1 00:00:03,520 --> 00:00:05,480 I'm on a journey around Australia. 2 00:00:09,640 --> 00:00:11,560 A country the size of a continent. 3 00:00:17,400 --> 00:00:20,520 This is a vast land with extraordinary wildlife. 4 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:30,240 A rich, booming country on the edge of Asia. 5 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:37,440 It's not just cricket and kangaroos! 6 00:00:41,360 --> 00:00:43,400 - Thanks, ladies. - You're welcome. 7 00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:47,160 If you think you know Australia, think again. 8 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:52,360 On this first leg of my journey, 9 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:55,880 I'm travelling from the heart of the continent to the south coast 10 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:59,840 and then across the country to the capital of Western Australia. 11 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:06,400 On a vast outback ranch I join an extraordinary round-up. 12 00:01:06,400 --> 00:01:08,000 Jump start, bush-style! 13 00:01:10,480 --> 00:01:13,400 Give the glass a nice swirl, like that. 14 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:16,280 A legendary winemaker gives me a tasting lesson. 15 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:20,000 This is blowsy, this is... 16 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:23,320 - This is first on the dance floor! - Yes, it is! 17 00:01:23,320 --> 00:01:26,160 And I witness the effects of a water crisis 18 00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:29,280 on the world's driest inhabited continent. 19 00:01:29,280 --> 00:01:32,680 There are hundreds and hundreds of dead trees here. 20 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,680 Before joining a real-life 21st-century gold rush. 21 00:01:36,680 --> 00:01:38,360 DETECTOR WHINES 22 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:42,040 - That is gold, yeah. - Gold! - You're onto it. - Wahey! 23 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:59,840 Now, that is... an extraordinary view. 24 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:06,040 I'm here in the Red Centre of Australia, 25 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:08,480 standing on the magnificent Mount Conner. 26 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:13,760 And on this first part of my journey, 27 00:02:13,760 --> 00:02:15,720 I head towards the west coast 28 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:17,160 and the city of Perth. 29 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:25,800 My travels around Australia will take me thousands of miles 30 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:29,480 across a country more than 30 times the size of the UK. 31 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:40,840 Australia is a vast continental landmass 32 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:44,600 that's been cut off from the rest of the world for millions of years, 33 00:02:44,600 --> 00:02:47,720 creating a unique and fragile environment. 34 00:02:53,000 --> 00:02:56,920 Hundreds of thousands of species here exist nowhere else on earth. 35 00:03:01,640 --> 00:03:04,680 But I was about to encounter a long-legged outsider. 36 00:03:11,120 --> 00:03:13,040 That is not what you expect to see, eh? 37 00:03:16,120 --> 00:03:18,040 Let's get out and see if we can get closer. 38 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:36,560 There's a group just coming right here. 39 00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:38,520 A small herd of them. 40 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:44,040 You can see two, four, five camels right here. 41 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:49,560 But there are hundreds more in this area, 42 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:51,680 thousands more in this region 43 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:54,240 and hundreds of thousands across Australia. 44 00:03:56,440 --> 00:03:59,120 Every time we trot towards them, they trot off. 45 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:02,760 Let's go the other side of these bushes. 46 00:04:07,480 --> 00:04:12,000 Camels have adapted perfectly to Australia. 47 00:04:12,000 --> 00:04:15,200 You could say they are a huge Australian success story. 48 00:04:15,200 --> 00:04:17,800 They we're originally introduced into the country 49 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:19,880 to help with exploration 50 00:04:19,880 --> 00:04:25,000 and the expansion of the rail network and the telegraph network. 51 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:26,960 Motorcars made them redundant, 52 00:04:26,960 --> 00:04:30,760 and several thousand of them were released into the outback. 53 00:04:30,760 --> 00:04:35,280 There is now thought to be about three quarters of a million camels 54 00:04:35,280 --> 00:04:38,000 roaming wild in Australia. 55 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:41,280 They are the largest wild herd in the world. 56 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:47,200 With no natural predators, these feral camels have thrived here 57 00:04:47,200 --> 00:04:49,800 and they're having a huge impact on this wilderness. 58 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:59,000 Now, this is a, erm... what you call a stock fence. 59 00:04:59,000 --> 00:05:03,840 So this is running...well, it looks like kilometres in each direction, 60 00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:08,560 and this is just to keep cattle in place, we're on a farm out here. 61 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:12,320 This land, although it does look and is fairly infertile, 62 00:05:12,320 --> 00:05:15,320 it is farmed, they do have cattle on the land. 63 00:05:15,320 --> 00:05:19,640 This keeps it in place, stops cattle, doesn't stop a camel. 64 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:25,840 Ranching out here on this dry land is a tough business. 65 00:05:25,840 --> 00:05:28,480 In their search for water and food, camels cause 66 00:05:28,480 --> 00:05:31,560 millions of pounds' worth of damage to farms and waterholes. 67 00:05:33,800 --> 00:05:36,680 Lyndee Severin has a one million acre ranch 68 00:05:36,680 --> 00:05:39,120 that's been overrun by wild camels. 69 00:05:40,960 --> 00:05:44,120 Camels are our biggest management issue. 70 00:05:44,120 --> 00:05:46,760 How do camels cause problems for you? 71 00:05:46,760 --> 00:05:51,240 A number of ways. They do a lot of damage to infrastructure for us, 72 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:53,720 so there's a lot of damage to fences. 73 00:05:53,720 --> 00:05:56,880 They do a lot of damage around water points and bores. 74 00:05:56,880 --> 00:05:59,800 - In what way? - They knock things over trying to get to the water. 75 00:05:59,800 --> 00:06:01,880 So they break things. 76 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:05,280 So they break pumps, they break tanks, they break pipes. 77 00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:09,080 They break fences - fences have been our biggest concern. 78 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:14,440 But Lyndee's worried about more than just damaged fences. 79 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:17,760 A million animals in this environment 80 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:20,280 do a lot of damage to the environment. 81 00:06:20,280 --> 00:06:22,880 They will just take everything in the landscape 82 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:26,360 and if they destroy the trees, if they eat the grasses, 83 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:29,680 there's no kangaroos, there's no emus. 84 00:06:29,680 --> 00:06:33,560 There's no small birds if there's no trees, there's no reptiles. 85 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:35,320 - A catastrophe, basically? - Yeah. 86 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:38,440 The fundamental issue is that there are too many. 87 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:41,880 - And what...what do you do? - We shoot them. 88 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:45,440 So we shoot the camels where we see them and we leave them. 89 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:48,520 It's not something that we enjoy doing, 90 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:50,640 but it's something that we have to do. 91 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:55,880 Camels are just one of dozens of species 92 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:58,760 that humans have introduced into Australia 93 00:06:58,760 --> 00:07:02,240 which have become a major problem for this vulnerable ecosystem. 94 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:08,080 Culling feral camels is controversial. 95 00:07:08,080 --> 00:07:11,560 But many farmers out here don't feel they have much choice. 96 00:07:16,480 --> 00:07:20,440 I went to visit Ian Conway, who runs Kings Creek station, 97 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:22,520 another huge cattle ranch. 98 00:07:24,240 --> 00:07:26,040 - ELECTRICITY BUZZES - Oh, shucks, Jesus! 99 00:07:26,040 --> 00:07:27,800 That was a bloody kick and a half! 100 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:30,520 About 600 volts. They reckon it's good for the heart 101 00:07:30,520 --> 00:07:32,400 to get a bit of a kick now and again. 102 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:36,200 Rather than shooting the camels, 103 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:39,480 Ian thinks there's a better way of managing their numbers. 