1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:06,507 --> 00:00:09,176 (Scott McDinny singing Ngabaya songline) 3 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 4 00:00:11,637 --> 00:00:14,056 (audience clapping in rhythm with songline) 5 00:00:29,864 --> 00:00:31,866 (songline continues) 6 00:00:37,413 --> 00:00:39,248 (songline ends) 7 00:00:39,331 --> 00:00:41,333 -(cheering) -Thank you. 8 00:00:47,339 --> 00:00:48,883 DAISY JEFFREY: We are in the grips 9 00:00:48,966 --> 00:00:50,718 of a massive global crisis, 10 00:00:50,801 --> 00:00:53,596 and you are leaving it to children to clean up your mess! 11 00:00:53,679 --> 00:00:55,222 (cheering) 12 00:00:55,306 --> 00:00:57,558 REPORTER: Schoolchildren have today ditched the classroom 13 00:00:57,641 --> 00:00:59,643 to take to the streets over climate change. 14 00:00:59,727 --> 00:01:01,979 REPORTER 2: They’re calling for the prime minister to be sacked 15 00:01:02,062 --> 00:01:04,648 and for an immediate departure from fossil fuels. 16 00:01:04,732 --> 00:01:06,066 (chanting): Ho, ho! 17 00:01:06,150 --> 00:01:07,485 ScoMo has got to go! 18 00:01:07,568 --> 00:01:09,570 Hey, hey, ho, ho! 19 00:01:09,653 --> 00:01:11,489 REPORTER 3: More than 11,000 scientists 20 00:01:11,572 --> 00:01:13,199 from around the world 21 00:01:13,282 --> 00:01:16,994 have issued a warning today declaring a climate emergency. 22 00:01:17,077 --> 00:01:18,412 REPORTER 4: Australia’s seen both the warmest 23 00:01:18,496 --> 00:01:19,997 and the driest year on record. 24 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:22,082 REPORTER 5: There are also warnings out this morning 25 00:01:22,166 --> 00:01:24,585 for the impending bushfire season, 26 00:01:24,668 --> 00:01:27,379 which authorities fear could be the worst on record. 27 00:01:28,464 --> 00:01:30,841 REPORTER 6: Extreme conditions are on the way, 28 00:01:30,925 --> 00:01:34,094 and it’s all down to climate change. 29 00:01:36,639 --> 00:01:38,641 (helicopter blades whirring) 30 00:01:40,184 --> 00:01:42,102 TIM FLANNERY: Australia is a distillation 31 00:01:42,186 --> 00:01:45,147 of the world’s dilemma when it comes to climate change. 32 00:01:48,025 --> 00:01:50,236 But the story doesn’t make any sense 33 00:01:50,319 --> 00:01:53,072 unless you understand what Australia is actually like. 34 00:01:59,745 --> 00:02:01,664 From its very inception, 35 00:02:01,747 --> 00:02:05,125 it’s a country that’s been reliant on fossil fuels. 36 00:02:07,211 --> 00:02:09,421 We are now the world’s largest exporter of coal, 37 00:02:09,505 --> 00:02:11,841 the world’s largest exporter of gas, 38 00:02:11,924 --> 00:02:14,301 and you hear the same thing over and over: 39 00:02:14,385 --> 00:02:17,680 If we haven’t got fossil fuels, we’ve got nothing. 40 00:02:21,267 --> 00:02:24,311 We are also a very flat, dry continent 41 00:02:24,395 --> 00:02:27,273 that’s exquisitely vulnerable to climate change. 42 00:02:30,442 --> 00:02:34,113 We knew that we would start feeling the impacts before anyone else. 43 00:02:35,447 --> 00:02:39,577 And we’ve ignored that bigger picture to our great cost. 44 00:02:39,660 --> 00:02:43,038 REPORTER: Now to the catastrophic wildfires in Australia. 45 00:02:43,122 --> 00:02:45,749 REPORTER 2: More than 200 fires rage 46 00:02:45,833 --> 00:02:47,626 in two of Australia’s most populated states. 47 00:02:47,710 --> 00:02:49,712 REPORTER 3: Climate scientists are saying 48 00:02:49,795 --> 00:02:53,090 the bushfires in Australia are a warning of what may be to come around the world. 49 00:02:53,173 --> 00:02:55,676 REPORTER 4: This could be the new normal. 50 00:02:59,471 --> 00:03:01,348 (indistinct chatter) 51 00:03:04,727 --> 00:03:07,146 FLANNERY: The greatest tragedy of this terrible 52 00:03:07,229 --> 00:03:09,732 Black Summer bushfire season 53 00:03:09,815 --> 00:03:11,942 was that we saw it coming. 54 00:03:23,579 --> 00:03:25,581 (fire roaring) 55 00:03:33,714 --> 00:03:35,716 GREG MULLINS: My first big fire was in 1971. 56 00:03:35,799 --> 00:03:37,635 I was only 12 years old. 57 00:03:40,095 --> 00:03:42,389 Some friends rang up and said the fire’s coming 58 00:03:42,473 --> 00:03:45,976 up the hill towards us, and off we went with axes 59 00:03:46,060 --> 00:03:49,396 and rakes and hessian sacks. 60 00:03:51,732 --> 00:03:53,025 (siren wailing) 61 00:03:53,108 --> 00:03:56,236 There was no ifs or buts. That was just what you did. 62 00:04:01,033 --> 00:04:03,535 In Australia, fires are a constant. 63 00:04:03,619 --> 00:04:05,871 REPORTER: Small fires in the Blue Mountains Area, 64 00:04:05,955 --> 00:04:07,706 fanned by hot north winds, 65 00:04:07,790 --> 00:04:11,251 struck towns and villages with bewildering speed. 66 00:04:11,335 --> 00:04:13,212 MULLINS: Every year, there are bushfires. 67 00:04:16,090 --> 00:04:17,925 Some years are very, very bad. 68 00:04:20,094 --> 00:04:22,221 Other years, not so much. 69 00:04:23,847 --> 00:04:25,766 But every year, there’s fires. 70 00:04:25,849 --> 00:04:27,851 (flames crackling) 71 00:04:29,812 --> 00:04:33,148 It was very rudimentary in the early days. 72 00:04:33,232 --> 00:04:35,818 Grab branches off trees, 73 00:04:35,901 --> 00:04:38,112 beating out the flames. 74 00:04:38,195 --> 00:04:39,822 (dogs barking) 75 00:04:39,905 --> 00:04:41,907 Wet sacks, rakes. 76 00:04:43,283 --> 00:04:46,203 That was my first big fire, 77 00:04:46,286 --> 00:04:49,623 and that’s when I knew that’s what I wanted to do as a career. 78 00:04:52,751 --> 00:04:54,169 I was hooked. 79 00:04:58,632 --> 00:05:02,011 And I didn’t purposely set out to be the chief, 80 00:05:02,094 --> 00:05:05,973 but in hindsight, it was a thirst for knowledge. 81 00:05:07,182 --> 00:05:09,476 The government decided I was the best person for the job at the time, 82 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:13,230 and it was an incredible privilege and honor. 83 00:05:19,319 --> 00:05:24,324 I was accustomed to a long buildup to a bad fire season. 84 00:05:25,534 --> 00:05:27,244 My father would say, 85 00:05:27,327 --> 00:05:29,621 "Look, that wattle tree is flowering a month early. 86 00:05:29,705 --> 00:05:31,373 "That means it’s really dry. 87 00:05:31,457 --> 00:05:34,126 "Look at the color of the leaves on that banksia tree. 88 00:05:34,209 --> 00:05:36,336 "That means it’s having to go deeper for water. 89 00:05:36,420 --> 00:05:38,589 "It’s dropping its leaves. 90 00:05:38,672 --> 00:05:40,966 "Watch the ants. What sort of beetles came out 91 00:05:41,050 --> 00:05:42,551 at what time of year?" 92 00:05:43,761 --> 00:05:48,807 And in 1994, it just suddenly got hot and windy and dry. 93 00:05:50,017 --> 00:05:52,144 REPORTER: The rain forest in Queensland is drying up 94 00:05:52,227 --> 00:05:54,813 and animals starving after the driest three months 95 00:05:54,897 --> 00:05:57,149 for more than 80 years. 96 00:05:57,232 --> 00:06:00,694 I realized something’s haywire. 97 00:06:05,783 --> 00:06:07,785 (indistinct shouting) 98 00:06:11,121 --> 00:06:14,750 New South Wales was hit by massive simultaneous fires. 99 00:06:14,833 --> 00:06:17,211 WOMAN: Oh, my goodness. 100 00:06:17,294 --> 00:06:19,463 Oh, boy. 101 00:06:19,546 --> 00:06:21,298 CHILD: Fire. 102 00:06:21,381 --> 00:06:23,092 It’s fire! 103 00:06:23,175 --> 00:06:25,344 REPORTER: This is the one that bushfire fighters 104 00:06:25,427 --> 00:06:27,262 have had nightmares about for years. 105 00:06:27,346 --> 00:06:32,351 Every hectare of this bush has tons of tinder dry fuel ready to explode. 106 00:06:32,434 --> 00:06:35,270 There are grave fears about how far its devastation will reach. 107 00:06:35,354 --> 00:06:37,940 REPORTER 2: Residents battle to protect their homes, 108 00:06:38,023 --> 00:06:41,652 but for some, the struggle became too much. 109 00:06:41,735 --> 00:06:43,821 FLANNERY: It is the most terrifying experience 110 00:06:43,904 --> 00:06:45,322 you can imagine. 111 00:06:48,492 --> 00:06:52,037 In 1994, I lost my home to a bushfire that took everything. 112 00:06:52,121 --> 00:06:54,873 I walked away in the shorts I was wearing, 113 00:06:54,957 --> 00:06:56,917 uh, just, you know, trying to fight that fire. 114 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:00,337 Thankfully, my family all survived, but we lost neighbors. 115 00:07:00,420 --> 00:07:02,005 We lost four people in that fire. 116 00:07:02,089 --> 00:07:04,424 (indistinct shouting) 117 00:07:09,138 --> 00:07:12,432 I’ve watched the climate science develop 118 00:07:12,516 --> 00:07:14,434 over the last 30 years. 119 00:07:15,602 --> 00:07:17,521 REPORTER: He is known around the world 120 00:07:17,604 --> 00:07:20,899 as one of the leading scientists studying climate change. 121 00:07:20,983 --> 00:07:22,734 His name: Tim Flannery. 122 00:07:22,818 --> 00:07:24,611 (applause) 123 00:07:24,695 --> 00:07:26,697 (indistinct chatter) 124 00:07:27,656 --> 00:07:29,741 FLANNERY: We are approaching a threshold 125 00:07:29,825 --> 00:07:32,703 to dangerous climate change, and the time to act is very limited. 126 00:07:34,371 --> 00:07:38,208 The scientists have been very, very clear about what’s happening. 127 00:07:39,293 --> 00:07:41,044 Look at the picture of the Earth at night, 128 00:07:41,128 --> 00:07:42,880 and look at all the lights that are on, right? 129 00:07:42,963 --> 00:07:46,133 Imagine the fossil fuels that are being burned to support that. 130 00:07:46,216 --> 00:07:49,553 Those greenhouse gases trap heat energy close to the surface of the planet. 131 00:07:49,636 --> 00:07:51,555 They act a bit like a blanket on a bed. 132 00:07:51,638 --> 00:07:54,433 And so the temperature just keeps going up and up and up. 133 00:07:54,516 --> 00:07:56,727 REPORTER: A new study of climatic changes 134 00:07:56,810 --> 00:07:58,437 in eastern Australia has produced 135 00:07:58,520 --> 00:08:02,107 the strongest evidence yet that the greenhouse effect is underway. 136 00:08:02,191 --> 00:08:04,109 REPORTER 2: The increase reflects the rise 137 00:08:04,193 --> 00:08:07,237 in carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere over that time. 138 00:08:07,321 --> 00:08:09,698 Something is really happening. 139 00:08:09,781 --> 00:08:13,577 I started to read and study and ask questions 140 00:08:13,660 --> 00:08:18,290 and discovered some early papers on climate change and thought, 141 00:08:18,373 --> 00:08:19,750 "They might have something here." 142 00:08:19,833 --> 00:08:24,296 And in the years to follow, I realized, yes, they certainly did. 143 00:08:26,215 --> 00:08:29,259 You’d assume that about once a decade 144 00:08:29,343 --> 00:08:32,054 there would be a very damaging fire in New South Wales. 145 00:08:33,889 --> 00:08:36,266 But after 1994, 146 00:08:36,350 --> 00:08:39,269 we were having more and more of these bad fires. 147 00:08:40,646 --> 00:08:43,774 We were losing homes in 1997, three years later. 148 00:08:43,857 --> 00:08:45,859 (siren wailing) 149 00:08:45,943 --> 00:08:50,364 Christmas Day, 2001, massive fires. 150 00:08:52,366 --> 00:08:53,951 2002, more fires. 151 00:08:55,452 --> 00:08:57,162 2003, the city of Canberra, 152 00:08:57,246 --> 00:08:59,706 firefighters narrowly escaped with their lives. 153 00:08:59,790 --> 00:09:01,291 (indistinct shouting) 154 00:09:02,751 --> 00:09:04,211 FIREFIGHTER: Go! 155 00:09:04,294 --> 00:09:06,505 MULLINS: 2009, Victoria. 156 00:09:07,965 --> 00:09:10,425 We were regularly getting off-the-scale fire danger, 157 00:09:10,509 --> 00:09:13,428 and it was all down to climate change. 158 00:09:14,429 --> 00:09:16,890 MARIAN WILKINSON: The fires were getting worse and worse, 159 00:09:16,974 --> 00:09:19,142 and I knew that this is exactly 160 00:09:19,226 --> 00:09:22,938 what climate scientists had predicted for Australia-- 161 00:09:23,021 --> 00:09:26,441 longer fire seasons, more intense fire seasons-- 162 00:09:26,525 --> 00:09:30,904 and that, sadly, was what I was seeing. 163 00:09:30,988 --> 00:09:33,282 ALEXANDER DOWNER: The community is somewhat concerned 164 00:09:33,365 --> 00:09:37,244 that, uh, global warming could lead to droughts of greater duration. 165 00:09:37,327 --> 00:09:38,829 Now, whether that... 166 00:09:38,912 --> 00:09:42,582 whether that is a legitimate concern is... 167 00:09:42,666 --> 00:09:45,460 is a matter that’s, frankly, very much debated. 168 00:09:46,878 --> 00:09:49,381 WILKINSON: I’ve watched the climate wars in Australia 169 00:09:49,464 --> 00:09:51,508 for the last 14 years. 170 00:09:51,591 --> 00:09:55,595 The plans to expand the coal industry 171 00:09:55,679 --> 00:09:57,556 are on a staggering scale. 172 00:09:57,639 --> 00:10:01,893 There has been a concerted effort to undermine 173 00:10:01,977 --> 00:10:03,895 the science of climate change. 174 00:10:03,979 --> 00:10:08,358 MALCOLM ROBERTS: Carbon dioxide does not drive temperature. 175 00:10:08,442 --> 00:10:12,654 A complete reversal of what these people are spreading: 176 00:10:12,738 --> 00:10:14,573 their lies and their deception. 177 00:10:14,656 --> 00:10:16,158 INTERVIEWER: Then you said climate change was crap. 178 00:10:16,241 --> 00:10:18,285 TONY ABBOTT: Well, I think what I actually said 179 00:10:18,368 --> 00:10:21,163 was the idea of the settled science 180 00:10:21,246 --> 00:10:25,000 of climate change is, uh, a bit aromatic. 181 00:10:27,002 --> 00:10:28,920 FLANNERY: I was Australia’s first-- 182 00:10:29,004 --> 00:10:32,299 and to date, only-- climate commissioner. 183 00:10:32,382 --> 00:10:33,842 And served for three years under the government, 184 00:10:33,925 --> 00:10:36,720 getting the word out about climate change, 185 00:10:36,803 --> 00:10:39,765 taking complex science and making it comprehensible to people. 186 00:10:39,848 --> 00:10:42,684 REPORTER: Extreme weather events are going to get more common and more severe, 187 00:10:42,768 --> 00:10:46,480 according to the latest report from the Climate Commission. 188 00:10:46,563 --> 00:10:49,566 But the media just went totally crazy. 