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The Sustainable Hour no. 546 | Transcript | Podcast notes
“The answer is to become the politics of hope.”
~ Zoe Daniel, Community Independent candidate in Goldstein
Democracy versus authoritarianism: New independent voices navigating Australia’s political crossroads
In a politically charged week leading up to Australia’s federal election, we hear from Sue Barrett and Peter Vadiveloo about grassroots campaigns standing strong against rising political intimidation and misinformation. They share frontline experiences from their election campaigns.
Colin Mockett’s Global Outlook shares good news from around the world: major innovations in electric vehicle battery technology, international shipping emissions agreements, and a landmark climate win in Norway.
We also premiere two inspiring new songs born from the independent movement, calling for renewed democratic engagement: “We Are the Difference” and “A Track to Where”. We round off the Hour with “Rising Voices” – an anthem for the Voices of Corangamite movement.
This is an Hour that explores the intersection of democracy, resilience, and the rise of community independents. Democracy is a team sport – each of us has a role to play in shaping a better future.
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Detailed content description
Overview of the Hour:
• Acknowledgement of Country by Tony Gleeson, reminding us of the deep wisdom of First Nations peoples.
• David Pocock reflects on the need for long-term thinking and political vision in Australia in an interview on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing
• Colin Mockett’s Global Outlook:
– Battery breakthroughs in Sweden and China promising faster, more ethical EV technology.
– The International Maritime Organization targets net zero shipping emissions by 2050.
– Norway’s Supreme Court halts illegal oil and gas projects in the North Sea.
– Forest Green Rovers’ success story: The world’s greenest football club.
• Sue Barrett discusses the escalation of voter intimidation targeting community independents, the importance of defending democracy, and practical strategies for standing firm at polling booths.
• New song premiere: “We Are the Difference” – a rallying call for democratic resilience.
• Peter Vadiveloo shares his experiences campaigning for Kath Davies in Chisholm, highlighting the warmth and unity of grassroots movements.
• New song premiere: “A Track to Where” by The Joans featuring Peter Vadiveloo – a critique of misguided political direction.
• Reflections from Sue and Peter on why democracy is a ‘team sport’ and how community-driven politics is transforming Australia’s future.
• Final messages: Encouragement to be the difference, stay resilient, and engage with community-driven change.
• Bonus audio: Damon Gameau on the urgent need for citizen-powered change in Australia’s energy future.
More details and links in the transcript
. . .
Sue Barrett is a pioneer in Human-Centred Sales, Communication, and Ethical Business Systems. As CEO of Barrett Consulting Group (est. 1995) and founder of the Selling Better Movement, Sue helps businesses thrive in the age of AI by designing human business systems that build real connection, business savviness and emotional intelligence leading to commercial success. She equips leaders, teams, and organisations to move beyond transactional deals and short-term wins – helping everyone engage, communicate, lead, and sell better across all client and stakeholder relationships.
A strategist, activist, and architect of change, Sue co-founded March4Justice in 2021, led the full-scale community election campaign that elected Independent MP Zoe Daniel in Goldstein in 2022, and spearheaded the Goldstein for YES campaign in 2023, securing a YES result. Her work reshapes how business, leadership, teams, and society connect and collaborate – for good.
You can read Sue’s articles on Substack:
→ Sue Barrett on Substack – 27 April 2025:
Australians Defending Democracy: Say NO to Voter Intimidation
“Election 2025 – Practical tips, Qs & statements to defend democracy at the polling booth.”
→ Sue Barrett on Substack – 24 April 2025:
Leadership Void Fuels Violence and Disinformation in Australian Politics
“How Dutton’s failure to lead emboldens division and threatens democracy.”
→ Sue Barrett on Substack – 18 April 2025:
Digital Lies That Rig Your Vote: A Guide to Voting Smart in 2025
“Election 2025 – Australia’s weak laws let misinformation thrive—here’s how to stay sharp for pre-poll.”
. . .
Peter Vadiveloo has been songwriting and performing for over 30 years. His songs primarily revolve around environmental and social justice issues, highlighting his commitment to raising awareness and promoting positive change through his music.
Peter is soon heading for a concert tour in Europe. Let your family and friends overseas know Peter is coming. Better still, if you know anyone who could host a house concert or arrange a show at a local venue, feel free to contact Peter at petervad@yahoo.com
Peter’s gigs in UK – Itinerary
18th July Friday: Play at Tolpuddle Martyrs Festival, Dorset. Billy Bragg is also on the bill!
19th July Saturday: Mitcheldean Festival, Gloucestershire
26th July, Sat: Glossop Labour Club, Derbyshire
2-3rd August, sat sun: Summer Melton Folk Festival, Leicestershire
8-10th August: Folk at the Lock 2025, Cheshire
Want to know when Peter is playing next? Join his mailing list. Shoot him a message to join.
