Insult to region's people
THE debate over Gladstone Harbour has descended into a farce. Scientific debate has been replaced by celebrity sound bites.
It is now more than a year since discussions began about compensation from Gladstone Ports Corporation for professionals in the region's commercial fishing industry. At first, the argument was about who had science backing them up. Now, the argument seems more about who has the trendiest campaign.
Wheeling out a foreign celebrity to pontificate about Gladstone Harbour is an insult to the region's community.
It probably causes more harm than good to those in the commercial fishing industry who are seeking genuinely deserved compensation.
Not everyone is in favour of spin. Representatives from the Queensland Seafood Industry Association have repeatedly said they are not interested in exaggeration or spin - they want to argue facts.
When Ms Brockovich labelled the harbour "toxic", one wonders if she had bothered to investigate the evidence provided so far.
She has, no doubt, done amazing work in the past but, in this case, she has leapt in without doing her homework.
