i was pleasantly surprised and hugely shocked by this story.

a $10 billion mining project being stopped because of the reason that of the discovery of tiny, blind spider-like creatures at the site.

are australians crazy? $10 billion is a lot of money and it can be used for further development/projects in australia.

are the australians.....

let me stop you right there.

australians are not crazy. they are realistic. if this project was in india and the new species had been discovered on massive mining site, i would know what precisely would have happened.

1. officials and politicians will deny plainly such a new species have been discovered at all.
2. they will tom tom that $10 billion is a huge investment for 'development' of india.
3. the tribals whom have been displaced mercilessly out of that mine area will be working as coolies in the mine and would have been ordered to keep the mouth shut.
4. press, especially the one's who profess truth and honesty, will have been bought over with goodies and their reporters will write article after article telling how important this $10 billion dollar project is for india.
5. as the mine is being digged, it would have polluted the nearby water bodies and our netas and press will dutifully tell that 'all' steps are being taken to contain pollution and make sure the local wildlife is 'taken care' of.
6. india's neo rich will write emails telling that no way we can sacrifice the $10 billion dollar project as it is very vital 'for their development'.
7. the regulatory and monitoring agencies will simply turn a blind eye and deny that ever such a species was indeed discovered.

well..that is india in short. and that's the difference between india and developed nations wherein rule of the law is of paramount importance and not rule of the ruler.