104 00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:47,120 I was here to join a camel round-up. 105 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:49,640 You can get a bit of pressure on it. 106 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:52,840 Are they likely to rip it off, or something? 107 00:07:52,840 --> 00:07:56,080 - You're going to have a helicopter blowing over the top of this. - Right. 108 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:58,160 So everything has to be fairly secure. 109 00:08:00,400 --> 00:08:04,520 To round up camels in this rough, outback terrain, Ian uses 110 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:08,360 heavily modified off-road vehicles and puts eyes in the sky. 111 00:08:11,920 --> 00:08:14,280 The area they are operating in is so huge 112 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:18,440 that the chopper goes up to look for the mobs of camels, 113 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:21,160 as they call them here, 114 00:08:21,160 --> 00:08:23,200 and then he's going to call in the cars 115 00:08:23,200 --> 00:08:25,960 and we're going to go out and bring the camels in. 116 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:36,680 Finding a mob of camels here is no mean feat. 117 00:08:40,640 --> 00:08:44,840 They range over a vast area and can travel more than 40 miles in a day. 118 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:54,200 So, Ian, what's, erm... what's happening? 119 00:08:54,200 --> 00:08:56,240 We've got the helicopter coming in. 120 00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:00,200 He's got a herd of camels coming in, it looks to be about 20 to 30 head, 121 00:09:00,200 --> 00:09:02,880 and they'll just keep moving forwards. 122 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:04,840 So the idea is they're going to come up here, 123 00:09:04,840 --> 00:09:06,840 we're going to stay quiet while they go past, 124 00:09:06,840 --> 00:09:08,560 and then we get the cars in behind them. 125 00:09:08,560 --> 00:09:12,360 We'll get in behind and give him a hand to push them along a little quicker than they are. 126 00:09:18,760 --> 00:09:22,240 First of all, we had to get everyone up and running. 127 00:09:22,240 --> 00:09:23,360 Second gear! 128 00:09:26,400 --> 00:09:27,800 Jump start, bush-style! 129 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:34,000 So now we're going after the camels. 130 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:38,280 Chopper's at two o'clock. 131 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:44,280 Here, what's that dead ahead? Look. 132 00:09:46,520 --> 00:09:48,760 Just ahead! 133 00:09:48,760 --> 00:09:52,880 Two, four, six, eight, ten, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20. 134 00:09:52,880 --> 00:09:55,080 Maybe 25 there. 135 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:56,720 25 camels. 136 00:09:57,880 --> 00:09:59,640 That is a sight. We go round the corner 137 00:09:59,640 --> 00:10:02,240 and suddenly there's a whopping great camel. 138 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:09,640 We're just going to let them go until they get up close 139 00:10:09,640 --> 00:10:11,840 to the yards, before we do any forcing, you know. 140 00:10:13,240 --> 00:10:16,120 We'd kept the camels herded together. 141 00:10:16,120 --> 00:10:18,920 Now it was time for the trickiest part of the whole round-up - 142 00:10:18,920 --> 00:10:20,960 getting them into the holding pen. 143 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:27,800 - This is the key moment, isn't it? - This is the key moment, yeah. 144 00:10:27,800 --> 00:10:29,760 You're putting your seat belt on. 145 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:33,080 Yeah, my daughters insist, because I roll over quite often. 146 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:34,560 Wonderful(!) 147 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:39,200 OK, let's go, fellas. 148 00:10:43,840 --> 00:10:45,800 Where are you, Alan? Where are you? 149 00:10:47,080 --> 00:10:51,040 Ian has been mustering animals out here for more than 40 years. 150 00:10:52,400 --> 00:10:54,720 It's difficult and dangerous. 151 00:10:57,440 --> 00:10:58,960 IAN WHISTLES 152 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:10,120 Whoo! Ow, ow, ow! 153 00:11:33,080 --> 00:11:36,760 He'd managed to round up 15 of the camels. 154 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:40,920 Ian was going to sell them on to the Middle East for their meat. 155 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:44,320 - They don't taste different to beef. You've eaten it, haven't you? - Yes. 156 00:11:44,320 --> 00:11:47,520 There's no difference between camel and beef. 157 00:11:47,520 --> 00:11:50,760 In fact, to a lot of people who live on camel, like we do, 158 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:52,120 we prefer it to beef. 159 00:11:52,120 --> 00:11:57,600 And so are all the camels that you catch and sell on sold for meat? 160 00:11:57,600 --> 00:11:59,320 No, not all of them. 161 00:11:59,320 --> 00:12:05,120 Quite a few of them are sold for riding camels and also for, um... 162 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:07,520 Like, the Saudis are always interested in them, 163 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:09,880 but they're looking for a specific camel. 164 00:12:09,880 --> 00:12:14,640 I've got a bloke who wants beauty camels at the moment. 165 00:12:14,640 --> 00:12:16,360 Like, these bulls are no good. 166 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:19,160 They like the cows because they've thin heads. 167 00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:21,240 But the cows have got to have their lips hanging. 168 00:12:21,240 --> 00:12:22,800 For what reason, I don't know. 169 00:12:24,000 --> 00:12:26,560 It may seem harsh for these camels to be rounded up 170 00:12:26,560 --> 00:12:29,400 because they're pretty or to be sold on for meat, 171 00:12:29,400 --> 00:12:32,800 but few experts doubt that camel numbers need controlling. 172 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:36,280 And Ian thinks a round-up is more humane than the alternative. 173 00:12:36,280 --> 00:12:39,000 They just shoot them and they lay on the ground, and that's it. 174 00:12:39,000 --> 00:12:40,200 Nothing is done with them. 175 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:42,920 We don't know whether there's any system of where they might 176 00:12:42,920 --> 00:12:46,080 go along and check to see if they're dead or whatever they are. 177 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:48,760 So they might lay there for a few days. 178 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:50,360 What would you like to see happen? 179 00:12:50,360 --> 00:12:53,120 I'd like to see them come into a yard like this 180 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:55,160 and be sent away and sold as meat, 181 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:58,440 or riding camels or whatever else you can pull out of it. 182 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:02,880 At the moment, a lack of abattoirs means 183 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:05,480 that in many outback areas it isn't cost-effective 184 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:07,880 to round up camels and sell them for their meat. 185 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:10,440 But Ian's convinced that, with the right investment, 186 00:13:10,440 --> 00:13:15,000 this can be a profitable way of protecting ranches and the environment. 187 00:13:19,760 --> 00:13:24,040 I left Kings Creek in the dusty heart of the country. 188 00:13:24,040 --> 00:13:27,600 The neighbouring state is South Australia. 189 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:37,040 South Australia is the driest state in the whole country. 190 00:13:37,040 --> 00:13:40,280 But farmers here have managed to make the outback bloom. 191 00:13:42,080 --> 00:13:44,480 These look like... Are these fruit trees? 192 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:48,040 I was travelling through an area 193 00:13:48,040 --> 00:13:50,520 that produces vast quantities of fruit. 194 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:53,680 And one crop in particular has put it on the map. 195 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:03,160 Bill Hardy is the great-great-grandson 196 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:07,120 of the founder of one of the world's best-known wine brands, Hardys. 197 00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:14,040 - What should I be looking for? - OK. 198 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:17,200 If you're going to do it strictly, you should look at colour first. 199 00:14:17,200 --> 00:14:21,200 Get a lovely backdrop. Look at the colour of that. Isn't it beautiful? 200 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:25,840 It's got a nice straw-yellow colour. It's not light and green yellow. 201 00:14:25,840 --> 00:14:29,920 - It is a strawy yellow. - Yeah. - This is good language. 202 00:14:29,920 --> 00:14:32,360 And when do I start getting a sense of vanilla? 203 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:37,120 - Give the glass a nice swirl like that. - Can we try it, Bill? - Yes. 204 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:39,520 You're allowed to put it on the palate. 205 00:14:39,520 --> 00:14:42,360 Leave it there for three or four seconds. 206 00:14:42,360 --> 00:14:43,960 Let it move around your mouth. 207 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:47,840 Let it warm up in your mouth and it will release more flavour. 