Flanagan ‘Ashamed to be australian’
17 Oct 2014 5:06 AM IST
Booker Prize winning novelist Richard Flanagan said he was ‘ashamed to be Australian’ during a scathing attack on the environmental policies of his home nation. Flanagan made the comments after being awarded the Man Booker Prize in London. In an interview with the BBC late on Tuesday, he said Prime Minister Tony Abbott was being ‘foolish’ in his declaration this week that ‘coal is good for humanity’ when opening a new mine in Queensland state.
‘Australia has the most extraordinary environment and I don’t understand why our government seems committed to destroying what we have that’s unique in the world,’ said Flanagan, a long-time campaigner for the preservation of old growth forest in Tasmania where he lives.‘To be frank, I’m ashamed to be Australian when you bring this up,’ he added.
‘Australia has the most extraordinary environment and I don’t understand why our government seems committed to destroying what we have that’s unique in the world,’ said Flanagan, a long-time campaigner for the preservation of old growth forest in Tasmania where he lives.‘To be frank, I’m ashamed to be Australian when you bring this up,’ he added.
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