Turning the Tides is a music project by Australian artists calling for action to address the grave threats posed by climate change in a manner that respects all those who share our planet.
The voices of traditional Aboriginal elders are interspersed amongst songs from leading Australian artists including Missy Higgins,John Butler,Ghostwriters,Lior and more.
The album features fresh material,some produced especially for the album from a range of Australia artists including Wolf and Cub,After The Fall,Good Buddha,Ben Fink,Watussi,Declan Kelly,Gelbison and more.
The energy choices we make now profoundly affect other societies and future generations of humanity. Our choices over energy affect those who play no part in creating the problem of climate change. Indigenous people,including the Aboriginal peoples of the Northern Territory and our Pacific neighbours will be the ones most affected by the destructive impacts of a uranium/ nuclear cycle and the impacts of our inaction over climate change.
Narasirato panpipers Our culture is our life
“We are farmers and fishermen who live at the end of a mangrove forest at the southern end of Malaita Island in the Solomon Islands. Our village is only accessible by canoe,boat or overland by foot. We are proud of our culture,including our Aré Aré tradition of pan pipe music. Our aspiration is just to revive and maintain our culture,assist our youths,address poverty and life sustenance in the rural Aré Aré. Climate change,rising sea levels and warming of the sea will impact heavily on Solomon Islands environment and society. Our culture is our life.” - Narasirato Pan Pipers
Pacific Islander will be the first to loose their homes to climate change. Many Pacific islanders live on the coastal fringes of the islands and atolls,and rising sea levels pose a significant threat to their livelihoods,cultures and communities. Many villages and urban centres report the increasing occurrence of very high tides,erosion of beaches and contamination of coastal freshwater by salt. In some areas,villagers have already been forced to relocate to higher ground following regular tidal invasions.
The Carteret Islands People from these islands will not be the first people to lose their homes because of global warming. Rising seas,expanding deserts and changing weather have already displaced many,possibly millions of people. But the people of the Carterets are unique,as they will be the first to see their atoll,6 small islands 100 km form Bougainville,completely submerged. They started to leave their islands in early 2007. “Can people help us to do something to stay on our little island as we love to live on our island?”
Oceans swallowing Pacific islands Dec 18th,2001 Read Article
The last tide could come at any time. Then these islands at the end of the Earth will simply vanish Dec 21,2006 Read Article
“God help me and my island people” by Ursula Rakova,from Han Island 2006 Read Article
Uranium/Nuclear Industry In Australia Aboriginal people have suffered most from the impacts of the uranium mining and the nuclear industry generally.
You got to know your history…. Maralinga ,in the remote western areas of South Australia is the home of the Maralinga Tjarutja- traditional owners and was the site of seven atomic bombs in the 1950s. Many Indigenous communities living in the surrounding areas were not warned,despite the experience of previous atomic tests at Emu Field,where Indigenous groups experiened a “black mist”rolling through their camps after the tests,followed by widespread sickness. The 1986 Royal Commission concluded that at Maralinga “attempts to ensure Aboriginal safety [during the tests] demonstrate ignorance,incompetence and cynicism on the part of those responsible for that safety.” Read More Visit the Maralinga Rehabilitation Project
