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MEMO FOR A SANER WORLD
Australia is, per capita, the world's wealthiest country in terms of natural resources. The conventional wisdom is to cash these in so that we become the world's richest people. But how likely is that to make us any happier? In fact, the rate of clinical depression in the West has been rising since the 1950s. Richness of spirit cannot be bought across the counter.
Green wisdom, on the other hand, is to capitalise on Australia's wealth by charting an independent role in world affairs, and by so doing improve the prospects of all the world's people, safeguarding the global environment and human security. This intertwining of social equality and democracy with environmental protection is the mainstay of the Greens' footbridge to a better future.
Of course, fairness begins at home. In Australia, the policies of the Greens are directed towards cradle-to grave public health and education, a reversal of the nation's ever-worsening environmental indices, and enhanced employment and workplace conditions. We Greens rate above par in our political energy. In a period of government obsessed with the rule of the market, our advocacy has directly influenced the freeing of East Timor and the end of mandatory sentencing of Aboriginal children, helped slow the drift of funding away from public schools and medicine, and applied a strong stay on the erosion of civil liberties in the name of fear and terror.
Anyone who was surprised by my stand on the issue of refugees in the run-up to the November 2001 federal election should read the Charter of the Global Greens in the appendices of this book. In August of that year the Norwegian freighter the Tampa, at Australia's request, picked up more than 400 boat people who were at risk – and was then ordered by John Howard to stay out of Australian waters. After talking the matter over with Ben Oquist in the Greens Senate office, and with the Greens charter guiding every step of the way, I held an immediate press conference to defend the human rights of the refugees, as well as the humanitarian dignity of Australia. The Tampa, I made it clear, should be brought to Australia and its refugees treated in accordance with the law.
The result was an instant barrage of abusive mail, including bullets and pictures of nooses, and then, three months later, a doubling of the Greens' vote across the nation. The green alternative had struck a chord.
Some people worry that a vote for the Greens is a wasted vote, but in fact it has double the value. Under Australia's preferential voting system, if your minor party candidate is not elected, your whole vote goes to your major-party preference. Better still, an increase in the Greens' vote indicates to the big parties where your real policy preference lies. Those who wonder how the Greens would handle power will be helped by the chapter 'The Balance of Power' – we Greens have already shown that we can win important gains for the community and the environment through a role in government, even during turbulent times.
This book is not a comprehensive text on Greens politics. It consists of stories from along the road I have taken, from my years as an environmental campaigner concerned for all humanity to being a Greens senator, with discussion of some of the issues on the way. For obvious reasons the book is Tasmania-centric in parts, but the issues these chapters encompass – such as the logging of native forests and the threat to coastlines – are the same elsewhere in Australia and indeed in the rest of the world.
I am acutely aware that so many of the friends I have worked with through the years – from the Franklin blockade to the foundation of the Australian Bush Heritage Fund and the Greens, and my years in elected office – aren't named between these covers. And yet every venture has been a joint one, with like-minded people and special individuals who each deserve an accolade and have my great thanks.
It is a fortunate life if, at 59, a person feels more optimistic and fulfilled than ever before. That's me. I love my job; there is constant reward in seeing people join the Greens, and, most of all, in the contribution we are making to Australia's future wellbeing. My political awareness unfolded during the Cold War, with its underpinning philosophy of mutually assured (nuclear) destruction. The alternative of a world united in sharing resources, and diverting the money spent on arms in order to eradicate child poverty, makes as much good sense now as it did then, and appeals to the finer instincts in us all.
The Greens are the world's political antidepressant. I hope this memo for a saner world will strike a chord with you too. ~ Bob Brown
Green wisdom, on the other hand, is to capitalise on Australia's wealth by charting an independent role in world affairs, and by so doing improve the prospects of all the world's people, safeguarding the global environment and human security. This intertwining of social equality and democracy with environmental protection is the mainstay of the Greens' footbridge to a better future.
Of course, fairness begins at home. In Australia, the policies of the Greens are directed towards cradle-to grave public health and education, a reversal of the nation's ever-worsening environmental indices, and enhanced employment and workplace conditions. We Greens rate above par in our political energy. In a period of government obsessed with the rule of the market, our advocacy has directly influenced the freeing of East Timor and the end of mandatory sentencing of Aboriginal children, helped slow the drift of funding away from public schools and medicine, and applied a strong stay on the erosion of civil liberties in the name of fear and terror.
