Continuing a Legacy - Protecting Antarctica: a Place of Peace and Science.
At my grandfather’s memorial I paid tribute to his legacy as an environmental leader. I celebrated his role in ensuring that Antarctica, the last great wilderness on earth, remains a place dedicated to peace and to science. It is a great honour and privilege to announce this week that I continue in his footsteps in accepting a position on the Board of the Antarctic Science Foundation, a research fund purely dedicated to Antarctic based science.
This week is bittersweet and a time of celebration and reflection. December 9th would have been my Pop’s 90th birthday, which is a natural point in time for grief to re-emerge and dance on the edge of one consciousness. December 2nd is the 60th anniversary of the Antarctic, which has put in spotlight the importance of Antarctic conservation and protection. It also Landcare’s week of Coastcare, another environmental legacy of my grandfather. It seems that all the threads of heritage have wound together in a way that is deeply personal.
In writing my tribute to my Grandfather at his public memorial, I chose to share the Antarctic story as it was both a legacy of which he was immensely proud, and as a parable from which we can reflect and learn today. I said:
“there is one story that, to me, speaks to the legacy that is most relevant to the future of Australia. For both what was achieved, and what is possible. In 1989, Bob was handed some cabinet papers, requesting Australia’s support to open Antarctica to mining. He was horrified. But he was told that years of international negotiations could not be unwound. It was a done deal. “Bugger that” he said.
Refusing to sign, Bob courted the world with an ideal for something greater, better and fairer. Enlisting global eco champion Jacques Cousteau, the Hawke/Keating government determined to set about changing the world’s mind.
And they did.
In 1991 the Madrid protocol was executed, making the last great wilderness on earth a place devoted to peace and to science, protected from exploitation.
Now, that folks is legacy.”
However, I also chose that story as it is a deeply personal story, that goes beyond honouring his legacy, and speaks to my own journey also.
When I was younger, I fell into a sustainability career without really understanding how my family’s values of equality and social justice were pointing me towards the greatest issue of equality of our time - climate change. My high school years through to now has been a constant journey of navigating my own place in the world and peeling back the layers of my personal aspirations and heritage to more deeply understand how my family past has shaped my future. Antarctica was the pinnacle of that discovery.
I have experienced the magic that is Antarctica. In 2012 I was selected to travel to Antarctica as part of Robert Swan’s Leadership on the Edge program, joining over 70 sustainability and business leaders from around the world. We learnt about the science of climate change and its impact on the world’s driest continent. Being there gave me a deep respect for the science, and reverence that the great wilderness deserves, and a fierce pride and personal connection to what my grandfather achieved.
In the lead up to my journey, I interviewed my grandfather to share with my fellow adventurers - and here is something from the family archives.
Looking back at that video holds a complexity of feelings for me. Regret for not fully realising at the time the gift and opportunity that it was - an appreciation that only comes with hindsight and loss. Gratitude that I did have the fortitude to record it. Awe in what he actually achieved. In rewatching it again after filming it almost eight years ago I rediscovered once again where my beliefs are anchored - the power of education, the importance of research, and why we must fight for environmental integrity.
In his shadowing years, when he looked back at his life, there were two key global leadership achievements he wanted his legacy to celebrate - His roles in ending apartheid, and the protection of Antarctica. He believed in the importance of science and scientists. That is why I know he would be immensely proud of my role as a Board member on the Antarctic Science Foundation.
In my role I will seek to support the organisation as it grows to be a world leader in Antarctic Research, ensuring we have the leadership, investment, partners and supporters to do so. It is the only research organisation dedicated to the science of Antarctica, which is critical to ensuring the future and sustainability of our ocean ecology and climate.
Antarctica is place and concept that I hold very dear to my heart, as it goes to the core of my values, career, and heritage. Now it also speaks to my future.
