Hullo waterperson, thanks for tuning in. While I was listening to our national Australian radio station awhile ago I was stunned to hear a very strong, very clear though compassionate political voice pouring out of the little device. I had tuned in near the beginning of someone’s absolute dressing down of the Australian government’s lack of action defending our iconic Humpback Whales, who were again under threat by Japanese industrial whalers in Antarctica.
Much to my own shame I know very little about Australia’s political sphere and I know very little about the individuals participating, yet I knew instantly that the humane voice booming towards the apathetic politicians around him could only belong to Peter Whish Wilson. The surfer, the family man, the wine maker, the politician who I feel is giving everything he’s got to make this world a more wonderful place.
I’ve caught glimpses of Pete’s numerous efforts over the years, through mainstream media and also through our surfing rags and websites, though we have never crossed paths or shared any water time, unfortunately. It was probably inevitable that we would meet up at this crucial moment where it seems every community in OZ is opposing an industrial bully of some sort that threatens local ecology, community and ways of life.
In Australia right now, it feels like I am watching old school industries act like snakes backed into a corner. They are threatened by a changing world view. Masses are hoping to move away from traditional extraction methods and towards re-purposing, re-using and up-cycling. Masses want clean energy, clean air and clean water and food. Individuals and industries know our future depends on leaving our violent past behind. Yet here we have Australian governance and big industry desperately lashing out at anyone or anything challenging them. Here we have the good ole boys clubs of OZ trying to expand fish farming in Tassie, even though it costs the public money to grow toxic fish instead of making money. We have oil and gas companies given red carpet treatment to drill, frack, seismic test and bully their way into every coastline we inhabit.
Australians don’t want to hand over dirty rivers, broken land, toxic air and industrialised country to their children. Does anyone, anywhere? And there are plenty of Aussies doing something about it. Look at the win a few years ago at James Price Point, look at The Bentley Blockade, look at the Extinction Rebellion movement and the school strikes. We are in the middle of a time where environmentalism is paradoxically being ‘un- extremed’ because every demographic is participating now, yet at the same time environmentalism is expressing itself in new, effective, and extremely exciting forms. While the movement now includes Knitting Nannas and every other walk of life there is still the crucial need for political champions of the biosphere to exist and be supported by us. And that is why when I heard Peter on the radio ripping into a lacklustre government I knew we had to have a chat.
I hope you enjoy hearing from a fellow water person who is doing their best to carry the stoke and gratitude from being a surfer into the political realm, which can be so dehumanising. I think Pete is taking the idea that surfers are naturally meant to be coastal custodians and is making it closer to being a truth. If only every surfing town had a Peter Whish Wilson, maybe they do. Maybe it’s you?
— Dave