→ You can connect with Peter and his music on Facebook, Instagram, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Youtube, Tiktok and website.
NEW SONG: STAND UP TO THE DEMOCRACY BULLIES
We Are the Difference | Lyrics
– a rallying call for democratic resilience. A song inspired by and based on Sue Barrett’s interview in The Sustainable Hour no. 546.
COMMUNITY INDEPENDENTS
Rising Voices | Lyrics
– highlights the growing chorus of Community Independent candidates and individuals speaking out and taking action
→ More songs from The Sustainable Hour
TONY’S CONCLUDING COMMENTS
That’s it from The Sustainable Hour for the 2025 federal election. We’ll obviously talk about the results in upcoming episodes, but we have done our very best since the election was announced, just over a month ago, to highlight the way our democracy and democratic processes has been captured by a small number of people who are already very wealthy, but who have no concept of what enough is. Their only interest is making more money no matter what the consequences are.
Unfortunately this wealth has captured our politicians and the way they make decisions in Parliament. More and more people are dissatisfied with our current two-party system where our so-called representatives vote along party lines, rather than representing their constituents’ wishes.
Out of this dissatisfaction has seen the rise of the Community Independent movement.
We’ll be surprised if this momentum doesn’t continue or even increase when the votes start to be counted on Saturday night.
The very dirty politics, outright lies, misinformation and outright intimidation aimed at the Community Independents and their supporters, which has raised its ugly head in the last few weeks, is an indication of how successful this movement has been, and how scared those people who want “politics as usual” to continue are of this refreshing new way of doing politics.
We hope you will think of this as you vote if you haven’t already.
Vote the difference. Vote climate. Vote 1 Our kids’ futures. All are heavily intertwined.
That says a lot about the values of those behind it.
“This is what these bullies want: They want to… – and you can see it happening in the United States, it’s very Trumpian – they want to scare people, because reasonable people don’t behave this way. They do not behave this way and it’s very confronting, and it’s a moral injury. It’s something that, you know… it also can be physically and emotionally intimidating, of course, but it’s actually the moral injury of people behaving this way. (…) This is where you then get this anti-woke agenda, where they… just because you actually are empathetic and care about helping people… I don’t care if you call me woke. If that’s what woke is, then I’m all for that.”
~ Sue Barrett, business owner and staunch advocate and organiser for Community Independents in state and federal electorates
→ Subscribe to The Sustainable Hour podcast via Apple Podcasts or Spotify
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We at The Sustainable Hour would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land on which we are broadcasting, the Wadawurrung People. We pay our respects to their elders – past, present, and emerging, and extend that respect to all First Nations people.
The traditional custodians lived in harmony with the land for millennia, nurturing it and thriving in often harsh conditions. Their connection to the land was deeply spiritual and sustainable. This land was invaded and stolen from them. It was never ceded. Today, it is increasingly clear that if we are to survive the climate emergency we face, we must learn from their land management practices and cultural wisdom.
True climate justice cannot be achieved until Australia’s First Nations people receive the justice they deserve. When we speak about the future, we must include respect for those yet to be born, the generations to come. As the old saying reminds us: “We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children.” It is deeply unfair that decisions to ignore the climate emergency are being made by those who won’t live to face the worst impacts, leaving future generations to bear the burden of their inaction.
“The Indigenous worldview has been marginalised for generations because it was seen as antiquated and unscientific and its ethics of respect for Mother Earth were in conflict with the industrial worldview. But now, in this time of climate change and massive loss of biodiversity, we understand that the Indigenous worldview is neither unscientific nor antiquated, but is, in fact, a source of wisdom that we urgently need.”
~ Robin Wall Kimmerer, weallcanada.org
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Independent candidate David Pocock touched on something really important when he was interviewed by Patricia Karvelas in ABC’s Afternoon Briefing on Thursday, 24 April: The lack of big ideas for our future. Instead of real vision, we’ve seen a bit of voter bribery with tax cuts and petrol handouts. The two major parties aren’t addressing the big issues. Independents, on the other hand, are listening to voters and are hearing the clear message: What we’ve been doing isn’t working – so it’s time to do better.
Here’s a transcript:
Pocock:
“I really hope we do end up with a minority government. I held a housing forum on Tuesday night, a youth forum last night, and there’s this overwhelming feeling from people that the major parties just aren’t dealing with the root causes of the big issues we’re facing.
We’ve seen a tragic short-term thinking in our politics in Australia. This: ‘What do I need to do just to get re-elected?’ rather than: ‘What’s going to be good for the country over the long term?’