189 00:10:49,649 --> 00:10:52,611 REPORTER: Critics have labeled the Climate Commission alarmist nonsense. 190 00:10:52,694 --> 00:10:54,112 MAN: These people are desperate. 191 00:10:54,196 --> 00:10:55,447 Climate change, the whole thing is a hoax. 192 00:10:55,530 --> 00:10:56,990 -(speaks indistinctly) -(crowd clamoring) 193 00:10:57,074 --> 00:10:59,951 Out, out, out! Lies, lies, lies! 194 00:11:00,035 --> 00:11:01,787 Then the conservative government 195 00:11:01,870 --> 00:11:04,831 was elected, and their very first act was to sack us. 196 00:11:04,915 --> 00:11:06,416 It wasn’t to do anything important economically. 197 00:11:06,500 --> 00:11:09,086 It was to get rid of the Climate Commission, which they did. 198 00:11:09,169 --> 00:11:11,505 He has to be exposed. 199 00:11:11,588 --> 00:11:14,341 It was really comic book stuff. 200 00:11:17,969 --> 00:11:20,722 People tried to act earlier, 201 00:11:20,806 --> 00:11:24,101 but there’s a lot of vested interests involved. 202 00:11:25,560 --> 00:11:27,938 I mean, Scott Morrison-- 203 00:11:28,021 --> 00:11:30,190 of course, now he’s our prime minister-- 204 00:11:30,273 --> 00:11:35,695 stood up in the parliament and held aloft a lump of coal. 205 00:11:35,779 --> 00:11:37,906 Mr. Speaker, this is coal. 206 00:11:37,989 --> 00:11:39,574 Don’t be afraid. Don’t be scared. 207 00:11:39,658 --> 00:11:41,076 -SPEAKER: The treasurer... -It won’t hurt you. 208 00:11:41,159 --> 00:11:42,911 The treasurer knows the rule on props. 209 00:11:42,994 --> 00:11:44,287 It’s coal. 210 00:11:44,371 --> 00:11:46,706 Of course, this lump of coal wasn’t a dirty lump of coal 211 00:11:46,790 --> 00:11:48,417 with dust all over it. 212 00:11:48,500 --> 00:11:50,502 This lump of coal had come from the Minerals Council, 213 00:11:50,585 --> 00:11:55,298 so it was very nicely cleaned up for what was 214 00:11:55,382 --> 00:11:57,509 essentially a marketing presentation. 215 00:11:57,592 --> 00:12:01,138 Mr. Speaker, those opposite have an ideological, 216 00:12:01,221 --> 00:12:03,932 pathological fear of coal. 217 00:12:04,015 --> 00:12:07,477 There’s no word for coal-ophobia, officially, Mr. Speaker, 218 00:12:07,561 --> 00:12:10,480 but that’s the malady that afflicts those opposite. 219 00:12:10,564 --> 00:12:12,941 Switching off jobs and switching off lights 220 00:12:13,024 --> 00:12:15,110 and switching off air conditioners 221 00:12:15,193 --> 00:12:18,655 and forcing Australian families to boil in the dark 222 00:12:18,738 --> 00:12:22,033 as a result of their Dark Ages policies, Mr. Speaker. 223 00:12:22,117 --> 00:12:23,743 Jobs will be lost. 224 00:12:23,827 --> 00:12:26,788 Babies will die in hospitals when the power goes out. 225 00:12:26,872 --> 00:12:29,124 This is the constant refrain. 226 00:12:29,207 --> 00:12:31,835 We cannot have kids coming home from school 227 00:12:31,918 --> 00:12:34,129 and not having so much as a toaster in the house 228 00:12:34,212 --> 00:12:35,839 because they don’t have power. 229 00:12:35,922 --> 00:12:37,549 They don’t have a fridge, mate. 230 00:12:39,134 --> 00:12:41,887 WILKINSON: But I think one of the real low points 231 00:12:41,970 --> 00:12:44,514 was the debate over electric cars. 232 00:12:45,765 --> 00:12:48,768 The response to it from Scott Morrison was this 233 00:12:48,852 --> 00:12:54,357 barrage of talking points that said, amongst other things... 234 00:12:54,441 --> 00:12:56,443 It’s not gonna... it’s not gonna tow your trailer. 235 00:12:56,526 --> 00:12:58,195 It’s not gonna tow your boat. 236 00:12:58,278 --> 00:13:01,740 It’s not gonna get you out to your favorite camping spot with your family. 237 00:13:03,158 --> 00:13:06,703 To have that kind of infantile debate 238 00:13:06,786 --> 00:13:10,582 in a political campaign, it just said to me, 239 00:13:10,665 --> 00:13:14,878 in 2019, we had not moved on. 240 00:13:16,671 --> 00:13:18,590 REPORTER: Thousands of school students across the country 241 00:13:18,673 --> 00:13:22,010 want our politicians to know they’ve had enough. 242 00:13:22,093 --> 00:13:23,386 They’re demanding something 243 00:13:23,470 --> 00:13:25,764 be done about climate change, and tomorrow, 244 00:13:25,847 --> 00:13:27,974 they’ll be walking out of school. 245 00:13:33,021 --> 00:13:35,732 So, I was 16 when I first started. 246 00:13:35,815 --> 00:13:39,986 I think, like, ’cause people hear that, and they go, "That’s, like, really young." 247 00:13:40,070 --> 00:13:43,532 You know, and a lot of adults still would, you know, be like, 248 00:13:43,615 --> 00:13:45,408 "Oh, you’re so young. You’ve done so much. 249 00:13:45,492 --> 00:13:47,452 I’m so proud of you." You know, that’s, um... 250 00:13:47,536 --> 00:13:49,246 "You give me hope," which... 251 00:13:49,329 --> 00:13:51,122 (laughs): Don’t get me started on that. 252 00:13:56,336 --> 00:14:00,257 I found out that Sydney was gonna have a climate strike protest, 253 00:14:00,340 --> 00:14:01,925 and I thought, "I have to be involved with this. 254 00:14:02,008 --> 00:14:03,426 I have to get my friends involved." 255 00:14:03,510 --> 00:14:06,012 Like, "We have to take as many people as possible from school." 256 00:14:07,097 --> 00:14:09,891 And I remember, as we walked up towards the square 257 00:14:09,975 --> 00:14:13,478 where it was gonna be held, we turn the corner... 258 00:14:14,563 --> 00:14:18,984 ...and it was... I mean, it was just a sea of, like, sweaty, 259 00:14:19,067 --> 00:14:21,486 you know, teenage kids. 260 00:14:21,570 --> 00:14:23,154 (cheering) 261 00:14:23,238 --> 00:14:25,657 REPORTER: Sydney has been brought to a standstill 262 00:14:25,740 --> 00:14:29,744 by people fired up over climate change, joining millions of people 263 00:14:29,828 --> 00:14:32,289 all around the world in the biggest protest yet 264 00:14:32,372 --> 00:14:33,873 over the state of our planet. 265 00:14:33,957 --> 00:14:36,501 We are on the outskirts of the biggest catastrophe 266 00:14:36,585 --> 00:14:40,880 humanity has ever faced, and our government is doing nothing! 267 00:14:40,964 --> 00:14:43,341 (cheering) 268 00:14:43,425 --> 00:14:45,385 It’s almost like you’re conducting an orchestra. 269 00:14:45,468 --> 00:14:47,262 ♪ ♪ 270 00:14:47,345 --> 00:14:49,973 We want a safe future! Who’s with me? 271 00:14:50,056 --> 00:14:53,643 (cheering) 272 00:14:53,727 --> 00:14:56,021 That crowd becomes the music and becomes the energy 273 00:14:56,104 --> 00:14:59,733 in that drive, that wave of hope. 274 00:14:59,816 --> 00:15:02,485 That wave just kept crashing over the crowd. 275 00:15:02,569 --> 00:15:06,740 Like, people were really excited. 276 00:15:06,823 --> 00:15:08,658 Like, the rally hadn’t even started. 277 00:15:08,742 --> 00:15:10,118 Our job was done. 278 00:15:12,829 --> 00:15:16,374 A lot of the publicity was driven by our prime minister reacting to it. 279 00:15:16,458 --> 00:15:20,670 MORRISON: We don’t support the idea of kids not going to school 280 00:15:20,754 --> 00:15:25,383 to participate in things that can be dealt with outside of school. 281 00:15:25,467 --> 00:15:28,094 And so, what we want is more learning in schools 282 00:15:28,178 --> 00:15:31,181 -and less activism in schools. -(scattered cheers and jeers) 283 00:15:31,264 --> 00:15:32,641 Which, you know, we sort of thought, 284 00:15:32,724 --> 00:15:33,808 you know, "Piss off." 285 00:15:33,892 --> 00:15:37,020 And to these adults, we say, laugh at us, 286 00:15:37,103 --> 00:15:40,106 attack us, do what you want to us, 287 00:15:40,190 --> 00:15:42,651 because you are on the wrong side of history! 288 00:15:42,734 --> 00:15:44,486 (cheering) 289 00:15:44,569 --> 00:15:47,364 We had over 300,000 people take to the streets, 290 00:15:47,447 --> 00:15:50,492 which, if you are an Australian, you will understand-- 291 00:15:50,575 --> 00:15:52,077 Australians don’t do protests. 292 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:54,120 (indistinct chanting) 293 00:15:56,039 --> 00:15:58,124 Best day of my life. Best day. 294 00:15:58,208 --> 00:16:00,835 I’m not, like... Nothing can beat this. 295 00:16:00,919 --> 00:16:03,588 I remember coming home and just thinking, "Shit." 296 00:16:03,672 --> 00:16:05,048 (chanting): We want climate action, 297 00:16:05,131 --> 00:16:06,341 and we want it now. 298 00:16:06,424 --> 00:16:09,636 Hey, ho! It’s hot in here! 299 00:16:09,719 --> 00:16:13,014 There’s too much carbon in the atmosphere! 300 00:16:13,098 --> 00:16:15,392 Then there was just radio silence from parliament. 301 00:16:20,355 --> 00:16:23,274 But the Murdoch media suddenly were not quiet. 302 00:16:23,358 --> 00:16:25,402 The so-called activists-- more like anarchists-- 303 00:16:25,485 --> 00:16:28,196 protesting in our streets these days. 304 00:16:28,279 --> 00:16:30,448 JEFFREY: Lies, disinformation. 305 00:16:30,532 --> 00:16:34,661 REPORTER: Children completely brainwashed, just saying what is 306 00:16:34,744 --> 00:16:36,079 the exact opposite of the truth. 307 00:16:36,162 --> 00:16:38,081 It was the first time that I really experienced 308 00:16:38,164 --> 00:16:39,833 any, like, climate anxiety, 309 00:16:39,916 --> 00:16:44,379 because the people who’ve been in power for the last 30 years 310 00:16:44,462 --> 00:16:47,257 have known about this crisis and have deliberately decided 311 00:16:47,340 --> 00:16:49,718 to not only not do anything about it 312 00:16:49,801 --> 00:16:52,929 but to fight against people who want to do something about it. 313 00:16:53,012 --> 00:16:54,681 MORRISON: You know, I want children growing up 314 00:16:54,764 --> 00:16:56,349 in Australia to feel positive about their future. 315 00:16:56,433 --> 00:17:01,438 But I don’t want our children, um, having anxieties about these issues. 316 00:17:01,521 --> 00:17:04,774 Whatever challenges come our way, we’ll deal with them like we always have. 317 00:17:04,858 --> 00:17:06,401 FLANNERY: I feel as if we have been 318 00:17:06,484 --> 00:17:08,486 just sleepwalking into a catastrophe. 319 00:17:10,155 --> 00:17:12,365 All of the warning signs have been there. 320 00:17:17,287 --> 00:17:20,123 Greg Mullins, our most experienced fire commissioner, 321 00:17:20,206 --> 00:17:25,587 came to us in April and said, "We are facing an unprecedented disaster." 322 00:17:25,670 --> 00:17:27,005 Two years in a row, 323 00:17:27,088 --> 00:17:30,508 the driest year on record for much of... of eastern Australia. 324 00:17:34,512 --> 00:17:37,432 And this year’s looking like the hottest year on record. 325 00:17:39,684 --> 00:17:42,896 How are we going to manage the fire situation? 326 00:17:44,314 --> 00:17:46,816 So we were trying to help Greg 327 00:17:46,900 --> 00:17:48,693 to get an audience with our prime minister, 328 00:17:48,777 --> 00:17:51,488 because this is a matter of a national catastrophe. 329 00:17:54,115 --> 00:17:56,159 We wrote to the prime minister 330 00:17:56,242 --> 00:17:59,913 in April 2019 and said, "Prime Minister, 331 00:17:59,996 --> 00:18:02,457 "we fear that a bushfire catastrophe is coming our way. 332 00:18:02,540 --> 00:18:03,958 "We’d love to meet with you. 333 00:18:04,042 --> 00:18:06,002 "’Cause this is going to be a shocker. 334 00:18:06,085 --> 00:18:08,630 This year, we’re gonna need everything we can get." 335 00:18:11,925 --> 00:18:15,345 "We need better use of the military to support the fire services, 336 00:18:15,428 --> 00:18:17,889 "more funding for firefighting aircraft. 337 00:18:17,972 --> 00:18:20,850 But you need to know about this, Prime Minister." 338 00:18:22,060 --> 00:18:24,395 He just wasn’t interested. 339 00:18:28,149 --> 00:18:30,735 2019... 340 00:18:30,819 --> 00:18:32,487 it’s a snowball rolling down the hill. 341 00:18:32,570 --> 00:18:34,489 It’s getting bigger and bigger. 342 00:18:34,572 --> 00:18:36,115 There was just no moisture left. 343 00:18:36,199 --> 00:18:38,409 And we just watched the forests dying. 344 00:18:39,452 --> 00:18:42,372 WILKINSON: It was like, yeah, you just had a terrible feeling 345 00:18:42,455 --> 00:18:44,916 it was all really catching up with us. 346 00:18:46,209 --> 00:18:47,877 But I have to say, 347 00:18:47,961 --> 00:18:52,215 I did not predict how brutal the fires were going to be 348 00:18:52,298 --> 00:18:53,925 as the summer went on. 349 00:18:54,008 --> 00:18:58,346 It rocked Australia to the core what happened in the Black Summer. 350 00:19:00,056 --> 00:19:02,058 (low tone droning) 351 00:19:05,937 --> 00:19:07,689 JEFFREY: You know when you watch a movie 352 00:19:07,772 --> 00:19:10,400 and there’s that sort of, like, low drone noise? 353 00:19:10,483 --> 00:19:12,277 (tone continues, slowly getting louder) 354 00:19:12,360 --> 00:19:15,113 It just increases in volume. 355 00:19:15,196 --> 00:19:19,742 And you just know that something’s coming and it’s going wrong. 356 00:19:19,826 --> 00:19:23,288 It was like that-- it was a very slow burn. 357 00:19:24,747 --> 00:19:27,667 And then all of a sudden, it just was massive. 358 00:19:27,750 --> 00:19:29,752 ♪ ♪ 359 00:19:35,049 --> 00:19:37,051 BRUCE PASCOE: The lead-up to it was frightening. 360 00:19:41,347 --> 00:19:46,477 The whole of Victoria and New South Wales got very, very dry. 361 00:19:46,561 --> 00:19:50,023 And it was just, like, a... a brooding presence. 362 00:19:56,362 --> 00:19:57,947 I went into the bush 363 00:19:58,031 --> 00:20:01,993 because I wanted to record what I could see. 364 00:20:02,076 --> 00:20:04,078 ♪ ♪ 365 00:20:06,456 --> 00:20:11,377 I was really concerned because the trees grow so close together. 366 00:20:12,420 --> 00:20:14,964 300 to 500 trees per the acre. 367 00:20:18,176 --> 00:20:20,345 It’s a very volatile forest. 368 00:20:20,428 --> 00:20:24,474 And any fire there, it just goes off like a bomb. 369 00:20:24,557 --> 00:20:26,559 ♪ ♪ 370 00:20:31,814 --> 00:20:33,691 REPORTER: Just 13 days out of winter, 371 00:20:33,775 --> 00:20:35,860 and there are at least 40 bushfires 372 00:20:35,944 --> 00:20:37,195 burning across the state. 