Broadcast on 2CH Sydney, Sunday 10 January 2010
9.00 am – The latest Sea Shepherd incident
On Wednesday, 1300 nautical miles south of Tasmania, a Japanese ship allegedly rammed and sank an Australian vessel belonging to environmental activist group Sea Shepherd.
This latest incident in the dispute over Japanese whaling in Australia’s southern waters appears to have saved no whales but captured publicity and goodwill worth millions.
Some praise Sea Shepherd for its tactics to curb animal slaughter, while critics condemn the violent nature of its actions. It has sunk up to ten whaling ships and destroyed millions of dollars of equipment.
Now I respect the right of peaceful protest, not least against illegal whaling, but these protests go too far.
The end does not justify the means, no matter how moral or urgent the issue. And the principle holds not just for Sea Shepherd in the Southern ocean, but for you and me in the relative comfort and banality of our daily lives. The end does not justify the means. I’m Rod Benson for nswchurches.com
12.00 pm – Executive pay reform
Most Australians, and many shareholders, regard exorbitant executive salaries as obscene, and company boards that approve such pay arrangements as immoral.
The Prime Minister calls it “extreme capitalism,” and has pledged to tackle the problem. A final Productivity Commission report, released this week, offers a way forward, although it waters down a key recommendation to make boards accountable for remuneration deals. Under the proposal, after two consecutive protest votes by shareholders, boards face a separate re-election resolution at the next AGM.
This seeks to balance the interests of business groups, international best practice, and community expectations. And it will concentrate the minds of board members who might otherwise show disregard for shareholder sentiment. Too often boards take advantage of the relative disorganisation of shareholders, and ride rough-shod over their interests.
We need more reforms aimed at reining in “extreme capitalism,” and Mr Rudd faces his own “shareholder” vote in the not too distant future. I’m Rod Benson for nswchurches.com
5.00 pm – The tragedy of road crashes
If you’re listening, you survived the Christmas – New Year holiday period. But tragically, not everyone did.
A total of 23 people died on NSW roads in the 17 days to midnight on 3 January, while 1,375 drivers were detected drink-driving, and 16,834 were caught speeding.
The holiday deaths brought the state’s preliminary annual road toll to 461, up sharply from 374 in 2008, which was the lowest in more than 60 years.
Assistant Police Commissioner John Hartley said most crashes involved single vehicles, and about two-thirds of fatal crashes occurred on country roads.
Most road deaths appear to be the result of human error. Each one represents an intolerable human cost. And then there are the financial and other costs of death and injury.
Road rules and safety guidelines are there to save our lives. So please slow down, wear a seatbelt, drive defensively, and above all don’t drink and drive. I’m Rod Benson for nswchurches.com