I think what we see in independents and some of the minor parties is a real commitment to make hard decisions now that actually set us up. And I think that’s been one of the frustrating things about the election campaign is that we haven’t really seen any big ideas about our future. There’s been a bit of bribery with tax cuts and a bit of money here and there, but nothing that really speaks to what kind of country we want to be? What are we going to do with something like JobSeeker where we’ve got so many Australians living in poverty? I just haven’t seen any of that vision from the major parties, and I think independents, if you’re listening to people you represent, are hearing that loud and clear: ‘What we’ve been doing isn’t working, so let’s do things differently and let’s do things better.’
→ See the full interview on Youtube
→ Damon Gameau from Regenerators on Instagram
“Much of what we’re seeing on corflutes kind of relates to that increased polarisation, increased normalisation of hate speech. It’s not surprising that we’re seeing that trickle down into politics on the streets. The high volume of reports, and their severity, is worrying.”
~ Dr Blair Williams, politics lecturer, Monash University
→ ABC News – 2 May 2025:
‘Vindictive’ vandalism sees hundreds of political signs destroyed
“Thousands of campaign posters — cable-tied to fences and lining the streets — each emblazoned with a candidate’s name and portrait. Warning: This story contains an image of a Nazi symbol.”
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Journalists labelled “the enemy of the people”
A plug for the newspaper which Peter Dutton calls “hate media”
The Guardian Australia wrote in a newsletter on 28 April 2025:
“At a campaign rally on Sunday Peter Dutton implored his supporters to ignore the “hate media” at Guardian Australia and the ABC.
That might seem like a throw-away attack line in the heat of an election battle, and his colleagues have subsequently said he was being “flippant.”
But there are precedents for politicians seeking to delegitimise the work of the press and discredit media organisations that hold them to account. We have seen where this leads.
President Trump now calls journalists “the enemy of the people” and in the United States the media is fighting to maintain its crucial role at a dangerous time for American democracy.
Australia is nowhere near that point. Here it’s still just a rhetorical line, although Mr Dutton has made similar criticisms before.
But it is one that needs calling out.
Yes, we scrutinise all policies, including Mr Dutton’s, and report where we see omissions or flaws; for example that his climate and energy policies would do nothing to reduce greenhouse emissions for the next ten years, or that he has not fully explained where or how he will cut immigration, or the jobs of Canberra public servants.
That’s not “hate”. It’s our job. And we’re going to keep on providing fair and independent journalism no matter what names he calls us.
But we do rely on your help. Our journalism is free from paywalls and accessible to everyone, funded by readers like you who believe holding power to account is fundamental to a healthy democracy.
If you can, please consider supporting Guardian Australia today. You’ll be helping to ensure we keep making politicians a little uncomfortable by shining a light on the truth.”
| Adam Morton, The Guardian’s climate and environment editor, wrote in a newsletter on 30 April 2025: Australia has had plenty of “climate elections”, and I’ve reported on my fair share. I’ve been doing this long enough to remember Kevin Rudd declaring climate change “the great moral challenge of our generation”, and have reported on countless scare campaigns suggesting modest steps to deal with the problem would smash the economy. The 2025 election is unlike any I’ve seen. The climate crisis has been a consistent presence – from the emissions-fuelled cyclone that delayed the start of the campaign to the near constant arguments over energy prices – but, bizarrely, the issue itself has rarely been named. It has been nearly completely absent from a policy perspective, at least from the major parties. As I write this, Labor has released just one new climate-related policy – a subsidy for household batteries. The Coalition has offered nothing new that would cut greenhouse gas emissions for at least the next decade, and is promising to unwind most of the policies introduced since it lost power in 2022. We are halfway through what scientists have described as the “critical decade” to cut emissions. We know the evidence says what the world does on the climate crisis in the next three years could hardly be more important. We know that heat records are breaking and extreme weather events are intensifying across the planet. We know that this already affects all of us, directly or indirectly. We also know that affordable solutions are available in many areas. But urgency is lacking. Much of the news media treats climate change as a non-issue, or campaigns against Australia doing anything meaningful about it. This is not the Guardian’s approach. We put climate and environmental issues at the centre of our coverage, and refuse to allow this crucial challenge to be ignored or sidelined. We have put a spotlight on the Coalition’s opposition to anything that could reduce pollution before 2045, and the ramifications of its promise to “flood the market” with fossil fuels before eventually trying to build nuclear power plants. We exposed concerns about a Labor policy that handed millions of dollars in carbon credits to Australia’s biggest industrial polluter as it increased its emissions. And we reported in-depth on the extinction crisis – a subject nearly completely ignored in political debate – through our Last Chance series. This coverage is possible only because of the generosity of readers who have a direct stake in our independent journalism. If you believe the climate crisis demands accountability, urgency and clear-eyed journalism, please consider supporting our work. Support our work Whatever happens on election day, we know there will be no shortage of unanswered questions about what happens next. With your support, we won’t stop asking them. Thank you, Adam |
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Here’s what is happening to our planet right now
Global temperatures remained abnormally high last month, the second-hottest March globally and Europe’s hottest March on record. The global average temperature stood at 14.06°C, 1.6°C above the pre-industrial level for March, according to data by the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. This makes last month the 20th month in the last 21 months for which the global-average surface air temperature surpassed the 1.5°C mark. Last year, the hottest on record, was the first calendar year with temperatures above 1.5°C.
