Chay Khamsone of Pappinbarra shares some thoughts on the climate change debate and what action is needed to ensure those who live on the land have a future.
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"As a resident of Pappinbarra, a firefighter with the RFS, a mother, and an environmental educator I am adding my voice to the growing number of people calling on our leaders to act with urgency on climate change.
"As volunteer firefighters, my family has already witnessed the catastrophic fire event in Pappinbarra two years ago and the terrible destruction that caused.
"In September this year we spent a week routinely packing our personal documents, turning off gas tanks and leaving fire hoses primed due to the Kindee - Pappinbarra fire burning directly behind our house. Thanks to a Section 44 Emergency Declaration aerial crews and combined agencies were able to put this fire out in difficult terrain.
"Fire behaviour is rapidly becoming more dangerous. Fires in extreme and catastrophic conditions can not be trusted to "lay down" at night with the dew point not settling as expected and they are now also burning through rainforests - areas traditionally thought of as natural breaks.
I worry deeply for our future: our health, our livelihoods, our land, and our children's lives.
"We saw fire burn with terrifying speed through the tidiest of farms with manicured paddocks in catastrophic conditions. Our protections are becoming limited. Our fire-fighting capacity is becoming limited when water supplies are low are volunteers become exhausted.
"I worry deeply for our future: our health, our livelihoods, our land, and our children's lives.
"Scott Morrison tells us our children should not be caused "needless anxiety" and treats our concerns with contempt.
"My children are anxious when they see fires close by, when they breathe smoke-filled air for weeks on end.
"When they see their parents frustrated by a lack of care and action by their governments. We shield them from our anger but it is there and it is out of concern for their future.
"Each year I teach around 3000 students in this area to treat our environment with care and respect. We talk about waste, recycling, litter.
"This year I am teaching about sustainability and how we want to have "enough for everyone forever" by using our resources in a smart and fair way. We look at all the ways we can save energy, water, food and limit waste in all the different areas of the home.
"Most students are already doing many of these things. One student I spoke to already did every activity discussed in the lesson, except for having her own wind turbine.
"At the end of the lesson she came up and asked me quietly, "Is our world going to die?". I had given her no cause for this kind of alarm in the lesson, but I knew what she meant, and I tried to answer her with as much hope as I could.
Because of our inaction the problem now is compounded, but we can still change the course of history.
"As an environmental educator I feel I am failing children if we as a society have known about this problem for nearly half a century and not taken the required action to solve it.
"I feel especially betrayed by our government for not facilitating proper public awareness of the matter, and for encouraging harmful public division through the media. Because of our inaction the problem now is compounded, but we can still change the course of history.
"To have any hope though, we need urgent action to reduce greenhouse emissions. We all need to unite behind this goal, and we need clear and courageous leadership to get us there."
