ON THE WALLABY- 11th April 2007

”This above all- to thine own self be true; And it must follow, as the night the day; Thou canst not then be false to any man “. - William Shakespeare, 'Hamlet,' Act I, Scene iii Greatest English dramatist & poet (1564 - 1616)

CHARLOTTE’S WORLD- WHAT WILL WE HAVE LEFT HER AND HER GENERATION?

Driving back to Sydney from Canberra on Saturday after a rushed trip to greet my grand daughter, Charlotte Anne Fountain, who was born earlier that morning, I was listening to ABC radio, in a half on/off way and I picked up tabs of an interview regarding the world climate report delivered the day before.

As I have always valued flying or driving time as great “think time”, and being like all grand parents in that “we” are as proud as punch over the new arrival, I started thinking about what the world will or may be like when she turns 23 – the year 2030 mentioned in that report.

Hopefully, but most not likely, I will still be annoying people so I may be able to answer my own question but if that report is to be believed, then her world will feature such things as:-

• a Great Barrier Reef that I cruised aboard Tringriz and HaCienda will no longer be there in any good shape and many reefs will be covered by algae

• tropical cyclones are likely to become more intense and move even further south.

• the Murray-darling River system will have salinity levels raised by upwards of 19%, the annual flow will decrease by up to 25% and the toxic green algae that is fatal to fish and livestock will bloom even further.

• Heat waves, fires and droughts will continue to grow in even bigger numbers

Will she and her fellow 23 year olds thank us?

Not bloody likely!

And yet the power to maybe change but certainly diminish this legacy lies with us now but have we the guts and foresight to do that?

Many years ago, in 1954 actually, in a station homestead in western Queensland I watched a man (I was then nine) tell my father, and show him on a map, the future of Australia.

He simply tipped a map of the world on his wall upside down and commented that “this is how the world sees us and one day (this is 1954 don’t forget) we will have to justify to them why so much land is owned by so few people”.

Prophetic words indeed and it was a theme taken up some years ago by Lord McAlpine (the man who changed Broome to what it is today) who had the belief that unless we develop Northern Australia, we will lose it.

Preposterous you say?

Nup – very likely I reckon.

What happens should this report be even remotely right and many Pacific Islands go underwater, many Asian shoreline towns go underwater or are made untenable?

Where do the literally millions of people go?

Read that Queensland grazier’s prophecy and I think you will find the answer.

Yes Charlotte my love, we have dealt you and your generation a dud hand but I vow you this, your grandfather will be going like buggery to see that it doesn’t happen. I just hope many others will come with me on this one.

Carpe diem

Tony

Tony Fountain

Professional Speaker, auctioneer and author

Sydney NSW Australia

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