Meanwhile, Arctic sea ice was at its lowest extent for March since satellite records began 47 years ago. It was the fourth consecutive month in which the sea ice extent has set a record low for the time of year.
Scientists confirm largest coral bleaching event on record affecting nearly 84% of world’s reefs.
Nearly half of Americans breathe polluted air worsened by extreme heat, wildfires: report.
Nearly 1 in 3 studied fungi threatened with extinction from deforestation, climate change.
Climate change made ‘bonkers’ central Asia heatwave up to 10C hotter: report.
March 2025 was Europe’s hottest on record, second-hottest globally, says EU monitor.
Trump signs executive orders to revive ‘beautiful clean coal’ in blow to US emissions reduction efforts.
Developing countries disappointed at world’s first carbon levy on shipping.
~ Source: Earth.org
Good climate news this week
1. China accelerates climate action as President Xi commits to more stringent curbs on emissions
2. Britain to accelerate push to net-zero
3. Japan’s emissions fall to record low in fiscal 2023
4. China’s clean power generation hits highest 1st-quarter total on record during first 3 months of 2025
5. Spain hits 1st ever weekday of renewables meeting 100% of electricity demand
6. Europe solar up by 32% in 1st quarter, setting the stage for full-year record performance
7. CATL unveils new tech to charge a vehicle for 520km in 5 minutes, 1 month after BYD went 400km in 5 minutes
8. UK solar panels sales up 37% to highest in a decade
9. UK creating a brand new national forest, will see 20m trees planted
10. Overwhelming majority globally – between 80% and 89%– want stronger climate action
11. Court approves ban on fossil fuel advertisements in The Hague
12. California spending $500m to put additional 1,000 electric school buses on the road
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Transcript of The Sustainable Hour no. 546
Antonio Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General:
The climate time bomb is ticking.
Jingle:
The Sustainable Hour. For a green, clean, sustainable Geelong. The Sustainable Hour.
Tony Gleeson:
Welcome to The Sustainable Hour. We’re broadcasting from the land of the Wadawurrong people. We pay tribute to the elders – past, present, and those that earn that great honour in the future. We’re on stolen land, land that was never ceded, always was and always will be First Nations land. While they nurtured their land, plus their communities, for tens of thousands of years they developed ancient wisdom in which their land and their communities were central to their existence, and they did everything they could to enhance that existence. And there are so many lessons in there for us today as we navigate the climate crisis.
David Pocock:
There’s this overwhelming feeling from people that the major parties just aren’t dealing with the root causes of the big issues we’re facing. We’ve seen a tragic short-term thinking in our politics in Australia. ‘What do I need to do just to get re-elected?’ rather than ‘What’s going to be good for the country over the long term?’ I think what we see in independents and some of the minor parties is a real commitment to make hard decisions now that actually set us up. And I think that’s been one of the frustrating things about the election campaign is that we haven’t really seen any big ideas about our future. There’s been a bit of bribery with tax cuts and a bit of money here and there, but nothing that really speaks to: what kind of country do we want to be? What are we going to do with something like JobSeeker where we’ve got so many Australians living in poverty? I just haven’t seen any of that vision from the major parties and I think independents, if you’re listening to people you represent, are hearing that loud and clear: ‘What we’ve been doing isn’t working, so let’s do things differently and let’s do things better.’
Mik Aidt: (at 02:32)
David Pocock speaking in the ABC’s afternoon briefing last week. Pocock, I think most Australians will know he’s an independent senator and now running for re-election – and I for one have all my ten fingers crossed that he will get back in. We are in polling booth election mode. Of course, by Saturday we’re hoping we’ll finally know some kind of a result of all this talk about politics. But let’s never lose the big global perspective. First we have to open our ears for the global news bulletin with Colin Mockett OAM. What do you have for us today?
Colin Mockett’s Global Outlook:
Yes, well thank you, Mik. Our roundup this week is very much battery powered. It begins in Sweden where scientists have made a breakthrough in EV battery technology by developing batteries using carbon fibres, which significantly reduces dependence on mined minerals like lithium and cobalt. This innovation not only promotes sustainability but also enhances battery performance making electric vehicles more eco-friendly and efficient. The shift away from rare earth metals helps address ethical concerns related to mining practices and supply chains instability as well.