208 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:51,000 Yeah, as something gets warmer, it releases more flavour. 209 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:52,200 HE MAKES MUFFLED SOUNDS 210 00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:54,520 No, no! Swallow, swallow! 211 00:14:54,520 --> 00:14:56,200 Ah. It's much better that way. 212 00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:59,040 I thought you were supposed to spit it out. It's delicious. 213 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:02,080 - It is good, isn't it? - Delicious. - Very much an Aussie Chardonnay. 214 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:05,680 It's quite big and rich in body, quite a lot of flavour. 215 00:15:05,680 --> 00:15:10,160 It's not a light, thin, aromatic wine. 216 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:12,960 'As I talked to this aristocrat of the wine world, 217 00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:15,560 'I was hoping to pick up just a bit of the lingo.' 218 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:19,400 - So I know what I'm looking for now. It's a swirl. - Yep. - A sniff. 219 00:15:20,520 --> 00:15:24,680 - And a swallow. - It's a big wine, but it's not aggressive in any way. 220 00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:27,680 - It's got a generosity to it. - A gener...! 221 00:15:27,680 --> 00:15:29,760 - Yeah. - How do you keep this up when...?! 222 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:34,000 We talk about it being voluptuous often. This is blowsy, this is... 223 00:15:34,000 --> 00:15:37,120 - This is first on the dance floor. - Yes, it is! 224 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:43,120 This saucy little Shiraz has its roots in the region's dry land. 225 00:15:43,120 --> 00:15:45,240 All of the vines here need tender care 226 00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:48,320 and, of course, plenty of water. 227 00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:50,360 They look in good nick. 228 00:15:50,360 --> 00:15:53,320 Vines would not exist here unless you irrigated them. 229 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:59,960 A vine tends to need 600, 700mm of rain to work properly. 230 00:15:59,960 --> 00:16:03,880 - So we need to irrigate. - And that's what's going on here? - It is. 231 00:16:03,880 --> 00:16:09,680 - So you are watering tens of thousands of vines, presumably, this way? - Yes, yes. 232 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:13,160 'These vines drink millions of gallons of water, 233 00:16:13,160 --> 00:16:16,880 'which is pumped out of South Australia's main river system.' 234 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:19,720 What sort of figures, in terms of bottles, 235 00:16:19,720 --> 00:16:23,560 - is your company producing each year? - Well, the overall group these days 236 00:16:23,560 --> 00:16:28,280 produces somewhere around the 20 to 25 million bottles a year. 237 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:33,240 20 to 25 million bottles? That's... 238 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:35,720 That would supply a country, wouldn't it? 239 00:16:35,720 --> 00:16:38,320 HE CHUCKLES It probably would. 240 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:41,720 In fact, it supplies about 80 countries around the world. 241 00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:44,960 This isn't rustic wine-making, of course. 242 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:49,080 This region is producing wine on a truly industrial scale. 243 00:16:53,080 --> 00:16:55,640 Just a few miles from Hardys vineyard 244 00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:58,520 is the biggest winery in the southern hemisphere. 245 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:02,840 Oh, my goodness. 246 00:17:05,280 --> 00:17:07,320 Yeah, so a sea of tanks. 247 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:11,800 The scale of this! 248 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:13,760 So each of these tanks 249 00:17:13,760 --> 00:17:19,200 can hold roughly 350,000 bottles of wine, 250 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:22,640 and they've got a thousand of them. 251 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:29,200 So, er...350 million bottles of wine at this one facility. 252 00:17:31,520 --> 00:17:34,880 Of course, if you're going to put a decent bottle of wine 253 00:17:34,880 --> 00:17:37,400 on a table in Britain for a few quid, 254 00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:39,640 this is how you have to make it. 255 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:43,800 It has to be done industrially, and the process has to be mechanised. 256 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:50,520 Australia has changed the way the world drinks wine 257 00:17:50,520 --> 00:17:53,240 with mass production, big-name brands like Hardys 258 00:17:53,240 --> 00:17:54,760 and clever marketing. 259 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:58,280 Whoa! 260 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:06,360 Central to the entire wine-making process is vast quantities of water. 261 00:18:06,360 --> 00:18:09,880 It's estimated that on average it takes around 500 litres 262 00:18:09,880 --> 00:18:12,320 to make a single bottle of wine. 263 00:18:12,320 --> 00:18:16,400 The precious resource is carefully managed here. 264 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:18,960 But this region still faces a water crisis. 265 00:18:22,240 --> 00:18:24,840 For those of us who come from countries 266 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:28,320 where water does fall quite regularly from the sky, 267 00:18:28,320 --> 00:18:33,160 we can very easily forget how utterly fundamental, erm... 268 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:37,880 drops, pints, gallons, gigalitres of water is 269 00:18:37,880 --> 00:18:41,520 in creating and sustaining communities in a dry place like this. 270 00:18:41,520 --> 00:18:44,320 If you haven't got the water, you don't have life. 271 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:50,520 And it's very easy for us all to take it for granted. 272 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:53,160 But here, it's such a precious resource. 273 00:18:56,000 --> 00:18:58,640 The River Murray is the longest river in Australia, 274 00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:02,360 running for more than 1,400 miles. 275 00:19:02,360 --> 00:19:05,680 I was heading to meet environmental engineer Tim Stubbs, 276 00:19:05,680 --> 00:19:08,440 who was taking me out on the water. 277 00:19:08,440 --> 00:19:09,800 Tim? 278 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:12,320 - How are you doing? - Doing very well, thank you. 279 00:19:12,320 --> 00:19:14,200 Flipping heck, look at this! 280 00:19:14,200 --> 00:19:17,080 This is a houseboat, one of the best ways to see the river 281 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:19,920 - and actually understand it. How are you doing? - Thank you. 282 00:19:23,200 --> 00:19:24,880 Get off! 283 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:32,920 Along with its major tributary, the Darling, 284 00:19:32,920 --> 00:19:35,800 the River Murray forms one of the most important river basins 285 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:39,840 in the world, with a catchment area twice the size of Spain. 286 00:19:42,880 --> 00:19:45,720 This is Australia's Mississippi. 287 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:48,280 It really is. 288 00:19:50,560 --> 00:19:56,600 This vital agricultural region is completely dependent on fresh water from the Murray-Darling. 289 00:19:58,680 --> 00:20:01,400 It's not just the wine producers that are drawing water 290 00:20:01,400 --> 00:20:05,160 from these rivers, and they're by no means the thirstiest. 291 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:09,440 There are cotton farmers and even rice paddies here, 292 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:12,640 which can use more than 2,000 litres of water 293 00:20:12,640 --> 00:20:14,760 to make a single kilo of rice. 294 00:20:19,720 --> 00:20:23,520 Why is what has been happening here with the Murray-Darling so important? 295 00:20:23,520 --> 00:20:28,120 The Murray-Darling is just a microcosm for what is happening around the world. 296 00:20:28,120 --> 00:20:31,520 Our fresh water, both here and around the world, is critical 297 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:34,880 to how we are going to continue to survive as a human race 298 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:38,720 and it will be critical to geopolitics around the world. 299 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:43,800 The next great migrations, I think, will be partially based on fresh water and how we use it. 300 00:20:43,800 --> 00:20:47,440 Do you mean that we have been overusing our freshwater supplies 301 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:49,440 - and just taking it for granted? - I think we have. 302 00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:52,640 There's a rule of thumb that is used in Australia that says 303 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:56,000 if you have two thirds of the natural flow in the river, 304 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:57,200 your river should be OK. 305 00:20:57,200 --> 00:20:59,400 That kind of says there is a third there 306 00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:02,480 that we can use for irrigation and different industry 307 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:05,680 and still have a healthy, functioning river system. 