Four years ago I learnt to scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef. At the time I was working on a project far out in the Coral Sea and was fortunate enough to dive in some of the world's most pristine and untouched coral gardens. Later I went diving in Indonesia and was shocked by the contrast. Many of the reefs close to shore were bleached, covered in algae and in a general state of poor health. Whilst some of this was due to global warming, the majority was due to human impact.
I found myself wondering if parts of Australia's Great Barrier Reef were also showing signs of ill health. And if so, who was taking its pulse?
I began doing some preliminary research towards the end of 2000. I travelled to Townsville and met with several key players who are involved in studying and protecting the marine environment of the 2000 kilometre-long Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.
I was in search of a story that would show the challenges involved in looking after such a pristine piece of the environment that is subjected to commercial pressures such as tourism. To my surprise all stakeholders identified that one of the biggest threats to the reef lay on the land, not in the sea. Scientists are convinced that water pollution from the excessive chemical and pesticide use in agriculture - primarily sugar cane and bananas, is severely damaging the in-shore reefs. The sugar cane industry has made many efforts to improve the land management practice of their members but as the average age of a cane farmer is 60 years, change may be too late.
This topic is currently polarising several communities in far north Queensland who are experiencing a clash of philosophies as to what is most important - the survival of old family industries such as sugar cane or the growth of 21st century industries such as tourism.
At stake is the future biodiversity of the Great Barrier Reef.
In 2001 both the Australian Film Commission and Film Australia provided assistance to develop the project. In September 2001, I approached December Films who agreed to produce the film. Film Australia further developed the project and committed to fund production under the National Interest Program in February 2002. The documentary was pre-sold to SBS Independent.
Muddy Waters is set in the wet tropics between Cairns and Townsville. The land story was centred around the rural community of Tully that has an annual rainfall of over four metres. It is one of Queensland's main centres for sugar cane and bananas.
The logistics of filming Muddy Waters were complex, as filming on or in water always takes three times as long. We were fortunate to have the full cooperation of the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) who let us travel with the team of research scientists aboard the Lady Basten to the wet tropics and to Princess Charlotte Bay on the Cape York Peninsula. Filming began in April and we were on board for nine days and fortunately had perfect weather. Rory McGuinness was the cinematographer for both topside and underwater. Filming underwater took considerable time and was a huge juggling act, with the Digital Betacam camera and its protective underwater housing weighing over 50 kilograms.
All the macro filming had to be done on board while the coral and barnacles were alive. This meant dealing with constant movement that is tricky with microscopic filming.
We left the Basten up on the Cape York Peninsula and hitched a ride back to Cooktown via a marlin boat. This proved to be quite an adventure as bad weather turned a 10-hour trip into an 18-hour journey. On arrival, we encountered two weeks of solid rain in late April for filming of the land story. This made filming awkward but after months of dry weather, at least the rivers filled up and there was plenty of run-off coming off the farms for us to record - all essential to the story. Finally I understood why Tully is the wettest town in Australia!
An additional week of filming took place in late August to pick up the sugar cane harvest and follow through some storylines such as Dick Camilleri putting in a silt trap. During harvest time, north Queensland is busy. Harvesters go from dawn until nightfall and sugar trains rattle through the cane fields. It is very picturesque and was an important addition to the look of the film. Despite a record bumper harvest, the main talk around town was how was it possible to save the sugar industry? World prices had plummeted due to a glut on the market and farmers were lamenting that they were getting less for their crop than the cost of production. The government has offered a rescue package to encourage farmers to diversify or leave the industry altogether. There is also increasing pressure on farmers to be seen to be changing their land management practices to incorporate environmental codes of practice. As the industry ages it is likely that many will sell their farms. It will be interesting to see what the future of the Australian sugar industry holds over the next decade.
- Photo Gallery
- Behind the scenes: production story
- Additional notes
- See our program detail page for related links and to purchase a video online.
Download a copy of the Muddy Waters teachers notes (Acrobat pdf, 938kb)
Download a copy of the Muddy Waters press kit (Microsoft Word file, 99kb) which includes:
- synopsis
- production story
- filmmaker biographies
- full credit list