And Sweden isn’t alone in this field. The Chinese manufacturing giant CATL, the biggest supplier of batteries for the world’s electric cars, announced that it had made technological advances that would allow it to produce batteries at a cheaper light or faster to recharge and more resistant to cold while providing greater driving range all last week. Most of the changes, which are a couple of years away from being widely available in new cars, could make electric cars more competitive in price and performance with petrol-powered models.
The announcement was made at a news conference before last week’s Shanghai car show. Now that event promoted the launch of a new car model made by the CATL company. But mainly they were talking about batteries. Batteries represent at least a third of the cost of an electric car, making CATL a critical player in the EV supply chain.
The new battery would be the first commercially available electric vehicle battery that would not use graphite as one of its poles, the CATL announcement said. Removing graphite will eventually make the batteries cheaper and allow 60 per cent more electricity to be squeezed into each cubic inch of the battery. This was according to Gao Huan, CATL’s chief technology officer for electric cars in China.
The extra energy density means that the car’s driving range can be greater or the overall size of the battery can be reduced. Now this in turn would allow for a second auxiliary battery which would provide backup in case of trouble. That’s another thing that’s always worrying. Electrical vehicle owners, if they run out of energy you can’t go and get a can of energy and fill it up your tank.
The company said its new system would allow an electric vehicle to be charged enough in five minutes to drive 520 kilometres. Now BYD and HiWI, the Chinese electronic giants that play an ever-larger role in vehicle parts manufacturing, have also announced that five-minute charging systems known as supercharging are likely to take over by the end of this year.
CATL also said that it would start selling sodium-ion batteries, which can retain more than 90 per cent of their charge, even at a temperature of 40 degrees below zero, for use in cars and trucks with internal combustion engines. The company showed a video of its sodium-ion batteries undergoing stress tests, being punctured with nails or a power drill, and even cut in half with a power saw all of it without catching fire or exploding.
Now, also at the Shanghai Motor Show, the carmaker BYD announced its new EV charging system, which it claims can fully charge its latest EV models within five to eight minutes. It plans to build 4,000 of the new charging stations across China, inside the next coming three months.
It also announced its new budget range of EVs that are called Seagull, which will not only be fitted with the new ultra-fast charging battery, it will sell in China at around $12,000 US dollars, which is under $19,000 AUD. That’ll be interesting when they come on the market here. At the moment, BYV is the biggest selling EV manufacturer in China selling 2 million a year. That compares with Telstra’s which is in second place at 1.7 million. Now that’s enough about batteries to begin with and most of that came from the Shanghai Motor Show.
But there was other news last week from the UN. We’re a meeting of the UN International Maritime Organization, the IMO, the Marine Environment Protection Committee, announced that it had set a target to reach net zero emissions from that sector by 2050. That will apply to large, oceangoing vessels over 5,000 gross tonnage, which collectively accounts for 85 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions from the maritime shipping fleet. The IMO Net Zero Framework will be formally adopted in October of this year, before coming into force in 2027.
And now this little piece of good news which should have been included last week but I squeezed it out is from Norway where the country’s Supreme Court ruled in favour of Greenpeace which had taken the Norwegian government to court for approving three oil and gas fields in the North Sea. The judgment means that all of those drilling rigs are illegal and must be shut down immediately.
The government approved them without assessing their global climate impact, which is breaking both Norwegian and European laws. Greenpeace announced that the win was for the Norwegian people, the planet – and for the rule of law. The Norwegian state said that it will appeal the decision, but for now production has stopped. And you should bear in mind that Norway is one of the leaders in the EV movement. They’re a long way from being Saudi Arabia or Russia or America now.
And finally, just for Tony, the world’s greenest sports team, Forest Green Rovers, played Oldham Athletic at the weekend. They won 1-0. They’re currently in third position in their ladder. Oldham were fourth and they’re now 12 points behind them. They’re now getting prepared. They’ve got one more game of the season, and then they’re in the playoffs to go up to the English Division 2. And that’s my round up for the week.
. . .
Jingle:
Listen to our Sustainable Hour – for the future.
Mik:
Our first guest today in the Sustainable Hour is Sue Barrett, who we have had on in The Sustainable Hour a number of times. I remember we had a long talk during the summer holidays, Sue, about rebooting humanity, about values and things like that. You have worked with voices of Goldstein, you have been a campaign manager and so on. Let’s hear first of all what you’re doing this time around. It’s another election coming up very soon in a few days. I’m guessing that you are very active on that front just as well this time. What’s happening, Sue?
Sue Barrett:
Okay, so I work with Team Zoe, which is part of Zoe Daniels campaign in the seat of Goldstein here in Bayside, Melbourne. And as you mentioned, I was one of the original founders of Voices of Goldstein back in early 2021. We then found Zoe and I asked her to run and after she said no a few times, I managed to persuade and convince her to say yes. And then I was her campaign manager in 2022.
