Economy
Economy, Environment, Featured, Green Agenda Quarterly Journal Autumn 2021
Security for the Big Polluters: Plantation forestry for carbon offset delays action on climate
There is now growing acceptance – even amongst some of the most ardent of once anti-environmentalists – on the need for urgent action to curb global greenhouse gas emissions, stabilise the earth’s atmosphere, and limit the worst effects of global climate chaos. At the United Nations climate negotiations, a disparate group of nation states, First Nations, civil society, and along... Read More
Economy, Featured, Green Agenda Quarterly Journal Autumn 2021, Social Justice
Housing security – do we really understand the challenge?
In the six years I was in the flat, my rent had risen from $300 to $415 a week. Some of this reflected the market, but increasingly the condition of the flat did not reflect the rent… After three months of soggy and ruined food, I finally asked for a rent reduction. No response. So, I asked for compensation. No... Read More
Economy, Featured, Green Agenda Quarterly Journal Spring 2020, Social Justice
The trash economy: employment in the post-Covid era
On a landfill site outside the village of Kafr Lusin in northwest Syria, teenagers sort through the mountain of toxic household waste, looking for reusable plastic that can be traded for a few coins. At the Ars Electronica Centre in Linz, school children visiting the Machine Learning Studio work with tech trainers to learn how robots are programmed. These might... Read More
Economy, Featured, Green Agenda Quarterly Journal Spring 2020, Social Justice
A casual reflection on academia: before and after the pandemic
COVID-19 has thrown Australia’s university sector into crisis. For the past two decades, the tertiary education industry has expanded on the back of rising international student enrolments. However, the coronavirus pandemic, and the resultant border closures, have disconnected universities from these enrolments, one of their most significant revenue streams. Universities have been hard hit: Job losses have already commenced as... Read More
Economy, Featured, Social Justice
How Much Does a Basic Income Cost?
When discussing the topic of a Basic Income, the cost of the program is often people’s first question. After all, if the program were to deliver “an unconditional livable wage to every permanent resident” when the Henderson poverty line is ~$24,000/year and the population of Australia is ~24,600,000, back of the envelope calculations cost a Basic Income at approximately $590,000,000,000/year!... Read More
Economy, Environment, Featured, Social Justice
Blak Leadership, Green Politics: An Interview With Senator-elect Lidia Thorpe
Ahead of her swearing in as Greens Senator for Victoria, Senator-elect Lidia Thorpe spoke to Green Agenda editor, Felicity Gray, about the activist history that propels her, her plans for the Senate, and decolonising green politics. Felicity Gray: Congratulations on your recent pre-selection as a Greens Senator for Victoria. Very exciting. Lidia Thorpe: Thank you. Felicity Gray: It’s quite a... Read More
Economy, Featured, Social Justice
Instead Of “Snap Back”, Let’s Rethink Work
Lockdown in my household saw my partner and me working harder than ever, on endless Zoom meetings, frantically redesigning events and teaching for the online world, stuck in our home with two teenagers doing all their studying, socialising and extracurricular activities on video calls. It was noisy and chaotic, and it pushed our bandwidth to the limit, both literally and... Read More
Culture, Economy, Social Justice
Staying Together While Keeping Apart During COVID-19: Part One
In light of the Coronavirus pandemic and the rapid shift to physical distancing the Green Institute hosted a webinar on 19 March 2020 titled Staying Together While Keeping Apart. Green Agenda is now publishing transcripts of the speakers of the webinar. This week we are publishing the talks from Nicola Paris, Tim Lo Surdo and El Gibbs. Read Part Two.... Read More
Economy, Social Justice
Staying Connected During The Coronavirus Pandemic
In light of the Coronavirus pandemic and the rapid shift to physical distancing the Green Institute hosted a webinar on 19 March 2020 titled Staying Together While Keeping Apart. Green Agenda is now publishing transcripts of the speakers of the webinar. To start we are publishing the presentation from Holly Hammond, who argues that to get through this we need... Read More
Democracy, Economy
Cultivating Democracy In A Fractured World
Tim Dunlop provided a keynote address at the Green Institute conference, Reclaiming Democracy, in 2019. In this talk he discusses how citizen assemblies and sortition can help cultivate democracy in a fractured world. I’ve been asked to talk about the idea of citizen’s juries, or citizen assemblies, a form of democratic participation that I strongly support. In particular, I’ve been... Read More
