The Virus Illuminates Some Truths
Thinking about post-Covid-19, the environment is my number one issue. I was disappointed in the federal election result,
disappointed that we elected a government which refused to even utter the words ‘climate change’.
I was disappointed also to see a cabinet made up largely of white males. How does that represent the diversity of our nation?
It does not.
I have seen many positives in the virus. It’s put the focus back on Australia. We’ve looked around us and seen the value of living here. It is causing us to rethink what we need. Do we need to fly to Bali every year? Do we really need to have in-home theatres?
Do we really need all the latest gadgets? I like to think we have learned that we can live very well with much less than we imagine. As for
our country, there is so much beauty here that we don’t need to go overseas.
I’m passionate about Australians growing our own food, and I would rather go to a small business to buy my produce than a supermarket chain. Among the lessons I hope we have learned from the virus is that our farmers do a very good job producing quality food, and we should appreciate that, and buy it in preference to cheaper imports.
I also think we’re letting other countries do our dirty work. We can see this when we export our rubbish to poorer regions. We can
also see it when we buy goods manufactured in places where there is no protection for workers or the environment.
But speaking about the virus again, it’s heartening to hear about so many cities around the world with blue skies and clean air, and that birds and other wild creatures are returning to areas where they hadn’t been seen for ages. I hope people will be encouraged about how quickly the environment has recovered and be inspired to reduce the number of vehicles on our roads, protect the oceans and keep the sky pollutionfree.
I think that the virus has opened our eyes to the value of family and communities, and the advantages of living rurally. I really believe
that with more businesses realising that working from home is a viable option, there are great opportunities for revitalising country
towns and regional areas. But, at the same time, we can’t just turn our small towns into suburbs. I would like to see much more
stringent requirements on developers and building codes, both in the city and in the country, in order to build more sustainable
housing and create healthy communities. At the bare minimum, new housing estates need to include schools, public transport,
footpaths and green space, and the houses need to be more sustainable than simply having a dual flush toilet and/or rain water
tank. There are so many terrific ideas and products out there, but the building industry complains that they make housing too
expensive. So, they’re allowed to make these tricky-tacky houses that need air-conditioning and heating to be liveable, without any
thought to the environment. That needs to change.
Finally, the virus has made it perfectly clear that globalisation isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I’m all for playing on a level playing field,
provided everyone is playing by the same rules. I think we’re seeing (to our detriment) that this not always the case. I’d like to see
more manufacturing and steps of the supply chain located in Australia, so that we are not so affected by other countries’ whims and
questionable leadership, and so that we can protect our workers and the environment.

Jillian Staton, Walkerville 

Printed from justcommunitysg.com with permission