373 00:20:37,278 --> 00:20:39,572 Today the message from authorities was clear: 374 00:20:39,656 --> 00:20:41,199 Get ready. 375 00:20:42,909 --> 00:20:45,745 RACHEL MOUNSEY: I was working at the newspapers up the coast. 376 00:20:46,788 --> 00:20:49,749 We’d already started reporting on fires, 377 00:20:49,832 --> 00:20:51,918 I think, uh, as early as September. 378 00:20:55,964 --> 00:21:00,468 Everyone was off photographing fires. 379 00:21:08,226 --> 00:21:10,144 They were just going off everywhere. 380 00:21:10,228 --> 00:21:12,146 Like, the-the phone just keep going, "Beep-beep-beep." 381 00:21:12,230 --> 00:21:13,731 And then, uh, look, there’s another fire. 382 00:21:13,815 --> 00:21:15,525 There’s another fire. 383 00:21:15,608 --> 00:21:18,528 And so there was a sense in the air that something could happen. 384 00:21:18,611 --> 00:21:21,322 And around here, it was really, really dry. 385 00:21:23,366 --> 00:21:25,535 Some of the walks that I do every day, 386 00:21:25,618 --> 00:21:28,788 I’d noticed that the plants had started dying and wilting. 387 00:21:30,832 --> 00:21:33,292 JANN GILBERT: By the time it was November, 388 00:21:33,376 --> 00:21:37,338 the ground was, um, like concrete, seriously. 389 00:21:37,422 --> 00:21:39,007 Everyone’s lawn was dead. 390 00:21:43,052 --> 00:21:45,304 Mallacoota’s very remote. 391 00:21:46,347 --> 00:21:50,518 And quite a number of longtime locals were very, very concerned 392 00:21:50,601 --> 00:21:54,147 that this was going to be the year. 393 00:21:54,230 --> 00:21:56,232 (birds screeching) 394 00:22:00,278 --> 00:22:03,072 But the biggest red flag went up 395 00:22:03,156 --> 00:22:05,241 when the rain forest was burning. 396 00:22:06,701 --> 00:22:08,911 Those forests have never burnt. 397 00:22:14,917 --> 00:22:16,836 MARK GRAHAM: We’re bearing direct witness 398 00:22:16,919 --> 00:22:21,549 to so many processes of change playing out around us. 399 00:22:25,011 --> 00:22:29,140 We’re essentially right in the middle of this stretch 400 00:22:29,223 --> 00:22:32,310 of some of the oldest forests on the planet. 401 00:22:36,272 --> 00:22:39,609 Unchanged through tens of millions of years. 402 00:22:39,692 --> 00:22:41,694 (birds chirping, insects trilling) 403 00:22:42,779 --> 00:22:45,531 Through continents splitting apart, 404 00:22:45,615 --> 00:22:48,326 asteroids hitting the world. 405 00:22:48,409 --> 00:22:52,914 Those trees have been like an arc through time and space. 406 00:22:55,208 --> 00:22:58,920 But as a consequence of these climatic shifts, 407 00:22:59,003 --> 00:23:01,172 they’ve been drying out. 408 00:23:03,132 --> 00:23:06,511 It’s a process of unwinding deep time, 409 00:23:06,594 --> 00:23:09,806 of ripping the rug out from under these species 410 00:23:09,889 --> 00:23:12,183 that have always had the conditions that they need, 411 00:23:12,266 --> 00:23:14,811 going back to the time of the dinosaurs. 412 00:23:17,063 --> 00:23:22,902 The fires of Black Summer burnt into these ancient refuges. 413 00:23:27,198 --> 00:23:29,200 (fire roaring) 414 00:23:35,748 --> 00:23:37,875 REPORTER: There are currently 51 active fire zones 415 00:23:37,959 --> 00:23:40,795 across the state, 23 of them uncontained. 416 00:23:40,878 --> 00:23:42,797 REPORTER 2: The ongoing bushfire threat is coinciding 417 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:44,882 with a dangerous heat wave, 418 00:23:44,966 --> 00:23:49,720 forcing the Rural Fire Service to declare an unprecedented emergency situation. 419 00:23:52,056 --> 00:23:54,392 BRIAN AYLIFFE: I’ve been with the Rural Fire Service... 420 00:23:55,643 --> 00:23:57,687 ...for 60... 65 years. 421 00:23:57,770 --> 00:23:59,313 -60-odd years. -Mm-hmm. 65. 422 00:23:59,397 --> 00:24:02,900 Fought fires all over New South Wales and Victoria, 423 00:24:02,984 --> 00:24:05,903 and I’d never seen anything like it. 424 00:24:07,655 --> 00:24:09,657 ♪ ♪ 425 00:24:12,618 --> 00:24:15,746 That fire started, and it never let up. 426 00:24:15,830 --> 00:24:17,832 (indistinct radio chatter) 427 00:24:20,084 --> 00:24:22,712 They attacked it with bombers. 428 00:24:25,298 --> 00:24:27,758 Large air tankers. 429 00:24:29,135 --> 00:24:30,887 It didn’t matter what they did. 430 00:24:30,970 --> 00:24:33,514 It worked its way down the coast. 431 00:24:33,598 --> 00:24:35,516 REPORTER: Major blazes are going to combine 432 00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:38,477 to form one massive fire, 433 00:24:38,561 --> 00:24:41,355 and everyone is on very high alert. 434 00:24:41,439 --> 00:24:43,566 We knew sooner or later 435 00:24:43,649 --> 00:24:45,359 it was going to be our turn. 436 00:24:47,320 --> 00:24:51,449 I can remember saying to people, "This is serious. 437 00:24:51,532 --> 00:24:54,493 This fire is going to impact on Cobargo." 438 00:24:55,912 --> 00:24:59,957 I had no idea that it was going to be within hours. 439 00:25:01,417 --> 00:25:03,044 At about 4:00 in the morning... 440 00:25:03,127 --> 00:25:05,046 -3:00. It was 3:00. -Or, um... 441 00:25:05,129 --> 00:25:06,923 -It was 3:00 in the morning... -Mm-hmm. 442 00:25:07,006 --> 00:25:09,383 woke up, went out, and-and I... 443 00:25:09,467 --> 00:25:11,260 it just felt unreal. 444 00:25:13,221 --> 00:25:18,142 All of the western skyline just had this eerie red glow. 445 00:25:18,226 --> 00:25:19,810 MARY: Red. 446 00:25:19,894 --> 00:25:22,021 BRIAN: I came in, and I woke Mary, and I said, 447 00:25:22,104 --> 00:25:23,898 "Listen, get up, love. 448 00:25:23,981 --> 00:25:25,608 "Have breakfast. 449 00:25:25,691 --> 00:25:27,443 This fire is going to hit." 450 00:25:28,694 --> 00:25:30,363 (distant sirens wailing) 451 00:25:30,446 --> 00:25:33,241 -BOY: Oh, it’s way darker! -GIRL: Mum! 452 00:25:33,324 --> 00:25:36,369 -Mum. Mum. -It’s way darker. 453 00:25:37,620 --> 00:25:39,372 GILBERT: 30th of December, 454 00:25:39,455 --> 00:25:41,958 the CFA called an emergency community meeting. 455 00:25:43,834 --> 00:25:48,464 We still had probably around 7,000 tourists in the town. 456 00:25:51,592 --> 00:25:54,595 MOUNSEY: There was an announcement for people to leave. 457 00:25:54,679 --> 00:25:56,264 A lot of people didn’t leave. 458 00:25:58,808 --> 00:26:00,726 I went around the caravan park and asked people 459 00:26:00,810 --> 00:26:03,312 how they were feeling about this looming sky. 460 00:26:06,816 --> 00:26:09,193 And I really think that there was a sense of, like, 461 00:26:09,277 --> 00:26:12,530 "Oh, well, I’ve come here on my holiday, and I’ll be all right." 462 00:26:14,824 --> 00:26:16,742 GILBERT: I think, at that stage, 463 00:26:16,826 --> 00:26:19,328 everyone was still thinking it’s not going to happen. 464 00:26:23,833 --> 00:26:27,169 You know, you don’t think it’s going to happen really. 465 00:26:27,253 --> 00:26:29,630 At one point, I was wetting down my car, 466 00:26:29,714 --> 00:26:31,716 and this stupid woman came up to me and said, 467 00:26:31,799 --> 00:26:33,509 "What are you doing wasting water? 468 00:26:33,592 --> 00:26:35,136 "You don’t need to have your car... 469 00:26:35,219 --> 00:26:37,471 What are you doing washing your car?" 470 00:26:37,555 --> 00:26:40,766 I said, "I’m wetting it down so the embers can’t catch." 471 00:26:40,850 --> 00:26:43,019 I said, "Do you live here?" She said, "No, I’m visiting." 472 00:26:43,102 --> 00:26:44,812 I said, "Well, go home." 473 00:26:44,895 --> 00:26:46,230 (camera clicks) 474 00:26:46,314 --> 00:26:48,607 REPORTER: Holidaying while home burns. 475 00:26:48,691 --> 00:26:50,776 Scott Morrison relaxing in Hawaii 476 00:26:50,860 --> 00:26:55,156 as the nation confronts an unprecedented bushfire catastrophe. 477 00:26:56,741 --> 00:26:58,784 FLANNERY: When I saw Scott Morrison 478 00:26:58,868 --> 00:27:02,496 going off on a holiday to Hawaii in the middle of this emerging disaster 479 00:27:02,580 --> 00:27:04,498 that we could have done a huge amount 480 00:27:04,582 --> 00:27:07,752 to actually make it much less severe than it was, 481 00:27:07,835 --> 00:27:10,212 um, I almost cried. 482 00:27:10,296 --> 00:27:12,673 REPORTER: He’s cutting short his family vacation, 483 00:27:12,757 --> 00:27:17,636 which his office has refused to confirm or deny for days. 484 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:20,973 WILKINSON: I think it was really clear from the outset, 485 00:27:21,057 --> 00:27:24,393 uh, when the fires started to get serious 486 00:27:24,477 --> 00:27:27,521 that Scott Morrison did not understand 487 00:27:27,605 --> 00:27:29,523 the gravity of the situation. 488 00:27:29,607 --> 00:27:32,735 I get it that people would have been upset 489 00:27:32,818 --> 00:27:35,571 to know that I was holidaying with my family, 490 00:27:35,654 --> 00:27:38,199 uh, while their families were under great stress. 491 00:27:38,282 --> 00:27:41,202 They know that I’m not gonna stand there and hold a hose. 492 00:27:41,285 --> 00:27:43,037 I’m not a trained firefighter. 493 00:27:47,083 --> 00:27:51,379 WILKINSON: He saw it through a purely political lens, I think. 494 00:27:53,506 --> 00:27:55,800 He did not want the fires to be an issue, 495 00:27:55,883 --> 00:27:57,343 a big national issue, 496 00:27:57,426 --> 00:27:59,095 because he was worried it would open up 497 00:27:59,178 --> 00:28:01,347 the climate change issue. 498 00:28:01,430 --> 00:28:04,433 Australia has been battling ferocious fires 499 00:28:04,517 --> 00:28:07,353 for as long as, uh, Australia has been a nation 500 00:28:07,436 --> 00:28:08,979 and-and well before. 501 00:28:09,063 --> 00:28:11,273 WILKINSON: He was overly influenced 502 00:28:11,357 --> 00:28:13,359 by the power of the Murdoch media. 503 00:28:13,442 --> 00:28:16,404 Fire is part and parcel of our landscape. 504 00:28:16,487 --> 00:28:17,988 It always has been. 505 00:28:18,072 --> 00:28:20,282 WILKINSON: People in politics 506 00:28:20,366 --> 00:28:22,576 took these guys, they took these women 507 00:28:22,660 --> 00:28:24,453 really seriously. 508 00:28:24,537 --> 00:28:28,999 Does climate change cause these fires? No. 509 00:28:29,083 --> 00:28:30,584 MULLINS: The lies. 510 00:28:30,668 --> 00:28:33,337 We know what causes bushfire. Someone has to light it. 511 00:28:33,421 --> 00:28:34,839 You know, arson. 512 00:28:34,922 --> 00:28:36,799 They said, "These fires have been started by arsonists." 513 00:28:36,882 --> 00:28:40,636 CHRIS KENNY: You can’t blame the fires on climate change, especially 514 00:28:40,719 --> 00:28:42,638 when so many are... (chuckles) deliberately lit. 515 00:28:42,721 --> 00:28:44,473 TOMI LAHREN: The fact of the matter is 516 00:28:44,557 --> 00:28:48,102 Australia has an arson problem you can’t pin on global warming, 517 00:28:48,185 --> 00:28:50,604 climate change or whatever title you’re giving 518 00:28:50,688 --> 00:28:52,523 your environmental bogeyman these days. 519 00:29:01,323 --> 00:29:03,117 MULLINS: What a load of crap. 520 00:29:03,200 --> 00:29:04,702 They couldn’t accept 521 00:29:04,785 --> 00:29:07,037 that we’re having the worst fires in history 522 00:29:07,121 --> 00:29:09,748 because it was clearly driven by climate change. 523 00:29:09,832 --> 00:29:14,128 Right through, I think, to the tragedy of New Year’s Eve, 524 00:29:14,211 --> 00:29:17,214 the government didn’t really get it. 525 00:29:18,591 --> 00:29:20,593 (helicopter blades whirring) 526 00:29:23,554 --> 00:29:25,556 (sirens wailing) 527 00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:29,393 REPORTER: People, communities are getting cut off. 528 00:29:29,477 --> 00:29:31,061 They’re getting trapped. 529 00:29:32,104 --> 00:29:35,441 PASCOE: The fire’d approached from every angle here. 530 00:29:35,524 --> 00:29:37,818 You’d go to sleep seeing the fire, 531 00:29:37,902 --> 00:29:40,446 and you’d wake up, and it would still be there, 532 00:29:40,529 --> 00:29:41,947 closer to you than it was, 533 00:29:42,031 --> 00:29:44,366 and it just wore you down. 534 00:29:50,206 --> 00:29:52,333 And so you’ve got to have good luck, 535 00:29:52,416 --> 00:29:55,127 and Mallacoota had terrible luck. 536 00:30:03,385 --> 00:30:04,720 WOMAN: Where’s my keys? 537 00:30:04,803 --> 00:30:06,305 Has anyone seen my keys? 538 00:30:06,388 --> 00:30:08,724 Don’t worry about the keys. We’ll put you in this car here. 539 00:30:08,807 --> 00:30:10,809 -That’s my car, mate. -Don’t worry about the keys. 540 00:30:10,893 --> 00:30:12,645 -I can’t open it without them. -Doesn’t matter. 541 00:30:12,728 --> 00:30:13,812 Go, now, now! 542 00:30:13,896 --> 00:30:15,981 MOUNSEY: A siren went off. 543 00:30:16,065 --> 00:30:17,733 And our phones went off. 544 00:30:18,442 --> 00:30:19,777 And it was, 545 00:30:19,860 --> 00:30:21,654 you know, "Evacuate now." 546 00:30:25,324 --> 00:30:28,244 And I turned around, and there it was coming at me. 547 00:30:30,287 --> 00:30:31,747 Go! Go! 548 00:30:31,830 --> 00:30:33,082 MOUNSEY: This red glow. 549 00:30:33,165 --> 00:30:34,333 Move! 550 00:30:35,376 --> 00:30:38,587 MOUNSEY: It was orange and smoky. 551 00:30:38,671 --> 00:30:40,798 There was lightning up in the sky. 552 00:30:48,180 --> 00:30:50,224 Cars were going on to Bastion Point beach. 553 00:30:50,307 --> 00:30:52,935 Other people were getting ready down at the wharf, 554 00:30:53,018 --> 00:30:56,564 and then other people were going to the hall. 555 00:30:56,647 --> 00:30:58,399 There’s a photograph of a local woman, 556 00:30:58,482 --> 00:31:00,901 and she’s holding her little dog. 557 00:31:00,985 --> 00:31:05,197 She wanted to leave, but she also wanted to stay. 558 00:31:05,281 --> 00:31:06,782 "I want to stay because 559 00:31:06,865 --> 00:31:08,409 this is where I live. This is where I belong." 560 00:31:08,492 --> 00:31:10,202 And here we were. 561 00:31:10,286 --> 00:31:12,997 Now we had to decide whether we go or whether we stay, 562 00:31:13,080 --> 00:31:14,999 like there’s a monster coming down on us. 563 00:31:15,082 --> 00:31:17,084 ♪ ♪ 564 00:31:21,422 --> 00:31:23,591 And the wind. I can’t stand wind anymore. 