Fast forward to today. We’ve been running an on the ground campaign now in Goldstein for 12 months to raise awareness and visibility and to help people understand how independence works, how independence fights for community and how it acts on their behalf. So that’s been our core message about independence being the difference. Now this time around I’m not the campaign manager because I also run a business full time and both those roles are full time and I am not superhuman.
So I’ve had to make choices. So I am doing a lot of the things that I enjoy doing such as volunteer training. So I do a lot of the induction training for new volunteers coming on board to Team Zoe. I’ve also been out there helping early on to prepare a ground game and then that’s just taken off with our campaign team and they’re really driving that in terms of high visibility and high constituent engagement out in the community.
I also do a lot of the activities such as street meets and door knocking and also I’ve been on pre-poll last week. I’ll be on pre-poll this Friday and I’ll also be a booth captain, co-booth captain on Saturday helping manage all of that. And the other thing I’ve been doing a lot of which I enjoy and is necessary is a lot of writing and sharing of insights and information and that’s one of the reasons why we’re talking today.
And I’ve been able to get quite a few letters into the Age Editor about all sorts of things happening when it comes to anything politics and particularly the gaps from Peter Dutton in terms of remote work from home and all sorts of stuff and carry on that’s going on. making sure I’m living up to what our original plan was, which was find your voice and have a voice and have a say in Parliament and Zoe does that for us and we do it for our community.
Mik:
The latest piece that you published on Substack is touching on the same things which we talked about during the summer holidays about values, something that goes deeper than just election, something that has to do with, you could say, our morals and immoral behavior. Let’s hear what drove you to write this piece and what it was about?
Sue:
Okay, so the piece that Mik is referring to is titled Australians defending democracy, saying no to voter intimidation. And what we’ve seen out there and we’ve seen over the last 12 months is a steady escalation of certain people from certain groups not happy with the fact that we went independent, trying to intimidate volunteers and in last week at pre-poll and likely this week also being very bullish and in many cases extremely aggressive when it comes to voters coming through pre-poll. And this isn’t necessarily the experience of every pre-poll election place around the country but it’s definitely a focus for certain parties on Community Independent pre-polls. So it’s been really, really challenging because as you know, and for as long as I could remember, voting in Australia was sort of a benign, straightforward experience. You’d rock up to polling booths which were peaceful, respectful spaces. Volunteers from various persuasions offered their flyers to voters and people were free to make choices as to who they wanted to vote for.
Something changed in 2022 when that wave, they call it the Teal Wave, but that’s just a media construct. When these community independents started to get a mass, the two-party system was being disrupted. And more and more Australians, as we know, are supporting community independence and demanding real accountability and leadership and transparency, integrity and action on climate and all the things that we know that they stand for.
In fact, I don’t know if your listeners are aware, there are now 38 community independent candidates running across every state and territory in Australia. There are seven re-contesting their seats and the rest are new. That tells you that there’s an appetite for change out there. And of course the two-party system, they’re not very happy about that. So rather than contest us on ideas, which is what politics should be done, rather than actually come up with good policies and listen to community, certain groups have actually been using fear and intimidation.
And so to me, if you’ve got nothing else to offer and all you’ve got is to come and scare people, that tells you you really don’t deserve to be elected. And if your volunteers are behaving in that way, what does that say about the candidates who are not calling this out and the leaders of certain party who’s not calling this out but they let this fester and carry on. So talking about values and morals and moral disengagement and test of character, I think a lot of people are realising that this is not good and the voting, even though voting is mandatory here and we go along and we have our democracy sausage or whatever it might be, a lot of people are reporting they don’t really like what’s happening now.
I want to reiterate and will actually state very clearly that none of this intimidatory behaviour is coming from community independent volunteers and supporters. Not at all. Ours is a very welcoming, inclusive, invitational, consultative approach. It’s non-confrontational and it’s warm and engaging. But as I said, there’s a different energy out there from certain groups that are deciding to go hardcore and to see if they can scare us into voting for them.
Mik:
And so I can report from Corangamite where I have been closely following what’s happening on the ground. The same thing is happening there. And some of the volunteers for Kate Lockhart, who’s an independent there, are actually, as you say, feeling so intimidated that they have said they’re not going to go back.
Sue:
Yeah, then this is what these bullies want. This is what they want. They want to… and you can see it happening in the US. It’s very Trumpian. They want to scare people because reasonable people don’t behave this way. They do not behave this way and it’s very confronting and it’s a moral injury. It’s something that, you know, it’s not just, you know, it also can be physically and emotionally intimidating of course, but it’s actually the moral injury of people behaving this way.
