New South Wales

Swallowed up by the sea – solving Australia’s most enduring maritime tragedy

10 December 2021 / 2 Comments

On 19 November 1941, on the Indian Ocean off the Western Australian coast, the Royal Australian Navy’s greatest warship, the HMAS Sydney II, was sunk by a disguised German raider. It was and still is the worst naval disaster in Australia’s history. All 645 officers and men on board HMAS Sydney II were lost at sea, representing 35 per cent of the Royal Australian Navy personnel killed in WWII.… Read more

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Are Australia’s deserts really deserts?

3 December 2021 / 5 Comments

When I imagine a desert landscape, I conjure thoughts of endless sand dunes under a blue sky with a relentless sun beating down. And not much vegetation.

Travelling inland through some of the arid red centre for the first time in 2007, I was shocked at how different the reality was from my imaginings.… Read more

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Fabricated myths and politics are causing the mismanagement of water in the Murray-Darling Basin

1 October 2021 / 4 Comments

“It doesn’t matter what is true, it only matters what people believe is true.“^[1]

Before I started our travels, I recall hearing and reading stories about the parlous state of the Murray River and its basin. These calls are always louder when there is a drought.^[2]On our trip, I have spent a lot of time on the Murray, the Lachlan and Edward Rivers, as well as in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation area.… Read more

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Lines in the sand

10 September 2021 / 5 Comments

I recall reading an article by demographer Bernard Salt a few years ago about Australia being a continent divided by borders, lines, fences and boundaries. As I travelled around Australia I am reminded of his reference to ‘lines and boundaries’. Being a demographer, Salt referred to imaginary concepts based on social or physical elements, such as Sydney’s ‘Latte’ line, the ‘Barassi’ line, and Tasmania’s ‘Beer’ line.… Read more

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A Charred landscape

1 July 2021 / 11 Comments

“The dead ash forests reach starkly towards the sky like sentinels bearing witness to the holocaust just past, and those who love the bush are heavy hearted because this may be only the beginning of what is yet to come.” David Treasure, 2007^[1]

Since 1939, the high-country forests in Victoria were relatively free of devastating wildfires.… Read more

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Cultural awareness in the forest

1 October 2020 / 1 Comment

Our walks through the forest stimulate a lot of my blogs on forestry. I often see some features and plants which remind me of the Aboriginal uses of the bush I learnt while I was a forester.

Over my 33-year career, I have tried to understand the indigenous use of the forests.