It was a shame to see the very entertaining Norwegian side exit the World Cup. I love their Viking row – I even saw a clip of the Norwegian Parliament doing it! It’s a shame the Poms beat them.
Which brings me to this week’s topic. I was saddened to see, but not surprised, that new UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham (remember, I said he’d be worse than Sir Keir) has confirmed he will go ahead with the lunatic Chagos Islands deal, where the UK puts Western security at risk by giving the Chagos Islands (aka Diego Garcia and home to a US air and naval base in the middle of the Indian Ocean) to the Mauritian Government, then leasing them back for £35 billion for 99 years, so the Mauritian Government can then lease some of them to the Chinese. You could not make this up.
Please, Mr Trump, do something to stop this madness!
Apart from the sheer unadulterated stupidity of this “deal” – why not just keep the islands British? – it also has the hallmarks of a potential ecological disaster.
The Chagos Islands are home to a unique ecosystem and include huge, untapped native fish stocks that the Mauritian and Chinese eco-vandals would love to get their hands on, and thus destroy the fragile, pristine ecology of the islands.
The UK and US military have protected the unique ecology of the islands since the mid-1960s.
Our own ADF are also generally excellent conservationists.
I was involved from the late 1970s through to the mid-1990s in various activities in our state forests, rural and bush areas, military training areas, and field firing ranges used for military exercises and training.
As an infantry officer, I dug lots of weapon pits, created lots of defensive positions, and traversed a lot of bushland.
We would always try to put the land back to the state it was in when we finished the exercise.
The Singleton Field Firing Range was the safest place to be if you were a native animal. Whilst outside the range it was open season on kangaroos, the roos on the range thrived. The range was a haven for wildlife generally, and I recall a family of emus relocated from the Western Plains Zoo thriving and multiplying there for many years. I also remember a sergeant instructor on a mortar course being heavily fined for unlawfully shooting a kangaroo – and rightly so.
During the controversial kangaroo cull of 2009, when there were thousands of kangaroos on Majura Range near the airport, the military were very concerned to do the right thing as conservationists and limit the number culled. The range was also home to several endangered species of flora and fauna. I presided over that case as Appeals President at ACAT.
As much as I condemn the idiocy of the Chinese being given the Chagos Islands on a plate by the hopeless UK Government, I feel very sorry for the fish and all the other unique marine life now threatened as a result of the UK military relinquishing ownership of the islands. No wonder I wanted the Norwegians to win, and here’s to a France–Argentina final!!
