RGSQ News

by Grace Dugdale

This short story won first prize in the Society’s Geography Writing Competition, 19 years and under category.

Marley loves the 31st of December. It's her favourite because that night when she goes to bed, she’ll be reborn. By morning she’ll be a clean slate, a blank canvas. Everything that happened before will just be before, and everything that happens next will be fresh and fabulous, and everything she’s ever wanted.

Marley also loves starting a new year because it means she can spend lots of money on a vacation, completely guilt-free. Why? Because it’s necessary. An essential investment towards becoming her new self; because, to Marley, the ideal version of herself is out experiencing the world, bikini-clad, sprawled out on the sand, not having to care about anyone but herself.

Marley steps out of her blissfully air-conditioned Ford Ranger and into the heat. Feeling as though she’s defrosting in a scenic, sandy microwave, she makes her way through the car park that's chock-a-block with 4WDs. She finds herself at the start of a trail. Avoiding the clusters of string grass and vines weaving across the ground, she walks through the bush, listening as it hums and chirps. The path opens to a wooden staircase that overlooks the lake. Marley pauses to catch her breath, even a short distance does that to her now.

The lake resembles one half of a cracked-open blue geode. The powder-white sand extends a few metres from shore before the clear water disappears into a dark nothingness. Marley notices the families, your picture-perfect ‘front page of BCF’ bunch. Red-faced mums blow up arm floaties and detangle goggles from wet matted hair. Dads pitch shade tents and piggyback their sticky-faced kids who drip melt Paddle Pops down their backs. As she makes her way to the water, she can't help but feel watched, judged. She would kill for a cocktail right now.

Marley used to love to drink, and dance, and drink while dancing even. She missed feeling like eyes could be on her for the right reasons, because she was sexy, and she knew it. But it was more than that. She missed the feeling of living just for her and her alone.

Marley reaches the water and wades to where it turns black and cold. Looking back at the beach, she watches the mums still struggling to slather sunblock on their wriggly, wailing children. It makes her feel sick inside. Marley looks down at her big, round belly, covered with pink markings like the bark of the scribbly gum trees she’d driven past just today. Embracing herself, she’s submerged into the darkness. For a moment she imagines that she is being cleansed. She pretends that when she emerges, she’ll be back to herself from before and everything that happens next will be fun and fabulous, and everything she's ever wanted.

by Angela Paxton

This short story won first prize in the Society’s Geography Writing Competition, open category.

From the window of the bus, the Brisbane River dozes. It lies languid, like a wrist upon an armrest, soaking up the sun. I also sweat in my bus seat, too compressed by strangers to breathe deeply. But the river reminds me of my father and that is good. I am visiting him today. As I trundle toward the city, I dream of my father, and of this river, both of whose bones ache in the sun.

My father swam this same river as a boy, which now runs flanked and dazzled by the highways I ride and the buildings I wander beneath. But although I am young and it is the only river I know, it will always be his river, over mine. He alone can tell you how well it bore his raft and what the bridges look like from underneath. The mangroves are still there, he told me, beside the bridge pylons. But I will never smell them, nor risk my naked feet in their mud.

In my pocket is a letter from my brother, unopened. Right now he would be in Athens, standing like Hadrian amongst the remnants of the Parthenon. All his life he had dreamt of this moment. Now, this is his letter. But I won’t open it yet. My father and I will open it together because it was his dream too.

My gaze is drawn to the dark verandahs of the Regatta Hotel – my great grandparent’s hotel. Here, as a boy, my father wiped beer from elbow-heavy tabletops, his small hands cold with pints he was too young to drink. I have never been there. Like the mangrove mud, my feet have not trod those hallowed rooms. But I have dreamt of it. That, enough, is my Parthenon.

The bus sweeps into the kerb and my body reacts accordingly. With heaviness of mind, my feet meet the concrete and choose their path.

I walk across the dappled grass. My heart beats fast because it has been too long and I know his stony stare will reproach me. I am right. My father waits, unblinking, in the distance. I lean against the headstone and stroke his granite brow. Like the Regatta, he too has begun to weather and fade.

I unfold my brother’s letter and read aloud so my father can hear:

I stood inside the colonnades of the Parthenon, with birds above and rubble below. My dream come true. But it’s stones. Only stones. I will come home.

