Keywords: Victorian Bushfires
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AUSTRALIA
- Andrew Hamilton
- 24 August 2009
11 Comments
The Black Saturday bushfires had the same relationship to previous fires as the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima did to other bombing raids. Defects of communication and organisation, while regrettable and costly, were irrelevant: there's no assured safety for those
who live near bushland.
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ENVIRONMENT
- Paul Collins
- 21 August 2009
5 Comments
There were many mistakes made on Black Saturday and the Interim Report of the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission points them out. For now the commissioners avoid the 'bigger fire questions', but in the end these will have to be faced.
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ARTS AND CULTURE
It's frightening how precisely experts predicted the weather and its impact on the seemingly inevitable Black Saturday fires. A new documentary questions the adequacy of the response, given the
veracity of these warning signs.
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RELIGION
- Andrew Hamilton
- 06 May 2009
15 Comments
An American priest reportedly claimed that swine flu was God's punishment for sin. The idea that God might use natural disasters to punish people is repugnant. But at first glance the Scriptures do seem to represent God as doing just that.
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AUSTRALIA
- Michael Mullins
- 23 March 2009
5 Comments
The Victorian bushfires forced people to think about the costs and
values associated with living in the bush. The financial meltdown will in turn make us consider
our care for the needy, and how, and
indeed whether, we must pay for it.
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AUSTRALIA
- Michael Mullins
- 09 March 2009
The Victorian bushfires occurred during a time of financial uncertainty, but Australians gave their money generously. It was as if they were consciously and calculatingly investing their funds in the solidarity of the community.
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ARTS AND CULTURE
- Toby Davidson
- 27 February 2009
1 Comment
Sixteen Indigenous authors contribute stories of creation, love and yearning for place. Their
country is one whose ancient landscape and traditions of custodianship
were violently disrupted well before the 2009 fires.
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AUSTRALIA
- Gillian Bouras
- 25 February 2009
3 Comments
My brother, who has been working with the SES, tells me of the eerie silence in the burnt-out bush: there are no birds. He also tells me of quirks of fate: some chooks had a miraculous escape, as did their owners, who later collected 40 eggs.
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MEDIA
- Philip Harvey
- 24 February 2009
10 Comments
Melbourne had the strange experience of reading and
listening to bushfire reports for five days while neither seeing nor
smelling smoke.
When the mind has no sensory leads to interpret, words become critical.
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ARTS AND CULTURE
- Tony Smith
- 20 February 2009
In contrast to tabloid
television coverage of fires, Lohrey's writing explains much of our relationship to the bush. Like plaques in town halls honouring fallen soldiers, the task of rebuilding devastated communities is embedded in the national psyche.
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AUSTRALIA
- Myrna Tonkinson
- 19 February 2009
9 Comments
The muted recognition of the anniversary of the National Apology was partly due
to the bushfires in Victoria, which continue, understandably, to
monopolise attention and emotion. But the
momentous event of February 2008 has not been followed up by
significant developments in Indigenous affairs.
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ARTS AND CULTURE
- Marlene Marburg and Grant Fraser
- 17 February 2009
2 Comments
flame .. Might ignite the instant .. And go wildly on the palsy of the wind .. So that a shock of parrots thunders forth .. Spewing slipstreams of fire .. A vomitus of barbary sparks .. So that our lungs are cooped with ash
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