Why is the Outback vital to the strength of the Australian economy?

There are places in Australia that are awe-inspiring, spectacular, mysterious; they touch our spirit and help define our nation.

Kakadu is one, Uluru another, the magnificent red sandy deserts, the Kimberley. These are part of our country’s essence, and they provide a rare lens into the wonder of nature and the timelessness and value of our land.

But these places are embedded in a wider landscape and are dependent upon that landscape for their future.

We haven’t really had a name for it, but the Australian outback fits. It’s both the wonderful sense of space in remote Australia, or the humdrum monotony of the Australian bush.

This place faces numerous challenges — one of the worst extinction records in the world, ongoing biodiversity declines, and neglect. But there are also opportunities — global recognition, and the rapid expansion of land managed and protected by Indigenous Australians.

This place, and its coherence is important to us, but it is also internationally significant, as one of the world’s last remaining large natural areas.

Argon, carbon-14, and carbon-12