The fight for the environment and the fight for blue-collar jobs are one and the same | Van Badham

Market exploitation of working class people and of the environment adds up to the endangerment of both and, ultimately, us all

The Great Australian Bight is a pristine marine environment. It's a haven for humpback and sperm whales, blue whales and beak whales. It's Australia's most significant seal lion nursery and said to be the world's most important southern right whale nursery. It sustains huge fishing and tourism industries - and BP is planning to drill it for oil.

Yes, that BP - BP of the "Deepwater Horizon" oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico back in 2010, in which a well exploded and sank, killing 11 people and creating the biggest oil spill disaster in US history. BP of that leak, 1.6km below the ocean surface, that took three months to fix. BP of the 100,000 barrels of oil leaked into the ocean per day, every day, for 87 consecutive days. BP now paying out $US18.7bn in claims to 400 separate local government entities damaged by a disaster that decimated the fishing and tourism industries of the five US gulf states.