The series is a unique co-commission, between NITV and Network 10, which will screen simultaneously on both networks and be available to stream on both 10 Play and SBS On Demand.

Its director, Eualayai/Gamillaroi academic, advocate and filmmaker Larissa Behrendt, says The First Inventors′ spectacular landscapes are more than just pretty pictures: “They provide a complementary narrative to the story being told. The approach is to privilege First Nations voices and perspectives, to highlight where there is collaboration and to showcase best practice, where Indigenous knowledge is guiding the creation of new knowledges.

“I hope audiences see the strength, wisdom, resilience, humour and determination that I have seen in the people who have shared their insights and stories. At a time when the nation is looking at engaging in Voice, Treaty and Truth, the insights shared in this series will contribute to important conversations.”

Collins also sees the series sparking discussion. For example, he was challenged when he ventured out lighting fires with rangers on the Mimal Land Management area in Arnhem Land. “My layperson brain understands that fire means burning, it doesn’t mean management or regeneration or growth, it means destruction, in my mind, at least before I met the Mimal rangers.

“To see them use fire, to rehabilitate habitat, to take carbon load out of environments to manage those big bush fires that we’ve seen, that have devastated Australia recently, and to use carbon credits in that process to support the Mimal rangers as well, the whole system they’ve got out there is so mind-blowing to me.

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“I got to use a drip torch, be on the ground and actually do the thing myself, and I was expecting the whole area to light up and engulf us. It was amazing to see this fire creep along the forest floor and not climb any branches, not to affect the top canopy of the forest at all, it kind of looked like magic, I can’t explain it in any other way.”

Equally remarkable was visiting the nearby land where cool burning had taken place just a few months earlier. “The landscape there looks so healthy, it looks so vibrant, there are animals everywhere, it’s abundant, things are fruiting. There was a real mindset shift for me as someone who knows nothing about fire management about the potential here. It was just incredible to see it work.”

This wealth of traditional knowledge has always been there, Collins notes, and while it wasn’t taught to his generation, he’s excited that the next generation will be far better informed, thanks in part to projects like The First Inventors.

And this knowledge, such as the cool burning, can be used to improve our future. “If this can manage the land in a sustainable eco-friendly way, then why aren’t we adopting it en masse?” he asks. “The science is telling us the answer, traditional knowledge is telling us the answer, why can’t we listen?”

The First Inventors screens on Channel 10 and NITV on Thursday (June 15), 8.30pm, and is available on SBS On Demand and 10 Play.

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