THE HERALD Monday, June 1, 2009 9

OPINION & ANALYSIS

ThegospelaccordingtoSusanBoyleWe need to see peoplethrough God’s lens, writesAndrew Dodd.

Andrew Dodd is a pastor at HamiltonBaptist Church and chairman of theChurches Media Association.

WHAT does the Susan Boylephenomenon say to us about theworld in which we live and the wayin which we treat people?

I put this question to a number ofprimary school classes this weekafter showing them the absorbingYouTube clip of her debutperformance on Britain’s Got Talent.

What is the appeal of this engagingpiece of footage that has rocketedthe middle-aged frumpy never-been-kissed woman from obscurity in anunknown Scottish village to the talkof town in the global village?

I think it’s part shock; partsurprise; the fairytale element; thehumour; the relief; the emotionalroller-coaster ride and the judges

and audience (including ourselves)eating humble pie.

We live in a highly connectedvisual world in which a Susan Boylecan go from zero to stardom beforeyou can say chk-chk-boom! And whohad heard of either just a few weeksago?

As the clip is so absorbing theactual words she sings can get lost inthe ride. In many ways Susan Boylewas living out the very words shewas singing from Les Miserables:I dreamed a dream in time gone byWhen hope was high and life worthlivingI dreamed that love would never dieI dreamed that God would be forgiving.

Here was the 47-year-old withapparently no hope of fulfilling herchildhood dream setting herself upfor a huge and public fall. Thenwhen the song slowed and changedkey and the audience held theircollective breath to see if she could

manage the low notes it seemed thatthe reality of reality TV was beinglived out.

Reportedly affected from oxygendeprivation at birth, she was called‘‘Simple Susan’’ at school. Surely thedream had been well and trulyknocked out of her years ago by therealities and hardships of life?But the tigers come at nightWith their voices soft as thunderAs they tear your hope apartAnd they turn your dream to shame.

The initial ridicule she hadalready endured from the judgesand audience was perhaps the waySusan Boyle had been treated allher life.

How often do our prejudices andwords quash the dreams and hopesof others?

The Susan Boyle story is one thatchallenges us deeply. Perhaps thewhole voyeuristic episode gives ussome insight into how God sees us.

The Lord does not see as humans see;they look at the outward appearance,but the Lord looks at the heart.(1 Samuel 16:9).

As many schoolchildren told me,‘‘You can’t judge a book by itscover.’’ However, what if SusanBoyle’s performance matched herlooks and she sang exactly as weexpected her to?

She would have been laughed offthe stage and ridiculed all the wayback to obscurity in her unknownvillage.

But that would not be right. Godmade us in his image – we havevalue because we are human.

We need to see and treat peoplethrough the same lens throughwhich God sees and treats us.

AwabaTechnology BiomassPrimary Fuel Landfill GasStatus Existing Size (MW) 2 Average Output (GWh) 8 Direct Employment 2 Construction Employment 14

NIFTY: The Climate Institute’s map of renewable energy projects. – Artwork by Ainslie Wildschut

Winnerswillmakeanecessary transition

PhillipO’Neill

Professor Phillip O’Neill is director ofthe Urban Research Centre,University of Western Sydney.

THIS climate change thing is gettingdown to the nitty-gritty.

Last week the Minerals Councilreleased a report claiming that theRudd Government’s CarbonPollution Reduction Scheme wouldcost the mining and mineralsindustries 23,510 jobs by 2020 and66,480 jobs by 2030.

This caused mining unions bossTony Maher to respond angrily. MrMaher claimed mining jobs wouldgrow in number even with a CPRS.Local member for Charlton and MrRudd’s climate change Mr Fixit,Greg Combet, also gave the MineralsCouncil a serve.

It was a good stoush. Clearly thebig boys are taking the jobs andclimate change debate seriously.There is much at stake.

The best commentsof the week,though, came fromthe ClimateInstitute. Theinstitute hascommissioned a studyto identifynew and proposedprojects in therenewable energy sector.As we shiftaway from coal-firedpower stations,the studyasked what jobswill beavailable fromclean-energy projects– things likesolar energy facilities,wind farms, hydroschemes andbiomass plants forthe collection ofmethane gas? Andthe study askedwhere will thesejobs be?

The findings are on the institute’swebsite along with a nifty mapwhere you can zoom in and locatethe renewable energy projectsdestined for your local patch.

The study identified 505renewable energy projects acrossAustralia, some existing, some to bebuilt. These will create 26,500 jobsby 2020. About 15,000 of these jobs,though, will be construction jobs,meaning these jobs are short-term.Once a facility is built, theconstruction worker moves on, justlike we’ve seen over the past twodecades in the Hunter as new minesand coal-handling facilities havebeen constructed.