565 00:31:23,674 --> 00:31:26,260 I can’t be out in it because it just reminds me 566 00:31:26,343 --> 00:31:29,346 of this howling going past my ears. 567 00:31:29,430 --> 00:31:31,432 (wind howling) 568 00:31:33,309 --> 00:31:36,437 MOUNSEY: You could hear it. It was a... like a... (blows sharply) 569 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:38,147 It was like a dragon, you know, like a... (blows) 570 00:31:39,231 --> 00:31:41,734 (fire roaring) 571 00:31:43,319 --> 00:31:46,822 GILBERT: And then everything went pitch-black. 572 00:31:50,784 --> 00:31:52,202 (indistinct chatter over video) 573 00:31:52,453 --> 00:31:56,290 GILBERT: This is Mallacoota at 9:13 in the morning. 574 00:31:56,373 --> 00:32:00,085 Absolutely unbelievable. Pitch black. 575 00:32:00,169 --> 00:32:02,504 There’s embers falling from the sky. 576 00:32:03,547 --> 00:32:07,134 A girlfriend of mine texted me and said, "Are you okay?" 577 00:32:08,385 --> 00:32:12,181 And I started taking some shots just to send to her. 578 00:32:12,264 --> 00:32:14,266 (wind howling) 579 00:32:15,809 --> 00:32:18,937 She said to me, "Was this taken last night?" 580 00:32:19,021 --> 00:32:21,607 (laughs): And I said, "No, it’s right now." 581 00:32:22,691 --> 00:32:24,485 (on video): It’s now really scary. 582 00:32:24,568 --> 00:32:27,196 You couldn’t see your hand in front of your face. 583 00:32:27,279 --> 00:32:29,198 (on video): The wind’s picked up, 584 00:32:29,281 --> 00:32:31,784 which is pushing the fire straight towards us. 585 00:32:31,867 --> 00:32:34,536 The reason that the sky goes absolutely pitch-black 586 00:32:34,620 --> 00:32:37,081 is because all of the soot 587 00:32:37,164 --> 00:32:40,709 that is created by the fire actually goes ahead 588 00:32:40,793 --> 00:32:41,960 of the fire front. 589 00:32:42,044 --> 00:32:43,754 So that’s what hits you first. 590 00:32:43,837 --> 00:32:45,923 (sirens wailing) 591 00:32:46,006 --> 00:32:48,717 And then, as the fire front gets closer, 592 00:32:48,801 --> 00:32:53,639 the soot clears, and you just get this intensely red sky. 593 00:33:00,020 --> 00:33:02,022 (wind howling) 594 00:33:05,901 --> 00:33:07,903 ♪ ♪ 595 00:33:10,072 --> 00:33:12,032 MOUNSEY: I was sitting outside the hall. 596 00:33:13,075 --> 00:33:14,785 I wanted to see as much as I could. 597 00:33:14,868 --> 00:33:16,870 (birds screeching) 598 00:33:20,791 --> 00:33:22,626 But then a CFA volunteer 599 00:33:22,710 --> 00:33:25,254 came and tapped me on the shoulder and said, "You have to move in." 600 00:33:31,677 --> 00:33:34,638 In the hall, it was really claustrophobic, 601 00:33:34,722 --> 00:33:36,473 and they blacked out the windows, 602 00:33:36,557 --> 00:33:38,767 so you couldn’t look out, and all you could see 603 00:33:38,851 --> 00:33:40,769 was the fire through the skylights. 604 00:33:40,853 --> 00:33:42,604 You know, so you could see the red... 605 00:33:42,688 --> 00:33:44,606 the red glow and the flickering through the skylights. 606 00:33:44,690 --> 00:33:46,817 And, you know, like, we were sort of just laying down. 607 00:33:46,900 --> 00:33:51,280 I-I can remember just sort of laying down, 608 00:33:51,363 --> 00:33:54,408 and I just thought, "How are we gonna get out of this? 609 00:33:54,491 --> 00:33:56,410 How are we going to actually get out of this?" 610 00:33:56,493 --> 00:34:00,914 And then I also felt, you know, I put my child in this situation, so... 611 00:34:00,998 --> 00:34:04,334 maybe my imagination is big, but it was really... 612 00:34:05,377 --> 00:34:06,920 ...a real thing that you didn’t know 613 00:34:07,004 --> 00:34:09,965 whether you were actually really gonna come out of there alive or not, 614 00:34:10,048 --> 00:34:12,551 because it-it could have gone up. 615 00:34:12,634 --> 00:34:13,844 Yeah. 616 00:34:17,306 --> 00:34:20,017 It was like being on a plane when it’s going down. 617 00:34:20,100 --> 00:34:21,935 And that’s how it felt. 618 00:34:27,232 --> 00:34:30,819 MARY: The side of our house was very, very hot, 619 00:34:30,903 --> 00:34:33,322 and the embers just hit me-- little red embers. 620 00:34:33,405 --> 00:34:37,159 And the heat was enormous, so I... 621 00:34:37,242 --> 00:34:39,077 hosed myself down. 622 00:34:40,954 --> 00:34:43,791 BRIAN: I was shocked at the ferocity of it. 623 00:34:44,792 --> 00:34:47,461 It was only a matter of half an hour, 624 00:34:47,544 --> 00:34:49,797 and we lost water. 625 00:34:49,880 --> 00:34:51,757 FIREFIGHTER: Need to evacuate! 626 00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:54,134 -(knocking) -Please evacuate! 627 00:34:54,218 --> 00:34:57,805 So we’ve lost water, we’ve got no power, 628 00:34:57,888 --> 00:34:59,765 -and we’ve got no fire trucks. -Right. 629 00:34:59,848 --> 00:35:02,142 All communications are gone. 630 00:35:02,226 --> 00:35:04,394 Our radios are knocked out. 631 00:35:04,478 --> 00:35:06,480 The town was at-at the mercy. 632 00:35:10,234 --> 00:35:12,986 Said to Mary, "There goes the house." 633 00:35:13,070 --> 00:35:15,322 (flames whooshing) 634 00:35:15,405 --> 00:35:16,949 "There goes the shop." 635 00:35:18,784 --> 00:35:21,161 It was almost surreal. 636 00:35:21,245 --> 00:35:23,247 (fire roaring) 637 00:35:30,587 --> 00:35:32,673 MAN: Jesus. 638 00:35:32,756 --> 00:35:36,301 The roar and the noise of it was horrendous. 639 00:35:36,385 --> 00:35:39,388 I just called it a vicious monster. 640 00:35:40,389 --> 00:35:42,182 MAN: Wow. 641 00:35:42,266 --> 00:35:44,518 -(wind and fire howling) -(indistinct shout) 642 00:35:45,853 --> 00:35:49,565 FLANNERY: For an individual person facing a bushfire, 643 00:35:49,648 --> 00:35:52,985 the fire almost behaves like a, an animal, 644 00:35:53,068 --> 00:35:55,153 a predator that’ll play with you. 645 00:35:55,237 --> 00:35:58,740 You can see it just gently creeping along harmlessly. 646 00:35:58,824 --> 00:36:00,868 WOMAN: Whoa! Kangaroo! 647 00:36:00,951 --> 00:36:02,911 Okay, coming this way. 648 00:36:02,995 --> 00:36:04,496 FLANNERY: But within an hour, it’ll change, 649 00:36:04,580 --> 00:36:06,790 and it might burn a neighbor’s house and leave yours. 650 00:36:06,874 --> 00:36:09,042 WOMAN: Oh! (coughs) 651 00:36:10,210 --> 00:36:13,964 FLANNERY: Or it’ll burn your house and leave everything else around it. 652 00:36:14,047 --> 00:36:16,758 (woman groaning) 653 00:36:16,842 --> 00:36:20,387 So it’s psychologically very damaging to have to deal with that stress. 654 00:36:22,556 --> 00:36:25,893 And then when the fire comes, of course, it’s a catastrophe. 655 00:36:29,980 --> 00:36:32,149 MICHAEL McDERMOT: Normally, the flashbacks happen 656 00:36:32,232 --> 00:36:35,360 more on hazy sort of days when it’s not quite as clear 657 00:36:35,444 --> 00:36:37,821 and you’ll just glance up at a ridge. 658 00:36:38,864 --> 00:36:40,365 I don’t know, it just triggers something, 659 00:36:40,449 --> 00:36:41,450 and I just see flame. 660 00:36:41,533 --> 00:36:43,535 ♪ ♪ 661 00:36:50,459 --> 00:36:52,544 The roar of the fire was... 662 00:36:52,628 --> 00:36:55,005 Yeah, there’s no words, really, to describe it. 663 00:36:55,088 --> 00:36:57,049 It was just screaming. 664 00:36:57,132 --> 00:36:59,092 Like, we couldn’t talk to each other. 665 00:36:59,176 --> 00:37:02,304 It was more hand signals and yelling in each other’s ears. 666 00:37:02,387 --> 00:37:04,389 (wind and fire howling) 667 00:37:08,852 --> 00:37:11,021 The trees are about two to three stories tall, 668 00:37:11,104 --> 00:37:13,857 and the flames are about two to three stories above them, 669 00:37:13,941 --> 00:37:17,611 just ripping the whole way around, just tornadoing above us. 670 00:37:17,694 --> 00:37:20,197 It was just picking everything up and just taking it. 671 00:37:20,280 --> 00:37:22,783 Branches landing next to us as thick as your arm. 672 00:37:22,866 --> 00:37:24,868 (howling) 673 00:37:31,750 --> 00:37:33,585 I was trying to breathe, 674 00:37:34,670 --> 00:37:37,339 and so I tried to rip my mask off, trying to breathe, and I couldn’t. 675 00:37:37,422 --> 00:37:39,341 There was nothing I could do. 676 00:37:39,424 --> 00:37:41,551 I was in full panic mode at that point. 677 00:37:43,762 --> 00:37:46,056 I was seeing birds falling out of the sky. 678 00:37:47,516 --> 00:37:49,559 Yeah, the cockatiels on fire, 679 00:37:49,643 --> 00:37:51,561 burning and dropping out of the sky. 680 00:37:56,984 --> 00:37:58,735 It was something you could not fight. 681 00:37:58,819 --> 00:38:00,737 It was just-- survive. 682 00:38:02,322 --> 00:38:04,116 I knew there was gonna be mass loss. 683 00:38:06,535 --> 00:38:07,995 REPORTER: To the south, there were bushfires. 684 00:38:08,078 --> 00:38:09,454 To the west, there were bushfires. 685 00:38:09,538 --> 00:38:11,623 To the north, there were bushfires. 686 00:38:11,707 --> 00:38:13,750 And in every direction, roads were cut off. 687 00:38:13,834 --> 00:38:15,961 REPORTER 2: Families are trapped on the beach 688 00:38:16,044 --> 00:38:18,588 as the fires surround them on all sides. 689 00:38:18,672 --> 00:38:20,674 (screaming, frantic chatter) 690 00:38:25,429 --> 00:38:29,016 REPORTER 3: The entire coast is choked with this thick smoke, 691 00:38:29,099 --> 00:38:31,101 making it difficult to breathe. 692 00:38:36,273 --> 00:38:38,942 The fires really came home to me 693 00:38:39,026 --> 00:38:41,528 when the smoke came into Sydney. 694 00:38:45,407 --> 00:38:47,701 You know, you’d be going for your morning walk, 695 00:38:47,784 --> 00:38:49,745 you’d be seeing your friends, 696 00:38:49,828 --> 00:38:52,622 and just this heaviness in your breathing. 697 00:38:53,749 --> 00:38:57,210 And it was really discombobulating for me. 698 00:38:57,294 --> 00:39:00,088 I was writing about climate change, 699 00:39:00,172 --> 00:39:05,594 and there I was in my everyday life experiencing it. 700 00:39:11,183 --> 00:39:13,602 REPORTER: The plume of smoke generated by the inferno 701 00:39:13,685 --> 00:39:17,314 covers five and a half million square kilometers. 702 00:39:17,397 --> 00:39:19,232 That’s the size of Europe. 703 00:39:20,275 --> 00:39:23,361 DR. REBECCA McGOWAN: The psychological impact was stifling. 704 00:39:23,445 --> 00:39:25,363 They say seal up your windows, 705 00:39:25,447 --> 00:39:26,656 seal up your doors. 706 00:39:26,740 --> 00:39:28,241 That doesn’t stop the smoke. 707 00:39:29,868 --> 00:39:31,953 It was just insidious. 708 00:39:38,627 --> 00:39:40,712 DR. ROLY STOKES: You know, and maybe in a bushfire season 709 00:39:40,796 --> 00:39:42,923 in the past, you might have a week of smoke 710 00:39:43,006 --> 00:39:44,424 and that was a really bad fire. 711 00:39:45,425 --> 00:39:47,135 And this was just three months 712 00:39:47,219 --> 00:39:48,845 of, like, the thickest smoke 713 00:39:48,929 --> 00:39:50,472 that you could imagine. 714 00:39:50,555 --> 00:39:52,557 (indistinct radio chatter) 715 00:39:56,812 --> 00:39:58,522 AMBER McDONALD: You know, it was just everywhere. 716 00:39:58,605 --> 00:40:00,357 You couldn’t get out of it. 717 00:40:01,983 --> 00:40:03,401 And I was so tired-- 718 00:40:03,485 --> 00:40:05,779 really unusually tired. 719 00:40:05,862 --> 00:40:07,948 You know, like, people just keep saying to me, 720 00:40:08,031 --> 00:40:10,784 "Well, you’re pregnant, um, and you have a toddler, 721 00:40:10,867 --> 00:40:12,744 so you’re gonna be tired." 722 00:40:12,828 --> 00:40:14,538 But you get tired from the heat 723 00:40:14,621 --> 00:40:17,457 and you get tired from having to breathe harder. 724 00:40:20,961 --> 00:40:22,587 McGOWAN: When a woman is pregnant, 725 00:40:22,671 --> 00:40:24,840 the whole system is on overdrive. 726 00:40:24,923 --> 00:40:27,592 So she breathes faster 727 00:40:27,676 --> 00:40:30,137 and she takes deeper breaths. 728 00:40:30,220 --> 00:40:33,306 She’s inhaling this toxic smoke. 729 00:40:33,390 --> 00:40:36,560 The tiny little smoke particles travel through her body 730 00:40:36,643 --> 00:40:39,771 and get lodged in the placenta. 731 00:40:39,855 --> 00:40:42,524 The filter system, the thing that we all grew from. 732 00:40:42,607 --> 00:40:44,609 ♪ ♪ 733 00:40:47,279 --> 00:40:49,906 McDONALD: My friend who worked in obstetrics, 734 00:40:49,990 --> 00:40:52,159 she said, "It just doesn’t sound right." 735 00:40:53,160 --> 00:40:55,620 So I went to the hospital. 736 00:40:57,914 --> 00:41:00,167 STOKES: "This baby needs to come in the next 24 hours 737 00:41:00,250 --> 00:41:03,211 because this is really real risk of stillbirth." 738 00:41:03,295 --> 00:41:05,672 That’s-that’s pretty real, confronting news. 739 00:41:07,883 --> 00:41:10,302 The same time that Saga was being born 740 00:41:10,385 --> 00:41:14,181 is when the village of Cobargo was burning just 200 kilometers away. 741 00:41:14,264 --> 00:41:16,433 And the air was full of smoke, 742 00:41:16,516 --> 00:41:18,018 and people are having New Year’s celebrations 743 00:41:18,101 --> 00:41:20,061 we could hear from outside the hospital. 744 00:41:20,145 --> 00:41:21,980 It was a really bizarre time. 745 00:41:22,063 --> 00:41:24,608 (cheering) 746 00:41:24,691 --> 00:41:27,736 REPORTER: And coming in at just under two kilograms, 747 00:41:27,819 --> 00:41:31,573 Saga Snow made an early entrance at 36 weeks, 748 00:41:31,656 --> 00:41:35,243 not wanting to miss any of the festivities. 749 00:41:35,327 --> 00:41:38,788 McGOWAN: The baby was small, and the baby was early, 750 00:41:38,872 --> 00:41:41,750 and the baby had respiratory issues. 751 00:41:43,001 --> 00:41:45,295 STOKES: Nice little temperature-controlled box. 752 00:41:45,378 --> 00:41:47,214 The midwife, 753 00:41:47,297 --> 00:41:50,300 her immediate question straightaway was, "Are you a smoker?" 754 00:41:50,383 --> 00:41:52,469 "Are you a smoker? Have you ever smoked?" 755 00:41:52,552 --> 00:41:54,387 And she said, "No, I’ve never smoked. 756 00:41:54,471 --> 00:41:56,556 You know, why do you keep asking me that?" 757 00:41:56,640 --> 00:41:59,309 And the placenta attached to this baby, 758 00:41:59,392 --> 00:42:03,855 it was a gray, crumbly, disgusting-looking placenta. 