Launch of Slick by Royce Kurmelovs

Join Royce Kurmelovs for the launch of Slick: Australia’s Toxic Relationship with Big Oil

Royce will be in conversation with Walter Marsh, author of Young Rupert. 

6PM Thursday 5 September
The Wheaty
39 George St, Thebarton SA

Tickets are free but registration is essential.

About the book

Slick: Australia’s toxic relationship with Big Oil takes a comprehensive look at the origins of the Australian petroleum industry, investigating what these companies knew about climate change and how they learned to wield influence and insert themselves into all facets of public life. Royce Kurmelovs reveals how the US petroleum industry was warned about its environmental impacts back in the 1950s and yet went on to build the Australian oil industry, which in turn tried to drill the Great Barrier Reef, sought to strongarm governments, and joined a global effort to bury the science of climate change and delay action despite knowing the harms it would cause.

Slick also tells the stories of fire and flood survivors, as well as of the activists engaged in a high-stakes fight for the future of Australia and of the efforts being made to save ourselves from catastrophe.

This superb, in-depth work of journalism provides an on-the-ground examination of how the fossil fuel industry captured Australia, and outlines what’s at stake for the survival of the planet and our democracy.

About the author

Royce Kurmelovs is an Australian freelance journalist and author. His work has been published in Rolling Stone AU, The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, BBC, VICE and other publications. His books include The Death of Holden (2016), Rogue Nation (2017), Boom and Bust (2018) and Just Money (2020). His fifth book, Slick, is due for release in August 2024.