At the southern tip of the Australian continent lies a remote island. An immense wilderness divided by mountains. It’s a world of ancient forests, of pristine rivers and a coastline that’s both wild and beautiful. Its animal inhabitants are as extraordinary as they are bizarre. Natural World: Tasmania: Weird & Wonderful, BBC 2019
The Tasmanian devil: primarily scavengers, they can smell a carcass from half a mile away. ibid.
The Tasmanian giant lobster: weighing up to five kilos and a metre long, they’re the largest fresh water invertebrates on our planet. ibid.
Tasmanian platypuses are enormous: as much as three times heavier than their mainland counterparts. ibid.
One of the largest organisms on the planet – the Mountain Ash. ibid.
A species of ant known as the Jack Jumper … they rely on acute vision. They sting their victims to death with a venom that can kill humans. ibid.
I’m on a journey around Australia, a country the size of a continent. This is a vast land with extraordinary wildlife, a rich booming country on the edge of Asia. It’s not just cricket and kangaroos. Australia with Simon Reeve I, BBC 2020
Australia is a vast continental landmass that’s been cut off from the rest of the world for millions of years, creating a unique and fragile environment. Hundreds of thousands of species here exist nowhere else on Earth. ibid.
Camels have adapted perfectly to Australia … There’s now thought to be about three-quarters of a million camels roaming wild in Australia. ibid.
This isn’t rustic wine-making of course; this region is producing wine on a truly industrial scale. Just a few miles from Hardy’s vineyard is the biggest winery in the southern hemisphere. ibid.
Across Australia large deposits of valuable minerals are being found on traditional Aboriginal lands. ibid.
I travel from Darwin in Australia’s far north across the remote Cape York peninsula and on to the Great Barrier Reef … I discover how Australia’s booming industries is threatening the world’s greatest barrier reef. (Australia & Coral) Australia with Simon Reeve II
The animal causing so many problems at Kakadu and across much of northern Australia is called the Cane Toad. Native animals that feast on a cane toad rarely survive the meal. ibid.
The Northern Territory is six times the size of the UK but with a population of just 230,000 people vast areas are just uninhabited. ibid.
Green ants’ nest tea – it’s smoky and citrusy, it’s pretty tasty. ibid.
In Australia illegal migrants and refugees face mandatory indefinite detention while their cases are being considered. It’s one of the toughest immigration policies of any democratic country in the world. ibid.
Box jellyfish: ‘There is nothing on the planet animal-wise that kills as quickly as these animals. There is nothing that even comes close … in under two minutes.’ ibid.
The Gold Coast is like an Australian Las Vegas and attracts more than ten million tourists a year … As night falls on the Gold Coast the action moves from the beach to the city’s hundreds of bars, clubs and casinos. Australia with Simon Reeve III
Australians are among the largest users of illegal drugs in the world. ibid.
There are thought to be 39 Outlaw motorcycle groups in Australia … The bikers see themselves as rebel outsiders. ibid.
Australia is now one of the biggest exporters of coal in the world. ibid.
It’s been a year since fires spread across Australia, scorching and scarring at a speed never seen before. At least 33 people died, an area bigger than the size of England laid to waste. Panorama: Australia Burning, BBC 2020
Australia is home to an estimated 70,000 Meth addicts. The World’s Most Dangerous Drug, National Geographic 2008
Swan Denver City Hotel Pub: They’ve saved their money and they’re ready to go. So I need two to take their place. Probably about on the Wednesday? About three days before? Hotel Coolgardie ***** pub owner, Amazon 2016
After having their credit cards stolen in Bali and their travel savings drained from their accounts, Lina and Stephie arrived in Perth looking for work. ibid. caption
All the way from Finland, mate. ibid. bloke in pub
I’ve never scared any barmaids in my life. ibid.
Hi, mum … Somewhere far away from civilisation. ibid. on dog-n-bone
There’s a pile of rocks. ibid. on walkabout
Becky and Clio have finished work but are staying on for a few days at the guesthouse across the road. ibid.
Did you get my postcard? On Tuesday we’re going looking for gold. And the following week we’re going with Kangaroo Rob to look for kangaroo babies. ibid. video link home
Stephie accepts an offer from Jamie to take her to Kalgoorlie. ibid. caption
Children must remain Seated at all times. ibid. sign in pub
Since the camping trip, Lina has developed a fever and has started vomiting. ibid. caption
We’re fired. Really? ibid.
The extraordinary events of the past week in Canberra have left many Australians asking, What on earth just happened? And is our political system completely broken with a fourth prime minister cut down by their own party in less than a decade? Malcolm Turnbull called it, ‘A form of madness.’ Four Corners: A Form of Madness, ABC 2018
The new prime minister, Scott Morrison, attempted a conjurer’s trick at the weekend unveiling his so-called ‘next generation government’ as if all were right with the world. But the fact remains that the government he served last week lies in ruins.
Tony Abbott: a seething anger he would continue to nurse. ibid.
‘We are bleeding votes to the right.’ ibid. Concetta
To enable me to cope with the stresses and the nightmares from the atom bombs I witnessed, I have devised ways and means of keeping myself busy. Britain’s Nuclear Bomb Scandal: Our Story, comment, BBC 2024
I’m part of something that should never have happened. ibid.
The longest-running scandal in British history. There is nothing bigger or worse than what’s happened to the nuclear victims. ibid.
You could see the evil in it. It was like looking at the devil. ibid.
Between 1952 and 1963 Britain embarks on a series of nuclear tests in Australia and the South Pacific. The operation involves around 39,000 British and Commonwealth servicemen and scientists. Collectively, the men experience 45 atomic and hydrogen bombs and hundreds of radioactive experiments. ibid. captions
You feel it go through your body. You’re like a light-bulb. ibid. comment
Nobody told us anything. We were just left to get on with life. ibid.
The hydrogen bomb is now as necessary as the atomic bomb was before it. ibid.
They [children] were playing in the sand dunes that day. ibid. Australian indigenous relative of survivor
A 1980 report suggested that up to 50 Aboriginal people died as a direct result of the black mist. Without official records that number cannot be substantiated. ibid. caption
Of the 300 or so men who were on HMS Diana, about half of those who are found to have died since, died from tumours of some sort. ibid. comment
Between 1953 and 1963, 205 men were ordered to fly through mushroom clouds. ibid.
The neglect of safety at Christmas Island was appalling. ibid.
Those at the top were not too worried about the human cost. ibid.
We knew enough to know that this is dangerous. ibid.
The ionising radiation is with you for the rest of your days. ibid.
Very little was shared even with the Australian government. ibid.
Maralinga: Roughly 22 kg of Plutonium-239 was left lying around the site. And that’s easily enough to kill everyone on the planet. ibid.
The question is simple: What killed the babies? ibid.
We have now three or four generations being born with problems. ibid.
It’s like these invisible bullets that keep being fired. ibid.