much that I love about it, but also much I admire about cities. I don’t believe we need to set one against the other. But urban-rural conflict is one aspect of the constant effort to polarise and divide.
Reposted by David Papps
11. Importantly, the city is and has always been a much less controllable space for the far right than the countryside. It is less in thrall to traditional hierarchies and better able to mobilise: the sheer number of people provides a counterweight to oligarchic power.
November 5, 2025 at 8:07 AM
11. Importantly, the city is and has always been a much less controllable space for the far right than the countryside. It is less in thrall to traditional hierarchies and better able to mobilise: the sheer number of people provides a counterweight to oligarchic power.
Reposted by David Papps
9. Now this idea is being resuscitated once again. The city is cast by the new wave of fascists as a degenerate, crime-ridden arena, dominated by Muslims, immigrants and “alien” ideas such as feminism, antifa, anti-racism, trans rights, asylum, public transport and intellectualism.
November 5, 2025 at 8:05 AM
9. Now this idea is being resuscitated once again. The city is cast by the new wave of fascists as a degenerate, crime-ridden arena, dominated by Muslims, immigrants and “alien” ideas such as feminism, antifa, anti-racism, trans rights, asylum, public transport and intellectualism.
Reposted by David Papps
10. They circulate myths about “no-go zones” and subways in which you’re more likely to get your throat cut than arrive at your destination. They evince what might or might not be genuine terror at seeing black and brown faces.
November 5, 2025 at 8:06 AM
10. They circulate myths about “no-go zones” and subways in which you’re more likely to get your throat cut than arrive at your destination. They evince what might or might not be genuine terror at seeing black and brown faces.
Reposted by David Papps
8. Evil city / pure countryside is an example of what Jeremy Lent calls a “root metaphor”: an idea so deeply implanted in our minds that we don’t even recognise it as an idea.
November 5, 2025 at 8:04 AM
8. Evil city / pure countryside is an example of what Jeremy Lent calls a “root metaphor”: an idea so deeply implanted in our minds that we don’t even recognise it as an idea.
Reposted by David Papps
7. It should be noted that not all rural revivalists were on the far right. Lord of the Rings is a rural revivalist fantasy. A society of small farmers overthrows urban industrialism and restores a feudal aristocracy. The Shire is Wallop’s ideal society as much as Tolkein’s.
November 5, 2025 at 8:04 AM
7. It should be noted that not all rural revivalists were on the far right. Lord of the Rings is a rural revivalist fantasy. A society of small farmers overthrows urban industrialism and restores a feudal aristocracy. The Shire is Wallop’s ideal society as much as Tolkein’s.
Reposted by David Papps
6. They sought to trigger a mass return of people to the countryside, depopulating the cities. I'm not sure they really thought that through: the result would have been generalised urbanisation. Though, given that some of them (esp Anthony Ludovici) wanted to exterminate so many people, maybe not.
November 5, 2025 at 8:03 AM
6. They sought to trigger a mass return of people to the countryside, depopulating the cities. I'm not sure they really thought that through: the result would have been generalised urbanisation. Though, given that some of them (esp Anthony Ludovici) wanted to exterminate so many people, maybe not.
Reposted by David Papps
5. They saw the countryside as the “true” heart of the nation, which upheld clean and decent traditions, and sustained old ideas about how society should be run. Crucially, they believed, it was not “polluted” by “miscegenation” and the “dilution” of “racial characteristics”.
November 5, 2025 at 8:00 AM
5. They saw the countryside as the “true” heart of the nation, which upheld clean and decent traditions, and sustained old ideas about how society should be run. Crucially, they believed, it was not “polluted” by “miscegenation” and the “dilution” of “racial characteristics”.
Reposted by David Papps
4. The city, for them, was a seething mass of “aliens” and “cosmopolitans” (ie Jews). It teemed with “foreign” and “degenerate” ideas and practices. Some of them, particularly Gerald Wallop (Lord Lymington), railed against its democratic impulses: he wanted a revival of aristocratic rule.
November 5, 2025 at 8:00 AM
4. The city, for them, was a seething mass of “aliens” and “cosmopolitans” (ie Jews). It teemed with “foreign” and “degenerate” ideas and practices. Some of them, particularly Gerald Wallop (Lord Lymington), railed against its democratic impulses: he wanted a revival of aristocratic rule.
Reposted by David Papps
3. It was rescuscitated in the 1920s and 1930s by fascist movements. “Rural revivalism” was a major force in the emergence of fascism in Germany, Italy, France, the UK and elsewhere. In the UK it was fomented by the likes of Gerald Wallop, Jorian Jenks, Rolf Gardiner and Henry Williamson.
