Live near the beach? This 'eccentric' expert has dire advice for you

By Tim Elliott
Updated July 16 2017 - 3:03pm, first published 8:21am
Charlie Veron, the “Godfather of Coral”, says Australia’s politicians are “idiots” for doing nothing about climate change. Photo: Wolter Peeters
Charlie Veron, the “Godfather of Coral”, says Australia’s politicians are “idiots” for doing nothing about climate change. Photo: Wolter Peeters

Charlie Veron is the world's leading expert on coral reefs. His prognosis for the future of the Great Barrier Reef, and the world, is dire.

Charlie Veron, the world's foremost expert on coral reefs, lives on a shady bend of Sachs Creek, half an hour's drive out of Townsville, in a concrete block house with three dogs, eight geese, two pet rats, seven cockatoos, a baby red fruit bat, scores of tropical fish, a green tree frog (in the bathroom), bush turkeys, the occasional echidna and what appears to be several million wallabies just about everywhere you look. Other animals include one son, two daughters and an adult female named Mary Stafford-Smith.

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