I tuck the letter into the earth beside the grave and swathe the grass over it. My father had always wanted to travel but had never gotten the chance. Now, perhaps, he could. As I stride toward the ferry dock, I realise that I can too. Through my eyes, I would look for my father’s city and everything old would become new again. I smile at the wind-stirred scent of mangrove mud. I would go to the Regatta and get my hands sticky with beer on the ancient bar. But first, I would see the bridges. From underneath.

Geography Writing Competition - Short List

Open (all ages) category

The Parthenon — Angela Paxton

Forever Fleeting — Margaret Riggs

Stone Sonata — Marian McGuinness

On the Tide — Vicki Thomas

Two Eras — Rhonda Valentine Dixon

Reflections by the Blue Lake: A Matter of Scale — Christopher Zinn

19 Years and under category

Caught Alight — Lily Bateman

Lake McKenzie — Grace Dugdale

A Sacred Place — Lara Locke

The Daintree a Magical Short Story — Sarah Lutz

In the Whitsunday Breeze — Olivia Randle

The Diving Board — Alexandra Rickert

The winning entries are:

Open (All ages) category

1^st Angela Paxton – The Parthenon

2^nd Vicki Thomas - On the Tide

3^rd Marian McGuinness -  Stone Sonata

19 Years and under category

1^st Grace Dugdale – Lake McKenzie

2^nd Lara Locke – A Sacred Place

3^rd  Lily Bateman -  Caught Alight

Angela Paxton's short story - The Parthenon - that won first prize in the open category has been published on the Society's website at https://rgsq.org.au/News/13410163.

Grace Dugdale's short story  - “Lake McKenzie” - that won first prize in the Society’s Geography Writing Competition, 19 years and under category has been published on the Society's website at https://www.rgsq.org.au/News/13421776.

The Geography Writing Competition which ran from 1 February to 30 April attracted a stellar number of short stories set in Queensland and on a geographical concept. The judges after much conferring and deliberation chose a long list in each category. This long list will be judged and a short list chosen. The short list will be sent to the Queensland Writers Centre for final judging. We are proud to list here the authors and the titles of their stories which have been judged to have sufficient merit to progress to the long list. An Awards Night event is in the calendar for 23 August.

Long List Open (All ages)

Journey Through Tallebudgera Creek — Rachel Anthony

The Awakening — Susan Birtles

Two Bleached Blondes — Bronwyn Boehm

Mount Tamborine — Lynette Diamant

Accretion and Erosion — Sharyn Grimes

Outback Paradise — Steve Hawe

Soy Dust and Gold Sauce — Alison Hooker

A Duet of Land and Sea — Jake Knight-Barry

Bashful Bommie’s Secret Reef — Kathleen Mason

The Parthenon — Angela Paxton

Forever Fleeting — Margaret Riggs

Natural Bridge — Pauline Rimmer

Beyond Trinity Inlet — Niko Satria

Shadows of the Leap — Sharon Schoneveld

Stone Sonata — Marian McGuinness

Troppo — Adam Stone

On the Tide — Vicki Thomas

Two Eras — Rhonda Valentine Dixon

Tree-a-Holic — Sarah Webster

Reflections by the Blue Lake: It's A Matter of Scale — Christopher Zinn

Long List - 19 Years and under

Caught Alight — Lily Bateman

Lake McKenzie — Grace Dugdale

A Sacred Place — Lara Locke

The Daintree a Magical Short Story — Sarah Lutz

Tangalooma Tides — Hayley MacMinn

In the Whitsunday Breeze — Olivia Randle

The Diving Board — Alexandra Rickert

The Mystery of the Cave at Carnarvon Gorge — Ava Smith

Whispering Gorge: A Dance of Enchantment — Annaliece Turner

Coral Cove — Charlie Turner

Ms Lucy Graham, Director Cairns and Far North Environment Centre (CAFNEC), began her presentation with a video prepared by the Bureau of Meteorology as a State of the Climate report 2020. It reported on how enhanced greenhouse effect is a major driver of our climate change. Temperatures are rising, causing more frequent heat waves and increases in fire weather days and longer fire seasons; long term rainfall patterns have shifted so that southern states are becoming drier and the central and northern parts of Australia have increased wet rainfall seasons and flooding; the oceans are absorbing carbon and acidifying; ocean temperatures continue to increase with more frequent and severe marine heatwaves and lead to sea level rises. Lucy showed a graph of drivers of climate change which recorded that the energy sector is responsible for 32% of emissions.