November 5, 2025 at 7:59 AM
3. It was rescuscitated in the 1920s and 1930s by fascist movements. “Rural revivalism” was a major force in the emergence of fascism in Germany, Italy, France, the UK and elsewhere. In the UK it was fomented by the likes of Gerald Wallop, Jorian Jenks, Rolf Gardiner and Henry Williamson.
Reposted by David Papps
2. As the prophet Nahum put it, “Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not ... the well-favoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.” Lovely guy, I’m sure.
November 5, 2025 at 7:58 AM
2. As the prophet Nahum put it, “Woe to the bloody city! it is all full of lies and robbery; the prey departeth not ... the well-favoured harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts, that selleth nations through her whoredoms, and families through her witchcrafts.” Lovely guy, I’m sure.
Reposted by David Papps
1. In the wake on Mamdani’s win, we’ll see a lot more far right anti-urban sentiment. Here’s a thread on its roots and evolution.
The idea that the city is evil and corrupt, and the countryside innocent and pure, goes back a long way: to Theocritus in Alexandria, and to the Old Testament. 🧵
The idea that the city is evil and corrupt, and the countryside innocent and pure, goes back a long way: to Theocritus in Alexandria, and to the Old Testament. 🧵
November 5, 2025 at 7:58 AM
1. In the wake on Mamdani’s win, we’ll see a lot more far right anti-urban sentiment. Here’s a thread on its roots and evolution.
The idea that the city is evil and corrupt, and the countryside innocent and pure, goes back a long way: to Theocritus in Alexandria, and to the Old Testament. 🧵
The idea that the city is evil and corrupt, and the countryside innocent and pure, goes back a long way: to Theocritus in Alexandria, and to the Old Testament. 🧵
Reposted by David Papps
@australianlabor.bsky.social's environmental law reform bill, tabled yesterday, is actually contemptuous, given we're in the midst of two existential, deepening crises, climate change & biodiversity decline & extinction. Anyone suggesting otherwise is doing nature and humanity a great disservice.
October 30, 2025 at 11:07 PM
@australianlabor.bsky.social's environmental law reform bill, tabled yesterday, is actually contemptuous, given we're in the midst of two existential, deepening crises, climate change & biodiversity decline & extinction. Anyone suggesting otherwise is doing nature and humanity a great disservice.
Reposted by David Papps
Murray Watt's LI post of Samuel's endorsement of his EPBC reforms in which he says of pple objecting tt,"I don't think they're reading the legislation properly" is gathering 'likes' fr native forest logging & Oil & Gas interests, Advance donor, Mitchell Taylor(TaylorsWines) & comm law firm partners
5 years ago, Professor Graeme Samuel tabled his recommendations on how to reform our national environment laws. Now, he says “it’s all there” in the laws we have introduced to Parliament. It’s time… |...
5 years ago, Professor Graeme Samuel tabled his recommendations on how to reform our national environment laws. Now, he says “it’s all there” in the laws we have introduced to Parliament. It’s time th...
www.linkedin.com
October 31, 2025 at 7:09 AM
Murray Watt's LI post of Samuel's endorsement of his EPBC reforms in which he says of pple objecting tt,"I don't think they're reading the legislation properly" is gathering 'likes' fr native forest logging & Oil & Gas interests, Advance donor, Mitchell Taylor(TaylorsWines) & comm law firm partners
Reposted by David Papps
@rodcampbell.bsky.social's Five fun/not-fun facts about Australia’s environment laws
ps the @albomp.bsky.social gov made that current law in point 4, removing the Enviro Minister's ability to revoke a previous decision irrespective of new info/evidence
👉 live.thepoint.com.au/2025/10/the-...
ps the @albomp.bsky.social gov made that current law in point 4, removing the Enviro Minister's ability to revoke a previous decision irrespective of new info/evidence
👉 live.thepoint.com.au/2025/10/the-...
October 28, 2025 at 3:32 AM
@rodcampbell.bsky.social's Five fun/not-fun facts about Australia’s environment laws
ps the @albomp.bsky.social gov made that current law in point 4, removing the Enviro Minister's ability to revoke a previous decision irrespective of new info/evidence
👉 live.thepoint.com.au/2025/10/the-...
ps the @albomp.bsky.social gov made that current law in point 4, removing the Enviro Minister's ability to revoke a previous decision irrespective of new info/evidence
👉 live.thepoint.com.au/2025/10/the-...