Oncethe505plantsarebuilt,only3760workersnationwidewillbeemployedtooperatethem.Whenyouthinkaboutit,windturbines,solarpanels,biomassplantsandsoon,

don’tneedworkerscrawlingalloverthemtokeepthemrunningdothey?

Significantly, a further 7600workers will be employed inresearch, professional andadministration roles involved indesigning the plants, getting themoperating, managing access to thegrid and selling the electricity toconsumers. These are office jobs forwell-qualified professional andadministrative staff.

So how will the Hunter fare ingetting a share of these renewableenergy jobs?

As far as actual plants areconcerned, the outlook is modest.Currently, the Hunter has sixrenewable energy projects that areup and running. These are thehydro-electricity stations atGlenbawn and Chichester dams, asmall solar collection facility atSingleton, a biomass plant at Awabaand two wind turbines, one onKooragang Island and another at theCSIRO Energy Centre at the SteelRiver industrial estate. In total thesefacilities employ only six workers.Not many is it?

The proposed new projects are

wind farms at Nowlands Gap nearMurrurundi and at the Kyoto EnergyPark near Scone, and a solarthermal power plant at Liddellpower station near Muswellbrook.In total these projects will generate187 construction jobs but requireonly 18 workers to operate themwhen they are up and running.

But the Hunter is well placed tosupply construction workers tobuild any new plants. Hunterworkers know how to prepare largesites, erect large buildings, andinstall large-scale equipment.

The Hunter is also fortunate thatit hosts the CSIRO’s energy centre atSteel River. This facility employs 120scientists and other professionalswho work on the development ofrenewable energy technologies.

However, the Hunter is fortunateto host a sizable EnergyAustraliaworkforce numbering 1500employees providing high-skilladministration, technical andmaintenance services.

In other words, the Hunter alreadyhas thesites for locatingsolar, wind,hydro and biomasselectricity plants;the local firmsand workers capable

of constructing them;and theprofessional andadministrativeservices staff to manage andsell theelectricity that is generated.

So real opportunities exist for theHunter to take advantage of nationaland global responses to climatechange. The trick, of course, is toshift to clean-coal technologies andto renewable energy sources whilemaintaining the Hunter’s strongposition in the energy sector at everystep of the way.

Likealleconomicandtechnologicalchange, thewinnersarethosewhomakethingshappen.Fortunately,again, theHunteriswellservedpoliticallyatthis time.Itsfederalpoliticiansprobablycarrymoreinfluencethanatanyothertimeintheregion’shistory.Theregionalsohaswillingworkerswithanadvancedskillsbase,andithaswell-resourcedfirmsandinstitutionsthatspecialiseinenergy.Seemsliketheingredientsforsuccesstome.

Topics today

Today’s fact

The chersina angulata tortoise isso aggressive it’s been namedthe ‘‘fighting tortoise’’.

Today’s word

Mana (mah-nah): Power; authority;prestige. 2. supernatural ormagical power.

It happened today

From our files –1966: Strikes byworkers at the NewcastleAbattoir and Maitlandprocessing plant are making aconcerted effort to interrupt themeat supply in Newcastle.

Today in history

1850: The first transportedconvicts arrive in WesternAustralia when 75 prisonersdisembark from the Scindian. Onboard is 10-year-old GeorgeThrossell, the son of a guard, whois destined to become the secondpremier of Western Australia.1918: First use of aircraft incombat by ships of the RoyalAustralian Navy in theHeligoland Bight. Aircraft arelaunched from HMAS Sydneyand HMAS Melbourne tointercept two German aircraft.1941: In World War II, Britishforces are finally withdrawnfrom Crete with heavy losses.Almost 3000 Australians are alsolost in the evacuation.1944: BBC Radio broadcastscoded message to warn FrenchResistance that D-Day invasionis imminent.1967: The Beatles release theirlandmark album, Sgt Pepper’sLonely Hearts Club Band.

Born today

Marilyn Monroe, pictured, USactress (1926-1962); EdwardWoodward, British actor (1930-);Pat Boone, USsinger (1934-);ColleenMcCullough,Australianauthor (1937-);MorganFreeman, USactor (1937-); RonWood, UK rockguitarist (1947-);Jason Donovan, Australian actor-singer (1968-); Alanis Morissette,Canadian singer (1974-).

Odd spot

An army of 500 blondes put asmile back on the face ofrecession-weary Latvians bystaging a festival at the weekenddesigned to show that they reallydo have more fun. The BlondeWeekend included a parade byblondes through the streets of thecapital Riga, and a golftournament only open to blondewomen.

Today’s text

Everyone must be quick tolisten, but slow to speak andslow to become angry. James 1:19