- I just have a vivid memory of Christmas morning,
walking past the firies,
and like, instantly making eye contact
with their like, soot-covered skin and clothes.
And you know, you just said hello,
but these people are so broken,
and that was pretty like, overwhelming.
(gentle music)
- So, today, we are going through some tweets
about the Australian bush fires,
which been raging through since before summer started.
Even though us, as Australians,
are kind of on the forefront of this crisis,
which is a climate change issue,
it is a global crisis,
and we're just experiencing it first.
- "I guess this country is now being run by
"Bette Midler, Celeste Barber, and P!nk."
(both laugh)
- 'Cause they're the only ones actually saying anything.
- I would live
in that country. - Yeah.
- Like.
- It's amazing seeing people with such big platforms
use their platform for such an amazing cause,
and I think it really got the international attention.
- You know, when I heard P!nk had donated,
I was like, wow, you know what I mean?
She like, makes banger tunes,
but she's an absolute legend. - Yeah.
- Like, for the world.
- I think it's also a testament to how many people,
not even just in Australia, but in the world,
want to help out.
- Yeah.
- And Celeste Barber gave them a very easy way to do it.
- And Celeste Barber, like-- - Yeah.
- I already like you, but now,
I'm obsessed with you. - Yeah.
- She wanted to raise 30 grand.
She's now up to 15 million all over, you know?
It keeps literally going up every single day.
"All the money raised for bushfire relief
"does not let the government off the hook.
"Charity does not replace what our taxes should pay for."
- It's actually fantastic that people have banded together
and helping out,
but at the same time,
shouldn't there already be contingencies in place
for this kind of stuff?
- "Actually had a dream that I woke up to a bright blue sky.
"A distant memory."
Which is currently the East Coast of Australia,
what they're going through.
- There's photos coming out from the South Coast,
and everything's just red.
It looks like it's been photoshopped.
It's, like, a red cellophane
over the camera lens. - Yeah.
- You know, for us, it's really shocking,
but if this is something
that the next generation is going to grow up with,
like, we never experienced anything this bad.
- No.
- We get to a point where we're above being
children of the bright future, no pun intended,
that they deserve. - Mmm.
- "If you don't spend much time around teenagers,
"I don't know if you're aware
"how much anxiety they are carrying about climate change,
"and how much anger they feel toward the establishment
"that is still in denial.
"Be aware, it's a lot."
- Oh my God, this. - Mmm.
- I don't think it's just teenagers.
- I think it is really hard to explain
to the older generation what climate anxiety is,
because they've had their future.
- Yeah. - Whereas teenagers
have not had their future.
- They have to think about, okay, like, you know,
"How can I live a life that, you know,
"will be okay in this world
"that will be so, kind of, destroyed?"
You know?
And they don't have like,
they won't have the same opportunities and stuff that we do,
and our parents did.
- Yeah, I think Gen Z are angry,
whereas we are kind of resigned.
- We're defeated.
- It makes me weirdly proud
of our younger generation. - Absolutely.
- "As a professor of mental health nursing,
"I'm wondering what is being put in place
"to care for people's mental health
"resulting from these terrible fires.
"There is a lot of trauma out there."
- Oh my God, this is so real.
- Hashtag.
Thou shan't be named. (girl chuckles)
- The government has actually put money
towards mental health.
I think it's about like, $70 million, a bit more.
- I'm glad there are sort of, initiatives being put in place
to take care of like,
to sort of help with people's mental health.
- People have been out here witnessing
their entire communities being burnt down.
They've had to hide like, in the ocean,
to, you know, just keep themselves safe.
So, this is something that we really need to talk more about
especially as summer begins to end,
and things start to die down a little bit
and the world starts to forget.
- "Fires in Australia are still burning.
"While donating can help, what will really make a difference
"is asking why are they so bad.
"Spread climate change awareness everywhere you can.
"Ask your parents or teachers and friends
"about what they think about it.
"Make it a priority."
- We can't like, go around not believing in climate change.
'Cause it's just like, we just can't do it.
- This is so true because
one thing that I'm scared that's gonna happen
is all of the money that we've raised,
all of the extra funds that the government
is throwing at fire relief over the next two years,
like $2 billion over the next two years,
I'm scared that that's gonna band-aid the issue
and we're all gonna forget about it.
- I know I have been feeling so helpless
during this entire time.
I know it's not gonna end soon,
like we still need to talk about it.
- We need to all band together, keep taking steps forward.
- I'm not a fire fighter, so I can't help out like that,
but there are so many things that we can do.
You can check what bank you're with.
You can see where they invest their money,
and you can switch to a clean bank.
Write a letter to your MP.
Go to protests.
Use your voice, like, it's so powerful
and one person can make such a big difference,
like, look at Celeste Barber.
- I really that believe we're gonna band together
and really make changes to this country
'cause we have a fine example now
of what's gonna happen next summer if we don't.
(upbeat music)