I believe all Australians share something in common, we are all invaders. We are colonisers from three great waves of human invasion. We are all future eaters.

We have so upset the balance of life here that we threaten the very land that supports us and, through that, our own survival.

Taming the Fire

Who or what killed off Australia's megafauna, the giant marsupials that roamed the continent before humans arrived here? Dr Tim Flannery believes that they were wiped out by the first wave of future eaters, the Aboriginies, when they first arrived here 40-60,000 years ago; the extinctions were the catalyst for environmental meltdown, from which the Aborigines made a triumphant recovery.

Nomads of the Wind

In New Zealand it took less than 1000 years for the Maoris to complete a full cycle of future eating. The primeval forests were home to many unique creatures which they devoured to extinction, including the giant 3 metre high flightless bird, the moa. They rapidly depleted the marine life until they no longer had enough to eat. The result was war - war over resources, followed by conservation measures to preserve food sources, some of which continue to this day.

Eating the Future

The European colonisation of the new lands brought the third and most damaging wave of future eating. European farming methods and the introduction of feral creatures had a catastrophic effect on our local eco systems: the extinction of many native fauna and irreversible damage to much of Australia's land. Our destiny depends on breaking the cycle of future eating.

Dr Tim Flannery, Chair of Australian Studies at Harvard University in 1999.