Cirrus@Austlit

'From fishing villages on the Gujarat coastline to Adani's power plant in Mundra and the company's headquarters in Ahmedabad, Lindsay Simpson’s personal story tracks how the Adani Group managed to woo Australian governments into approving Australia’s largest coal mine in the Galilee Basin and port expansion in a zone of great ecological sensitivity.

'Why would an Australian Prime Minister, a State Premier and a handful of regional mayors back such a project, risking the future of the Great Barrier Reef and threatening Australia’s vast precious source of underground water – the Great Artesian Basin? And what of the consequences for greenhouse gas emissions if other proposed mines in the Galilee Basin go ahead?

'Why is there a single-minded pursuit of the mining of coal when we are running out of time to do something useful about climate change? As a tourism operator in the Whitsundays Lindsay Simpson, investigative journalist, former academic and author, is determined to expose the contribution of coal mines to global warming, which is threatening the world’s largest living organism – the Great Barrier Reef – with extinction.

'With other activists, she travels from Adani's Indian headquarters in Gujarat to Parliament House in Canberra to lobby politicians, demand answers and question motivations. She also documents the power of the social movement, Stop Adani, which has captured the public imagination.

'In an astute analysis of this ongoing environmental battle, the biggest since the Franklin Dam in the 1980s, Lindsay Simpson argues that while Adani might have gained the backing of politicians, it has not won over the Australian people. (Publication summary)

'On 7 December 2003 Daniel Morcombe disappeared on the Sunshine Coast, while waiting for a bus. For Bruce and Denise Morcombe - the parents of Daniel - and his brothers, Bradley and Dean, it was apparent within hours that something was very wrong. In the first few days following Daniel's disappearance, Bruce and Denise made a promise to their son that they would never ever stop looking for him, and bring who was responsible to justice.

''We will never give up.' As the nightmare of hours became days then weeks, and months and years, the family mobilised to become the moral force behind the longest criminal investigation in Australia's history.

'Where is Daniel? covers the decade-long investigation into the disappearance of Daniel and the extraordinary courage, dignity, persistence and fortitude Bruce and Denise displayed under unbearable circumstances.

'This determination also applied to Bruce and Denise's desire to mine something positive from the darkest of experiences. They started the Daniel Morcombe Foundation in 2005, to teach children about safety, and have since visited hundreds of schools around Australia. They've established Australia's largest annual child safety day-of-action, 'Day for Daniel', and utilised the funds raised to support other children who have been the victims of abuse.

'Over a decade later, with Daniel's killer brought to justice thanks to an amazing covert police sting, this is the family's story. Where is Daniel? is a testament to the enduring power of love between parents and their child, and the strength and bonds of family to survive.

'Two shots through the head at point blank range and Megan Kalajzich bleeds to death in her bed. Lying just inches away, her millionaire husband miraculously escapes the hitman's bullets.

'A chilling, true-life tale of greed, money and passion, My Husband, My Killer follows a tangled murder plot, hatched by Megan's husband Andrew in the opulence of the Manly Pacific International Hotel and clinched in the seedy alleyways of Kings Cross where the killer was hired.

'But why would anyone want to murder Megan, and who pulled the trigger?

Source: publisher's blurb

'On 28 April 1996, Walter Mikac lost his wife, Nanette, and two daughters, six-year-old Alannah and three-year-old Madeline. They were shot dead, along with 32 other innocent people, during the Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania.

To Have and to Hold is Walter's tribute to Nanette and the girls, and their uniqueness. Walter recounts their early life together, their love for each other and the years of happiness they shared - all of which have sustained him through his grief.

He tackles with courage and honesty aspects of bereavement that are rarely acknowledged. After having the love and security of a family, he is now a single person confronting and unknowable future. He has also found himself thrust into the media spotlight, his grief exposed for the world to see.

Through the issue of gun control and the establishment of the Alannah and Madeline Foundation, Walter has channeled his energy into ensuring that their lives were not lost in vain - a commitment that was sparked by meeting the parents who lost children in Scotland's Dunblane massacre.

Walter Mikac is an ordinary person who, through no fault of his own, has been put in an extraordinary position. Coping with the unimaginable loss of his family has led Walter down a spiritual path of discovery - one of hope and belief that the circle of life continues. His grace and dignity in the face of tragedy have inspired a nation.' (Publisher's blurb)

'Father's Day 1984: seven people die in a blaze of gunfire on a sunny afternoon in a hotel car park.Among the dead, a fifteen year old girl caught in the crossfire when two heavily-armed bikie gangs, the Comancheros and the Bandidos, clash.

'Brothers in Arms tells the extraordinary story of this murderous outbreak, from its vicious beginnings in the closed world of Sydney's motorcycle gangs to its inevitable end in death and imprisonment.'

Source: publisher's blurb