Sydney Harbour Bridge was barely visible through the smoke and amber coloured sky. Men covered in protective clothing sprayed water at the blazing bush. A row of four ducks swiftly waddled their way out of danger.
That was the first time I had seen my new home, Sydney, for over two months. I couldn’t smell or feel the burning heat from the fires but I witnessed the fires and their destructive paths on the TV, the TV inside my Russian prison cell.
The results of the Australian federal election this weekend have stirred up waves of excitement not only in our antipodean offices but also around the world in anticipation that the country's government will finally, at long last, ratify the international Kyoto agreement on climate change.