759 00:42:03,939 --> 00:42:07,359 We’ve all seen those pictures of what smokers’ lungs look like. 760 00:42:07,442 --> 00:42:09,486 They’re on Australian cigarette packets. 761 00:42:09,569 --> 00:42:11,613 That’s what this placenta looked like. 762 00:42:12,656 --> 00:42:14,658 -(crying) -(indistinct chatter) 763 00:42:17,035 --> 00:42:20,664 McDONALD: She was in ICU for 17 days. 764 00:42:21,706 --> 00:42:23,124 You’re not holding your baby. 765 00:42:23,208 --> 00:42:24,417 You’re... you know, 766 00:42:24,501 --> 00:42:27,504 you put your hand in through the incubator and hold her little hand. 767 00:42:27,587 --> 00:42:31,174 And I can still now, um, get her to sleep by holding her hand 768 00:42:31,258 --> 00:42:34,678 because that’s what she learned in those first few weeks. 769 00:42:34,761 --> 00:42:36,763 ♪ ♪ 770 00:42:40,350 --> 00:42:44,479 She was well under first percentile in birth weight, 771 00:42:44,562 --> 00:42:47,190 and she’s taking a long time to catch up. 772 00:42:49,943 --> 00:42:52,654 By the time she’s 18 months, if she’s still behind, 773 00:42:52,737 --> 00:42:54,781 they’ll consider giving growth hormones. 774 00:42:55,907 --> 00:42:57,701 McGOWAN: The young women who are coming in 775 00:42:57,784 --> 00:43:01,830 with their babies tell me that it’s-it’s not just them 776 00:43:01,913 --> 00:43:03,707 but in their mothers groups, 777 00:43:03,790 --> 00:43:06,793 their babies have been affected by the smoke 778 00:43:06,876 --> 00:43:08,503 and their babies were born early. 779 00:43:08,586 --> 00:43:11,131 Where the women have to go back after the birth 780 00:43:11,214 --> 00:43:16,344 and have these crumbly, horrible, smoke-affected placentas scraped out. 781 00:43:16,428 --> 00:43:17,512 (babies crying) 782 00:43:17,595 --> 00:43:19,306 STOKES: You can see how little she is there. 783 00:43:19,389 --> 00:43:22,434 McGOWAN: The origin of life is actually now 784 00:43:22,517 --> 00:43:24,311 this canary in the coal mine, 785 00:43:24,394 --> 00:43:26,604 and these babies are being exposed 786 00:43:26,688 --> 00:43:29,316 to the effect of the heating of the planet, 787 00:43:29,399 --> 00:43:31,484 the climate change. 788 00:43:31,568 --> 00:43:33,695 STOKES: Night night, Saga. 789 00:43:47,459 --> 00:43:50,795 MULLINS: Look, in-in Australia, bad fire weather days 790 00:43:50,879 --> 00:43:52,797 have always been difficult, 791 00:43:52,881 --> 00:43:56,343 but what was different this summer was multiple fires 792 00:43:56,426 --> 00:43:59,346 formed their own weather systems. 793 00:43:59,429 --> 00:44:01,431 (rumbling) 794 00:44:03,141 --> 00:44:06,394 With massive fires, the heat going up 795 00:44:06,478 --> 00:44:10,899 drives the smoke column ten, 12, 13 kilometers up into the stratosphere. 796 00:44:13,068 --> 00:44:16,696 And the water vapor in the smoke forms a cloud. 797 00:44:17,697 --> 00:44:20,075 The fires create their own thunderstorms. 798 00:44:20,158 --> 00:44:22,494 (rumbling) 799 00:44:22,577 --> 00:44:26,039 They’re a very dangerous, scary thing to be under. 800 00:44:26,122 --> 00:44:29,334 (man speaking indistinctly over speaker) 801 00:44:29,417 --> 00:44:31,836 MULLINS: Incredible winds from every direction. 802 00:44:31,920 --> 00:44:34,172 MAN: Ah, burn and piss off, will you? 803 00:44:34,255 --> 00:44:36,383 (man sighs) 804 00:44:36,466 --> 00:44:38,676 MULLINS: The sparks carried in the convection column 805 00:44:38,760 --> 00:44:41,221 going eight to 12 kilometers. 806 00:44:42,222 --> 00:44:45,016 And they spark fires up to 30 kilometers away from the lightning, 807 00:44:45,100 --> 00:44:47,060 but there’s no rain. 808 00:44:48,103 --> 00:44:50,397 -See the wind swirling? -Yeah, it is, isn’t it? 809 00:44:52,607 --> 00:44:54,150 I remember my dad saying, 810 00:44:54,234 --> 00:44:57,654 "I think I saw one in the 1939 heat wave." 811 00:44:58,988 --> 00:45:01,616 And I thought I saw one in 1975. 812 00:45:01,699 --> 00:45:04,160 (siren wailing) 813 00:45:04,244 --> 00:45:05,954 But that was sort of a legend with firefighters. 814 00:45:06,037 --> 00:45:07,789 Not many people have seen ’em. 815 00:45:08,873 --> 00:45:11,334 I saw about ten last summer. 816 00:45:16,047 --> 00:45:19,008 MAN: It’s true that big fires can generate their own weather, 817 00:45:19,092 --> 00:45:21,761 because this looks like a massive thunderhead. 818 00:45:21,845 --> 00:45:25,098 It looks like a nuclear bomb’s gone off. 819 00:45:25,181 --> 00:45:27,725 It’s, um... it’s huge. 820 00:45:27,809 --> 00:45:29,727 MULLINS: Pyro-convective storms... 821 00:45:29,811 --> 00:45:31,729 "Rare." Well, not anymore. 822 00:45:31,813 --> 00:45:34,149 (indistinct radio chatter) 823 00:45:34,232 --> 00:45:36,067 I was fighting fires as a volunteer, 824 00:45:36,151 --> 00:45:38,111 and I was all over the state. 825 00:45:38,194 --> 00:45:40,405 Um, I don’t like this. 826 00:45:40,488 --> 00:45:42,323 No. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 827 00:45:42,407 --> 00:45:47,245 You know, I’d never really felt in the past almost powerless 828 00:45:47,328 --> 00:45:50,123 as I did this last spring and summer. 829 00:45:50,206 --> 00:45:52,333 (flames roaring) 830 00:45:52,417 --> 00:45:53,960 Hurry up! 831 00:45:54,043 --> 00:45:56,045 -Everyone out! -(frantic chatter) 832 00:45:59,674 --> 00:46:01,718 MULLINS: I was in Batemans Bay. 833 00:46:01,801 --> 00:46:04,679 We were waiting for instructions and catching our breath. 834 00:46:07,098 --> 00:46:09,517 You couldn’t see very far because of the orange smoke. 835 00:46:09,601 --> 00:46:11,186 Everything was dark. 836 00:46:11,269 --> 00:46:13,855 It was probably 2:00 in the afternoon, but it was like night. 837 00:46:17,650 --> 00:46:21,154 Then I saw something moving on the side of the road. 838 00:46:21,237 --> 00:46:22,947 And I walked closer. 839 00:46:23,031 --> 00:46:25,283 It was a mob of kangaroos. 840 00:46:25,366 --> 00:46:27,368 ♪ ♪ 841 00:46:29,287 --> 00:46:31,789 The speed of that fire with its pyro-convective storm 842 00:46:31,873 --> 00:46:35,210 driving it in every direction, they had no way... way to go, 843 00:46:35,293 --> 00:46:37,670 and they came out of the forest on fire 844 00:46:37,754 --> 00:46:40,465 and dropped dead on the road, and I’ve never seen that. I... 845 00:46:40,548 --> 00:46:42,258 Kangaroos know what to do in a fire. 846 00:46:42,342 --> 00:46:43,760 They’re fast animals. 847 00:46:43,843 --> 00:46:45,803 I just, uh... 848 00:46:47,013 --> 00:46:48,723 (sighs) 849 00:46:48,806 --> 00:46:51,351 What do you... I don’t know. 850 00:46:51,434 --> 00:46:53,394 Yeah, the world’s changed. 851 00:46:54,854 --> 00:46:56,856 ♪ ♪ 852 00:47:17,794 --> 00:47:20,296 ♪ ♪ 853 00:47:31,516 --> 00:47:35,019 JEFFREY: Every year for the last 25 or 26 years now, 854 00:47:35,103 --> 00:47:38,439 there has been a conference of the parties. 855 00:47:38,523 --> 00:47:40,650 It’s where decisions like the Kyoto Protocol 856 00:47:40,733 --> 00:47:42,569 and the Paris Climate Agreement were reached. 857 00:47:42,652 --> 00:47:46,030 And in 2019, it was the COP 25. 858 00:47:47,073 --> 00:47:48,825 REPORTER: Well, the COP 25 climate conference 859 00:47:48,908 --> 00:47:51,160 is underway in Madrid with a new report showing 860 00:47:51,244 --> 00:47:55,623 the past decade is almost certain to be the hottest on record. 861 00:47:55,707 --> 00:48:00,545 UN Secretary-General António Guterres is calling for urgent action. 862 00:48:00,628 --> 00:48:03,298 JEFFREY: I was invited by Greenpeace 863 00:48:03,381 --> 00:48:06,050 to join them at this conference. 864 00:48:06,134 --> 00:48:08,136 And I realized I didn’t have any jeans, 865 00:48:08,219 --> 00:48:09,971 and I was heading into European winter, 866 00:48:10,054 --> 00:48:11,889 and I thought, "Hmm, better get some jeans." 867 00:48:11,973 --> 00:48:15,310 And, um, I remember being in the city with my mum, 868 00:48:15,393 --> 00:48:20,815 and there was ash falling and the sky was, like, orange. 869 00:48:20,898 --> 00:48:23,192 And we just thought, 870 00:48:23,276 --> 00:48:25,194 "Well, something has to come out of this. 871 00:48:25,278 --> 00:48:27,113 We have to create this change." 872 00:48:29,490 --> 00:48:32,327 I hopped on the plane, and when I got to Madrid, 873 00:48:32,410 --> 00:48:34,579 I was staying in this hostel with a bunch 874 00:48:34,662 --> 00:48:36,414 of other kids from around the world. 875 00:48:36,497 --> 00:48:38,416 -SPEAKER: What do we want? -CROWD: Climate justice! 876 00:48:38,499 --> 00:48:40,084 -When do we want it? -Now! 877 00:48:40,168 --> 00:48:41,711 JEFFREY: We were there at the conference 878 00:48:41,794 --> 00:48:43,838 from about 8:00 in the morning to 8:00 at night. 879 00:48:43,921 --> 00:48:46,549 Fossil fuel companies were funding the conference, 880 00:48:46,633 --> 00:48:48,384 and their names were plastered everywhere. 881 00:48:48,468 --> 00:48:51,596 (indistinct chatter) 882 00:48:51,679 --> 00:48:53,473 Each country had its own pavilion 883 00:48:53,556 --> 00:48:57,685 sort of, like, trying to represent what they were doing in terms of climate. 884 00:48:57,769 --> 00:49:00,104 INTERVIEWER: What did Australia have as its pavilion? 885 00:49:00,188 --> 00:49:02,690 Australia didn’t have a pavilion, I remember. 886 00:49:02,774 --> 00:49:07,987 And our Minister for Energy Angus Taylor 887 00:49:08,071 --> 00:49:11,783 got up in front of the entire world 888 00:49:11,866 --> 00:49:15,370 while his own country was on fire 889 00:49:15,453 --> 00:49:17,747 and said that Australia was doing its part. 890 00:49:17,830 --> 00:49:21,125 TAYLOR: We are already on track to meet and beat 891 00:49:21,209 --> 00:49:23,753 the targets we have set for 2030, 892 00:49:23,836 --> 00:49:26,964 just as we are meeting and beating our Kyoto targets. 893 00:49:27,048 --> 00:49:29,133 JEFFREY: That was embarrassing. It was... 894 00:49:29,217 --> 00:49:31,678 It was just... like, it was humiliating. 895 00:49:31,761 --> 00:49:33,471 (light applause) 896 00:49:34,472 --> 00:49:38,726 This government is not taking action to address climate even though 897 00:49:38,810 --> 00:49:41,145 our country is burning because of their inaction. 898 00:49:41,229 --> 00:49:43,773 ♪ ♪ 899 00:49:43,856 --> 00:49:45,525 Fossil fuel lobbyists were able to just 900 00:49:45,608 --> 00:49:47,735 sort of weave in and out of government cubicles, 901 00:49:47,819 --> 00:49:51,280 whereas indigenous activists and young people were locked out. 902 00:49:51,364 --> 00:49:54,283 (chanting): Shame on you! Shame on you! 903 00:49:54,367 --> 00:49:55,952 Shame on you! 904 00:49:56,035 --> 00:49:58,955 And we saw these negotiations break down. 905 00:49:59,038 --> 00:50:00,164 (cameras clicking) 906 00:50:00,248 --> 00:50:03,626 MAN: We’re disappointed that we once again failed to find agreement. 907 00:50:03,710 --> 00:50:07,547 MAN 2: This is really becoming very worrisome 908 00:50:07,630 --> 00:50:09,841 for a lot of countries. 909 00:50:10,883 --> 00:50:12,468 JEFFREY: Coming back to Australia, 910 00:50:12,552 --> 00:50:14,470 we were really left with not much hope at all. 911 00:50:16,639 --> 00:50:18,433 The fires were everywhere. 912 00:50:20,768 --> 00:50:23,813 It was just horrific, and I was really burnt out. 913 00:50:23,896 --> 00:50:25,773 Like, you know, your heart can sink. 914 00:50:25,857 --> 00:50:28,484 I think my heart had just hit the floor and just kept going. 915 00:50:29,610 --> 00:50:31,612 I cried for three days straight. 916 00:50:38,411 --> 00:50:41,205 FLANNERY: I was totally shocked by the scale. 917 00:50:41,289 --> 00:50:43,750 If you’d have asked me before the fires 918 00:50:43,833 --> 00:50:46,878 how big a percentage of the forest area would have burned, 919 00:50:46,961 --> 00:50:49,255 I might have said maximum five percent. 920 00:50:50,798 --> 00:50:52,717 But to see 21% burned, 921 00:50:52,800 --> 00:50:55,178 it’s-it’s like we’ve... we’ve crossed a threshold. 922 00:50:56,763 --> 00:50:58,639 We’ve entered a new era. 923 00:51:04,312 --> 00:51:08,775 Those fires burnt ten times more than had ever burnt before. 924 00:51:10,067 --> 00:51:12,695 And the impact was beyond comprehension. 925 00:51:12,779 --> 00:51:14,781 ♪ ♪ 926 00:51:18,201 --> 00:51:20,119 MULLINS: You-you drive for hundreds of kilometers 927 00:51:20,203 --> 00:51:21,579 in New South Wales, 928 00:51:21,662 --> 00:51:23,998 and all you see is blackened earth. 929 00:51:32,131 --> 00:51:34,801 Three billion animals were killed. 930 00:51:35,802 --> 00:51:37,428 (whimpering) 931 00:51:37,512 --> 00:51:39,305 WOMAN: You pick him up, and I’ll... 932 00:51:39,388 --> 00:51:42,058 (distressed whimpering) 933 00:51:42,141 --> 00:51:44,352 WOMAN: All right. 934 00:51:44,435 --> 00:51:46,145 We’ll get going in a second. 935 00:51:46,229 --> 00:51:48,105 -MAN: Yeah. -Okay. 936 00:51:49,106 --> 00:51:51,108 ♪ ♪ 937 00:52:13,172 --> 00:52:16,843 MULLINS: We saw places burning that have never burned before. 938 00:52:16,926 --> 00:52:20,888 Forests millions of years old that dinosaurs used to walk through 939 00:52:20,972 --> 00:52:24,058 that had always been too wet and cold to burn... 940 00:52:24,141 --> 00:52:25,810 burn. 941 00:52:32,525 --> 00:52:35,987 PASCOE: Usually in a fire, you get blackness and grayness. 942 00:52:38,739 --> 00:52:42,910 But the trees burned so hot that when that fire had passed 943 00:52:42,994 --> 00:52:45,454 it looked like snow had fallen, 944 00:52:45,538 --> 00:52:47,415 because the ash was snow white. 945 00:52:51,586 --> 00:52:53,254 And that’s what it was like. 946 00:52:57,550 --> 00:53:00,303 MOUNSEY: It was kind of almost like walking out 947 00:53:00,386 --> 00:53:01,512 into the apocalypse or something. 948 00:53:01,596 --> 00:53:03,180 Like, everyone just was a bit dazed. 949 00:53:07,143 --> 00:53:12,648 The first thing that we saw was just all the houses around town, just gone. 950 00:53:17,069 --> 00:53:18,988 So I just started photographing. 