Far from a contest of ideas, this campaign withers to irrelevance

For the second time in a dozen years a Coalition government is, according to the polls, facing electoral defeat, easily characterised as “stubborn” and “prejudiced” on key policy issues, a team of (mostly) men of the past, lacking a vision or the policies to back it up.

Where is the contest of ideas? Scott Morrison and Bill Shorten.

It was American statesman and diplomat Adlai Stevenson who remarked in a 1963 address to the UN that “ignorance is stubborn, and prejudice dies hard”. He could well have been describing the Coalition.

Read the opinion piece from The Age by John Hewson - “Far from a contest of ideas, this campaign withers to irrelevance."

The voices of Amazon women and a visionary declaration to protect indigenous lands

As we face the daunting reality of the climate crisis unraveling all around us, including the recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which warns that we only have a dozen years remaining to radically change our current trajectory to prevent disastrous ecological and social harms, there is a shimmer of light and hope radiating out from the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon sparked by the Kichwa People of Sarayaku.

Sarayaku leaders launched their historic Kawsak Sacha or Living Forest Declaration in July this year during four days of public events, educational activities and ceremonies in the capital city Quito, Ecuador. The inauguration included a formal presentation to the Ecuadorian government and to international organizations and dignitaries.

“The Amazon Rainforest ecosystems are vital lungs of the Earth. Thus, the justice and well-being for the people of Sarayaku is inseparably tied to the fate of all people worldwide.”

Read the Nation of Change story by Osprey Orielle Lake - “The voices of Amazon women and a visionary declaration to protect indigenous lands.”