Australians have known about climate change since 1988. In 1989 at the South Pacific Forum, the then Australian Prime Minister Bob Hawke found himself in discussion with leaders who worried (rightly, as it turned out) that their island nations were in danger [see below]. The intervening 28 years have been ones of promises broken, hopes dashed, while... Continue Reading →
Mark Latham and his crystal balls
This below is from a 2013 Quarterly Essay called Unfinished Business: Sex, Freedom and Misogny by Anna Goldsworthy. It's in the correspondence bit, talking about the previous essay, 'Not Dead Yet' by Mark Latham. Here below is a prediction Latham made while replying to (most of) his critics. And so it came to pass, especially after... Continue Reading →
Political parties as street gangs. Except in #Manchester of course…
This below is from a Quarterly Essay called Unfinished Business: Sex, Freedom and Misogny by Anna Goldsworthy. It's in the correspondence bit, talking about the previous essay, 'Not Dead Yet' by Mark Latham. I have added the link. Part of the explanation of this organisational shortcoming lies in the fact that political parties are strange beasts.... Continue Reading →
Neoliberalism and the forced march to nowhere #Australia #Keating
This below is from a Quarterly Essay called Unfinished Business: Sex, Freedom and Misogny by Anna Goldsworthy. It's in the correspondence bit, talking about the previous essay, 'Not Dead Yet' by Mark Latham. Fwiw, imo, Guy Rundle is a very very smart guy. That social vision is advanced by most of the current ALP elite past... Continue Reading →
Circuit breaker: Why the Finkel Review may be a game-changer for climate and energy policy in Australia #energyfutures
The review of the Australian Electricity Market being undertaken by the chief scientist may break the impasse over climate and energy policy, according to a senior South Australian public servant. Speaking in a personal capacity at an event in Adelaide, Dr Don Russell, Chief Executive of the Department of State Development for the South Australian Government,... Continue Reading →
SA Blackout: From name-calling to … report writing
The political and cultural battle around the South Australian blackout of 28 September is moving from the ‘(s)pinning-the-blame’ phase to the ‘await the verdicts of the “independent” reports’ phase. All available insults have been traded, and other issues will be popping up on the radar imminently. For example, a stoush over the proposed gay marriage... Continue Reading →
Keeping together in time: movement-building and mobilising
Most activist events, even (especially?) the ones that are supposed to be energising are, imho, demoralising and dis-visioning. Stale repertoires, ritual denunciations that show us – and others – our powerlessness and lack of imagination.Today, while setting the mood and giving information, an activist used a word you don't hear often - joy. When I... Continue Reading →
Film Review: Love and Friendship
Not a huge Austen fan (that says more about me than her, perhaps?) but there were quite a few laugh-out-loud moments in this film, based on a novella that wasn’t published until 50 years after she’d snuffed it (there IS a novella of hers called Love and Friendship, but the film is based on another... Continue Reading →
The powerlessness of power?
This below is from a Quarterly Essay called Unfinished Business: Sex, Freedom and Misogny by Anna Goldsworthy. It's in the correspondence bit, talking about the previous essay, 'Not Dead Yet' by Mark Latham. I have added the links. [Moises] Nairn is the author of a well-received recent book, The End of Power [Guardian Review], which argues... Continue Reading →
Books I absolutely did not buy today.
I went to a worthy (and fun) protest at which people closed their accounts with the Commonwealth Bank, because it (and the other three biggies) are saying they want to keep the world under the two degree warming target, which I wrote a short factual piece about, and will use to think more about mobilising... Continue Reading →
marchudson.net 