And there’s many stories coming from the ground across different electorates where this kind of behaviour is happening. The AEC is very limited in what it can do, that’s the Australian Electoral Commission. You can speak to them and they can sort of come out and say a few things but they’re not the police. But on Saturday up in Barawa the police were actually called to an incident where a Liberal Party volunteer behaved extremely badly and rather than being called out and actually told to go home, they just moved this person to another booth.
Colin:
And Sue, I think I’m correct in assuming that most of the disruptors are from the right side of politics.
Sue:
They’re all from that side, yes.
Colin:
Well, there was a time when it used to be the left side of politics, when it was unions who were counted as the disruptors, but now they’re coming from the right. They seem to me to be attracted to, what should we say, gatherings of one kind or another, maybe early voting booths or places like that. Have your volunteers, when they go door knocking, have they met that same sort of reaction from the people in the community? Or is it only at the voting gatherings that it’s occurring?
Sue:
No. I mean obviously you’re going to meet one or two people that don’t want to vote, in our case for Zoe or for an independent, but the vast majority of people firstly are very grateful that we’ve even bothered to show up and actually speak to them at their home and to find out what’s important to them. At last count in Goldstein, we started in November, we have door-knocked over 41,000 homes, and we’ve had I think nearly 17,000 actual conversations, you know, because you don’t always get people at home, but we leave a note that we’ve been. And so what you’ve got there is the vast majority of people are reasonable, decent human beings, all dealing with whatever they’re dealing with with life, and you’re going to get a range of experiences and feelings and emotions. But the vast, vast majority of people, it’s very rare that you would get someone that actually is out and out, you know, abusive or rude at door knocking.
However, when we’re out in the street doing our street meets, you know, like leafletting and things like that, there’s a small cohort of people that do come and, you know, try to harass us and intimidate us and those things. And now they’re coalescing around pre-poll stations. And there’s a particular group, I mean, the Liberal Party’s people, you know, some of them are very reasonable, but some of them aren’t. But they also have proxy groups, particularly for community independence. There’s a group called Repeal the Teal, and they’re incredibly aggressive.
And also Advance Australia and Australians for Prosperity. And these are groups that pretend to be community groups, but they’re astroturfing groups. They’re not community grassroots at all. They are actually organised by organisations like the Coal Lobby or Advance Australia are actually backed by other groups like, they’re very wealthy billionaires and the Atlas network.
And interestingly enough, we’re talking about, you know, welcome to country and acknowledgement of country. On the weekend, you would have heard that Melbourne Storm actually stopped doing that. And I don’t know if you’re aware, but one of the co-owners of Melbourne Storm is one of the biggest donors to the hate group, Advance Australia, and Advance Australia was responsible for all of the negative air game or social media game for the voice referendum. And it basically helped sink the Voice referendum through all its negative campaigning. So you’ve got different groups out there.
People need to be aware of this because when I talk about it, it sounds very conspiratorial, doesn’t it? And everyone goes, but aren’t you, you no, actually there’s huge evidence. I mean, on the Easter weekend, there was a big article about Advance Australia and its other proxies in the Good Weekend and the Age. So finally the mainstream media is starting to expose these sorts of organisations because what basically happens, not just at the polling booth, but defaced and vandalised signage constantly, these other people try to secretly film and photograph us.
There’s a coordinated online disinformation campaign, and also letterboxing as well. And then you’ve got this dark money that’s funding these proxy groups. Because essentially what you’ve got is the fossil fuel industry that wants to stop climate action. They basically want to protect their multi-trillion dollar profits. And as I said, they’re major financial backers of groups like Advance Australia and Australians for Prosperity. So for example, Australians for Prosperity, this astroturfing so-called community group, the coal lobby has actually poured in $725,000 in terms of donations to spread all of these lies and disinformation. We’ve got billionaire donors, corporate elites pouring millions of dollars into anti-independent campaigns attempting to reassert control. You’ve got right-wing media, including Sky News and Murdoch Press, that have actually amplified these sneer campaigns. They stage confrontational stunts like last week.
Monique Ryan was, you know, shirt-fronted basically by a Sky News reporter, you know, trying to just, you know, do these gotcha things. It’s just really juvenile and pathetic. And these people are out there absolutely wanting to bring down. Now, just to give people an idea, you think, oh, okay, it is, they’re copying US-style right-wing playbook.
And they want to say they’re championing free speech, but what they’re only championing speech for is their own ideology. Forget the rest of us, we don’t matter as far as they’re concerned. And this is where you then get this anti-woke agenda, where they, just because you actually are empathetic and care about helping people, I don’t care if you call me woke. If that’s what woke is, then I’m all for that. But they think, yeah, you shouldn’t care for people and it’s all self-interest, et cetera.
