[ Dominic Ozanne ] 

Australia is booming like never before. Its tiny population is sitting on an incredible treasure trove of mineral riches, fetching sky high prices in the emerging powerhouses of China and India. Thanks to this underground wealth Australia has weathered the global financial crisis.

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But the boom comes at a price. Mining threatens some of the most beautiful and precious environments on earth. Australia is the biggest per capita carbon emitter of the major developed economies and the world’s driest continent is also at the sharp edge of climate change. Added to this, the “lucky country” is only just beginning to face up to some dark and bitter truths: racism, inequality, and crime. 

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Reeve travels around Australia’s breathtaking coast and ventures deep inland. He sees the resources boom for himself and meets its winners and losers. Along the way he encounters gay rights campaigners in their own micro-kingdom, a dare-devil scientist collecting sea snake venom for new medicines and ‘toad busters’ with a very hands-on approach to protecting indigenous wildlife.