Something Stinks

Some inner-city property owners - by-and-large a wealthy bunch - have figured out how to get richer: dump their poo in our river (The Age, 2/2/06). Whether their actions are deliberate, negligent or accidental the effect is the same. They're ducking their costs and passing them on to everyone.

Is the State Government going after these law-breakers? No, it can only stand back and sprinkle taxpayer largesse on a few lucky farmers. After all, running down infrastructure and leaving poorer neighbours (and future generations) to pick up the tab on environmental damage has been the winning formula of successive governments at all levels.

This is one case where I'd welcome a little government hypocrisy.