I can see the fire from my place

More than 10 years ago, I was a witness to an emergency situation in Canberra. It was a siege situation. The man involved shot the boyfriend of his estranged wife at the Dickson pool. He then proceeded along Northbourne Ave (would have been a few cars behind us) until he reached the building where his wife worked inside the shop that was used to sell train tickets to the public. On the floor above the shops was the radio station 2CA. The man moved across the road in his vehicle and slammed through the shop window. He then got out of the vehicle, turned the taps of the gas cylinders on, and then he shot at the gas that escaped, causing an explosion and fire. This happened as I got out of the car and then headed towards the office where I worked at the time, in a building on the opposite side of the road. By the time I got to the first floor the fire brigade was on site, a ride on mower had been abandoned, and there was a policeman running around the building moving from column to colum with his gun drawn (I am not kidding the whole scene was surreal). The first thing I did was get on the phone to the opposite station 2CC and gave them the information. (my call was on the TV ).

This morning when we woke up the radio station sounded rather strange. The announcer was talking about something happening at Mitchell. What is amazing is that 2CC was in Bellenden Street Mitchell during that earlier time. Mark is doing a great job on the radio this morning, and this is the best broadcast that I have ever heard. I live in a suburb that was given the warning to stay indoors – we were in the exclusion zone!!  We did not hear the explosions during the early hours of the morning. Amazing because we are both quite restless. The radio station 2CA had moved out of the Civic area and has premised in Mitchell. Both radio stations are in the middle of the area most affected, but they have via modern technology been able to hook up something and have this one broadcast.

When we heard the news I actually looked out of the window and then looked out the front door. I saw the black plume of smoke. I saw more than that and I actually saw the flames leaping in the air from my place. Our house is situated on a hill so we have a good view of the surrounding area. We can see the black smoke from the front balconey. Whilst looking at the plume that is coming from the fire in Mitchell, yes it is true that before 7.00 am I did see flames leaping from the site from my place.

Why I believe that kangaroos are pests

Australians love to tell people from other countries that we have kangaroos bounding down the main street. The truth here is, if you live in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane or even Adelaide then the chances of seeing a kangaroo bouncing down the middle of the main street are absolutely minimal. However, if you live in Canberra, then there is a very high possibility that a person will see such an event. I swear that I saw it for myself, a kangaroo bounding down a main street in the middle of Civic and not even caring about the traffic. I admit to being shocked at spotting the kangaroo. The fact is that the kangaroos occupy the grounds of the ANU and the kangaroos do get around!!

In the past there have been culls of kangaroos from the grounds of the Governor’s mansion, as well as the grounds of The Lodge. There have been controversial culls from paddocks around Belconnen. The only controversy has come from the fart-sniffing do gooders that belong to Animal Welfare as well as PETA. The fact is that those nincompoops should mind their own business, and get out of the way. There are more than enough kangaroos in Australia, and the population of kangaroos around Canberra continues to grow.

The kangaroos have been encroaching into the surburban areas of Canberra, and this includes large numbers around the Gungahlin region. They also occupy lands that are vacant along the Cotter Road, as well as Majura Road.

The kangaroos pose a threat to motorists, especially at night, and especially on tracts of road that are not well lit such as the Cotter road. Unfortunately, something that my husband had dreaded finally happened late on Friday night when a kangaroo stepped onto the road and he could not avoid it. His car has considerable damage to the front. The Cotter Road has a speed limit of 80km. He was doing the speed limit and he tried to brake to avoid the animal. However, he could not avoid the impact.

What is the solution to this problem? First of all, the animal rights activists should just piss off and mind their own business.  The culls around Canberra are necessary because of the increasing population of the kangaroos. Second, the cull itself should consist of two phases, the first being to shoot some of the animals, and the second being to capture and remove a large portion of the other animals, and that means removing the kangaroo population where it is encroaching on the urban areas. Fourth, it might be time for the government of the ACT to consider some kind of fencing along a stretch of road such as the Cotter Road that will stop the roos from coming in contact with vehicles. (I do not know if it is possible, but I do think that if there is a kangaroo proof fence then property that borders the Cotter road should have that fence!!)

No one wants to harm our native animals, but when we get to over-population of those same animals then action to reduce their numbers becomes necessary. This is especially so because it is harder to see these animals at night, and they pose a threat to the general population. It is better to have them removed to more remote locations where they still have access to food for their basic needs but they are less likely to impact upon the population as a whole.