Progressive Ideas Worth Sharing

On 11 March 2019 Australian Fabians co-hosted with Emily's List "Anne Summers in conversation with Anne Aly" held at the Perth Town Hall.

In 2007, Kevin Rudd famously declared climate change to be “the great moral challenge of our generation” Nevertheless, successive Labor and Coalition governments have failed to act effectively towards action on climate change or mitigating its effects. Corruption, denial and delay have permeated our institutions and have contributed to the current political inertia that has produced both outrage and hopelessness, as well as profound alienation from our democratic system. But it doesn’t have to be this way... Individuals and groups both domestically and overseas are fighting to change the politics of climate change before it is too late. But how do we change climate politics when the power is not with grassroots activists and individual citizens? Who is standing in our way? What makes our democratic system amplify some political points of view and not others? Who has most access to the levers that change political outcomes? What can we do to change that? For a discussion on why so much has gone wrong with the politics of climate change, and where to look to successfully change how climate politics get heard, join us for this event on the 10th of April!

 

Speakers: Victoria McKenzie-McHarg Victoria is currently Manager of Strategy and Planning at Bank Australia. Bank Australia are strongly committed to supporting renewable projects and lending to low-income households for solar installations. Victoria has been chair of the Climate Action Network Australia since October 2015, and is a Board member of the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute at the University of Melbourne. Her previous positions include Climate Campaigner at Environment Victoria from 2007 to 2013, a Director at the Moreland Energy Foundation from 2011 to 2014, and a Climate Campaign Manager at the Australian Conservation Foundation from 2014 to 2015.

 

David Spratt David has been an important climate activist and author for many years. Best known as co-author of the influential book Climate Code Red, he is Research Director at the Breakthrough Research Centre for Climate Restoration, and authored/co-authored many key reports on the growing significance of the acceleration of climate change, most recently "What Lies Beneath" (co-authored with Ian Dunlop), described as the inside story of how climate policy has become embedded in a culture of failure and scientific reticence. David is a member of the Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute at the University of Melbourne.

Addresses by Phil O'Donoghue and Tim Dymond at Perth Trades Hall on Tuesday 4 December 2018 based on their contribution to the Australian Fabians Pamphlet 27 Inclusive Growth. Opinions expressed are their own.

Emeritus Professor Gillian Triggs has been both a champion of human rights and a target of attempts to suppress them. She is the former President of the Australian Human Rights Commission, and for Fabians, needs little other introduction. Australia is increasingly abrogating its human rights obligations abroad and the fundamental freedoms of its own citizens at home. Secrecy laws cover the most extreme breaches. Surveillance and self censorship ensure that people who might act as witnesses and whistleblowers do not or cannot speak up. Organisations that might act as checks and balances are delegitimized by accusations of politicisation, and progressively defunded. New threats to human rights emerge all the time. The recently proposed Office of National Intelligence Bill will confer powers that may substantially undermine the personal privacy of ordinary citizens. Professor Triggs' will focus on the effects of this Bill and other legislative threats to our fundamental freedoms in common law and treaty obligations.

Dr Bruce Lindsay (Environmental Justice Australia, Member of Australian Panel of Experts on Environmental Law) Bruce works as a law reform and project officer at Environmental Justice Australia - a public-interest community legal centre specialising in environmental and planning law. Bruce has written on biodiversity law, water law, access to justice issues, and planning law for EJA. He has previously worked with Trust for Nature, undertaking leading research on law in private land conservation and environmental markets. He has had a long association with local environmental groups and issues in Geelong, Victoria. This is the third event of Victorian Fabians' Spring Series for 2018, co-hosted by the Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN), at which we'll discuss environmental sustainability and equality, with talks by Dr Bruce Lindsay and Ged Kearney MP. The 2018 IPCC report on climate change says we have about 12 years to act to keep climate change to 1.5 degrees. The action required to prevent increasing CO2 will be both rapid and dislocating but not anywhere near as dislocating as the effects of higher than 1.5 degrees of warming. Many of the impacts from climate risks and remedies will disproportionately affect the more disadvantaged in our society. This represents a threat to our progressive social democracy. How do we act on climate change and sustain a thriving diverse environment, human well-being and equality all at the same time?

