AustLit

'As the colony limps toward the end of a long, hot, depressing summer, it’s tempting to look for the silver lining in the cumulonimbus. Though the smoke still has a stranglehold in the cities, and on the fireground trees are smouldering with red-hot embers, there’s been no rest for the volunteers risking life and limb to save lives and property, and wildlife and country have been decimated; however, the pendulum swung to mythmaking rather than revolution. Countless words have been printed critiquing the government’s inaction on climate change, but an even louder narrative has emerged celebrating the widespread, record-breaking response by ordinary Australians: land of the fair go, neighbours helping neighbours, the great volunteer army. In the absence of meaningful government action, altruistic individuals stepped up.' (Introduction)