951 00:53:21,616 --> 00:53:23,618 ♪ ♪ 952 00:53:31,375 --> 00:53:33,044 FLANNERY: You know, by January, 953 00:53:33,127 --> 00:53:36,088 there were people going about their holidays having to be rescued 954 00:53:36,172 --> 00:53:38,174 by the Australian Army, the Navy. 955 00:53:45,681 --> 00:53:48,392 Unbelievable scenes for a country like this. 956 00:53:54,565 --> 00:53:56,567 (quiet chatter) 957 00:53:58,361 --> 00:54:00,488 GILBERT: You know, I’ve seen people who’ve lost houses. 958 00:54:00,571 --> 00:54:04,575 We’ve all seen them on television being interviewed and stuff like that. 959 00:54:04,659 --> 00:54:06,827 But until it happens, I don’t think you’ve got any idea 960 00:54:06,911 --> 00:54:08,704 what it’s actually like. 961 00:54:08,788 --> 00:54:12,959 And it’s... and it’s layer upon layer upon layer of... 962 00:54:13,042 --> 00:54:14,585 of dealing with it. 963 00:54:14,669 --> 00:54:17,672 It’s-it’s not, you know, there’s the initial shock 964 00:54:17,755 --> 00:54:22,468 and-and, you know, um, despair that you’ve lost everything you own. 965 00:54:22,551 --> 00:54:24,178 I mean, I have no photos. 966 00:54:24,261 --> 00:54:28,140 I have nothing of my mother’s, my father’s, my grandparents’, nothing. 967 00:54:28,224 --> 00:54:32,061 It’s just... it’s like a whole part of my life has just been wiped away. 968 00:54:42,363 --> 00:54:46,325 REPORTER: Former New South Wales Fire and Rescue Commissioner Greg Mullins 969 00:54:46,409 --> 00:54:50,579 is demanding action to prevent future catastrophes. 970 00:54:50,663 --> 00:54:52,790 MULLINS: We have to talk about climate change 971 00:54:52,873 --> 00:54:57,837 because our bushfire situation in Australia has changed forever. 972 00:55:00,756 --> 00:55:05,553 WOMAN: What the ex-fire chief is saying is patently absurd. 973 00:55:10,224 --> 00:55:13,936 MULLINS: They said that I shouldn’t have been talking about climate change 974 00:55:14,020 --> 00:55:16,063 when people were suffering in the fires. 975 00:55:16,147 --> 00:55:18,024 REPORTER: This is what it’s come to. 976 00:55:18,107 --> 00:55:22,319 Hysteria and, uh, completely fact-free ranting 977 00:55:22,403 --> 00:55:25,865 can see you elevated to some heroic status. 978 00:55:27,450 --> 00:55:28,868 MULLINS: I don’t care. 979 00:55:30,870 --> 00:55:32,580 I’m actually in this business, 980 00:55:32,663 --> 00:55:34,749 and I know that when people suffer loss 981 00:55:34,832 --> 00:55:37,501 they want to know why immediately. 982 00:55:41,338 --> 00:55:43,632 They want to know what the hell happened. 983 00:55:49,930 --> 00:55:51,390 (sobbing) 984 00:55:56,228 --> 00:55:58,731 (sighs) I don’t want to look at it right now. 985 00:56:08,115 --> 00:56:10,117 MAN: ...they’re all from the original businesses in Cobargo. 986 00:56:10,201 --> 00:56:12,161 Brian Ayliffe from just over the road, 987 00:56:12,244 --> 00:56:13,370 lived there for 48 years. 988 00:56:13,454 --> 00:56:16,123 That was a family business. They’re gone. 989 00:56:16,207 --> 00:56:18,459 ZOEY SALUCCI: We heard a rumor that there was 990 00:56:18,542 --> 00:56:21,670 multiple cars getting around town. 991 00:56:23,339 --> 00:56:25,424 Why is there four, like, 992 00:56:25,508 --> 00:56:27,927 SUVs all blacked out getting around town? 993 00:56:28,010 --> 00:56:31,597 It’s gonna be someone of some degree that needs security. 994 00:56:31,680 --> 00:56:33,432 (talks indistinctly) 995 00:56:33,516 --> 00:56:36,602 SALUCCI: So we all went, "Oh, you know, the prime minister’s here." 996 00:56:36,685 --> 00:56:39,897 (quiet, indistinct chatter) 997 00:56:39,980 --> 00:56:41,440 It wasn’t a leader saying, 998 00:56:41,524 --> 00:56:44,443 "This has been an emergency. What do we need to do?" 999 00:56:44,527 --> 00:56:47,696 He got out, and he started taking selfies with people. 1000 00:56:47,780 --> 00:56:50,407 -(laughs excitedly) -Got a smile. 1001 00:56:50,491 --> 00:56:51,909 Looking in this direction. 1002 00:56:51,992 --> 00:56:53,494 Good on ya. Thank you very much. 1003 00:56:53,577 --> 00:56:55,121 -(laughing): Thank you. -Good on ya. 1004 00:56:55,204 --> 00:56:56,789 SALUCCI: He just went, "How are you? 1005 00:56:56,872 --> 00:56:58,207 "All right, you’re not good. Next person. 1006 00:56:58,290 --> 00:57:00,918 "Oh, how are you? Oh, you’re not good. Next person." 1007 00:57:01,001 --> 00:57:03,379 (indistinct chatter) 1008 00:57:03,462 --> 00:57:05,339 That boiled my blood. I’m not going to lie. 1009 00:57:05,422 --> 00:57:08,050 I... My house was in rubble, 1010 00:57:08,134 --> 00:57:10,678 and here he is taking selfies with people, smiling. 1011 00:57:10,761 --> 00:57:12,763 I thought that was extremely inconsiderate. 1012 00:57:14,140 --> 00:57:18,060 And he come up to me and asked, "How are you?" 1013 00:57:18,144 --> 00:57:20,062 And I-I just saw red. 1014 00:57:20,146 --> 00:57:21,814 Hello. How are you? 1015 00:57:21,897 --> 00:57:25,317 I’m only shaking your hand if you give more funding to RFS. 1016 00:57:25,401 --> 00:57:27,486 So many people here have lost their homes. 1017 00:57:27,570 --> 00:57:29,071 Yeah, I understand, all right? I understand. 1018 00:57:29,155 --> 00:57:31,574 We need some beds. We don’t have enough beds here. 1019 00:57:31,657 --> 00:57:33,159 -We need more help. -Shh, shh, we understand that. 1020 00:57:33,242 --> 00:57:35,286 It’s okay. It’s okay. 1021 00:57:35,369 --> 00:57:37,913 WOMAN: How come we only had four trucks 1022 00:57:37,997 --> 00:57:40,708 to defend our town, Mr. Prime Minister? 1023 00:57:40,791 --> 00:57:43,836 Fuck, you’re an idiot, mate. You really are. 1024 00:57:43,919 --> 00:57:45,838 MAN: You won’t be getting any votes down here, buddy. 1025 00:57:45,921 --> 00:57:47,214 -WOMAN: You control the funding. -You’re an idiot. 1026 00:57:47,298 --> 00:57:48,716 MAN: What about the people around here? 1027 00:57:48,799 --> 00:57:50,551 -No, I’m pissed off! -WOMAN: What about the people 1028 00:57:50,634 --> 00:57:52,970 who are dead now, Mr. Prime Minister? 1029 00:57:53,053 --> 00:57:55,264 MAN: You’re not welcome, you fuckwit! 1030 00:57:56,515 --> 00:57:58,601 Are you from the media? 1031 00:57:58,684 --> 00:58:01,645 Tell the prime minister to go and get (bleep) from Nelligen. 1032 00:58:01,729 --> 00:58:05,024 We really enjoy doing this (bleep), (bleep) head! 1033 00:58:05,107 --> 00:58:06,901 Thank you very much. 1034 00:58:09,653 --> 00:58:12,781 REPORTER: The bushfire crisis ignites on the streets. 1035 00:58:12,865 --> 00:58:14,366 (chanting): Our country is on fire! 1036 00:58:14,450 --> 00:58:16,160 HARRY CREAMER: We’ve been telling the politicians 1037 00:58:16,243 --> 00:58:17,995 the same message for over ten years, 1038 00:58:18,078 --> 00:58:19,914 and they are not listening. 1039 00:58:19,997 --> 00:58:22,416 We have a prime minister in denial about climate change. 1040 00:58:22,499 --> 00:58:23,959 This is real. 1041 00:58:24,043 --> 00:58:26,253 (chanting): We will rise! We will rise! 1042 00:58:26,337 --> 00:58:29,131 JEFFREY: Australians started coming out on the street 1043 00:58:29,215 --> 00:58:32,384 at such short notice to really demand change. 1044 00:58:32,468 --> 00:58:35,012 People were angry, and people were scared for their lives. 1045 00:58:35,095 --> 00:58:39,558 And I think it shows how bloody angry everyone is here in Australia. 1046 00:58:39,642 --> 00:58:44,146 REPORTER: An estimated 20,000 demand action on climate policy. 1047 00:58:44,230 --> 00:58:46,106 JEFFREY: It was people taking a stand. 1048 00:58:46,190 --> 00:58:48,859 People who hadn’t really listed climate among their priorities. 1049 00:58:48,943 --> 00:58:52,696 MORRISON: I’ll set Australia’s policies consistent with what I believe 1050 00:58:52,780 --> 00:58:54,323 and my government believes is in Australia’s national interests. 1051 00:58:54,406 --> 00:58:55,991 REPORTER: But hasn’t... Sorry to interrupt, 1052 00:58:56,075 --> 00:58:57,910 but hasn’t that changed a bit? 1053 00:58:57,993 --> 00:58:59,995 Look, I’m-I’m someone who... who was probably on board 1054 00:59:00,079 --> 00:59:02,498 with what you took to the... to the polls wh-when you went. 1055 00:59:02,581 --> 00:59:06,585 I think now, though, that I’m part of a growing groundswell of support who... 1056 00:59:06,669 --> 00:59:09,797 people think that more needs to be done, that now is the time for action. 1057 00:59:09,880 --> 00:59:11,840 It’s not a time to sit around and keep-keep chatting 1058 00:59:11,924 --> 00:59:14,260 (fading): and saying that we’ll discuss this down the track. 1059 00:59:14,343 --> 00:59:17,179 When this big realization 1060 00:59:17,263 --> 00:59:21,809 started to come through that we couldn’t just put 1061 00:59:21,892 --> 00:59:26,105 greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere for nothing, 1062 00:59:26,188 --> 00:59:28,023 this was a big shock. 1063 00:59:28,107 --> 00:59:30,693 REPORTER: Key National Party figures have hit out at a push 1064 00:59:30,776 --> 00:59:34,905 for the Morrison government to promise zero carbon emissions by 2050. 1065 00:59:34,989 --> 00:59:36,907 Why not be aspirational? 1066 00:59:36,991 --> 00:59:38,659 Why not have a bold target? 1067 00:59:40,786 --> 00:59:43,372 WILKINSON: But I think just as people thought 1068 00:59:43,455 --> 00:59:46,667 that we might finally have a serious debate 1069 00:59:46,750 --> 00:59:50,921 about climate change policy in this country, COVID hit. 1070 00:59:51,964 --> 00:59:53,966 ♪ ♪ 1071 01:00:06,353 --> 01:00:08,522 FLANNERY: I watched in sore amazement 1072 01:00:08,605 --> 01:00:11,483 as the Morrison government dealt with the COVID crisis. 1073 01:00:13,819 --> 01:00:16,780 There they were listening to the chief health officer. 1074 01:00:18,157 --> 01:00:21,035 In fact, Australia declared a pandemic 1075 01:00:21,118 --> 01:00:23,370 12 days before the World Health Organization did. 1076 01:00:23,454 --> 01:00:27,374 REPORTER: Hotel quarantine for all travelers entering Australia 1077 01:00:27,458 --> 01:00:28,834 is now well underway, 1078 01:00:28,917 --> 01:00:31,962 as the Army enforces the strict mandatory isolation. 1079 01:00:34,048 --> 01:00:36,091 We had this very severe lockdown 1080 01:00:36,175 --> 01:00:38,260 that had enormous economic impact. 1081 01:00:38,344 --> 01:00:40,846 The government became a socialist government overnight, 1082 01:00:40,929 --> 01:00:44,308 subsidizing people’s wages and so forth. 1083 01:00:44,391 --> 01:00:48,020 REPORTER: The spending in response to coronavirus has been historic. 1084 01:00:48,103 --> 01:00:50,189 Now, they were hard yards for any government to do, 1085 01:00:50,272 --> 01:00:52,900 but to see a right-leaning government do them amazed me. 1086 01:00:57,738 --> 01:00:59,073 And I thought, "Oh, this is great. 1087 01:00:59,156 --> 01:01:01,867 We might actually get some action on climate change as well." 1088 01:01:01,950 --> 01:01:04,036 Given the bushfires, which scarified everybody. 1089 01:01:04,119 --> 01:01:06,080 I mean, we’ve seen government act. 1090 01:01:06,163 --> 01:01:07,873 Now we know how it can be done. 1091 01:01:07,956 --> 01:01:09,917 REPORTER: We’re getting a snapshot of 1092 01:01:10,000 --> 01:01:11,585 our post-coronavirus economy. 1093 01:01:11,668 --> 01:01:14,338 And in startling news, the figures rival 1094 01:01:14,421 --> 01:01:15,964 the years after World War II. 1095 01:01:17,007 --> 01:01:20,844 WILKINSON: Australia did a very interesting thing when people were looking 1096 01:01:20,928 --> 01:01:22,930 at the economic recovery. 1097 01:01:23,013 --> 01:01:27,267 What is the world going to do to come out of the COVID recession? 1098 01:01:29,561 --> 01:01:34,233 People started talking about a green COVID recovery. 1099 01:01:35,442 --> 01:01:40,489 We can’t go from the COVID frying pan into the climate fire. 1100 01:01:40,572 --> 01:01:43,617 We’re facing the biggest economic fight-back of our generation, 1101 01:01:43,700 --> 01:01:45,244 and for many, the big question is: 1102 01:01:45,327 --> 01:01:47,079 Where do we get our energy from? 1103 01:01:47,162 --> 01:01:48,956 And where do we find our new jobs? 1104 01:01:49,039 --> 01:01:52,167 76,000 jobs in Australia could have been created 1105 01:01:52,251 --> 01:01:53,419 with renewables. 1106 01:01:53,502 --> 01:01:55,504 There’s just so much could have been done. 1107 01:01:55,587 --> 01:01:58,924 WILKINSON: Instead, the prime minister got up 1108 01:01:59,007 --> 01:02:01,718 and talked about a gas-led recovery. 1109 01:02:01,802 --> 01:02:03,303 -(applause) -MORRISON: Thanks very much. 1110 01:02:03,387 --> 01:02:05,389 There is no credible energy transition plan 1111 01:02:05,472 --> 01:02:07,516 for an economy like Australia’s 1112 01:02:07,599 --> 01:02:10,394 that does not involve the greater use of gas. 1113 01:02:11,437 --> 01:02:13,355 MULLINS: So, yeah, ladies and gentlemen, 1114 01:02:13,439 --> 01:02:15,315 moms and dads, boys and girls, 1115 01:02:15,399 --> 01:02:17,901 let’s extract more methane. 1116 01:02:17,985 --> 01:02:19,486 Got to get the gas. 1117 01:02:19,570 --> 01:02:22,448 We must unlock new sources of supply. 1118 01:02:22,531 --> 01:02:25,075 We must get additional gas to market 1119 01:02:25,159 --> 01:02:27,077 as efficiently as possible. 1120 01:02:27,161 --> 01:02:31,206 WILKINSON: I sat there watching the speech on television, 1121 01:02:31,290 --> 01:02:34,168 and I waited for the prime minister 1122 01:02:34,251 --> 01:02:36,462 to use the words "climate change." 1123 01:02:36,545 --> 01:02:38,964 I appreciate your patience this morning. 1124 01:02:39,047 --> 01:02:41,508 WILKINSON: I waited for him to explain 1125 01:02:41,592 --> 01:02:44,887 how climate change fitted in 1126 01:02:44,970 --> 01:02:46,722 to this gas-led recovery. 1127 01:02:46,805 --> 01:02:52,102 His speech went on and on and on right till the end. 1128 01:02:52,186 --> 01:02:53,896 He does not use the words 1129 01:02:53,979 --> 01:02:55,314 "climate change." 1130 01:02:55,397 --> 01:02:58,192 He never mentions the words "climate change." 