Guest essay by Eric Worrall

The recent State election in Queensland, Australia has thrown up some interesting voting patterns.

Votes for green leaning left wing candidates seem to have mostly concentrated in high density urban areas. The electorate of Maiwar in Brisbane, the one seat the Green Party seems likely to win, is one of the most heavily urbanised regions in Queensland.

Brisbane has beautiful green spaces, such as a lovely strip of parkland along stretches of the Brisbane River – but these green spaces are mostly carefully manicured and well tended gardens.

Outside these managed gardens, the natural environment in Queensland can be brutal. The lush coastal bushland especially is dripping with threats to human health, ranging from deadly paralysis ticks, to snakes ranging from the relatively harmless green tree snakes to deadly browns and taipans. If you go more than a few hundred miles north of the Capital, there’s a real chance of meeting a crocodile, vicious, highly intelligent ambush apex predators which usually kill by dragging their prey underwater and holding them until they drown. In Australia crocodiles can grow up to 6m (18ft), more than big enough to kill a human.

And of course there are a range of lesser pests like vicious biting horse flies and vast clouds of mosquitoes which occasionally transmit debilitating chronic diseases such as Ross River Fever.

Away from the carefully manicured town gardens, the Queensland bush is not your friend – its a vicious fast growing source of sometimes life threatening pests, which has to be fought on a regular basis to stop it overrunning parts of your yard or farm which you care about.

Support for the climate skeptic One Nation Party was stronger away from manicured urban areas. Though One Nation may not win any seats, they won a substantial share of the vote in many electorates, over 30% in some areas.

Amongst other things, One Nation campaigned on a platform of liberating farmers from onerous restrictions imposed by city based greens. People who have daily contact with the true face of the tropical Queensland bush almost universally rejected green party candidates.

My question – are green supporters mostly people who have an utterly romanticised view of nature? People who rarely come into contact with the real thing?

Does this observation match your experience in your state or country?

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