Hamish Macdonald

And the reason I tell you this example is because you need to agree on the basic facts of something to be able to then embark when there is a difference of opinion on solving a challenge.

We need to be able to sit at this table and all observe.

There are four glasses of water here, a cup of tea and a laptop.

in order to then discuss about the placement of those things or solving whatever the problem is.

If you can't see the same things or agree on what's there, then you don't even have a starting point for solving that problem.

It's become so serious in the Snowys.

There are threats that are made on these Facebook pages.

There has been security placed outside the national parks office.

Some of the national parks workers have had threats on their life.

We met a guy who runs the local cafe who ended up going to court because he delivered a severed horse's head to the front door of the National Park's office as a, as a sort of warning to them.

Oh my God.

As he says, you know, a nod to the, to the Godfather.

Um.

the local MP when I was growing up, who was a friend of my dad's, a nationals guy that's very passionate about the Brumbies.

He says, look, there's no way we could do today what we did then and have a town hall meeting because these intense feelings would bear out if everyone was in the same physical space.

He says, there's never been so much hate.

Versions of this story play out everywhere today.

It might be to do with a wind farm.

It might be to do with a solar farm.

It could be migrants or particular diaspora groups in Melbourne or Sydney or Brisbane and how they're coalescing with the rest of the broader community.