How Geoscience has shaped Australia

How Australia, past and present, has been shaped by mineral discoveries

For many years, the Australian Geoscience Council has sought better ways of communicating to the public the importance of the Geosciences to our Australian life style. The council’s 2012 initiative involves down-loadable videos of prominent people speaking on specific aspects of the Geosciences. The aim is to reach a wide section of the community with this material.

The eminent Australian historian Professor Geoffrey Blainey AC was selected as the first speaker to present a broad overview drawing out the historical and economic implications of the resource industry and its dependence on the Geosciences. In the video, Professor Blainey is introduced by the former ABC presenter Peter Couchman who also asks Professor Blainey interesting questions during what is a relaxed and informal presentation.

As well as highlighting the pivotal roles and mining and exploration have played in the building of contemporary Australia, Professor Blainey touches on a wide range of topics that could be developed further in subsequent AGC recordings. It is anticipated that these future topics may include:

• Geoscience communication and education,
• Natural hazard mitigation,
• Australian hydrology,
• Environmental geoscience,
• Petroleum geoscience
• Geotechnical and engineering geology, and
• Planetary geoscience