Solutions to carbon emission reduction is a wicked problem. Wicked problems are used to describe really nuanced problems that are at a scale that one country alone cannot address. They generate perverse outcomes, there are problems of definition and a justice debate. Politicians and planners need to stop talking about old systems e.g. grids and start talking about distributed energy systems. The Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) addresses the biodiversity crisis alongside the climate crisis. There needs to be a systems approach rather than the current silo approach.

Land clearing is the biggest threat to biodiversity loss. It increases fragmentation and species’ connectivity, delivers more flora edges which are threatened by encroachment, and cause fauna to become climate refugee - moving into higher latitudes to seek the temperature range suitable for their existence.

The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) does not clearly outline its intended outcomes, and the environment has suffered from two decades of failing to continuously improve laws and its implementation. Regional planning laws are also failing to deliver the visions that they describe. CAFNEC has been working with conservation groups on an ambitious vision to have a restorative energy industry that increases biodiversity in Queensland and improves First Nations people and regional communities while providing affordable, reliable renewable energy.

The presentation was extended with Manoj Prajwal Bhattaram posing some big questions to Lucy and more questions coming from the audience.

Contributed by Pamela Tonkin

Professor Jonathan Corcoran was elected in November 2023 as a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia (ASSA) based on his distinguished contributions to the field of Human Geography and to the understanding of the spatial dimensions of key social phenomena. 

The ASSA is an independent, interdisciplinary body of elected Fellows including Australia’s leading researchers and practitioners across the breadth of social science disciplines. Fellowship of the Academy of Social Sciences is an honour conferred for scholarly distinction in research and the advancement of social sciences. Fellows are elected to the Academy annually by their peers through a rigorous selection process.

Jonathan is a professor within the School of the Environment, researcher in the Queensland Centre for Population Research and Deputy Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Science, at The University of Queensland. He is an RGSQ member and former Councillor and continues to contribute as a member on the Society’s Publications committee. Jonathan’s research is focussed on understanding the spatial dimensions of key social phenomena that he approaches with a quantitative focus drawing on expertise in spatial modelling and mobility research. His work includes the spatial dimensions of crime, fire, and social disadvantage, and on human spatial behaviour, including tourist movements, commuting, and graduate migration.

Congratulations, Jonathan!

https://environment.uq.edu.au/profile/9224/jonathan-corcoran

https://socialsciences.org.au/academy-fellow/?sId=00398000004H4dZAAS

From Nainoa Thompson, 2024 AAG Honorary Geographer, at his acceptance speech presented at the AAG annual conference in Honolulu April 2024:

“Geographers today in the 21st century clearly understand the importance of the earth. They are navigators for tomorrow who are able to view the world not just from its physical and ecological space but also from humanity’s relationship to it. They look at the whole earth and all of humanity and that relationship so that they can help us make better choices to create a sail plan that will take us to a future that is good enough for our keiki (children).”

From Emeritus Professor Iain Hay, 2024 RGSQ JP Thomson medallist ration on 7 May 2024, which explored how voluntary, community-based learned geographical societies signal hope for Australian geography: “In an era characterised by environmental degradation, sociospatial polarisation, and geopolitical turmoil, geography is of vast and heightened significance.” 

Professor Peter Nielsen, a coastal engineer with the University of Queensland and an international consultant, has been conducting research at Amity Point since 2014. Dramatic erosion events occur there predictably. The rock wall needs regular restructuring as the sand underneath it disappears. His video showed the phenomenon of a flow slide, an event which occurs over a period of two to three hours and at a rate of 30cm/minute.

The shoreline recedes dramatically resulting in a vertical face up to 7m tall. The result is a semicircular bay at the end of the established rock wall. Sand comes back in 2 to 3 weeks to fill in the bay again, but the damage has been done. The long-term effects are not known. Flow slides occur every few weeks, and it is quite an enigma as scientists do not know what triggers them and cannot predict when they will happen next.