1131 01:02:58,275 --> 01:03:00,652 We’ve got to get the gas. 1132 01:03:00,736 --> 01:03:03,447 WILKINSON: He was sending a message: 1133 01:03:03,530 --> 01:03:08,744 We are gonna double down on our bet on fossil fuels. 1134 01:03:09,953 --> 01:03:11,413 REPORTER: Mike Cannon-Brookes, uh, 1135 01:03:11,497 --> 01:03:12,539 it’s not good enough, is it? 1136 01:03:12,623 --> 01:03:15,209 Um, look, it’s-it’s the standard set of talking points. 1137 01:03:15,292 --> 01:03:17,336 I find it... I find it laughable when politicians-- 1138 01:03:17,419 --> 01:03:19,338 sorry, Darren, no offense-- uh, say that they’re not 1139 01:03:19,421 --> 01:03:21,340 into long-term planning, they don’t know how to do that. 1140 01:03:21,423 --> 01:03:22,508 That’s-that’s the job. 1141 01:03:22,591 --> 01:03:23,926 We’re trying to plan what the nation’s 1142 01:03:24,009 --> 01:03:25,928 gonna do in the next ten, 20 and 30 years. 1143 01:03:26,011 --> 01:03:28,597 I think we-we need to sort of raise a conversation, right? 1144 01:03:28,680 --> 01:03:31,016 We need to have a broader vision for Australia. 1145 01:03:31,099 --> 01:03:33,727 I think we could be a renewable energy superpower. 1146 01:03:33,810 --> 01:03:35,771 REPORTER: It’s news that came in from the sidelines 1147 01:03:35,854 --> 01:03:37,940 of the UN Climate Summit in New York. 1148 01:03:38,023 --> 01:03:42,277 The Australian tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes confirming 1149 01:03:42,361 --> 01:03:45,656 he’ll be investing in the world’s biggest solar farm. 1150 01:03:45,739 --> 01:03:47,741 ♪ ♪ 1151 01:03:49,618 --> 01:03:52,955 CANNON-BROOKES: Australia has a DNA of exporting energy. 1152 01:03:54,289 --> 01:03:56,208 That’s the way we should tell the story. 1153 01:03:58,168 --> 01:03:59,795 Why do we export energy? 1154 01:04:01,964 --> 01:04:04,174 We have a lot of resources. 1155 01:04:05,259 --> 01:04:07,427 So, instead of digging them out of the ground, 1156 01:04:07,511 --> 01:04:09,555 what if we got them out of the sky? 1157 01:04:10,639 --> 01:04:14,184 We have a land mass larger than the continental United States. 1158 01:04:14,268 --> 01:04:17,396 We’re the sunniest country outside of sub-Saharan Africa. 1159 01:04:17,479 --> 01:04:21,233 You could power the entire planet five times over just from Australia. 1160 01:04:22,359 --> 01:04:24,570 REPORTER: You’re pretty hooked into global markets. 1161 01:04:24,653 --> 01:04:26,530 -CANNON-BROOKES: Yep. -Um, where is coal going, 1162 01:04:26,613 --> 01:04:28,282 from your perspective? 1163 01:04:28,365 --> 01:04:30,659 Um, oh, it’s going away. 1164 01:04:30,742 --> 01:04:32,244 (laughter) 1165 01:04:32,327 --> 01:04:33,829 Quite simply, look, I mean... 1166 01:04:33,912 --> 01:04:36,123 I don’t care what you think about the climate. 1167 01:04:36,206 --> 01:04:38,417 We will need to pivot 1168 01:04:38,500 --> 01:04:42,254 from exporting coal and gas to exporting renewable energy, 1169 01:04:42,337 --> 01:04:45,591 because the rest of the planet will start figuring this out. 1170 01:04:45,674 --> 01:04:48,343 And as it does, we are left exporting things 1171 01:04:48,427 --> 01:04:50,304 that no one else needs. 1172 01:04:50,387 --> 01:04:51,638 We can see that coming, 1173 01:04:51,722 --> 01:04:54,975 but we haven’t gotten that storytelling through 1174 01:04:55,058 --> 01:04:58,395 when it comes to the myth that Australia needs fossil fuels. 1175 01:04:59,563 --> 01:05:02,274 That is challenging to our national psyche. 1176 01:05:05,485 --> 01:05:08,196 In Australia, you cannot talk 1177 01:05:08,280 --> 01:05:10,741 about electricity generation 1178 01:05:10,824 --> 01:05:12,701 and ignore coal. 1179 01:05:12,784 --> 01:05:16,496 Coal will continue to play an important role 1180 01:05:16,580 --> 01:05:19,291 in our economy for decades to come. 1181 01:05:19,374 --> 01:05:21,209 That means jobs. 1182 01:05:25,464 --> 01:05:27,466 JEFFREY: We’re sort of seeing these communities 1183 01:05:27,549 --> 01:05:28,967 staring down the barrel of a gun. 1184 01:05:31,720 --> 01:05:35,515 Politicians on both sides of parliament say that they’re standing up 1185 01:05:35,599 --> 01:05:37,643 for these communities, but I would question that, 1186 01:05:37,726 --> 01:05:40,729 because I think that they’re lying to these communities. 1187 01:05:42,648 --> 01:05:45,817 My grandfather was a coal mining engineer. 1188 01:05:47,778 --> 01:05:50,489 He came to Australia in the ’70s with his then wife. 1189 01:05:50,572 --> 01:05:52,282 Dramatic divorce. 1190 01:05:55,452 --> 01:05:58,205 In the ’80s, he was made redundant, 1191 01:05:58,288 --> 01:06:00,832 and so, all of a sudden, he was left without a job. 1192 01:06:00,916 --> 01:06:04,002 Something that his, you know, family had been working in 1193 01:06:04,086 --> 01:06:05,671 for a couple of generations. 1194 01:06:05,754 --> 01:06:09,549 Something that had been an integral part of his identity. 1195 01:06:11,843 --> 01:06:15,097 Like, we were really close, and he used to tell these stories 1196 01:06:15,180 --> 01:06:17,057 about his time down in the mines 1197 01:06:17,140 --> 01:06:19,476 and about his friends, about what it meant to him. 1198 01:06:26,608 --> 01:06:30,070 I’ve had the fortune to learn about these experiences, 1199 01:06:30,153 --> 01:06:34,533 to learn about having this economic dependence on this industry 1200 01:06:34,616 --> 01:06:37,577 and as a town having that dependence on that industry. 1201 01:06:39,538 --> 01:06:40,831 I really want to see a pathway 1202 01:06:40,914 --> 01:06:43,750 for these communities out of fossil fuels. 1203 01:06:46,670 --> 01:06:48,880 CANNON-BROOKES: Being proud of that industry is not a problem. 1204 01:06:52,008 --> 01:06:53,844 Mining is not a bad thing. 1205 01:06:53,927 --> 01:06:56,555 We need mining in Australia. 1206 01:06:56,638 --> 01:07:01,059 If you want to build batteries and panels and wind turbines, guess what you need: 1207 01:07:01,143 --> 01:07:03,812 steel, gold, copper, nickel, 1208 01:07:03,895 --> 01:07:07,357 rare earths, lithium, obviously silver. 1209 01:07:07,441 --> 01:07:09,192 We have a lot of all of those in Australia. 1210 01:07:12,946 --> 01:07:15,073 So that’s why we try to tell the story and say, 1211 01:07:15,157 --> 01:07:17,075 look, it’s about energy that we’ve been exporting. 1212 01:07:17,159 --> 01:07:18,744 We can continue to do that. 1213 01:07:20,829 --> 01:07:24,583 But we need to prove that we can export renewable energy 1214 01:07:24,666 --> 01:07:27,335 in a massive way in large quantities. 1215 01:07:27,419 --> 01:07:30,422 If you think about exporting sun and wind, it’s a little difficult, right? 1216 01:07:30,505 --> 01:07:32,799 We’re not gonna put up a giant mirror and send it somewhere else. 1217 01:07:32,883 --> 01:07:34,301 We’re not gonna, like, turn the wind 1218 01:07:34,384 --> 01:07:38,430 and blow it somehow other ways that they catch it on the other side. 1219 01:07:38,513 --> 01:07:40,432 So we need to figure out how to do this. 1220 01:07:40,515 --> 01:07:43,226 This is a problem that Australia needs to solve. 1221 01:07:43,310 --> 01:07:45,020 The best part about this project-- 1222 01:07:45,103 --> 01:07:47,439 it’s about 22 billion Australian dollars, roughly-- 1223 01:07:47,522 --> 01:07:49,149 is it’s possible. 1224 01:07:50,692 --> 01:07:52,611 REPORTER: Australian tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes 1225 01:07:52,694 --> 01:07:55,947 has announced plans to create the world’s biggest solar farm... 1226 01:07:56,031 --> 01:07:57,574 REPORTER 2: And it’s aiming to generate power 1227 01:07:57,657 --> 01:08:00,494 and transmit that over to Singapore. 1228 01:08:00,577 --> 01:08:03,455 CANNON-BROOKES: We’re dealing with a vast amount of power here 1229 01:08:03,538 --> 01:08:05,832 that needs to move over a vast distance-- 1230 01:08:05,916 --> 01:08:07,751 3,500 kilometers-- 1231 01:08:07,834 --> 01:08:09,920 through some pretty hairy waters. 1232 01:08:10,003 --> 01:08:15,425 So, in between the world’s largest solar farm and the world’s longest 1233 01:08:15,509 --> 01:08:18,428 undersea high-voltage DC cable, 1234 01:08:18,512 --> 01:08:22,182 we also need to build the world’s largest battery. 1235 01:08:25,310 --> 01:08:28,355 If this works-- which it will-- 1236 01:08:28,438 --> 01:08:31,399 there will be 50 cables from Australia to Asia 1237 01:08:31,483 --> 01:08:34,444 exporting massive amounts of energy. 1238 01:08:34,528 --> 01:08:39,324 We’ve got one of the best resources to go to for the future of the planet 1239 01:08:39,407 --> 01:08:41,034 without changing our DNA. 1240 01:08:42,911 --> 01:08:45,205 It’s the entire planet that is being challenged here. 1241 01:08:45,288 --> 01:08:47,916 It is the existential crisis for the human race. 1242 01:08:47,999 --> 01:08:49,918 Climate change is affecting the Australian economy. 1243 01:08:50,001 --> 01:08:51,461 It’s affecting businesses. It’s affecting individuals. 1244 01:08:51,545 --> 01:08:54,965 I think it’s not an issue that business should have its head in the sand on, 1245 01:08:55,048 --> 01:08:58,885 and that means they should be speaking out in a government vacuum. 1246 01:08:58,969 --> 01:09:02,639 FLANNERY: I think there is no doubt that we are at a turning point in Australia 1247 01:09:02,722 --> 01:09:04,099 when it comes to climate change. 1248 01:09:04,182 --> 01:09:07,394 Some Australian companies are powering forward 1249 01:09:07,477 --> 01:09:10,021 with a massive energy transition. 1250 01:09:10,105 --> 01:09:13,984 But what people don’t really understand is the absolute urgency of this. 1251 01:09:17,112 --> 01:09:19,573 Today, average global temperatures 1252 01:09:19,656 --> 01:09:23,285 are about 1.1 degree above what’s called the pre-industrial average. 1253 01:09:23,368 --> 01:09:26,121 So, where they were 200 years ago, basically. 1254 01:09:26,204 --> 01:09:27,747 Australia, however, 1255 01:09:27,831 --> 01:09:29,749 because it’s so sensitive to climate change, 1256 01:09:29,833 --> 01:09:32,168 is already at almost 1.5 degrees of warming. 1257 01:09:32,252 --> 01:09:35,005 ♪ ♪ 1258 01:09:35,088 --> 01:09:39,050 We knew that we would start feeling the impacts before anyone else. 1259 01:09:41,636 --> 01:09:45,765 We are facing a new and terrifying future in Australia, in terms of bushfires. 1260 01:09:47,684 --> 01:09:53,565 We might expect Black Summer conditions once every 400 years in the past. 1261 01:09:53,648 --> 01:09:56,568 From now on, we can expect it once every eight years. 1262 01:09:59,654 --> 01:10:01,823 MULLINS: Our climate has changed forever. 1263 01:10:01,907 --> 01:10:05,243 I’ll never see it go back to what it was when I was a kid. 1264 01:10:06,745 --> 01:10:09,039 We’re getting weather now that no human being 1265 01:10:09,122 --> 01:10:11,207 has ever seen on this continent. 1266 01:10:12,959 --> 01:10:17,589 In 2019, there was one fire near the Victorian border 1267 01:10:17,672 --> 01:10:21,843 where a pyro-convective storm picked up an eight-ton fire truck, 1268 01:10:21,927 --> 01:10:25,513 dropped it on its roof and a young firefighter lost... 1269 01:10:29,100 --> 01:10:31,478 Yeah, he was killed, so... 1270 01:10:34,606 --> 01:10:38,652 Sorry, it’s-it’s tough for firefighters to think of other firefighters, you know, 1271 01:10:38,735 --> 01:10:42,948 losing their lives in the line of duty, and nine did in the last fires. 1272 01:10:46,910 --> 01:10:48,870 I’ve been around the world. 1273 01:10:48,954 --> 01:10:51,247 I’ve studied bushfires and how we deal with things. 1274 01:10:51,331 --> 01:10:54,250 We can’t deal with the worst years anymore. 1275 01:10:55,627 --> 01:10:58,964 We’re having fires in places like Greenland, 1276 01:10:59,047 --> 01:11:01,007 the Arctic Circle, 1277 01:11:01,091 --> 01:11:03,134 where they never used to happen before. 1278 01:11:03,218 --> 01:11:04,636 (helicopter blades whirring) 1279 01:11:06,972 --> 01:11:09,474 And I look at California. 1280 01:11:10,517 --> 01:11:14,521 Twice as much area burnt as their worst ever fire season. 1281 01:11:14,604 --> 01:11:16,106 (wind and fire roaring) 1282 01:11:19,401 --> 01:11:21,778 Oregon was on fire. 1283 01:11:21,861 --> 01:11:23,488 Washington state. 1284 01:11:24,531 --> 01:11:26,533 The whole West Coast. 1285 01:11:31,579 --> 01:11:33,498 There’s something wrong. 1286 01:11:33,581 --> 01:11:35,959 (chuckles): There’s something really wrong. 1287 01:11:39,838 --> 01:11:42,716 Climate change scares the shit out of me. 1288 01:11:44,884 --> 01:11:46,845 We can’t stop a lot of the global warming 1289 01:11:46,928 --> 01:11:48,430 that’s built into the system now. 1290 01:11:48,513 --> 01:11:50,432 There’s a certain amount of change that’s inevitable, 1291 01:11:50,515 --> 01:11:53,351 and it-it’s extremely important that people understand that 1292 01:11:53,435 --> 01:11:56,604 and understand what the impacts of that really mean on their lives. 1293 01:11:56,688 --> 01:11:59,399 We are so close now to some of the tipping points 1294 01:11:59,482 --> 01:12:01,568 that I wrote about when I wrote The Weather Makers 1295 01:12:01,651 --> 01:12:04,446 all those years ago, committing the world 1296 01:12:04,529 --> 01:12:06,906 to 1.5 degrees of warming by about 2030. 1297 01:12:06,990 --> 01:12:10,326 INTERVIEWER: What does 1.5 degrees Celsius look like? 1298 01:12:10,410 --> 01:12:12,537 FLANNERY: 1.5 degrees is a world where 1299 01:12:12,620 --> 01:12:14,664 we will have significant impacts from heat waves, 1300 01:12:14,748 --> 01:12:16,708 megafires and all of the other things. 1301 01:12:17,876 --> 01:12:21,212 But where the Greenland ice cap is melting relatively slowly 1302 01:12:21,296 --> 01:12:24,883 and we’re getting sea level rise happening but at a... at a lower level. 1303 01:12:24,966 --> 01:12:26,342 So it’s not a great world. 1304 01:12:26,426 --> 01:12:29,345 The world we left behind at one degree of warming 1305 01:12:29,429 --> 01:12:31,306 or less than one degree was a lot better. 