Introduction by Dee McLachlan
I have a soft spot for Patagonia.
In 1975, a few friends and I travelled from South Africa on an expedition to climb Mount Fitz Roy. Six weeks of relentless weather defeated us, but the memory of Patagonia never left me. It is one of the most beautiful and untamed places on Earth.
Which brings me to today’s topic.
Over the past decade, a troubling pattern has emerged around the world. Maui burns. Forests burn. Hurricanes devastate communities. And almost inevitably, questions follow about who benefits from the aftermath.
Nature is perfectly capable of wreaking havoc, but history teaches that crises create opportunity. Development proposals that once seemed impossible suddenly become feasible.
Patagonia now finds itself at the centre of a similar controversy.
Fires in Argentina
“As of early 2026, wildfires are actively burning in Chubut, Río Negro, Neuquén, and Santa Cruz provinces in Argentina, with more than 60,000 hectares affected and hundreds of firefighters engaged in containment efforts…” batimes.com.ar+1. Key hotspots include Puerto Patriada, Los Alerces National Park, and Cerro Huemul in Los Glaciares National Park, where ancient forests and tourist areas are under threat…
Researchers are trying to piece this narrative together, and looks roughly like this:
- Massive fires erupted across Patagonia.
- Milei’s government has dramatically reduced environmental and firefighting budgets.
- Milei is/has changed the laws recently.
- Environmental and land-use protections are weakened or proposed for repeal.
- Milei has had a close alliance with Netanyahu.
- Rumours have emerged involving Israeli tourists and suspicious fire activity.
- Government attention focuses instead on Mapuche groups.
- Patagonia is rich in resources.
- Critics argue Patagonia may be vulnerable to land grabs, privatisation, mining expansion and foreign interests.
- Patagonia was the focus for a new homeland in the early 1900s
Factually.co reported: Did Argentina Change Its Laws to Allow Sale and Repurposing of Burned Land? June 2, 2026.
“Executive summary
“The Milei administration has actively moved to eliminate long-standing limits on foreign purchases of rural land and has proposed changes to the Fire Management Law that would remove prohibitions on changing the use of fire‑damaged land; these steps, if fully implemented, would make it easier to sell and repurpose burned lands that earlier laws sought to protect. However, legal challenges and pending legislation mean the situation is contested…
“1. Argentina’s Rural Land Law (Law 26.737) limited foreign ownership and set geographic restrictions — including a 15% national cap and prohibitions on purchases of riverbeds and certain core zones — as a sovereignty and environmental safeguard, while the Fire Management Law (Law 26.815) historically forbade changing land use after fires….
“2. The Executive Branch under President Javier Milei used decrees to repeal or dismantle those restrictions, asserting a “freedom of contract” policy that effectively removed limits on surface area, nationality and other constraints for buyers of rural land…
“3. If decrees and legislative amendments are fully implemented, the combined effect is straightforward: land razed by fire that was previously protected from sale or conversion could be put on the market and repurposed for agriculture, forestry, urban development or extractive uses, removing the legal barrier that once discouraged opportunistic burning for land‑use change…”
To discuss the fires, we resort to Jesse on FIRE
This episode also covers Peter Theil and AI.
My, you get around, Dee.
‘Black Summer (2019–2020)
These unprecedented fires ravaged the Australian landscape across multiple states, primarily New South Wales and Victoria, burning an estimated 18.6 million hectares. The disaster directly caused 33 fatalities, destroyed thousands of homes, and profoundly impacted native wildlife.
Black Saturday (2009)
Occurring on February 7 across Victoria, this remains Australia’s deadliest bushfire event. Severe firestorms fueled by record-high temperatures and gale-force winds claimed 173 lives, destroyed over 2,000 homes, and burned 430,000 hectares’
Now some of the sub fires within these “black” events were in “protected” forests and parks. Even the ADF tried to fry Canberra(strangely i feel little), and millions of native species were destroyed by these attacks.
cui bono, well same old same old, WEF type demons do. Don’t cry for me a, amazon river, just bang your head against the wall for starters, Javier Milei.
O, almost forgot to mention the “pattern”, which one, well all of them
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-06-24/spy-chief-defends-resourcing-decisions-warns-of-threats/106838338
Like cancer we can beat this problem with just a lil more cash, eh chief. Its all familiar, oi vague aussie, and anyone notice Karl Stevenovic has come into our void. Classic Fox move, eh,Tucker Carlson, Dan Borgino …->