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Democracy, Featured, Green Agenda Journal 2022: Volume One
One ring to rule them all: Unpacking the centralisation of power within the Queensland Greens
No matter how noble its intentions, any political movement that seeks to win power through electioneering is gradually going to be co-opted by the process. In imagining how a Greens government might one day operate in practice, we can find clues in the ways important decisions are currently made within our party. Unfortunately, real-world experience suggests we risk falling into... Read More
Democracy, Featured, Green Agenda Journal 2022: Volume One
In the anti-political era, the Greens need to be wary of Government
In the years that I was heavily involved in the Greens (around 2007 – 2013 or so), one debate dominated internally: should we be a party of protest or a party of Government? At the time, while there were some stalwarts who were committed to the former option, the latter was really becoming the dominant mode of operating. Particularly, with... Read More
Democracy, Economy, Featured, Green Agenda Journal 2022: Volume One
Degrowth economy: The pathway to human survival
Why do we need to transform government? We need to transform government because neither the needs of people, nor the needs of the planet are being met under this current government. The ‘people crisis’ can be summed up by the following statistics: 13.6% of Australians (including 17.7% of children) live in poverty. Wages have been stagnant for 20 years. Welfare... Read More
Democracy, Featured, Green Agenda Journal 2022: Volume One
Should European Green Parties Go Into Government?
On 28 August 2021, 7500 people had the power to decide who would be in the Scottish government. This decision – on whether the Green Party should enter a power-sharing agreement with the Scottish National Party (SNP) – surfaced a series of philosophical and strategic debates within the party. One of these was a question of electoral strategy. In simple... Read More
Environment, Featured, Green Agenda Quarterly Journal Spring 2021
Green Agenda Spring 2021: Out the door – Hope in the fossil-fuel induced dark
“Hope is not a lottery ticket you can sit on the sofa and clutch, feeling lucky. It is an axe you break down doors with in an emergency. Hope should shove you out the door, because it will take everything you have to steer the future away from endless war, from the annihilation of the earth’s treasures and the grinding... Read More
Environment, Featured, Green Agenda Quarterly Journal Spring 2021
Are we ready?
We have been hoping for so long, are we ready now the moment has arrived? I attended my first climate COP in Buenos Aires in 1998. It was COPIV. My last was COP 21 in Paris in 2015. The world was celebrating because a global agreement to restrict global warming to less than 2 degrees, and to pursue 1.5 degrees,... Read More
Environment, Featured, Green Agenda Quarterly Journal Spring 2021
Not passive victims: Indigenous Australians respond to climate change
This piece was originally published in Foreground. Climate change poses both direct and indirect threats to the socio-economic, institutional and environmental systems of the world’s Indigenous populations. Australia is no exception. Yet through the formation of political alliances and establishment of on-country initiatives Indigenous Australians have been leading the way in the development of climate adaptation responses. Firstly, there are a range... Read More
Environment, Featured, Green Agenda Quarterly Journal Spring 2021
The Answer is in the Landscape
Around the world farmers and other land managers are taking up practices that regenerate soil, restore landscapes and restore water systems. Interest and activity in landscape scale change is growing quickly. Governments are coming on board with funding and projects. Corporations are actively taking part or funding others to meet their emissions offsets. These activities all work toward reducing or... Read More
Environment, Featured, Green Agenda Quarterly Journal Spring 2021
Strike action: The youth climate movement gives us hope for the future
In 1896 Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius first predicted that changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels could alter the surface temperature of the earth through the greenhouse effect in a seminal paper. 125 years later this alarming prediction has become a reality and activists worldwide have been fighting for real climate action. School Strike 4 Climate (SS4C), is a climate group... Read More
Environment, Featured, Green Agenda Quarterly Journal Spring 2021
Community hope fuels government action
The Greenest government in Australia’s history sits in the heart of Canberra. We have set a net-zero emissions target for 2045. We are powered by 100% renewable electricity. We are phasing out the use of fossil-fuel gas, incentivising the uptake of electric vehicles and changing the building code to require more climate resilient housing and workplaces. This isn’t just a... Read More
