Activism legend Naomi Klein speaks to Greenpeace's David Ritter about the "insanity" of government coal collusion, scenarios for the Great Barrier Reef, and her admiration for Australia's environmental movement.
My name is Graeme Kelleher, and for 16 years, I was in charge of the Government authority trusted with designing and protecting the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
NOTE: Since the time of writing, scientists have announced that for the second year in a row, a major coral bleaching event is unfolding. You can take action here.
It was a Sunday morning in July, 2015, that I got a chance to board the Rainbow Warrior as a member and go on a guided tour of the vessel. When I was on the rubber dinghy on the way out to the boat I remember thinking, “I hope there is some type of an environmental emergency that the ship, the Rainbow Warrior would have to rush off to, with me still on board.”
Once upon a time, in the distant 60s and 70s, the Great Barrier Reef faced imminent destruction. Tenement applications for drilling and mining covered vast swathes of the reef, with both government and industry enthusiastically backing the plans for mass exploitation.
Heard about the Commonwealth Bank funding more fossil fuels in 2016 than any of Australia’s big banks? Feeling outraged that CommBank is propping up the dying coal industry that is polluting our planet and destroying irreplaceable wonders like the Great Barrier Reef?