308 00:21:05,680 --> 00:21:09,040 But the problem for us in Australia is we've gone too far. 309 00:21:12,200 --> 00:21:16,160 Tim's research suggests that more than 60% of the natural flow 310 00:21:16,160 --> 00:21:19,640 of the Murray system is now being diverted to provide water 311 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,280 for farms, homes and businesses. 312 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:27,360 And that's having serious consequences for some parts of this river basin. 313 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:31,720 Bloody hell. 314 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:33,840 It's devastating. 315 00:21:33,840 --> 00:21:36,960 There are hundreds and hundreds of dead trees here. 316 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:47,680 This is what made people in Australia start to stop and think we need to change what we are doing. 317 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:49,800 This is an indicator of what's coming. 318 00:21:49,800 --> 00:21:53,400 If we want to live here and if we want to irrigate for the next 50, 319 00:21:53,400 --> 00:21:56,920 100 and 150 years, we need to get this right. 320 00:21:56,920 --> 00:21:58,560 If this river system crashes 321 00:21:58,560 --> 00:22:02,400 and the devastation we see here extends up and down the system, 322 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:05,440 we're not going to have a healthy river for our healthy industries, 323 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:07,960 and then we are not going to have healthy communities. 324 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:11,240 The Australian government is now regulating how much water 325 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:14,120 farmers can take out of the Murray Basin. 326 00:22:14,120 --> 00:22:17,200 But critics like Tim don't think they're doing enough. 327 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:24,120 This is something that is going to be a much bigger issue in the century we're in now 328 00:22:24,120 --> 00:22:26,960 than it perhaps has been in centuries past, 329 00:22:26,960 --> 00:22:28,760 when there were fewer of us 330 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:32,440 and the demands on our freshwater supply were much lower. 331 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:36,480 What Australia is experiencing here now is something 332 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:39,040 that's going to start affecting many more countries 333 00:22:39,040 --> 00:22:42,640 and hundreds of millions more people around the world. 334 00:22:42,640 --> 00:22:44,200 BIRD SQUAWKS 335 00:22:47,480 --> 00:22:51,320 I left the Murray River and headed west towards Port Lincoln, 336 00:22:51,320 --> 00:22:53,800 known as the fishing capital of Australia. 337 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:07,160 This looks like a prosperous and comfortable little town. 338 00:23:08,160 --> 00:23:11,080 Port Lincoln has grown rich fishing for tuna. 339 00:23:17,360 --> 00:23:20,600 Before dawn the next morning, I headed to the dock to join 340 00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:24,960 one of the scores of commercial fishing boats based in the town. 341 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:29,200 It's ten to six on a Wednesday morning. We're heading out to sea. 342 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:41,720 The boat took us out into the Southern Ocean 343 00:23:41,720 --> 00:23:44,040 and some of the roughest waters on the planet. 344 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:50,640 The pens out here are what we are heading for, 345 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:54,720 because the guys we're with are more like farmers than fishermen. 346 00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:58,760 These pens, which are anchored to the ocean floor, 347 00:23:58,760 --> 00:24:02,160 are stocked with southern bluefin tuna. 348 00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:07,120 Captain Ben Bartley and his crew caught the fish in the open ocean 349 00:24:07,120 --> 00:24:11,360 and herded them here to these pens, where they will fatten and grow. 350 00:24:11,360 --> 00:24:13,880 It's known as tuna ranching. 351 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:17,000 - How long ago were this lot caught? - Two weeks ago, these ones. - Right. 352 00:24:17,000 --> 00:24:21,240 And they've just been transferred into these holding cages a week ago. 353 00:24:21,240 --> 00:24:23,560 So you're fattening them up, basically? 354 00:24:23,560 --> 00:24:26,800 Yeah. They should almost double in size in the next six months. 355 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:32,320 To monitor their progress, specialist divers 356 00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:35,080 check on the fish every day, and I was going to join them. 357 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:45,960 The southern bluefin tuna can grow to more than 2m long 358 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:48,160 and weigh nearly a quarter of a tonne. 359 00:24:49,840 --> 00:24:53,320 But it can still propel itself to more than 40 miles an hour. 360 00:24:54,360 --> 00:24:57,680 It's a magnificent, elegant and powerful fish. 361 00:25:00,760 --> 00:25:02,800 It is a weird sight. 362 00:25:02,800 --> 00:25:05,680 Like being on the hard shoulder of a motorway. 363 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:11,960 They zip past you and every so often a tuna will suddenly accelerate 364 00:25:11,960 --> 00:25:15,640 to super-fast speed, like a cheetah or something. 365 00:25:19,280 --> 00:25:22,760 This fish is a delicacy beloved of sushi eaters, 366 00:25:22,760 --> 00:25:26,160 making it the most lucrative commercial fish in the world. 367 00:25:29,120 --> 00:25:31,480 When fully grown and flown off to Japan, 368 00:25:31,480 --> 00:25:34,640 the fish in this pen should be worth millions of pounds. 369 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:39,400 The value we put on this creature means that, in recent decades, 370 00:25:39,400 --> 00:25:43,680 bluefin tuna has been heavily over-fished from our oceans. 371 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:50,400 Tuna ranching like this allows the authorities to monitor 372 00:25:50,400 --> 00:25:53,680 the catch and regulate the amount of fish caught. 373 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:59,080 Nevertheless, the southern bluefin is still classed as critically endangered in the wild. 374 00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:09,400 Tuna ranching has made Port Lincoln rich 375 00:26:09,400 --> 00:26:12,000 and the city is believed to have one of the highest number 376 00:26:12,000 --> 00:26:14,640 of millionaires per capita in the southern hemisphere. 377 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:22,240 I went to meet one of the richest men in town. 378 00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:29,280 - Afternoon. - Good afternoon, how are you? 379 00:26:29,280 --> 00:26:30,880 Hello, I'm Simon Reeve. 380 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:33,360 Welcome to my humble cottage! 381 00:26:33,360 --> 00:26:37,120 Your humble cottage is quite large, Hagen. 382 00:26:37,120 --> 00:26:41,320 'Hagen Stehr is a German-born fisherman who jumped ship here in 1960 383 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:43,880 'with just 3 in his pocket.' 384 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:46,040 They put me in jail for two days or three days, 385 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:49,080 and then they threw me out of jail and said, "Now do some work." 386 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:55,040 They said if you don't get drunk for six months, you've got the makings of a good Australian. 387 00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:57,840 And that was 53 years ago, and I'm still here, 388 00:26:57,840 --> 00:26:59,800 in the greatest country in the world. 389 00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:04,760 When I arrived here, tuna fishing was just starting here in Port Lincoln 390 00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:08,120 and they were catching fish with small vessels. 391 00:27:08,120 --> 00:27:13,480 It was sort of dog eat dog and very fierce in the early stages. 392 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:17,000 'Fishing here developed into a huge industry. 393 00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:20,760 'But Hagen now believes we can't keep emptying the seas of fish.' 394 00:27:20,760 --> 00:27:23,080 The government know for the future 395 00:27:23,080 --> 00:27:29,080 food security will become more and more and more relevant in years to come. 396 00:27:29,080 --> 00:27:31,480 1.3 billion people in China. 397 00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:38,480 Ten years ago, each Chinese person ate between 9 to 10 kilos of fish. 398 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:43,200 The latest figures coming out are saying that, in another 15 years, 399 00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:46,240 that will go up to 30 kilo. 400 00:27:46,240 --> 00:27:47,680 Where is it going to come from? 401 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:55,720 With wild tuna stocks collapsing around the world, Hagen has come up with a new plan. 402 00:27:57,080 --> 00:28:01,240 The Holy Grail, really, for fish farmers is to be able 403 00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:05,320 to breed their fish under relatively controlled circumstances. 