Anyone who was surprised by my stand on the issue of refugees in the run-up to the November 2001 federal election should read the Charter of the Global Greens in the appendices of this book. In August of that year the Norwegian freighter the Tampa, at Australia's request, picked up more than 400 boat people who were at risk – and was then ordered by John Howard to stay out of Australian waters. After talking the matter over with Ben Oquist in the Greens Senate office, and with the Greens charter guiding every step of the way, I held an immediate press conference to defend the human rights of the refugees, as well as the humanitarian dignity of Australia. The Tampa, I made it clear, should be brought to Australia and its refugees treated in accordance with the law.
The result was an instant barrage of abusive mail, including bullets and pictures of nooses, and then, three months later, a doubling of the Greens' vote across the nation. The green alternative had struck a chord.
Some people worry that a vote for the Greens is a wasted vote, but in fact it has double the value. Under Australia's preferential voting system, if your minor party candidate is not elected, your whole vote goes to your major-party preference. Better still, an increase in the Greens' vote indicates to the big parties where your real policy preference lies. Those who wonder how the Greens would handle power will be helped by the chapter 'The Balance of Power' – we Greens have already shown that we can win important gains for the community and the environment through a role in government, even during turbulent times.
This book is not a comprehensive text on Greens politics. It consists of stories from along the road I have taken, from my years as an environmental campaigner concerned for all humanity to being a Greens senator, with discussion of some of the issues on the way. For obvious reasons the book is Tasmania-centric in parts, but the issues these chapters encompass – such as the logging of native forests and the threat to coastlines – are the same elsewhere in Australia and indeed in the rest of the world.
I am acutely aware that so many of the friends I have worked with through the years – from the Franklin blockade to the foundation of the Australian Bush Heritage Fund and the Greens, and my years in elected office – aren't named between these covers. And yet every venture has been a joint one, with like-minded people and special individuals who each deserve an accolade and have my great thanks.
It is a fortunate life if, at 59, a person feels more optimistic and fulfilled than ever before. That's me. I love my job; there is constant reward in seeing people join the Greens, and, most of all, in the contribution we are making to Australia's future wellbeing. My political awareness unfolded during the Cold War, with its underpinning philosophy of mutually assured (nuclear) destruction. The alternative of a world united in sharing resources, and diverting the money spent on arms in order to eradicate child poverty, makes as much good sense now as it did then, and appeals to the finer instincts in us all.
The Greens are the world's political antidepressant. I hope this memo for a saner world will strike a chord with you too. ~ Bob Brown
281 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
3 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Bob Brown
8 books15 followersRobert James "Bob" Brown is a former Australian Greens politician, medical doctor, environmentalist, former Senator and former Parliamentary Leader of the Australian Greens. He was the first openly gay member of the Parliament of Australia, and the first openly gay leader of an Australian political party. Brown moved to Tasmania in 1972 and became actively involved in the state's environmental movement. He was elected to the Australian Senate for Tasmania in 1996, and was outspoken in his support of green and human rights issues. Brown is the founder of the Australian Bush Heritage Fund, now Bush Heritage Australia, a non-profit environmental organisation dedicated to purchasing and preserving Australian bush land.
Brown has published several books including Wild Rivers (1983), The Greens (1996) and In Balfour Street (2010). In 2004 James Norman published the first authorised biography of Brown, entitled Bob Brown: A Gentle Revolutionary.
Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Brown has published several books including Wild Rivers (1983), The Greens (1996) and In Balfour Street (2010). In 2004 James Norman published the first authorised biography of Brown, entitled Bob Brown: A Gentle Revolutionary.
Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 12, 2023
Read, nearly 20 years after it was published. What a curious world we live in now.
April 23, 2009
What an interesting and courageous life he has led! I loved the Earth Spirit chapter and loved the way he spoke of trees, named them like his friends and spoke of them with reverence...a man after my own heart. Non-violent protest in the face of agression and the persistent promotion of the charter of the global greens is the only way to achieve a better world. Peace gained by violent means will only be temporary. "Violent means will give violent freedom" - Gandhi. We need more Bob Browns in this world.
September 17, 2012
Very inspiring. If only more of us were as brave. The photo of Bob Brown standing beneath that huge eucalyptus tree in Tasmania makes me want to cry. The tree is now nothing but ashes, burnt to the ground by Forestry Tasmania.
After reading Brown's book, go to Bush Heritage Australia.
After reading Brown's book, go to Bush Heritage Australia.
May 28, 2015
I found this book a little hard to get through. I was expecting it to be a little more autobiographical, however to was more a detailed history of the evolution of the Greens political party. While some of those details were interesting and I learnt a lot from the book, I found it quite dry and laboursome.
August 29, 2013
Bob is a visionary. Being able to read about his extraordinary life was truly inspiring. Definitely one of the best books I have read.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews