The Bushfire Catastrophe: What Now?

Sun 16th February, 2020
Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House
Bennelong Point, Sydney NSW 2000
As the bushfires ebb, the Opera House brings together a slew of experts to discuss what happens next.

After months of fires wreaking havoc on our bushland, wildlife and communities, it’s easy to fall into despair and inaction. To combat that – and to help make sense of it all – the Opera House is putting on a free talk, with speakers with a range of expertise who will offer practical responses and solutions to the ongoing disaster.

There’ll be two 90-minute sessions, in which community leaders, academics, mental-health advocates and wildlife and policy experts will discuss the urgent and long-term issues we need to tackle.

Session one will feature the Guardian’s Indigenous affairs editor Lorena Allam; Christine Morgan, CEO of the National Mental Health Commission and national suicide-prevention adviser to Prime Minister Scott Morrison; Taronga Zoo senior veterinarian Larry Vogelnest; Elizabeth Mossop, dean of design, architecture and building at the University of Technology Sydney; Erin Riley, founder of Findabed.com; and Nick Bitar, co-founder of Milkwood permaculture. They’ll be discussing a wide range of topics, from First Nations’ grief and their approach to land care, to the ongoing mental-health issues resulting from the bushfires, to the construction of bushfire-resilient buildings, to how to protect animals and their habitats.

The second session will bring together Oliver Costello, CEO and co-founder of Firesticks, an Indigenous-led organisation bringing back cultural burning and land-management practices; John Connor, CEO of the Carbon Market Institute; David Bowman, professor of pyrogeography and fire science at the University of Tasmania; and Danielle Celermajer, professor of sociology and social policy at the University of Sydney.

Session one begins at 1.30pm, session two begins at 3.45pm. The event is free, but registration is essential.

There will be donation buckets at the door to raise money for bushfire relief.

More information here.