404 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:09,080 And I'm on my way to a fairly secret facility 405 00:28:09,080 --> 00:28:11,360 where they're trying to do just that. 406 00:28:12,680 --> 00:28:14,840 Hagen has invested millions of pounds 407 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:16,680 in a secretive new venture. 408 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:26,560 - What is it you're doing here? - We're developing new technology. 409 00:28:26,560 --> 00:28:28,400 It's costing a lot of money to get it going, 410 00:28:28,400 --> 00:28:32,880 so we try to restrict access to it, and that's why it's no windows! 411 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:42,200 Dr Craig Foster has worked at the cutting edge of the fisheries industry for 20 years. 412 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:45,920 The fish in here cost us multi-millions to get in here 413 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:50,080 and we look after them 12 months a year, 365 days, 24 hours a day, 414 00:28:50,080 --> 00:28:53,320 and I don't want to take any chances in losing them. 415 00:28:53,320 --> 00:28:56,280 In case you've been somewhere you shouldn't have been. 416 00:28:58,800 --> 00:29:02,480 - OK. - My goodness. - This is our brood-stock tank. 417 00:29:04,560 --> 00:29:09,200 - It's huge! - You get a better view from up here. 418 00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:12,320 They're massive. Look at the size of them! 419 00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:14,560 These fish, they're about 150 kilos, 420 00:29:14,560 --> 00:29:16,880 they're about as long as you and me. 421 00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:19,880 The technology Craig's team are developing could mean 422 00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:25,560 that, one day, wild southern bluefin tuna no longer need to be fished from our oceans. 423 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:28,160 They're trying to breed the tuna, 424 00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:30,760 but it's not as easy as you might think. 425 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:35,840 This tank is all about reliably producing eggs to enable us to produce juveniles. 426 00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:39,360 Why is it so hard to get them to breed in this sort of situation? 427 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:41,960 Because the reality is there is very little known about them. 428 00:29:41,960 --> 00:29:43,960 These tuna are temperature spawners, 429 00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:47,600 so their major breeding cycle is governed by temperature. 430 00:29:47,600 --> 00:29:51,560 Naturally, they'd spawn in the Java Sea at about 27 degrees. 431 00:29:52,760 --> 00:29:57,200 In the wild, tuna only breed after they migrate thousands of miles. 432 00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:02,200 To recreate those conditions, this state-of-the-art facility 433 00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:04,640 mimics the daylight, moonlight 434 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:07,200 and water temperatures that they'd encounter 435 00:30:07,200 --> 00:30:10,200 on that epic journey around Australia to the Java Sea. 436 00:30:15,000 --> 00:30:17,160 So are you businessmen, businesspeople, 437 00:30:17,160 --> 00:30:20,120 or are you conservationists, or a bit of both? 438 00:30:20,120 --> 00:30:22,480 Though we're not doing this as a conservation project, 439 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:25,240 there is a declining supply of tuna. 440 00:30:25,240 --> 00:30:29,360 With declining supply becomes increasing prices. 441 00:30:29,360 --> 00:30:33,160 So there's an opportunity to support that supply 442 00:30:33,160 --> 00:30:36,440 and take the pressure off the wild fishery 443 00:30:36,440 --> 00:30:38,920 by producing it in a farm manner. 444 00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:40,800 Hopefully, if we can succeed, 445 00:30:40,800 --> 00:30:43,240 we will take pressure off fishing stocks 446 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:47,440 and the world will go on as we would have found it years ago. 447 00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:52,280 Southern bluefin tuna have been successfully spawned 448 00:30:52,280 --> 00:30:56,760 at this research centre - the first time ever in captivity. 449 00:30:56,760 --> 00:30:58,920 But that's only the first stage. 450 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:02,840 You probably need your glasses on for this, 451 00:31:02,840 --> 00:31:07,840 - but these are tuna eggs, gold dust! - Look at that. 452 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:11,800 Those things will grow into a fish very rapidly, hatch within 30 hours. 453 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:16,800 But if all the tuna in here were to grow to full size 454 00:31:16,800 --> 00:31:20,880 and be sold on to a market in Japan, let's say, 455 00:31:20,880 --> 00:31:24,200 that could be £200-300,000 of fish. 456 00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:26,600 Correct. And I'd be a happy person. 457 00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:30,080 If they can raise tuna to full size, 458 00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:32,800 they may be able to change how we fish our oceans 459 00:31:32,800 --> 00:31:35,640 and help save the southern bluefin tuna. 460 00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:40,720 Of course, it is sad to see such magnificent creatures 461 00:31:40,720 --> 00:31:43,960 being held captive like this and farmed. 462 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:48,360 But we've been doing the same to cattle for thousands of years. 463 00:31:48,360 --> 00:31:50,720 And at the moment the human population of the planet 464 00:31:50,720 --> 00:31:52,880 is increasing by tens of millions every year. 465 00:31:52,880 --> 00:31:55,720 We're emptying our oceans of fish. 466 00:31:55,720 --> 00:32:00,760 Maybe fish farming, aquaculture, can play a role in finding 467 00:32:00,760 --> 00:32:05,520 a solution which feeds humans, but protects life in our seas. 468 00:32:14,680 --> 00:32:16,280 The sun's going down, 469 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:18,600 and we've got another couple of hours of driving to do 470 00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:21,360 before we going to get to Port Augusta, 471 00:32:21,360 --> 00:32:23,840 which is our next destination, 472 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:26,080 and there we're supposed to be hopping on a train 473 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:28,240 which is going to take us west. 474 00:32:28,240 --> 00:32:29,880 But it's going to be quite tight, 475 00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:33,720 and the problem with this train is it only goes once a week. 476 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:39,040 The town of Port Augusta was a quick drive by Australian standards - 477 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:42,320 just 140 miles further along the coast. 478 00:32:42,320 --> 00:32:43,480 It's ten o'clock now. 479 00:32:44,960 --> 00:32:46,840 The train comes in soon. 480 00:32:48,120 --> 00:32:50,680 The train station, I can see, is over there. 481 00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:56,360 The Pichi Richi Railway Station. 482 00:32:56,360 --> 00:32:59,320 OK. I'll stop here. 483 00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:10,240 I'm really looking forward to this, I love travelling by train. 484 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:17,960 And to be honest, Australia was pretty much designed for it, 485 00:33:17,960 --> 00:33:24,160 being utterly vast and having roads that never seem to end. 486 00:33:28,720 --> 00:33:29,840 Thank you. 487 00:33:32,120 --> 00:33:35,080 We're just going to lock the doors and we'll be on our way. Thank you. 488 00:33:42,360 --> 00:33:43,600 Oh, wow. 489 00:33:46,760 --> 00:33:51,080 - Bathroom's in there. It's pretty easy to work out. - The bathroom, yeah. 490 00:33:51,080 --> 00:33:53,400 You've got your towels and stuff here. 491 00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:56,160 - It's rather flashy, isn't it? - It is, yeah. 492 00:33:56,160 --> 00:34:00,400 - This is much better than driving. OK. - Just a little. - Thank you. 493 00:34:00,400 --> 00:34:03,080 Breakfast runs from 6:30 to 8:30. 494 00:34:03,080 --> 00:34:07,760 - Keep going till I can smell bacon, basically! - Yeah! - OK. Thank you. 495 00:34:07,760 --> 00:34:08,920 No worries. 496 00:34:10,600 --> 00:34:12,080 HE EXHALES DEEPLY 497 00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:14,320 Oh, lovely, lovely. 498 00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:17,920 Sleep well. 499 00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:29,680 The Indian Pacific Railway runs all the way across Australia 500 00:34:29,680 --> 00:34:31,640 from coast to coast. 501 00:34:31,640 --> 00:34:34,880 It's an astonishing 2,700 miles - 502 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:37,960 further than a journey from London to Baghdad. 503 00:34:43,400 --> 00:34:48,720 "Available till 8:30 this morning, breakfast from the Queen Adelaide restaurant car." 504 00:34:51,240 --> 00:34:54,320 It's one of the world's greatest train journeys 505 00:34:54,320 --> 00:34:56,560 and carries 60,000 people a year. 506 00:35:06,640 --> 00:35:10,000 So we are now at the start of the Nullarbor Plain, 507 00:35:10,000 --> 00:35:14,120 a vast area of flat nothingness in some ways, 508 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:16,400 but starkly beautiful in its own right. 