SPEECH WRITTEN FOR PM RUDD TO ANNOUNCE SOILS INITIATIVE

THE FOLLOWING WAS DESPATCHED TO THE OFFICE OF THE PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA, KEVIN RUDD, TONIGHT

Dear Prime Minister,

We wrote the attached speech for you to dramatise an opportunity you have to launch a nation-building project greater in scope and effect than the Snowy Hydro Scheme was in its day.

Sincerely,

Michael Kiely
Carbon Coalition Against Global Warming

A SPEECH WRITTEN FOR THE PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA KEVIN RUDD BY THE CARBON COALITION AGAINST GLOBAL WARNING ANNOUNCING A NEW NATION BUILDING PROJECT ON THE SCALE OF THE SNOWY MOUNTAIN SCHEME

(EMBARGOED)

"TONIGHT I AM ANNOUNCING AN INITIATIVE OF THE GOVERNMENT THAT WILL RESONATE DOWN THE GENERATIONS FOR YEARS TO COME. SINCE 1788, WE AS A NATION HAVE LOST MORE THAN HALF OUR PRECIOUS TOP SOIL - THE FOUNDATION OF OUR WEALTH AND WELFARE AS A NATION.

HISTORY TELLS US THAT EVERY CIVILIZATION THAT ALLOWED ITS SOILS TO DEGRADE SOON DISINTEGRATED THEMSELVES.
OUR SOIL NOT ONLY NURTURES, FEEDS AND CLOTHES US, IT HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED AS OUR STRONGEST SUIT IN THE BATTLE TO COME TO TERMS WITH CLIMATE CHANGE.

ACCORDINGLY, WE HAVE ENTERED A PARTNERSHIP WITH THE NATION'S FARMERS TO RESTORE AUSTRALIA'S SOILS TO HEALTH AND FERTILITY.

UNDER THE NATIONAL SOIL CARBON BASELINE PROGRAM, EACH FARM PROPERTY WILL BE MEASURED FOR ITS SOIL CARBON LEVELS IN THE LARGEST SOIL TESTING EXERCISE IN THE WORLD. THE FARMERS CAN THEN USE CARBON FARMING OR CONSERVATION FARMING TECHNIQUES TO INCREASE THEIR SOIL CARBON AND EARN CREDITS OR OFFSETS THAT THEY CAN TRADE ON THE CARBON MARKET.

SOIL CARBON IS THE ACTIVE INGREDIENT IN OUR AGRICULTURAL SOILS. WHEN SOILS ARE RICH IN CARBON THEY ARE FERTILE, RESISTANT TO EROSION AND SALINATION, AND A POWERFUL FORCE FOR BIODIVERSITY.

THIS IS A NATION-BUILDING PROJECT OF THE SIZE AND IMPORTANCE OF THE SNOWY MOUNTAIN SCHEME IN ITS HEYDAY BECAUSE IT COULD CHANGE THE COURSE OF HISTORY - REVERSING THE DEGRADATION OF THE PRODUCTIVE BASE FOR ALL OUR AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES WHILE AT THE SAME TIME FOSTERING A WIN-WIN OUTCOME FOR FARM LANDSCAPES AND ECOLOGIES AND HELPING US DEAL WITH CLIMATE CHANGE.

WITH THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, AUSTRALIA IS INVITING THE WORLD TO JOIN US IN REBUILDING OUR PRODUCTIVE BASE FOR GROWING FOOD TO MEET THE NEEDS OF THE MILLIONS WHO DO NOT KNOW FOOD SECURITY, A RAPIDLY ESCALATING SITUATION THAT DIRECTLY CHALLENGES OUR NATIONAL SECURITY. TO FEED TWICE AS MANY PEOPLE BY 2050 WITH THE SAME AMOUNT OF LAND AND WATER WILL REQUIRE MORE THAN A SILVER BULLET.

IT WILL REQUIRE ALL THE POWERS OF NATURE WORKING ON OUR SIDE. THIS, I AM TOLD, IS WHERE SOIL CARBON IS MOST CAPABLE.

LEGENDARY HISTORIAN RUSSELL WARD TELLS US THAT THE FARMERS AND FARM WORKERS OF AUSTRALIA WERE INSTRUMENTAL IN FORGING OUR NATIONAL IDENTITY IN THE DAYS OF LAWSON AND PATTERSON, A TIME OF GREAT TURMOIL AND CHANGE IN OUR HISTORY, WHEN THE RESILIENT AND COURAGEOUS SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE LAND SHOWED US WHAT IT MEANT TO BE AUSTRALIAN.

AND SO WE TURN TO THEM AGAIN, IN THESE DAYS OF KYOTO AND CLIMATE CHANGE, TO APPLY THEIR SPIRIT OF INGENUITY, SELF-RELIANCE, AND SURVIVAL-AGAINST-THE-ODDS TO HELP US MEET THE CHALLENGES WE ARE FACING TODAY… AND TO LEAD US INTO A NEW ERA OF CARING FOR COUNTRY, IN THE BELIEF THAT, IF WE MAKE THE CHANGES NECESSARY, THE COUNTRY WILL CARE FOR US IN RETURN. I LOOK FORWARD TO SPENDING MORE TIME WITH THE PEOPLE ON THE FRONTLINE OF CLIMATE CHANGE AND SEEKING THEIR HELP AND ASSISTANCE IN THIS GREAT NATION-BUILDING PROJECT. THANK YOU."