Editorial - Option Two

​It is the sixth week of the first term of the twentieth year of this century. As they do every year, students are slipping back into cycles of stress, study and sleep. Minds are whirring, overanalysing the best routes to the next class, or the best method of not getting caught for wearing the wrong socks. The summer break lay languorously in the sun and seemed to stretch for miles, but it slipped away like an eel, quickly and before anyone could notice. Now students have gathered the little energy that they soaked up during the holidays and trundled it back through the school gates. Normally this energy gives students a particularly vibrant glow that lasts for the first few weeks of term, but the usual radiance isn’t there. The holidays weren’t particularly restful or rejuvenating for any Australian. Despite our country experiencing a relatively cool summer, the ongoing drought (covered by Elspeth Pinnuck in the last edition) provided fuel for huge fires that swept across the country and burnt through more than 20% of Australia’s forests.

The unprecedented bushfires ravaged not only the Australian landscape, but the futile hope held by many that if Australians ignore Climate Change, it will ignore our nation in turn. Contrary to wishful thinking, our country hasn’t been left unscathed, this summer, the homes of Australian people and animals were swallowed by the inferno. Our government grappled with the reality that nightmarish projections from climate models of the future were actually coming to pass and they didn’t have sufficient infrastructure or equipment to deal with it.

As global temperatures rise, the Australian fire-season is starting to expand, overlapping with the fire-seasons in other counties. This is especially problematic for Australia, because it owns only one large specialist firefighting aircraft (a Boeing 737 contracted last year by NSW) and leases most of its helicopters from the northern hemisphere. In early January, when the season was at its worst, many aircrafts that were normally at Australia’s disposal were diverted by other global crises and couldn’t bring aid to our country. This is an issue that will become more common as fire seasons grow longer. With this knowledge hanging over their heads and sweat dripping down their necks, Australians spent their summer watching as the government scrambled to aid those affected by the disaster. They looked on, as fatigued firefighters juggled increasingly threadbare rosters of volunteers, who were taking unpaid time off their own jobs to fight bushfires that had no end in sight.

Last week in Melbourne it rained. Glorious, bursting droplets fell from the sky and soothed our sun-kissed skins, refreshed us, let us finally fall into step with the new year. The week before that, it rained in Queensland and NSW, heavily enough to bring relief to communities who had been affected by the fires. According to the NSW Rural Fire Service, the deluge reduced the number of active fires by one third in a single day. This was phenomenal news, but for many who now have their heads buried deep in Shakespeare or Plath, such information probably didn’t land as heavily as it may have during the holidays. Interactions with algebra and ever-shifting friendship groups have booted this summer’s events into the back of many student’s minds.

Now is the most important time to read and reflect on the news. High school is the last stop before adulthood, before voting on issues that will affect Australia and by extension, the world. Considering the catastrophic events of the summer, it seems clear that the next decade will have to be navigated with concise decision making and rational thinking. Staying informed is key; not understanding the real facts about COVID-19 (More commonly known as the coronavirus – read more about this in Scarlett Mulhall’s article) or Australia’s system of government won’t prepare us for when we need the facts to back up our decisions. Staying informed will fuel in-depth discussions with friends and family, as well as give fuel to your activism. It is important to not forget the events of this summer, because they herald a changing pattern in Australia’s fire season that is going to heavily affect our future. Remembering the fires is not only about honouring the lives lost and acknowledging the damage done, but using the knowledge at our disposal to prevent ourselves from being so helpless when the next disaster arrives. Students are faced by a choice, we can wait frustratedly for our government to step up and deal with the issues our country faces, or we shift direction and do it ourselves. On behalf of The NHS Spiel, I tick option two.

Your Editor, Ieva.