509 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:25,040 The world's longest straight stretch of railway track took me 510 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:28,840 across the Nullarbor Plain and into the state of Western Australia, 511 00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:33,040 where I hopped off the train at the city of Kalgoorlie. 512 00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:44,120 In the late 1800s, three Irishmen, who stopped here to shoe a horse, 513 00:35:44,120 --> 00:35:47,040 found gold nuggets lying on the ground. 514 00:35:47,040 --> 00:35:51,040 So began one of the largest gold rushes in history. 515 00:35:52,320 --> 00:35:56,600 Thousands flooded into this remote region to make their fortune. 516 00:35:56,600 --> 00:36:00,320 When gold prices rocketed after the recent global financial crisis, 517 00:36:00,320 --> 00:36:02,800 a new gold rush began. 518 00:36:04,000 --> 00:36:06,520 Look. 519 00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:11,080 - Hey, guys. - Hello, Ted? Simon, Simon Reeve. - Pleased to meet you, mate. 520 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:15,480 'Ted Mahoney is one of the biggest gold dealers in town.' 521 00:36:15,480 --> 00:36:18,800 Are people still coming in from outside the area, 522 00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:23,040 - are people coming here drawn by the obvious ancient lure of gold? - Oh, mate... 523 00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:26,800 Gold prices are very high, which draws a lot of people. 524 00:36:26,800 --> 00:36:29,680 And you're buying gold from people who are prospecting 525 00:36:29,680 --> 00:36:34,080 - just in this area? - Every day. That's what our shop runs on. 526 00:36:34,080 --> 00:36:37,200 That's all we do, is just buy gold. 527 00:36:37,200 --> 00:36:39,960 'And some of the locals are striking it rich.' 528 00:36:39,960 --> 00:36:41,360 - Simon, hello. - Hello. 529 00:36:41,360 --> 00:36:44,440 - Can we see what you've brought in? - Yes, certainly. 530 00:36:46,680 --> 00:36:50,760 - Look at this! - That's probably about a kilo of raw gold. 531 00:36:51,840 --> 00:36:57,440 At today's prices, a kilo of pure gold is worth around £30,000. 532 00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:01,000 - I told you it was a kilo. - Yeah, 18 grams out. 533 00:37:01,000 --> 00:37:04,840 - They say the streets are covered with... - SIMON LAUGHS LOUDLY 534 00:37:04,840 --> 00:37:07,400 Congratulations on this. 535 00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:09,320 You're very calm about it. 536 00:37:09,320 --> 00:37:12,640 - You should take some time off now. - No, I don't like taking time off. 537 00:37:12,640 --> 00:37:16,240 - Thank you so much. Best of luck. Cheers. - We'll see you again, eh? 538 00:37:16,240 --> 00:37:19,400 Hopefully. He's still going to be out there getting more. 539 00:37:19,400 --> 00:37:22,520 - Yeah. - One kilo is not enough. 540 00:37:22,520 --> 00:37:27,800 - Last year, the year before, we had a 24 kilo nugget come in. - A 24 kilo nugget. 541 00:37:27,800 --> 00:37:32,600 - They're still out there. - Yeah. Found by a guy with a metal detector, mate! 542 00:37:32,600 --> 00:37:36,160 He thought it was a tin can, dug it out and there was gold. Oh! 543 00:37:36,160 --> 00:37:39,960 They're drawn by the lure of gold because people are still finding gold. 544 00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:45,520 It is a very sort of fundamental human desire, isn't it? 545 00:37:45,520 --> 00:37:48,280 It is so attractive and shiny! 546 00:37:48,280 --> 00:37:52,080 - You live with this all the time. - That's gold fever. That's gold fever. 547 00:37:56,480 --> 00:38:00,880 With 24 kilo nuggets still being found, I headed straight for the hills. 548 00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:07,040 I was meeting a family who've moved to Kalgoorlie to seek their fortune. 549 00:38:07,040 --> 00:38:08,720 Now, where are they? 550 00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:16,520 - Steve? - How are you? - Rowanne? - Morning. 551 00:38:16,520 --> 00:38:18,600 Morning, morning, morning. Simon. 552 00:38:18,600 --> 00:38:20,760 It's a lovely morning after the rain. SIMON LAUGHS 553 00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:25,680 - Hello. Hello, my dear. Hello! Who are you? - Teela. 554 00:38:25,680 --> 00:38:29,840 - Teela. - She's got the spade. It's a family affair. - It is. 555 00:38:29,840 --> 00:38:32,280 METAL DETECTOR WHISTLES 556 00:38:32,280 --> 00:38:36,120 Steve Smith and his wife Rowanne try to get out here every weekend 557 00:38:36,120 --> 00:38:37,920 with their metal detectors, 558 00:38:37,920 --> 00:38:40,480 and they've had their fair share of luck. 559 00:38:40,480 --> 00:38:41,640 What's this here? 560 00:38:41,640 --> 00:38:45,200 - A gold nugget Steve found. - He found that? 561 00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:50,400 That is the sort of thing that is out here...under the ground. 562 00:38:50,400 --> 00:38:54,400 METAL DETECTOR WHISTLES 563 00:38:54,400 --> 00:38:59,160 - My chance... My bit now. - This is your part of fame. 564 00:38:59,160 --> 00:39:03,840 Just loosen the ground up around where you think it is. 565 00:39:03,840 --> 00:39:05,400 There could be gold right here. 566 00:39:05,400 --> 00:39:08,480 There could be. Get in with your hand. 567 00:39:08,480 --> 00:39:12,640 - Nothing in that. - There you go, there's something there. 568 00:39:12,640 --> 00:39:15,160 DETECTOR BEEPS QUICKEN 569 00:39:15,160 --> 00:39:19,120 - What's that? - It looks like a bit of an old lead shot. 570 00:39:20,920 --> 00:39:23,120 MUTED WHISTLING 571 00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:28,680 - Another lovely bit of rubbish, an old bullet, an old .22. - That really is. Look. 572 00:39:28,680 --> 00:39:31,160 When the gold rush really started here, 573 00:39:31,160 --> 00:39:35,520 it was really like the Wild West, and robbers would shoot anybody 574 00:39:35,520 --> 00:39:38,600 if they had gold or they knew where it was as well. 575 00:39:38,600 --> 00:39:41,000 I suppose knowing where the gold was 576 00:39:41,000 --> 00:39:44,760 was almost as valuable as having it in the first place. 577 00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:45,840 Yep, yep. 578 00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:49,040 So information and knowledge became very precious, didn't? 579 00:39:49,040 --> 00:39:54,160 Even now, you're keen for us not to show your car numberplates or precisely where we are. 580 00:39:54,160 --> 00:39:56,600 - Yeah, yeah. - Completely understandably. 581 00:39:59,000 --> 00:40:01,280 Prospecting is a serious business. 582 00:40:01,280 --> 00:40:03,400 But Steve was happy to let me have a go. 583 00:40:10,120 --> 00:40:14,120 - HIGH-PITCHED WHISTLES - Ooh! 584 00:40:14,120 --> 00:40:18,080 - Your gold ring! - My gold ring I realised as I did it, idiot! 585 00:40:18,080 --> 00:40:19,520 STEVE LAUGHS 586 00:40:19,520 --> 00:40:22,640 On that occasion, it's just this tiny bit of metal. 587 00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:27,360 But on other times, it could be gold. 588 00:40:32,200 --> 00:40:35,520 After an hour of searching, I failed miserably. 589 00:40:35,520 --> 00:40:39,600 'But Steve kept my hopes alive with a small pile of quartz.' 590 00:40:39,600 --> 00:40:41,800 I've got a few bits here. We can take it home 591 00:40:41,800 --> 00:40:44,480 and get you to crush it up. 592 00:40:44,480 --> 00:40:46,240 'He said it might contain gold.' 593 00:40:51,000 --> 00:40:52,720 Hey, hey, hey. 594 00:40:56,560 --> 00:40:58,640 That's it. 595 00:40:58,640 --> 00:41:00,080 Have you ever done any panning? 596 00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:03,440 - You know, strangely, no! - You haven't? - No. 597 00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:06,440 Basically, we're just going to drop it in. Just agitate it. 598 00:41:06,440 --> 00:41:08,840 Try and work the gold back down to the bottom, 599 00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:11,360 because your gold is obviously heavier. 600 00:41:11,360 --> 00:41:13,400 It will be down in this bottom riffle 601 00:41:13,400 --> 00:41:15,200 and then just going to work it around, 602 00:41:15,200 --> 00:41:19,480 try and work it back to this corner into the middle of the riffles. 603 00:41:19,480 --> 00:41:24,200 And then what you're doing is just washing and a nice little light wash. 604 00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:28,960 Like that. There you go. Look, look! There is gold in it. 605 00:41:28,960 --> 00:41:31,800 - Wahey! - There is, too. Sensational. 606 00:41:31,800 --> 00:41:36,560 - There you go. That is gold, yeah. - Gold! - You're onto it. 607 00:41:36,560 --> 00:41:38,960 Although it's not big, this weight accumulates up. 608 00:41:38,960 --> 00:41:41,320 And then you take it down to the gold shop and sell it on. 609 00:41:41,320 --> 00:41:44,120 And we go on holidays. BOTH LAUGH 610 00:41:44,120 --> 00:41:45,160 Yeah! 611 00:41:47,240 --> 00:41:51,080 - So this is your brew? - This is my brew. 612 00:41:51,080 --> 00:41:54,400 - Steve, thank you very much indeed for showing it to us. - And thank you. 613 00:41:54,400 --> 00:41:57,600 - And best of luck with your future prospecting. - Cheers. 614 00:41:57,600 --> 00:41:59,000 Down the hatch. 615 00:42:05,320 --> 00:42:09,600 - Steve, that's good. - That is good, isn't it? - Whoo-ah! 616 00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:11,120 STEVE LAUGHS 617 00:42:11,120 --> 00:42:12,880 Whoo-hoo! 618 00:42:23,440 --> 00:42:26,760 It is not just part-time prospectors like Steve who are making money 619 00:42:26,760 --> 00:42:28,720 from the Kalgoorlie gold rush. 620 00:42:30,760 --> 00:42:34,920 This is the site of one of the world's biggest goldmines. 621 00:42:36,480 --> 00:42:40,520 Kalgoorlie lies on what local say is the richest square mile on earth. 