Australian Geographic

Taking that first step YOU’LL FIND Some fabulous tales of triumph in this issue, from The longest walk to The hardest night. Scaling Mt Everest has perhaps become the supreme representation globally for inspiration and perseverance – a universal symbol that seemingly transcends cultures. Climbing to the top of the world has become the ultimate metaphor for success and achievement. All that and more is what you’ll find in the story we bring you on page 66 about the first Aussies to do this, 40 years ago. Our writer, Ross Taylor, spent time speaking to climbers Tim Macartney-Snape and Greg Mortimer; his narrative captures all the hope, anguish and tragedy that accompanied that massive achievement. In our regular Australian Portrait, you’ll meet and be inspired by Lucy Barnard, who’s been scaling her own…

Digging her job AG STAFF WRITER and sub-editor ESME MATHIS (below) jumped at the opportunity to join two remote fossil digs for our feature Searching for Aussie dinosaurs (see page 90). “I’ve been fascinated by fossils since I was a kid and being able to travel to the outback to see bones that were millions of years old coming out of the ground was something really special,” Esme said. “Watching the excavation in action and having privileged access to experts added another layer to the story beyond the science.” The two sites we chose for telling this story about Australia’s rise as an international fossil location – Eromanga in south-western Queensland and Alcoota in the Red Centre – were both very different. “The dinosaur excavation at Eromanga was very fast paced and high…

Due recognition FEATURED LETTER $50 WINNER I wanted to draw attention to two key individuals who were involved in supporting the initial court case to oppose the mining of Ellison Reef (Defining Moments, AG 181) – John Büsst’s close friend, Len Webb, a CSIRO forester at the time, and Eddie Hegerl, who was a post-graduate student in marine studies from The University of Queensland. They went out in two little homemade boats and surveyed the reef over five days. They found that Ellison Reef was far from dead, but a perfectly normal and healthy reef with more than 200 species of fish and 90-odd species of coral. This data formed the major proof for opposing the mining. It is also worth adding that the collective work done by campaigners such as John, Judith, Len…

BRAIDED BEAUTY FOR ALMOST 12 years, home for me has been here at Windorah, south-western Queensland, in the heart of Channel Country. The name Channel Country describes the huge number of intertwined rivulets – braided channels – that form during times of flood across this remarkable more than 200,000 sq.km inland region, which lies mostly in Queensland, but also in parts of South Australia, the Northern Territory and New South Wales. Through my lens I aim to capture the natural beauty of rural life during both good and bad seasons. I’ve been lucky enough to document and celebrate the distinct beauty of this astounding country in drought and in flood, as it was in the winter of 2024. It’s extraordinary to see how the landscape changes constantly, and having it on my…

Whale sharks receive ultrasound Marine scientists have used underwater ultrasounds to monitor the health of whale shark populations at Ningaloo Reef in Western Australia. The underwater ultrasounds allowed scientists to capture images of the sharks’ internal organs and evaluate their reproductive health. Freediving scientists were able to position whale sharks for ultrasounds after first removing the copepods – shrimp-like parasites – from their lips and fins. “When we started to scrape the copepods off their lips, the whale sharks slowed down, hung vertically in the water and treated us like giant cleaner fish,” said lead researcher on the project Dr Mark Meekan, from the University of Western Australia’s Oceans Institute. Freediving scientists then swam beneath the sharks and scanned their organs using ultrasound. “It was both an awesome and challenging experience because the whale…

AFTER LESS THAN 60 per cent of the country’s eligible voters turned out for the 1922 federal election, the Australian Parliament amended the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 in 1924 to make voting compulsory. Ever since, voter participation for federal elections has been up around 90 per cent or more. The federal shift to compulsory voting followed the successful introduction of the practice for the Queensland state election of 1915. Now all Australian states and territories have compulsory voting. A major argument for mandatory voting is that it “ensures the legitimacy” of elected governments. Compulsory voting is not, however, a widespread practice worldwide – Australia is just one of 21 countries, out of 195, to have it. The impact can be seen on voter turnout. For example, in the UK and the USA –…