1306 01:12:31,389 --> 01:12:34,476 But two degrees, by comparison, is hell. 1307 01:12:34,559 --> 01:12:39,898 So, um, we-we need to make sure we hit that 1.5 degree. 1308 01:12:39,981 --> 01:12:42,192 INTERVIEWER: What does a two-degree world look like? 1309 01:12:42,275 --> 01:12:45,320 A two-degree world is a world of catastrophe. 1310 01:12:47,572 --> 01:12:51,659 It’s a world where the Greenland ice cap’s melting rapidly, 1311 01:12:51,743 --> 01:12:53,953 where the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is decaying 1312 01:12:54,037 --> 01:12:56,164 and therefore sea level is rising rapidly. 1313 01:13:00,335 --> 01:13:02,462 It’s a world where the Amazon rain forest is dying 1314 01:13:02,545 --> 01:13:05,423 and turning into a savanna or a woodland. 1315 01:13:06,758 --> 01:13:09,302 Where the permafrost is melting away so rapidly 1316 01:13:09,385 --> 01:13:12,555 that massive amounts of methane are being put into the atmosphere. 1317 01:13:12,639 --> 01:13:14,307 And then no matter what we do, 1318 01:13:14,390 --> 01:13:16,643 the temperature’s just gonna keep on spiraling. 1319 01:13:16,726 --> 01:13:18,728 ♪ ♪ 1320 01:13:22,982 --> 01:13:26,152 It’s a world of massive disruption. 1321 01:13:26,236 --> 01:13:30,281 Our economy, our food security, our water security, 1322 01:13:30,365 --> 01:13:34,035 our peace will be threatened by unprecedented change. 1323 01:13:38,540 --> 01:13:41,000 So, what should we do? 1324 01:13:41,084 --> 01:13:43,169 Sure, put some solar panels on your roof 1325 01:13:43,253 --> 01:13:45,505 and cut your emissions-- that is fantastic-- 1326 01:13:45,588 --> 01:13:47,173 but never let the fossil fuel industry 1327 01:13:47,257 --> 01:13:49,092 or anyone else tell you that that’s enough. 1328 01:13:49,175 --> 01:13:51,094 Right? It’s not my problem as an individual. 1329 01:13:51,177 --> 01:13:53,888 It’s a collective problem we have, and we need to act collectively 1330 01:13:53,972 --> 01:13:55,807 to find a solution. 1331 01:13:57,433 --> 01:13:59,269 And we’re not seeing that. 1332 01:13:59,352 --> 01:14:03,106 We’ve got states operating separately, companies operating separately, 1333 01:14:03,189 --> 01:14:05,859 and we can’t guarantee what the outcome will be. 1334 01:14:05,942 --> 01:14:08,653 This is a moment that needs leadership. 1335 01:14:08,736 --> 01:14:09,988 It really does. 1336 01:14:10,071 --> 01:14:12,866 We can all act and do our part, but without government leadership, 1337 01:14:12,949 --> 01:14:15,243 it’s just not going to be done. 1338 01:14:15,326 --> 01:14:19,080 REPORTER: The prime minister is feeling the heat on climate change 1339 01:14:19,164 --> 01:14:21,541 ahead of a UN summit of world leaders. 1340 01:14:21,624 --> 01:14:23,543 REPORTER 2: The pressure is growing on Scott Morrison 1341 01:14:23,626 --> 01:14:26,796 to commit to a target of net-zero emissions by 2050. 1342 01:14:26,880 --> 01:14:30,967 REPORTER 3: Will you commit Australia to achieving 1343 01:14:31,050 --> 01:14:33,094 a net-zero emissions target by 2050? 1344 01:14:33,178 --> 01:14:35,346 Well, as you know, our policy is to achieve that 1345 01:14:35,430 --> 01:14:37,891 in the second half of-of this century. 1346 01:14:37,974 --> 01:14:40,226 Well, as-as I outlined, 1347 01:14:40,310 --> 01:14:42,520 we’re seeking to get to net-zero. 1348 01:14:42,604 --> 01:14:45,440 Um, we’d preferably would like to see that happen 1349 01:14:45,523 --> 01:14:47,025 by 2050, as I’ve said. 1350 01:14:47,108 --> 01:14:50,653 It could happen sooner with significant technological change. 1351 01:14:50,737 --> 01:14:53,615 But I’ll tell you, if there isn’t the technological change, 1352 01:14:53,698 --> 01:14:55,950 then it’s just a bit of paper. 1353 01:14:57,202 --> 01:14:59,746 MULLINS: It’s like this government just doesn’t care. 1354 01:15:02,957 --> 01:15:05,460 I don’t get it, because that’s what motivates me 1355 01:15:05,543 --> 01:15:07,378 is thinking of the future. 1356 01:15:11,382 --> 01:15:14,052 I worked in public service for many years. 1357 01:15:16,012 --> 01:15:18,640 You make a lot of sacrifices, and you don’t get rich. 1358 01:15:18,723 --> 01:15:20,600 So it’s a bit of a calling, 1359 01:15:20,683 --> 01:15:23,228 and it’s about the greater good. 1360 01:15:23,311 --> 01:15:26,147 My career was fixing up other people’s problems. 1361 01:15:26,231 --> 01:15:28,775 ...could be seen from about 50 kilometers away. 1362 01:15:28,858 --> 01:15:31,903 Uh, the-the flames were 15, 20 meters into the air. 1363 01:15:31,986 --> 01:15:33,947 (chuckles): When it all turns to shit, 1364 01:15:34,030 --> 01:15:35,698 they call the fire brigade, 1365 01:15:35,782 --> 01:15:38,201 and we turn up and we make things better. 1366 01:15:39,827 --> 01:15:43,665 I remember turning up to a blazing warehouse one night 1367 01:15:43,748 --> 01:15:45,875 with an old, experienced station officer. 1368 01:15:45,959 --> 01:15:47,377 I was a pretty young firefighter. 1369 01:15:47,460 --> 01:15:49,254 I said, "What do we do?" And he said, 1370 01:15:49,337 --> 01:15:50,672 "How do you eat an elephant, son? 1371 01:15:50,755 --> 01:15:52,757 "You start with the first bite. 1372 01:15:54,634 --> 01:15:57,136 Just start. We’ll work it out as we go." 1373 01:15:59,389 --> 01:16:03,643 So that’s my mindset, and that’s what we’ve got to do with climate change. 1374 01:16:04,686 --> 01:16:06,980 So we just don’t wait for the climate denialists. 1375 01:16:07,063 --> 01:16:10,441 If they don’t get it, they don’t get it, and they probably never will. 1376 01:16:10,525 --> 01:16:13,861 We’ve got a world to save, and we’re going to do it. 1377 01:16:15,154 --> 01:16:17,490 We’ve got 20 to 30 years of warming, 1378 01:16:17,573 --> 01:16:19,701 and as long as we reduce emissions 1379 01:16:19,784 --> 01:16:22,537 to zero by 2050, the scientists are saying 1380 01:16:22,620 --> 01:16:27,250 the warming will stabilize and then gradually start to come down. 1381 01:16:27,333 --> 01:16:31,713 I won’t see it, but my grandkids will, and I want to keep them safe. 1382 01:16:34,007 --> 01:16:37,176 WOMAN: It is not okay! 1383 01:16:37,260 --> 01:16:39,804 These people and companies are literally 1384 01:16:39,887 --> 01:16:42,140 burning our futures. 1385 01:16:42,223 --> 01:16:46,060 The climate crisis impacts everyone. 1386 01:16:49,814 --> 01:16:52,358 JEFFREY: The one comment I got more than any other 1387 01:16:52,442 --> 01:16:54,986 from adults was: "Oh, you give me hope." 1388 01:16:55,069 --> 01:16:57,155 Or: "Your generation is gonna save us." 1389 01:16:57,238 --> 01:16:58,906 I thought, "Great. Thanks." 1390 01:16:58,990 --> 01:17:01,034 We shouldn’t have to be doing this. 1391 01:17:01,117 --> 01:17:05,538 Like, as kids, we’re not equipped to deal with these, you know, scenarios. 1392 01:17:05,621 --> 01:17:09,167 We should just be focusing on freaking out about school, 1393 01:17:09,250 --> 01:17:11,336 our next assignment, our next identity crisis, 1394 01:17:11,419 --> 01:17:14,339 and here we are trying to save the world. 1395 01:17:14,422 --> 01:17:16,883 INTERVIEWER: Are you mad at us? 1396 01:17:16,966 --> 01:17:19,010 (sighs): Um... 1397 01:17:19,093 --> 01:17:22,138 I’m not angry at the older generations. 1398 01:17:22,221 --> 01:17:26,559 I’m angry at people in power who spread deliberate lies, 1399 01:17:26,642 --> 01:17:28,436 you know, deliberate misinformation 1400 01:17:28,519 --> 01:17:32,815 to deter people from demanding what’s right. 1401 01:17:32,899 --> 01:17:36,444 I’m angry at people who have incredible wealth 1402 01:17:36,527 --> 01:17:40,656 and decades of knowledge about this brewing crisis 1403 01:17:40,740 --> 01:17:43,117 and decided not only to not do anything 1404 01:17:43,201 --> 01:17:46,704 but to exploit it for their own self-interests and gain. 1405 01:17:49,665 --> 01:17:51,751 I foresee it being 1406 01:17:51,834 --> 01:17:55,838 the largest obstacle my generation faces, 1407 01:17:55,922 --> 01:17:57,924 in terms of having a safe future 1408 01:17:58,007 --> 01:18:00,176 and being able to have our own kids. 1409 01:18:00,259 --> 01:18:02,887 ♪ ♪ 1410 01:18:02,970 --> 01:18:07,141 Like, that’s something I’m wary of, is having my own kids, um, 1411 01:18:07,225 --> 01:18:09,894 because I don’t want to bring them into a world 1412 01:18:09,977 --> 01:18:13,564 that’s going to be unsafe, um, and that isn’t gonna provide them 1413 01:18:13,648 --> 01:18:15,108 with as good a quality of a future 1414 01:18:15,191 --> 01:18:19,070 as I have had the fortune to have. 1415 01:18:19,153 --> 01:18:20,947 -Three, two, one. -Go. 1416 01:18:22,240 --> 01:18:24,409 JEFFREY: ’Cause people look at it as an incredible thing-- 1417 01:18:24,492 --> 01:18:27,203 of young people exercising their power, 1418 01:18:27,286 --> 01:18:29,247 exercising their voices. 1419 01:18:29,330 --> 01:18:31,499 -SPEAKER: What do we want? -CROWD: Climate action! 1420 01:18:31,582 --> 01:18:32,708 -When do we want it? -Now! 1421 01:18:32,792 --> 01:18:34,710 -What do we want? -Climate action! 1422 01:18:34,794 --> 01:18:36,712 -When do we want it? -Now! 1423 01:18:36,796 --> 01:18:38,464 -What do we want? -Climate action! 1424 01:18:38,548 --> 01:18:40,216 -When do we want it? -Now! 1425 01:18:40,299 --> 01:18:41,551 (cheering) 1426 01:18:41,634 --> 01:18:43,219 JEFFREY: But I joined out of, 1427 01:18:43,302 --> 01:18:46,097 like, a feeling of necessity rather than want. 1428 01:18:48,558 --> 01:18:53,020 And I think it is the most tragic thing 1429 01:18:53,104 --> 01:18:56,566 I’ve ever had the misfortune to have to be a part of. 1430 01:18:57,608 --> 01:19:00,278 ♪ ♪ 1431 01:19:06,284 --> 01:19:08,286 PASCOE: My mother taught me about Country. 1432 01:19:12,165 --> 01:19:15,501 We identify as Aboriginal because of this, this and that. 1433 01:19:15,585 --> 01:19:17,044 This family, that family, that family. 1434 01:19:18,171 --> 01:19:20,840 It’s pretty obvious that the vast majority 1435 01:19:20,923 --> 01:19:23,176 of my genes are from Cornwall. 1436 01:19:23,259 --> 01:19:26,512 Um, but... and I’ve been to Cornwall, 1437 01:19:26,596 --> 01:19:29,015 but my heart didn’t flutter. (chuckles) 1438 01:19:31,726 --> 01:19:33,686 I came back to Australia, and... 1439 01:19:33,769 --> 01:19:37,773 this is what I know in my blood. 1440 01:19:38,983 --> 01:19:41,402 And all the time, I was writing. 1441 01:19:41,486 --> 01:19:44,238 I’ve written 33 books about the Country. 1442 01:19:47,450 --> 01:19:51,037 The Earth is the mother of all Aboriginal people. 1443 01:19:52,038 --> 01:19:54,332 And we treat the Earth like our mother. 1444 01:19:54,415 --> 01:19:56,167 That’s our law. 1445 01:19:56,250 --> 01:19:59,504 And if we all respected the Earth to that degree, 1446 01:19:59,587 --> 01:20:03,633 then we wouldn’t be damaging it as greatly as we are at the moment. 1447 01:20:03,716 --> 01:20:05,468 (applause) 1448 01:20:14,060 --> 01:20:17,897 I think we’ve been building toward this for 250 years. 1449 01:20:20,900 --> 01:20:24,946 Europeans had so little respect for Aboriginal people. 1450 01:20:26,072 --> 01:20:28,908 When the first Europeans came here, 1451 01:20:28,991 --> 01:20:31,577 they found a sweet and open land. 1452 01:20:33,120 --> 01:20:35,039 It was pleasant. 1453 01:20:35,122 --> 01:20:37,959 They said it looks like a gentlemen’s park. 1454 01:20:38,042 --> 01:20:40,836 And it was a gentlemen’s park, 1455 01:20:40,920 --> 01:20:44,423 because the people here were gentle men and women. 1456 01:20:46,676 --> 01:20:51,931 But Europeans then stopped the method that had made it like that. 1457 01:20:54,850 --> 01:20:57,186 FLANNERY: Indigenous Australians managed this land 1458 01:20:57,270 --> 01:20:59,272 for 40,000 years at least. 1459 01:21:02,149 --> 01:21:04,318 And it was carefully curated. 1460 01:21:07,446 --> 01:21:10,157 And then the Europeans came along. 1461 01:21:10,241 --> 01:21:13,536 We took the fire stick out of the hand of Aboriginal people, 1462 01:21:13,619 --> 01:21:16,956 and we changed the landscape dramatically. 1463 01:21:24,547 --> 01:21:27,550 Now we are facing consequences in terms of these huge bushfires 1464 01:21:27,633 --> 01:21:29,176 that result from climate change, 1465 01:21:29,260 --> 01:21:33,055 and we have to recognize that the land has really changed. 1466 01:21:34,765 --> 01:21:39,645 And that the old practices may not be entirely effective in the new regime. 1467 01:21:42,273 --> 01:21:44,609 And we need to learn together again 1468 01:21:44,692 --> 01:21:48,946 really how to manage this land at that very large scale. 1469 01:21:52,533 --> 01:21:54,994 This is the critical moment for humanity. 1470 01:21:55,077 --> 01:21:57,330 Right? I’m not going to let my children’s future 1471 01:21:57,413 --> 01:21:59,874 be flushed down the toilet for inaction. 1472 01:21:59,957 --> 01:22:01,417 And whatever I feel internally, 1473 01:22:01,500 --> 01:22:06,130 it’s gonna stay there because, well, I’m-I’m gonna fight to the last. 1474 01:22:06,213 --> 01:22:09,383 There’s-there’s no moment where you can say you’ve done enough. 1475 01:22:13,596 --> 01:22:15,556 PASCOE: This is a long conversation. 1476 01:22:18,142 --> 01:22:20,561 We’re gonna hurt each other, and we’re gonna bruise each other, 1477 01:22:20,645 --> 01:22:22,104 and we have to wear it. 1478 01:22:25,274 --> 01:22:26,609 There’s gonna be disappointment. 1479 01:22:26,692 --> 01:22:28,110 There’s gonna be hope. 1480 01:22:28,194 --> 01:22:30,905 All of that’s gonna happen, and we have to stay patient. 1481 01:22:34,533 --> 01:22:37,662 This argument is such a big argument. 1482 01:22:38,704 --> 01:22:42,166 But I’ve seen really important things done 1483 01:22:42,249 --> 01:22:45,878 in circumstances where nobody expected it to be done. 1484 01:22:46,921 --> 01:22:49,215 So of course we can do it. 1485 01:23:13,531 --> 01:23:15,533 ♪ ♪ 1486 01:23:45,563 --> 01:23:47,565 ♪ ♪ 1487 01:24:17,595 --> 01:24:19,597 ♪ ♪ 1488 01:24:44,455 --> 01:24:46,457 (music fades)