From donations and lobbyist reform and the institution of a national corruption commission to the introduction of Multi Member Proportional Representation in the House of Representatives; from becoming a Republic to potentially abolishing the States, empowering local government and entirely reconfiguring our federation; from building local mechanisms for participatory democracy to building the case for global representative democracy, and of course ensuring sovereignty for first nations people, there are huge ideas to be discussed!
What does borrowing dress up clothes or lending a lawnmower have to do with democracy? Quite a lot, as it happens! When you do it thoughtfully. When the Canberra Alliance for Participatory Democracy announced a call for pre-recorded videos for their DemFest21, celebrating local democracy, I…
Read More
From reflections on lived experience to academic analysis of real life impacts to analysis of what people actually believe, the launch of our new paper, “Unconditionally: COVID response and the future of welfare” was a brilliant way to help us imagine a future where welfare is unconditional. The event featured…
Read More
I was absolutely privileged on October 10 to join a panel for the Asia Pacific Greens Federation, discussing the question “What is Green Politics?” with Greens colleagues from Lebanon, Japan and Indonesia. It was a wonderful insight into how, in different circumstances and from different perspectives, our challenges, issues and…
Read More
This opinion piece was first published in The Canberra Times on 15 August, 2021. “So, New Zealand looks like the best place to ride out the apocalypse. When are we moving?” If I had a tonne of coal in the ground for…
Read More
So far this year, amidst the challenges we’re all facing, The Green Institute has brought you two fantastic quarterly editions of Green Agenda – Into The Fire and On (in)security, webinars on youth & democracy and climate grief and action, a bunch of blog posts, and a democratic…
Read More
The devastating fires across eastern Australia as the 2020s began burnt a hard black line across history – before the fires and after. Former Greens Senator Scott Ludlam and Professor Danielle Celermajer both faced those fires from terrifyingly close up. And their remarkable new books, Full Circle and Summertime, take…
Read More
“Does a story of survival and recovery offer us redemption? Or does it at least spare us the burden of feeling condemned for the crime of omnicide?” These words from towards the end of Professor Danielle Celermajer’s beautiful book, Summertime, ring in my mind as I ponder that difficult, tenuous,…
Read More
If there’s anything better for the soul than a big group of people gathered together around a good meal, actively planning together how to build a better world, I’ve not experienced it. On the traditional Budget Reply night, Thursday of Budget week, The Green Institute partnered with The Australian Unemployed…
Read More
I was delighted recently to be invited to speak at the conference of the Australian Academy of Jewish Studies, where I gave a presentation about Ecology, Citizenship and Jewish Identity, drawing together the ideas of Emma Goldman, Hannah Arendt and Murray Bookchin. I talked about how the fragile sense of…
Read More
Thanks to everyone who came along to the online launch of the Green Agenda Quarterly Journal Summer 2021 Edition: Into The Fire. A special thanks to speakers Lina Koleilat, Dodie Henderson, and Queensland Greens MP Amy MacMahon who discussed how fire defines us and what we…
Read More
