Letters to the editor - May 23

On Eyre Peninsula, where the wind resources are much greater, they do not.

Wind farm development has been stymied here for many years, the barrier being the inadequacy of the high voltage transmission system.

It is of small capacity and does not traverse the areas with the best wind resources.

It is old and unreliable and power outages are common.

Supply to Lower Eyre Peninsula was turned off on a recent hot, windy day because of the fire risk it was perceived to pose to the region.

Although the issues and opportunities have been known for decades, ElectraNet has only recently firmed up a proposal to upgrade the system.

But, this is for a relatively small capacity increase and a route that will not be conducive to wind farm developments in the Cleve-Kimba high country, the west coastline and the Lincoln Uplands.

Farmers and graziers in these areas will therefore continue to be denied income stream opportunities from wind farming.

Our Liberal and Labor power brokers have failed again and again to tackle this matter with vision, conviction and commitment. The region deserves better.

Recent reporting and responses in the media tend to perpetuate the line that vegan activism is warring against farmers in general.

'Farm' is a powerful word that tends to evoke childhood images related to 'Old MacDonald' with animals living a decent life - rather than the factory farms and feedlots from which the vast majority of animal products are derived.

Use the word 'farm' as an adjective in front of 'animals' and they are immediately denied the same legal protection from cruelty that is given to dogs and cats.

To refer to a group of people as militant when they are armed only with cameras and posters and label them as cowardly when they are prepared to bear witness to scenes that most of us can't bear to view, is effectively 'shooting the messenger'.

When the majority of reporting frames the story in this way it takes effort to look a little deeper and see why the activists want to draw our attention to the properties and animals that they do.

Protestors who rallied in Melbourne and across the country earlier this year made one request - that we view the Australian documentary Dominion and be informed about what we are condoning and paying for when we buy animal products.

For example, many people are unaware that cows and goats, like other mammals, don't just produce milk as a matter of course. They must be impregnated every year.

The implications of this alone are heartbreaking for all concerned.

I agree wholeheartedly that we depend on and need to support our farmers - field crop and vegetable growers, orchardists and vignerons included, all of whom are coping with drought while trying to grow lower-priced products in a higher-cost environment.

Thankfully Australia's fresh vegetable exports rose by 11.4 per cent last year.

Whistleblowing in institutional child abuse, elder abuse and banking has rightly resulted in outrage and demands for justice and ongoing increased transparency.

I question why it is that the first response after legal animal cruelty is exposed is not to become more transparent but instead to increase security and introduce laws to stop further exposure.

Just because something is legal doesn't make it moral.