She’ll be Right by Jasmin Richardson

In this triptych of self-portraiture, I navigate my emotions surrounding Australia’s climate inaction. I am not a revolutionary. I don’t have the capacity to hold this burden because our government isn’t. Yet I still find myself sink at each news article shouting our future is doomed, each time I see plastic wash up on the shores of Brisbane’s river. My birthplace is crumbling for the sake of profit.

It seems that no matter how many floods, fires, and droughts our population faces, our land is never our first priority. There are always new coal mines to be built, more projects to funnel our money into. Even in the face of a worldwide crisis, the “land abound with nature’s gifts” always takes them for granted.

My question is, would this neglect persist if the roles were reversed? Truth is, they would pay more attention if it started happening to us, and somehow that hurts more.