Welcome to the first ever print edition of the New Economy Journal!
Launched in April, we are the only Australian publication (and one of few world-wide) whose focus is the movement to build a new economy – an economy based on sustainability and social justice, rather than greed and destruction. Our aim is to highlight, document and disseminate information about what is happening in the new economy movement in Australia and around the world; encourage discourse and debate; facilitate connections; and produce a historical record in the process.
As the Journal is a forum for debate, we hope you’ll disagree with some of the articles in this issue. We believe that through respectful disagreement and engagement, we can enhance our understanding of how to build a new, just and sustainable economy. We also aim to give hope by highlighting the hugely positive new economy activities and ideas being implemented here and around the world. It is, in many ways, a very exciting time for the new economy movement – and that excitement needs to be shared.
It’s good to have hope, and even better to have good reasons your hopes will be realised. We haven’t had good reasons for hope for a long time. Since the GFC, we have lurched from one disappointment to another – we've felt let down by what we thought were progressive...
This is an excerpt from Jane R. Goodall's book The Politics of the Common Good: Dispossession in Australia. Published by NewSouth, it was released in August 2019. Wandering between two worlds, one dead, the other powerless to be born - Matthew Arnold, ‘Stanzas from the Grande Chartreuse’ The outcome of...
We’re here to talk about Australian oil imports, but we’ll start with a short detour; down naval history lane. In the early 20th century, Britain was the undisputed master of the seas, with a navy that eclipsed the combined strength of their counterparts. When WWI broke out, Britain wasted little...
The financial classes love them, the left wants to ban them — but what exactly is the real story behind share buybacks? Contents [1] Company gains; worker losses [2] In too deep? [3] Elections, legislation and government - no easy solutions [4] A workers’ dividend The concepts of finance don’t...
Contents [1] Challenge as opportunity: Urban population growth [2] Protection for peri-urban agricultural lands - what’s already happening and what more can be done? [3] Promotion of urban agriculture - USA and Canada [4] Food Policy Councils - citizen engagement in shaping food policy [5] Urban agriculture in Australia can...
Overpopulation is Not the Problem The New Economy Journal has featured a number of articles this year on the “population problem”: Haydn Washington’s “Denying overpopulation is a double tragedy”; Mark Diesendorf’s “An Environmental Science Perspective on Population”; and Kurt Johnson’s “Scott Morrison’s Population Crisis”. All have expressed grave concern about...
East Timorese co-ops were the subject of an interesting panel event in Melbourne in late August. Hosted by 888 Causeway Co-operative, the event featured Elsa Pinto and Lanu de Sousa, both East Timorese community developers undertaking masters courses in Melbourne. Elsa Pinto works with farming communities to reduce East Timorese...
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of any organisation or employer the author is affiliated with. The late Gary Lewis’ beautifully written history of the NSW co-operative movement, A Middle Way: Rochdale Co-operatives in New South...
There are few things more on-brand for a Liberal politician than attacking organised labour. John Howard virtually made it an art form, prohibiting unions from staging secondary boycotts through the Trade Practices Act, throwing government support behind Patrick Stevedores in its paradigm-shifting clash with the Maritime Union of Australia circa...
For the first time, the International Co-operative Alliance Asia-Pacific Research Conference will be held in Australia. The University of Newcastle will play host - fitting given not just its important place in the history of the Australian consumer movement, but because it’s one of the leading research and teaching institutions...
Life plays with our attention. She’s more creative than we could ever be. She knows what to do, she notices everything and she whispers it to us! She’s the witch. She likes it when we listen. She is whole as she is, she is you and him and them! Sometimes...
This morning my 11-year-old daughter and her friends have finished their placards and are ready to march in the global Climate Change Strike, here in Brisbane. As I watch their earnest little faces concentrate on the colouring in, my heart hurts. I can barely imagine the future these amazing young...