Mrs Vivienne Roberts-Thomson is the president of Coochiemudlo Island Coastcare. This is a state education department initiative, where students can go to study Marine Biology and Coastal Erosion. She has won an excellence in teaching award for her work at this centre. There are age specific programs for each year from Prep to year 12. The Centre is in partnership with the Port of Brisbane, looking at the effects of land reclamation. Students map mangroves around White Island and study changes. The pedagogy emphasises discovery, engagement and learning outside the classroom. Practical work for the students includes plankton trawls, drones under water and benthic grabs. This is real life science in action for the students, raising awareness and hopefully inspiring future champions of the bay.

Ms Dianne Aylward is the principal of Moreton Bay Environmental Education Centre. This group started in January 2013 and raises issues and undertakes action plans to protect the island which is part of the Moreton Bay Ramsar Site. The crucial eastern shoreline is the most sensitive to storm damage and erosion. The group works in collaboration with the Redlands City Council and SEQ to conduct mass plantings, sand relocation and dune fencing. There is nearly 20ha of melaleuca wetlands and bush beaches, with over 200 different plant species including some endangered ones. The group has also undertaken a four-year wetland weed eradication program, taking out species like Singapore daisies and replacing them with native species such as marine couch, pigface and spinifex. The Coast Care Group relies on motivated volunteers to share the workload.

After the three speakers had delivered their address, question time was lively, delving further into the concerns and issues and exploring possible solutions. Professor Peter believes that the donation of sand from the Port of Brisbane would be beneficial to counteract global warming on Coochiemudlo Island. The sand would come from the dredging of the 16m deep navigation channel. The proposed development of Toondah Harbour together with the filling in of wetlands would also cause a plume to affect Coochiemudlo Island. Traditionally sand has always moved into Moreton Bay from NSW because of prevailing currents, and there have also been historical storm surges through the decades. However, current development projects are having a massive effect. Scientific research must show the way forward.

The audience benefited from the expertise of these three speakers highlighting different aspects of the impact of coastal erosion. President John Tasker ably moderated the conversation and made the speakers feel at home.

Photo: Kay Rees

Contributed by Stella Rush

Register for upcoming Geography in Conversation events. 

L-R: Geoff Heard, Sheena Gillman, Dave Harper

September’s Geography in Conversation provided a valuable opportunity to hear expert perspectives on monitoring and managing threatened species populations across Queensland. 

The Threatened Species Index (TSX) seeks to measure the change in abundance over time of 278 species by collating data from monitoring programs across Australia.  Dr Geoff Heard, Science Advisor for the project at the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) gave an overview of recent trends for birds, mammals and plants. From 1990-2022 the TSX has decreased by 56% in Queensland; however, the TSX is stabilising in sites actively managed for conservation. More data is needed for frogs, fish and insects to better capture changes across the entire ecosystem.

Sheena Gillman from BirdLife Australia illuminated the practical difficulties of monitoring programs. There are believed to be up to 50 individual Eastern Bristlebirds surviving but there have been no confirmed sightings for 10 years. Its habitat consists of dense native grass close to rainforest along the northern NSW and South East QLD border. Some of this habitat is rugged terrain or private land neither included in the TSX nor accessible to volunteers doing field work. Analysing data from newly installed passive acoustic monitors and a captive breeding program underway at Currumbin will require significant funding and time to be successful.

The northern hairy-nosed wombat is one of the most critically threatened mammals in the world, but the population has rebounded from 100 wombats in 2006 to 300 today. Principal Conservation Officer Dave Harper from the Queensland Department of Environment and Science spoke of the activities underway among the two existing populations in conjunction with partner organisations. Traditional techniques (e.g. predator-proof fencing to keep dogs and foxes out) and innovative approaches (e.g. introducing grazing into conservation areas to control invasive buffel grass) are in place to sustain habitat suitable for the growing number of wombats.

The Geography in Conversation committee would like to thank John and Mary Nowill for their smooth moderation of a fascinating discussion.

Contributed by Riley Kernaghan

Register for upcoming Geography in Conversation discussion forums.

For the past decade, Queensland Globe has enabled government, industry and the general public to visualise and explore state-wide spatial datasets. GeoResGlobe was introduced in 2019 and focuses on mining and exploration data.

The Department of Resources is commencing a review of Queensland Globe and GeoResGlobe to help drive innovation and deliver enhanced functionality. Take the survey to share your insights and help shape the future of spatial data access in Queensland.

https://www.resources.qld.gov.au/data-mapping/globe-survey?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Globes