622 00:42:43,280 --> 00:42:44,360 Across Australia, 623 00:42:44,360 --> 00:42:49,120 vast mines like this are fuelling an unprecedented resources boom. 624 00:42:51,520 --> 00:42:53,440 Flipping heck. 625 00:42:57,560 --> 00:43:01,200 More than two miles long and one third of a mile deep, 626 00:43:01,200 --> 00:43:05,160 the Kalgoorlie Super Pit can be seen from space. 627 00:43:09,440 --> 00:43:14,120 When you start looking at the dumpers over there, I think you get an idea. 628 00:43:14,120 --> 00:43:16,040 Each one of the massive trucks 629 00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:20,280 can haul 225 tonnes of rock out of the pit. 630 00:43:24,880 --> 00:43:28,480 The mine operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 631 00:43:28,480 --> 00:43:32,200 producing 7% of the world's gold. 632 00:43:37,920 --> 00:43:41,640 I'm suddenly really just taken by this roundabout we're on. 633 00:43:41,640 --> 00:43:46,760 There is a sign here that says Tropicana gold mine that way. 634 00:43:46,760 --> 00:43:50,320 And then there is a sign here that says nickel mine that way, 635 00:43:50,320 --> 00:43:52,280 silver mine that way. 636 00:43:52,280 --> 00:43:53,840 HE LAUGHS 637 00:43:53,840 --> 00:43:58,360 This land is just peppered with resources 638 00:43:58,360 --> 00:44:01,960 and just incredible wealth. 639 00:44:04,040 --> 00:44:08,120 But that wealth didn't seem to be trickling down to everyone around here. 640 00:44:10,400 --> 00:44:12,880 Just a stone's throw from the super pit, 641 00:44:12,880 --> 00:44:16,680 this is an Aboriginal settlement called Ninga Mia. 642 00:44:16,680 --> 00:44:18,320 Like many across the country, 643 00:44:18,320 --> 00:44:21,520 it suffers from high unemployment, crime and addiction. 644 00:44:22,600 --> 00:44:27,760 This is...such a dark aspect of Australia. 645 00:44:30,800 --> 00:44:34,640 The pitiful suffering of Aboriginal people. 646 00:44:36,440 --> 00:44:42,640 We are just a short distance from one of the most valuable patches of land on planet earth 647 00:44:42,640 --> 00:44:48,360 and here, at the edge of this Aboriginal settlement, there is rubbish everywhere. 648 00:44:49,560 --> 00:44:53,840 And there are these cars that have almost been annihilated. 649 00:44:54,840 --> 00:44:58,680 It's as if people have taken out their anger on them. 650 00:45:01,280 --> 00:45:05,240 Across Australia, large deposits of valuable minerals have been found 651 00:45:05,240 --> 00:45:07,360 on traditional Aboriginal lands. 652 00:45:08,480 --> 00:45:13,680 In many cases, those Aboriginal communities have been paid for the right to mine the land. 653 00:45:14,720 --> 00:45:17,920 But the money has often done little to improve lives. 654 00:45:20,720 --> 00:45:23,880 Many people here in Ninga Mia don't feel they are benefiting 655 00:45:23,880 --> 00:45:28,840 from the gold that's being mined out of land they believe belongs to them. 656 00:45:28,840 --> 00:45:32,200 As a result, there is upset and anger. 657 00:45:33,240 --> 00:45:37,000 I met with Pastor Geoffrey Stokes, a local community leader. 658 00:45:38,480 --> 00:45:41,600 Can you tell us a little bit about this community. Where are we? 659 00:45:41,600 --> 00:45:48,160 The original reserves for Kalgoorlie and Boulder were just back over there. 660 00:45:48,160 --> 00:45:51,040 And they moved the people from there to here. 661 00:45:51,040 --> 00:45:52,720 That is the Kalgoorlie Super Pit. 662 00:45:52,720 --> 00:45:55,520 They get millions of dollars every day out of this. 663 00:45:55,520 --> 00:46:00,400 And, um...we don't get nothing, not a cent from it. 664 00:46:00,400 --> 00:46:03,160 Nothing. Everybody else is benefiting. 665 00:46:04,480 --> 00:46:08,400 It's 200 years since Europeans arrived, took this land 666 00:46:08,400 --> 00:46:11,680 and subjugated Aboriginal people. 667 00:46:11,680 --> 00:46:14,720 In recent decades, there have been committees, commissions, 668 00:46:14,720 --> 00:46:16,640 compensation. 669 00:46:16,640 --> 00:46:18,560 But in many Aboriginal communities, 670 00:46:18,560 --> 00:46:20,920 there's still suffering and resentment. 671 00:46:20,920 --> 00:46:24,480 The rest of Australian seems to be getting on with its happy lives, 672 00:46:24,480 --> 00:46:28,440 and its barbecues and its beaches and its resource boom. 673 00:46:28,440 --> 00:46:32,120 I come here and you start to see the other side of life here. 674 00:46:32,120 --> 00:46:34,000 For them to have their lifestyle 675 00:46:34,000 --> 00:46:37,920 and their jobs and their trucks and boats and planes 676 00:46:37,920 --> 00:46:42,000 and all the rest of it, someone had to pay for it. 677 00:46:42,000 --> 00:46:44,480 - Who's paying for it here? - The Aboriginal people. 678 00:46:44,480 --> 00:46:46,560 - I'm paying for their lifestyle. - In what way? 679 00:46:46,560 --> 00:46:50,840 Because I'm missing out on my inheritance and my birthright 680 00:46:50,840 --> 00:46:52,760 and my wealth 681 00:46:52,760 --> 00:46:56,920 - and the benefits that come out of the country. - Out of the ground? 682 00:46:56,920 --> 00:46:59,200 - Out of the ground. - Yeah. 683 00:46:59,200 --> 00:47:01,880 We're still living in Third World conditions. 684 00:47:05,240 --> 00:47:07,720 HE EXHALES HEAVILY 685 00:47:07,720 --> 00:47:11,160 There is a huge gulf 686 00:47:11,160 --> 00:47:16,280 between the lives of most Aboriginal people in this country 687 00:47:16,280 --> 00:47:19,080 and other Australians. 688 00:47:20,440 --> 00:47:24,120 Australians, most Australians, I think, they do, 689 00:47:24,120 --> 00:47:27,680 of course, care about what is happening in communities like this, 690 00:47:27,680 --> 00:47:30,720 and it would be completely wrong for anyone to suggest or imagine 691 00:47:30,720 --> 00:47:34,240 that the government isn't trying to help. 692 00:47:35,720 --> 00:47:40,640 But make no mistake, this is a hugely challenging situation 693 00:47:40,640 --> 00:47:45,000 and there are no quick fixes and definitely no easy answers. 694 00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:53,800 The plight and problems of Aboriginal communities 695 00:47:53,800 --> 00:47:56,480 was something I'd encounter and explore in more detail 696 00:47:56,480 --> 00:47:58,840 later on my journey around Australia. 697 00:48:06,000 --> 00:48:09,240 I drove nearly 400 miles west of Kalgoorlie 698 00:48:09,240 --> 00:48:13,880 to the coastal city of Perth, the capital of Western Australia. 699 00:48:18,200 --> 00:48:22,080 Money from Australia's resources boom is pouring into this city. 700 00:48:24,040 --> 00:48:25,640 So this is Perth. 701 00:48:26,640 --> 00:48:30,240 It's one of the fastest-growing cities in Australia 702 00:48:30,240 --> 00:48:33,640 and, to be honest, it feels more like a capital city 703 00:48:33,640 --> 00:48:36,360 than the capital of just a state in the country. 704 00:48:39,960 --> 00:48:45,120 Average household incomes here have risen 35% in just five years. 705 00:48:45,120 --> 00:48:46,720 There's no recession here. 706 00:48:47,920 --> 00:48:51,440 The unemployment rate is less than half of what it is in Europe, 707 00:48:51,440 --> 00:48:53,880 attracting workers from across the globe, 708 00:48:53,880 --> 00:48:56,440 including Brits in their droves. 709 00:48:58,240 --> 00:49:02,640 More than 11% of Perth's population are British expats. 710 00:49:02,640 --> 00:49:04,120 I headed off to meet one of them. 711 00:49:05,240 --> 00:49:06,280 I think this is it. 712 00:49:07,560 --> 00:49:08,720 They're busy! 713 00:49:08,720 --> 00:49:11,000 I'll just park here, I think. 714 00:49:12,120 --> 00:49:16,840 This is just one of hundreds of truck-driving schools in Australia. 715 00:49:16,840 --> 00:49:21,560 Thousands of men and women come here every year to get their heavy-goods licence, 716 00:49:21,560 --> 00:49:24,440 so they can go off and work on remote mining projects 717 00:49:24,440 --> 00:49:25,960 and earn a fortune. 718 00:49:29,240 --> 00:49:32,280 The success of this driving school, and the fact that so many people 719 00:49:32,280 --> 00:49:38,440 want to be truck drivers, is largely down to the resources boom here. 720 00:49:38,440 --> 00:49:41,600 In Australia, you don't just need to be a stockbroker 721 00:49:41,600 --> 00:49:43,600 or a banker to have a high income. 722 00:49:43,600 --> 00:49:47,040 You can be a blue-collar worker and still make a lot of money. 723 00:49:48,840 --> 00:49:53,480 Steve Mutch left his job as a binman in Hull when the recession hit. 724 00:49:53,480 --> 00:49:55,800 He's now a truck-driving instructor. 725 00:49:57,320 --> 00:50:03,120 - Steve. - Hello. - Hello, mate. - Nice to meet you. - Nice to meet you, too. 726 00:50:03,120 --> 00:50:07,280 I do about ten lessons a day. I have 50 lessons a week on average. 727 00:50:07,280 --> 00:50:09,960 - You've got that many pupils coming through here? - Yeah. 728 00:50:09,960 --> 00:50:13,400 - It's very busy, very busy. - Are you ready for another one? - I am. 729 00:50:13,400 --> 00:50:14,560 HE LAUGHS 730 00:50:17,200 --> 00:50:21,560 Right. It's like a plane, quite frankly. 731 00:50:21,560 --> 00:50:24,760 - Flipping heck, how many gears has this got? - This one's got 18 gears. 732 00:50:24,760 --> 00:50:27,360 - 18? - 18 forward gears, yeah. 733 00:50:27,360 --> 00:50:29,400 And it's two clutches for every gear change. 734 00:50:29,400 --> 00:50:32,320 Clutch, neutral, clutch, gear, tap-tap, that sort of speed. 735 00:50:32,320 --> 00:50:35,200 If I make it into second, I will consider that a major achievement. 736 00:50:35,200 --> 00:50:37,520 If I change gears without destroying the gearbox, 737 00:50:37,520 --> 00:50:39,240 - I'll be very happy. - So will I. 738 00:50:39,240 --> 00:50:40,760 BOTH LAUGH 739 00:50:40,760 --> 00:50:43,160 How reassuring. Thank you, Steve! 