But as someone far less knowledgeable and experienced, I found a visit to the crater one of the most fascinating experiences of my life. It was as close as I'm ever likely to get to a direct experience of the planet's inner grumblings.

Though we were told of the dangers, we secretly knew that we were immortal and that bad things only ever happen to other people. It's undoubtedly a foolhardy attitude, but risk-taking is in our genes. I doubt that many people will be visiting Whakaari for a while but, unless future visits are banned, I expect that people will always want to visit this amazing place and that people will be prepared to take them there, though perhaps with a more conscious respect for the dangers.

My heart goes out to the families of the people who died or were injured in the eruption, but I fully understand why they went.

In relation to Ian Warden's great take on our modern day Christian soldier Izzy, we can all be sure that in the new age interpretation of ideas and sermons Izzy is certainly bound for heaven.

In the new capitalist society we now live in it is our democratic right to be a proud very wealthy "Christian" if we so desire, so blow the peasants. On that basis Izzy certainly has the support to crowdfund his way to heaven, as demonstrated in his recent legal pursuit of materiality over faith, particularly if he can crowdfund in US dollars as late news suggests they have far more cred in heaven.

Furthermore Izzy is now wealthy enough to have the necessary franking credits to get a good front row seat up there, because offering franking credits can always turn a doubtful decision into victory. It is the game they play in heaven, is it not?

I have woken today, Thursday December 12, to the news that Greta Thunberg is Time magazine's Person of the Year. I cannot think of a more worthy person than this young woman. To those people, particularly in Australia, who told her to stop her activism re climate change, that she was frightening the little children with her words and action, that their children couldn't sleep: please rethink your scepticism.

Nothing could be more frightening than Australia on fire, children not being able to play sport or have their school lunch outside because of the air quality in our towns and cities, hearing that our koala population is decimated, knowing those who've lost their homes and livelihoods, or children not having seen their dad for days or weeks while he's fighting these bushfires. This is not a normal fire season, this is climate change, and yet some people still don't believe it and scoff at this brave young woman.

To those people I say again: just have a rethink while you hear of another house burnt or a firefighter hurt or while you're breathing our putrid air.

A very serious situation in the ACT is the local government's serious lack of adequate policy on trees in Canberra.

Canberra was originally created to make it look like a European city with four seasons. Australia is not a European country. It is a hot, dry, arid land, with rainforests in the north.

Hundreds and hundreds of the wrong types of trees were planted in Canberra, including pines, firs and cypress.

All over Canberra, if you look, you will see hundreds of dead and dying trees. If a bushfire breaks out, they are a serious fire hazard and urgently need removing.

The multitude of giant oak trees planted on nature strips in O'Connor are stressed due to lack of rain.

Oak trees drop a massive amount of extremely hard, dry leaves that get tangled up in shrubbery, and by summer are extremely dangerous if a bushfire breaks out on Black Mountain.

The ACT government has not allocated adequate funds to remove the hundreds, if not thousands, of dead and dying trees in the ACT.

And to top that, to please concerned citizens, the ACT government has promised to plant 70,000 more trees!