Greg Hunt, the Australian Minister for the Environment, received a bit of criticism in the press recently regarding what has been dubbed a “bombardment” of tweets to Ellen Degeneres. While it’s uncertain if Minister Hunt is a fan of The Ellen Show, what we do know is that her appearance on a 38 second video to promote the Remember the Reef campaign flung like a boomerang and whacked the winner of Dubai’s prestigious “World’s Best Minister” award in the head. Within a four minute period, Minister Hunt tweeted Ellen five times. The series of tweets essentially equate to: “Thanks, but I got this Reef thing covered. So how about coming to visit and we can go snorkeling or something?”
.@TheEllenShow Just last year @UNESCO recognised the unprecedented steps we’ve taken to protect #GBR & praised Aust as a global role model
— Greg Hunt (@GregHuntMP) June 8, 2016
.@TheEllenShow We’d love to invite you out to visit the #GBR and see the Reef & some of the work we’re doing in the catchments
— Greg Hunt (@GregHuntMP) June 8, 2016
While the media has used this one-sided exchange (it doesn’t appear that Ellen responded) to poke fun at Hunt, there are three key takeaways imbedded here. Let’s break them down:
1. The Obvious.
People who work in positions of power, including key officials, should be encouraged to use social media to communicate their positions and policies. However, chill the fuck out. It’s not uncommon to hire professionals to tweet for them. Think of these individuals as modern day speech writers with ADD. I highly recommend this option in an effort to spend more time on the job…you know, doing little things like
being the Minister for the Environment.
2. What is “Remember the Reef?”
It’s a clever name for a campaign by Greenfleet that also partnered with Disney and Dory, the forgetful fish, to protect one of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. As such, their initiative is to plant trees in the upper catchment of the Great Barrier Reef as well as restore mangroves along coastal wetlands. Greenfleet has been around since 1997 and since then, they’ve planted nearly 9 million native trees in Australia and New Zealand. That’s pretty fucking cool and seemingly more effective than a minister with a tweeting disorder.
3. What’s the Great Barrier Reef’s Problem?
It’s an international icon. A beloved Australian treasure and one of the world’s most stunning natural wonders. Current research and estimates demonstrate that climate change is bleaching it to death. It is in serious trouble. You may want to go their soon – just tweet about it and odds are, you might just get a personal invite from Greg Hunt.