Ged Kearney MP (ALP Member for Batman) Ged was born and raised in Melbourne and lived in the electorate of Batman for 20 years. She started her working life as a nurse and rose to become Federal Secretary of the Australian Nursing Federation. From 2010, Ged served as the elected president of the ACTU – the peak body of Australia’s union movement – where she has been fighting for better conditions for Australian workers. Ged fought John Howard’s Workchoices to protect our rights at work, and is a passionate advocate for social justice and gender equality in the workplace. This is the third event of Victorian Fabians' Spring Series for 2018, co-hosted by the Labor Environment Action Network (LEAN), at which we'll discuss environmental sustainability and equality, with talks by Dr Bruce Lindsay and Ged Kearney MP. The 2018 IPCC report on climate change says we have about 12 years to act to keep climate change to 1.5 degrees. The action required to prevent increasing CO2 will be both rapid and dislocating but not anywhere near as dislocating as the effects of higher than 1.5 degrees of warming. Many of the impacts from climate risks and remedies will disproportionately affect the more disadvantaged in our society. This represents a threat to our progressive social democracy. How do we act on climate change and sustain a thriving diverse environment, human well-being and equality all at the same time?

Frank McGuire is the Victorian State member for Broadmeadows. As part of an extensive and varied career in politics he has an abiding interest in urban planning. Frank was nominated for the international Metropolis Award for innovation in 2011 for his model for smarter, healthier, better connected and sustainable communities, the Global Learning Village. In 2013-14 he co-chaired Parliament’s Economic Development, Infrastructure and Outer Suburban/Interface Services Committee. He is currently driving for Melbourne's north to become a "Smart City" - an innovation, education and technology hub. In 2016 he published 'Creating Opportunity: Postcodes of Hope', a blueprint for cultural, generational and systemic change delivering lifelong learning, economic development and jobs. This is the first event of Victorian Fabians' Spring Series for 2018, and will feature talks by Professor Barbara Norman and Frank McGuire MP, with a special introduction by Fabian Luminary and National Treasure Barry Jones. Our familiar urban and suburban areas are at the forefront of much of the economic, social and environmental change sweeping Australia. Challenges arise in an arc of suburbs around Melbourne and other major cities. They are the result of the closure of old industries and changes in employment. Furthermore, the rise of inequality between suburbs contributes to the challenges, where some may become waiting rooms of permanent unemployment and a marginalised existence, with little expectation of the better future that spurred on former generations. Challenges to planning are also waiting in the wings from the social and physical effects of climate change, whether from increased numbers of people harmed or displaced by drought and flood, or from the struggle to adapt our cities to new land-use, energy and transport imperatives, as food and energy are stretched and the natural environment put under even more pressure. How can we address these issues so that people can have confidence in the future of the communities in which they live?

Dean is from the Quandamooka peoples from Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island) in Queensland. He was involved in the negotiations leading to a Native Title determination in 2011 and continues to work with his community on this journey. He helped facilitate all 13 dialogues that produced the Uluru Statement from the Heart. He is currently establishing a people's movement to promote political momentum for the Uluru Statement. He also runs his own consultancy aimed at co-design of strategic change, bringing people together and engaging them in dialogue. This is the second event of Victorian Fabians' Spring Series for 2018, at which we'll discuss reconciliation, the strengthening of First Nations' voices, and their link with equality. It will feature talks by Dean Parkin and Justin Mohamed. That the idea of reconciliation and the creation of a mechanism for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander self-determination, on an equal footing, in the affairs of Australia dates back at least 40 years is itself testimony to the intransigence of the Australian political system in its lack of recognition of First Nations' voices. Reconciliation Australia defines "Reconciliation" as based on five principles; Race relations based on trust and respect, free of racism Equality and equity of participation in a range of life opportunities, also recognising the unique rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples Institutional integrity of political, business and community organisations to support reconciliation Unity, so that our shared identity recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and heritage Historical acceptance, meaning that the wrongs of the past and the necessity for their redress are accepted by all Australians These are big steps for Australia to take. How can we take them and emerge with greater equality?

A Gooreng Gooreng man from Bundaberg in Queensland, Justin Mohamed has spent much of his career working in the Aboriginal health and sport sectors, improving outcomes and connections to culture for Aboriginal people, including children. He is a leader in reconciliation, having served as the CEO of Reconciliation Australia for three years until 2017, and was most recently the CEO of Equity Health Solutions. Currently he is the Victorian Government Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People. This is the second event of Victorian Fabians' Spring Series for 2018, at which we'll discuss reconciliation, the strengthening of First Nations' voices, and their link with equality. It will feature talks by Dean Parkin and Justin Mohamed. That the idea of reconciliation and the creation of a mechanism for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander self-determination, on an equal footing, in the affairs of Australia dates back at least 40 years is itself testimony to the intransigence of the Australian political system in its lack of recognition of First Nations' voices. Reconciliation Australia defines "Reconciliation" as based on five principles; Race relations based on trust and respect, free of racism Equality and equity of participation in a range of life opportunities, also recognising the unique rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples Institutional integrity of political, business and community organisations to support reconciliation Unity, so that our shared identity recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and heritage Historical acceptance, meaning that the wrongs of the past and the necessity for their redress are accepted by all Australians These are big steps for Australia to take. How can we take them and emerge with greater equality?