Australia singed and soggy; but not scorched and drowning

Living in Australia you are not exempt from what happens in the environment. Australia is a vast land exceeding 2.7 km² it is a land of drought and a flood but also rich diverse and large. This year the world lives with corona-virus. We are fortunate and when it is winter in North Asia is summer in Australia and as such the life of the virus and a chance of infection is less. It was an Institute at the University of Melbourne who first cracked the virus code and gave it is the world. The University of Queensland is one of the three global centres collaboratively working on a vaccine.

Australia will rebuild the damage caused by fire and flood. This is our culture and our spirit.

The bushfire season in Australia this year has been particularly bad. The area of Australia effected is about the size of Scotland. Scotland fits into Australia 98 times. China is Australia’s most significant trading partner taking 30% of our exports and providing 18% of our imports. Our exports to China, are lead by energy minerals food and services. The first three will simply go into the international market and as they are commodities we will be a price taker. Services are basically education and tourism. One would expect that education will bounce back within six months but the tourism may take some time.

Fire is an essential part of the Australian plant life-cycle. The seeds of most of our gum trees need to be burnt to germinate. Our earliest settlers burnt the land so that they could farm it some 40,000 years ago. For four more than the last 200 years later Australians have learned to live with this beautiful but hard land. Our social contract with the agricultural sector will no doubt see they are supported through this. Despite the pictures not a lot of agriculture was lost.

From north Queensland to the south of Tasmania 3,705 km from Perth to Sydney is 4042 km.Put simply Australia is a big place and experiences lots of weather.

Australia’s GDP in 2018 was USD 1,432 billion with a GDP per capita of AUD 48,800. Most of this is generated in lands and are not affected by either flood or fire.  Australia remains a great place to live and wonder place to invest.

Paul Raftery / www.paulraftery.com.au