740 00:50:46,600 --> 00:50:50,440 'Steve took me out onto the open road to show me how it's done.' 741 00:50:50,440 --> 00:50:54,520 OK, so once your revs are about 1,250 revs, 742 00:50:54,520 --> 00:50:57,360 you go into neutral. So it's neutral, off the clutch, back on. 743 00:50:57,360 --> 00:50:59,240 Right. 744 00:50:59,240 --> 00:51:02,160 When it goes to 12½, it's clutch, neutral, clutch, gear. 745 00:51:02,160 --> 00:51:05,600 Stop doing everything so quickly! How am I supposed to...?! 746 00:51:10,800 --> 00:51:12,560 Suddenly, it was my turn. 747 00:51:13,720 --> 00:51:17,440 I was taking charge of a vehicle called a prime mover - 748 00:51:17,440 --> 00:51:20,880 a truck capable of pulling more than 40 tonnes - 749 00:51:20,880 --> 00:51:23,000 if I could get it started. 750 00:51:23,000 --> 00:51:24,920 Flipping heck. 751 00:51:30,720 --> 00:51:34,560 Don't rev to start with. You press your foot all the way to the floor on the clutch. 752 00:51:34,560 --> 00:51:36,640 Give the gearbox chance to stop spinning. 753 00:51:36,640 --> 00:51:39,280 You don't need to accelerate at first. 754 00:51:39,280 --> 00:51:40,720 Oh, goodness, we're moving! 755 00:51:42,640 --> 00:51:44,440 That's it. Now gently accelerate. 756 00:51:51,760 --> 00:51:54,280 Strewth! What am I doing? 757 00:51:54,280 --> 00:51:56,000 Clutch to the right. 758 00:51:56,000 --> 00:51:59,200 It will pop into neutral. It's off the clutch back on and into two. 759 00:51:59,200 --> 00:52:02,840 - That's it. - I just changed gear. We're in second gear now. 760 00:52:02,840 --> 00:52:05,240 It was a little bit jumpy, I'll grant you that. 761 00:52:05,240 --> 00:52:08,080 That's that kangaroo fuel they put in them! 762 00:52:08,080 --> 00:52:11,240 - CLANGING SOUND - Oh, God! 763 00:52:11,240 --> 00:52:14,080 We'll pick them bits of the gearbox back up when we come back round! 764 00:52:14,080 --> 00:52:16,640 - Steve, I'm sorry. - STEVE LAUGHS 765 00:52:16,640 --> 00:52:17,920 Really slow, yep. 766 00:52:22,080 --> 00:52:24,160 Steve, have you got a seat belt on? 767 00:52:24,160 --> 00:52:26,520 I have, yes. And I've had my Valium(!) 768 00:52:26,520 --> 00:52:28,880 - Had your Valium! - STEVE CHUCKLES 769 00:52:28,880 --> 00:52:33,600 - We're doing 38 kilometres an hour. - Start pulling back on that gear stick a little. 770 00:52:33,600 --> 00:52:35,880 Into neutral, release the clutch, back on the... 771 00:52:35,880 --> 00:52:37,760 GEARS GRIND Oof! 772 00:52:37,760 --> 00:52:39,480 Why's it doing that?! 773 00:52:39,480 --> 00:52:43,840 Steve, this can't be less stressful than working for the council in Hull. 774 00:52:43,840 --> 00:52:47,200 That's why they pay us so well. SIMON LAUGHS LOUDLY 775 00:52:47,200 --> 00:52:48,440 Danger money. 776 00:52:49,760 --> 00:52:52,120 Come on now, Steve, you're getting good money here. 777 00:52:52,120 --> 00:52:55,840 - Are you going to tell us what you're earning? Roughly. - Roughly. 778 00:52:55,840 --> 00:53:00,840 - I will probably earn 90,000 a year. - 90,000 a year. 779 00:53:00,840 --> 00:53:03,880 £60,000 a year. 780 00:53:03,880 --> 00:53:06,280 Before tax. 781 00:53:06,280 --> 00:53:09,560 'Many of Steve's pupils go on to work in Australia's mines, 782 00:53:09,560 --> 00:53:12,400 'earning even more than he does.' 783 00:53:12,400 --> 00:53:14,360 I was talking to a driver the other day, 784 00:53:14,360 --> 00:53:17,320 he's earning 4,000 a week after tax. 785 00:53:17,320 --> 00:53:23,080 4,000 a week, 200,000 a year. That's 130,000... 786 00:53:23,080 --> 00:53:25,640 If we start to slow down again. 787 00:53:25,640 --> 00:53:29,320 Yep. £130,000, eh? Just for driving a truck. 788 00:53:29,320 --> 00:53:33,080 You'd probably pay your house off after one year. 789 00:53:33,080 --> 00:53:36,760 - It's quite a draw for people, isn't it? - Oh, yes. 790 00:53:36,760 --> 00:53:39,640 Neutral, big rev, clutch and into gear. That's it. 791 00:53:39,640 --> 00:53:42,920 Indicate to your right. Good. 792 00:53:42,920 --> 00:53:44,600 And we'll turn in the yard in this gear. 793 00:53:48,400 --> 00:53:51,400 - You want me to reverse between those two trucks there? - Yes. 794 00:53:53,280 --> 00:53:55,640 - Is that all right? - Look in that bottom mirror. 795 00:53:55,640 --> 00:53:58,560 You're very close to the yellow one. 796 00:53:58,560 --> 00:54:02,480 And stop there. Good. You did well. 797 00:54:02,480 --> 00:54:06,080 - Yay! Thank you so much. - You're welcome. 798 00:54:06,080 --> 00:54:08,240 You're very calm and reassuring. 799 00:54:11,080 --> 00:54:12,920 Phew! 800 00:54:17,320 --> 00:54:20,880 'Steve lives in a large house with a pool in the suburbs of Perth 801 00:54:20,880 --> 00:54:24,400 'with his wife Sharon, a nurse, and his daughter Jess.' 802 00:54:24,400 --> 00:54:27,640 Hello! Hello! Simon. 803 00:54:27,640 --> 00:54:31,040 - Hello. - Sharon. - Hello, Sharon, lovely to meet you. Hello. Hello. - Jess. 804 00:54:31,040 --> 00:54:33,520 - Lovely to meet you. Simon. How are you? - Good, thanks. 805 00:54:33,520 --> 00:54:35,960 - Have you cleaned up because you knew we were coming? - Yes. 806 00:54:35,960 --> 00:54:39,120 - All day I've been cleaning! - Oh, no! 807 00:54:44,840 --> 00:54:46,840 It was always a dream to get the boat 808 00:54:46,840 --> 00:54:49,640 and it's great just to be able to take that out on the weekend. 809 00:54:49,640 --> 00:54:54,400 Was there a point when you were in Hull and you heard that your salary 810 00:54:54,400 --> 00:54:55,880 was going to be more than halved 811 00:54:55,880 --> 00:54:58,120 and you just were pulling your hair out slightly, 812 00:54:58,120 --> 00:54:59,760 wondering what you were going to do? 813 00:54:59,760 --> 00:55:02,120 Well, I suppose after being in a job for so long, 814 00:55:02,120 --> 00:55:05,200 cos I worked there for 22½ years, it's a bit of a worry. 815 00:55:05,200 --> 00:55:06,800 And you come out here... 816 00:55:06,800 --> 00:55:08,760 I was expecting to have a few weeks off. 817 00:55:08,760 --> 00:55:11,600 The first job I applied for I was offered. 818 00:55:11,600 --> 00:55:14,920 - But you must be pleased with how things have turned out? - Oh, yeah, yeah. 819 00:55:14,920 --> 00:55:19,000 - No, it's great. Like I say, we're living the dream. - It does feel like that. 820 00:55:19,000 --> 00:55:22,040 It is, yeah. You'd never have this back home in England. 821 00:55:22,040 --> 00:55:25,000 You couldn't use a boat like that on the River Humber. 822 00:55:25,000 --> 00:55:26,840 HE LAUGHS 823 00:55:38,600 --> 00:55:41,200 Blue-collar workers like Steve are making a good living 824 00:55:41,200 --> 00:55:44,440 on the back of Australia's resources boom. 825 00:55:44,440 --> 00:55:48,840 To understand the scale of what is going on, I headed to Perth Airport. 826 00:55:48,840 --> 00:55:50,520 From here, thousands of workers 827 00:55:50,520 --> 00:55:53,960 head off to the mines of Western Australia every day. 828 00:55:53,960 --> 00:55:57,880 It is known as "fly in, fly out" or FIFO. 829 00:55:57,880 --> 00:56:03,440 So all the planes over here, these planes here 830 00:56:03,440 --> 00:56:09,000 and this lot over here, these are all for the FIFO workers. 831 00:56:11,560 --> 00:56:16,720 165 planes a day are shuttling people back and forwards 832 00:56:16,720 --> 00:56:20,600 to remote mining sites and drilling sites. 833 00:56:27,680 --> 00:56:31,440 So long as the giant economies of Asia keep growing, Australia 834 00:56:31,440 --> 00:56:36,160 will keep supplying them with iron, coal, copper, oil and gas. 835 00:56:36,160 --> 00:56:38,760 And people here will continue to cash in. 836 00:56:41,760 --> 00:56:46,040 I think basically everybody here is FIFO. It's extraordinary. 837 00:56:46,040 --> 00:56:49,360 It's like watching commuters in a London Underground station, 838 00:56:49,360 --> 00:56:51,800 except here, they're all flying out. 839 00:56:53,080 --> 00:56:57,560 - Where are you off to yourselves? - West Angeles. - West Angeles? 840 00:56:57,560 --> 00:57:01,120 And that's iron ore. You're iron-ore men? 841 00:57:01,120 --> 00:57:04,840 There's about 20 of us on this plane going up today for five days. 842 00:57:04,840 --> 00:57:07,080 Your accent's not local, is it? 843 00:57:07,080 --> 00:57:11,400 - 40 years ago, I used to live in Sheffield. - So what's your rotation? 844 00:57:11,400 --> 00:57:13,760 - You never know, or...? - Yeah. 845 00:57:13,760 --> 00:57:17,720 Because we're senior citizens, they sort of... 846 00:57:17,720 --> 00:57:18,880 They have us for a week 847 00:57:18,880 --> 00:57:21,360 and then we might not get a call for another three weeks, 848 00:57:21,360 --> 00:57:24,440 or four weeks, and then they want us for another four of five days. 849 00:57:24,440 --> 00:57:27,880 Do you remember that English phrase "cushy"? 850 00:57:27,880 --> 00:57:30,120 - Yeah. Dead cushy. - It sounds a bit cushy. 851 00:57:30,120 --> 00:57:32,760 It's real cushy. Because after that you can come out to Perth, 852 00:57:32,760 --> 00:57:37,880 cut the grass in the garden, go fishing and look after grandkids. 853 00:57:37,880 --> 00:57:41,520 - It's great. - It's a hard life, but someone's got to do it! 854 00:57:41,520 --> 00:57:42,560 Too right! 855 00:57:56,760 --> 00:57:59,400 So they're heading off on their commute. 856 00:57:59,400 --> 00:58:02,200 This is the end of this part of my journey. 857 00:58:02,200 --> 00:58:04,360 On the next programme, I'll be travelling 858 00:58:04,360 --> 00:58:07,600 across the north of Australia to the Great Barrier Reef. 859 00:58:11,480 --> 00:58:14,280 Next time, in Australia's tropical north, 860 00:58:14,280 --> 00:58:17,240 I go on patrol with a unique military force. 861 00:58:17,240 --> 00:58:20,120 - Green ant tea? - Green ant tea, yeah. 862 00:58:21,400 --> 00:58:24,520 And I'll find out how modern Australia is threatening 863 00:58:24,520 --> 00:58:27,240 the greatest coral reef in the world. 864 00:58:27,240 --> 00:58:29,960 Really like something from a sci-fi film. 865 00:58:54,200 --> 00:58:57,240 Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd