Blog

I write about climate, human rights, biodiversity, and uncomfortable truths. From the wisdom of First Nations caring for Country to the global action needed to protect ecosystems and ensure intergenerational equity, these stories are personal, political, and urgent. They aim to inspire hope.

Explore my Yeah But... series for sharp takes on deflection, denial, and double standards. And scroll through Climate Conscious Man's reflections on what it means to live responsibly on a heating planet.

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Apex, But Not Above The Law

Power, perspective and the wedge-tailed eagle - #FloraAndFaunaFriday There are few, if any, birds in Australia that command the sky like the Wedge-tailed Eagle. With a wingspan stretching close to three metres. Eyes that can read a paddock from kilometres away. And a presence that doesn’t flap and fuss - wedgies soar, steady and sovereign. And here’s something I’ve always loved: the female is larger than the male. As with most raptors, female wedgies outweigh and outspan thei

Gregory Andrews

15 hours ago2 min read

Renewables Dig Once, Fossil Fuels Dig Forever

We've all heard the “renewables require more mining” mantra from climate change denialists. It see a lot of it on my social media accounts - usually delivered with a smirk, as if the energy transition somehow collapses the moment someone mentions the need to mine lithium, copper or rare earths. Yes, renewables do require mining. But here’s the truth that the denialists never say out loud: a fossil fuel economy requires vastly more mining, every single year, and forever. Foss

Gregory Andrews

1 day ago3 min read

NSW Police Violence: Call to Action

I've watched video from the Sydney Town Hall protest on 9 February 2026 opposing the visit of Israel’s President Isaac Herzog. I've heard directly from friends who were there. And I feel the same thing many Australians are feeling right now: shock, anger, and a sour, creeping fear about what our democracy is becoming. NSW Police say the situation escalated, that officers were assaulted, that pepper spray was deployed, and that people were arrested. But, footage circulating w

Gregory Andrews

4 days ago3 min read

If Epstein is Trending, Why Isn’t +1.7°C?

The news cycle has become a hall of mirrors: Epstein, Trumpism, war, outrage, retribution. A thousand scandals designed to keep us anxious, tribal, and tired. We have to hold multiple truths at once: unfolding human atrocities, and something deeper accelerating quietly in the background - the rapid destabilisation of Earth’s climate system, the life-support system on which we all depend. Eminent climate scientist James Hansen and colleagues have just published a paper from C

Gregory Andrews

6 days ago3 min read

Why I’ll Be Protesting Herzog

I will be at protests next week against the visit of Isaac Herzog, the President of Israel. I have never been a member of a political party. I am not part of any activist groups. I’ve never worn a keffiyeh. I’m not doing this as an activist. I am doing it as an Aussie who believes, deeply, in human rights and dignity for all, in justice and the rule of law, and in social cohesion. For most of my adult life, I worked inside government and diplomacy. I understand how important

Gregory Andrews

Feb 52 min read

What Building Aboriginal Relationships Really Looks Like

Everything every now and again something we do at Lyrebird Dreaming really stands out. Not just for what we learned or contributed, but for the lives and Country that are genuinely improved. Last year, one of those highlights was collaborating with the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure to develop and publish the Caring for Country Aboriginal Relationships Framework and Toolkit. Over almost a year, we facilitated more than 40 yarning sessions with Traditi

Gregory Andrews

Feb 52 min read

Foreign policy should not be exempt from democracy

I spent enough years inside the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to recognise the reflex: the minute the general public’s critique of foreign policy comes up, the room tightens. The tone shifts. The language gets colder. And an unspoken rule kicks in: foreign policy is “serious”, therefore it must be insulated from the messiness of the masses. If you challenged a domestic policy in Australia and the public got loud, no one in the system would say: “Sorry, the citizens

Gregory Andrews

Feb 24 min read

Call to Action: Write to your MP to Cancel Israeli President Visit

From 8-12 February, our government is planning to host Isaac Herzog, the President of Israel, as an act of so-called 'solidarity' after the horrific antisemitic attack at Bondi. Standing with Jewish Australians is essential. But it doesn't require extending official state hospitality to the most senior representative of a government that is under the gravest legal and moral scrutiny in the world. This is the man who has personally signed bombs dropped on Gaza. The Internation

Gregory Andrews

Jan 312 min read

Australia’s “Ice-Age” Eucalypt

I first met this rather innocuous looking tree on Yuin and Walbunja Country near Mongarlowe when I was Threatened Species Commissioner. I’d listed it as one of 30 endangered plants for urgent recovery. Why? Because it was alive before the pyramids were built! And I’m not talking about the species, I’m talking about this actual tree! There are only about six wild Mongarlowe Mallee trees left in the wild, each a multi-stemmed mallee growing out of a giant and ancient undergroun

Gregory Andrews

Jan 302 min read

Science Warns of Future Where Billions Bake

As southeastern Australia swelters through its second record-breaking heatwave within weeks, it’s important to connect the dots between the weather here and the global science on a warming world. A major new study from researchers at the University of Oxford has found that the number of people living with “extreme heat” will nearly double by 2050 if global warming reaches 2°C above pre-industrial levels. And we call know this is now a scenario that’s almost certain given the

Gregory Andrews

Jan 292 min read

Heatwaves are Australia's new normal. And they're going to get worse

Two weeks ago, south-eastern Australia baked through an intense heatwave. And this week, we're doing it again. If that feels like a pattern, it is. We keep talking about heatwaves as if they are unusual events that interrupt “normal” Australian summers. But what we are living through now is the new normal: heat that arrives more often, lasts longer, pushes further south, and loads the dice for catastrophic fires. Let's look at the numbers. In the current heatwave, parts of th

Gregory Andrews

Jan 273 min read

Rabbits, Racism and What’s Really Harming Australia

If Pauline Hanson really cared about Australia, she’d be targeting invasive species not Muslims These are the lawns outside the Australian Academy of Science ’s Shine Dome. Built in the late 1950s to celebrate discovery and curiosity, I always think of it as a giant Jetsons spaceship which has landed right in the middle of Canberra. And right there in front of it: dozens of rabbits. Calmly mowing the grass like it’s their job, like they belong there, like it’s how it’s alway

Gregory Andrews

Jan 252 min read

Science Under Siege

And why saving science is saving democracy The other night I fired off a quick tweet about the Albanese Government allowing CSIRO to shed another 350 scientists and research staff. The comments, forwards and likes went viral because people instinctively understand that this wasn't an obscure staffing matter. Sacking hundreds of scientists in the middle of a climate and extinction crisis is a choice about what sort of country Australia want to be. CSIRO is not a niche agency.

Gregory Andrews

Jan 234 min read

Laws Alone Can't Prevent Hate

Last night, Australia’s parliament passed a new package of laws aimed at combating antisemitism, hate and extremism. The government says it is about protecting communities from intimidation and violence. On its face, that’s a goal any decent person should support. I certainly do. My public life is built on nonviolent, peaceful direct action in defence of climate, Country, and human rights - which is to say, community. I have no patience for racism, nor for antisemitism, nor t

Gregory Andrews

Jan 214 min read

NATO’s mortal wound

Donald Trump has just announced punitive tariffs against Denmark, the UK, France, Germany and a swathe of European allies, explicitly tying their removal to the “complete and total purchase of Greenland” by the United States. He has framed this as a national security imperative, accused allies of endangering global peace, and threatened escalating economic punishment until they comply. If this stands, NATO as we have known it is finished. This isn’t bluster. It’s not theatre

Gregory Andrews

Jan 182 min read

The Strongman and the Slippery Slope: How Close to Fascism is the United States?

I’ve already written about how the US is now a rogue state : “America first” has become “rules last”. That argument was about the Trump Regime's external behaviour: conquest language, coercion, bullying of allies, and contempt for international referees. This one is about internal dynamics. Rogue states abroad often become strongman states at home, because contempt for rules is rarely compartmentalised. Against any serious set of historical and political benchmarks, the Unite

Gregory Andrews

Jan 164 min read

Urgent: Comments on the Hate Speech Bill Close Tomorrow at 4pm!

The Federal Parliament has opened public submissions on the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026 . Submissions opened yesterday and close tomorrow at 4pm. In other words, Australians have been given only three days to comment on one of the most complex and far-reaching pieces of legislation in years. That alone should worry all of us. Rushed legislation is almost always poor legislation. It creates unintended consequences, weakens safeguards, produces unfair

Gregory Andrews

Jan 143 min read

Concern and “Stay Safe” Tweets aren’t Climate Policy

As I write this on 11 January 2026, Australia’s in the grip of a brutal heatwave and Victoria is on fire. Houses have been lost, farms destroyed and people are unaccounted for as out-of-control fires rip through communities. Conditions are officially “catastrophic” with temperatures well above 40°C across much of South Australia, Victoria, the ACT and NSW. This isn’t an abstract “extreme weather event”. It’s heat that strains bodies and systems. It’s wind that turns embers in

Gregory Andrews

Jan 113 min read

Cancel Your US World Cup and Olympics Tickets Now

The United States is about to host two of the world’s biggest sporting events: the 2026 Men’s World Cup and the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Normally, that would be a celebration. Sport can be an expresssion of our shared humanity, a reason to travel, connect, and feel part of something bigger than politics. But we’re not in normal times. Under the Trump Regime , the United States is behaving in ways that make the world less safe, and mega-events like the World Cup and Olympics

Gregory Andrews

Jan 103 min read

Greenland, Pine Gap, and the Moment Australia Must Choose

It is a sign of how far things have slid that US allies and members of NATO now feel the need to issue statements that amount to: do not invade us. Yet that is exactly where Europe has landed over Greenland, with leaders publicly have felt the need to issue a statement reaffirming that Greenland belongs to its people and that only Greenland and Denmark can decide its future. In any sane world, this would be unthinkable. In today’s world, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiks

Gregory Andrews

Jan 73 min read