The consequences of such movements, we’ve now seen the historical impact of that internationally. Brexit is one example which was championing these right-wing populists. It’s now forecast to actually cost the UK three million jobs and actually slash investment by 32 % by 2035. So it’s really destroying the UK economy and now we just see Donald Trump’s relentless attacks on American democratic institutions and turning the US economy into a tariff circus and dangerously weakening the judicial and electoral safeguards all to consolidate personal power. This is not a fight between left and right. This is a fight between democracy and authoritarianism.
That’s what people need to understand that the behaviour that we’re seeing out there up close and personal online, I know, standing at the ears of people attempting to deconstruct democracy and bring in authoritarianism. And we have the playbooks that they’re using and we cannot allow these billionaire backed propaganda machines to intimidate and corrode our democracy under the false banner of grassroots activism.
Mik:
Hmm. So the one big question I have for you, Sue, is what do you do about it?
Sue:
So, you know, in my little articles, I just don’t like to have a bit of a whinge and a bleat. I like to be honest. I like to call things out, make sure everyone knows what it is, and then we look at, what can we do. So what I did was I started to think about how words really matter and you cannot react and, you know, escalate things like they do. We need to work in groups. We need to make sure we protect each other. And as voters, you can turn up in little groups together. So things about how you, whether you’re a volunteer or you’re a voter. So vote with confidence and solidarity. So support each other at the booths. Stand firm in the face of intimidation. You know, as a booth captain, if something escalates, I call the police, right? That’s what I will do. I have instructions to call the police. So what do some things, what could you say? So if someone’s sort of being a bit, you know, in your face and trying to intimidate you, say, what are you trying to, why are you trying to scare voters instead of trusting them to choose for themselves?
Or you could say, have the right to vote free from harassment. Please step back. Or we’re here to vote not to be bullied. Or intimidation isn’t democracy. It’s a disgrace. So these are some things you could say. For example, holding candidates to account. So demand that they publicly denounce the harassment and disinformation that their supporters and proxies do. So for example, you could ask them: Will you publicly denounce any harassment or bullying by your volunteers? Why haven’t you condemned the intimidation at pre-poll and election day booths?
So call them out on it and see what they do because they won’t be able to stand up. But they’ll go blah, blah, blah. But just hold them to account. You don’t have to go into any more discussion. Just throw these lines at them. You can challenge disinformation wherever you see it as well. So share only verified credible information. Correct lies calmly but firmly. So for example, you could ask them, can you show me a verified source for that claim? Or that’s not true. Here’s the real information from the AEC or whatever source. Spreading lies to win votes isn’t leadership, it’s cowardice. And what are you so afraid of in terms of why won’t you have an honest debate with us? So these are just some of the things that you can do. And then the other thing is to document the intimidation.
Be very careful about filming or taking photographs. But what you can do is actually say to people, if you are being intimidated, just say to them, I will film you for my own protection. Please stand back. And, you know, and or report the behaviour to the AEC, document the behaviour. And so and then more broadly push for reform. So unlike places like Germany, we do not have any truth in political advertising.
Every other thing in Australia has to advertise truthfully. If you were a business doing what these groups are doing, you would be sued. It’s illegal. But in politics here in this country, we do not have truth in political advertising. So what we need to do is support that, get stronger AEC enforcement powers and get full transparency on political donations. So that’s really some of the practical things that we can do. I hope your listeners will find that useful. But again, I will not be bullied or intimidated or tyrannised by these prevailing views and attitudes. I will always stand my ground but make sure you’re with a group and you have each other’s backs.
That’s good advice too, but I wanted to just add in the element that as a background to this bullying from the right, you have a secondary thing which is that the average voter in Australia at the moment is disillusioned with the two big parties. And as such, you are supporting an independent, and Mik, who is also supporting an independent, and Peter who’s coming on later on. You should be in clover, you should be really reaping in the votes but it’s not, it’s the, how can we say… it’s the right-wing bullies that are drawing all the political oxygen. It should be your campaign.
Sue: (at 30:49)
So what’s really important here firstly is to understand that a lot of people, about 60 per cent… Trans Tasman research showed that 60 per cent of Australians fear misinformation will sway their vote because digital lies are being amplified by platforms like WeChat, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X, and they’re spreading unchecked and so we need to actually call that out.
And then they’re being weaponised on the ground by aggressive, disingenuous volunteers. So the reason this is happening is because we don’t have these laws that stop this. So people have to be more discerning. But it’s really challenging. A lot of people are disengaged from politics. They only pay attention once the election is called because they’re so busy with whatever else they’re doing in their life. A lot of people have turned off mainstream media.
They don’t watch it anymore, they don’t listen to it anymore, they don’t read it anymore. A lot of people get information from people often they trust which is their closest cohorts and podcasts like what you’re doing are actually something that’s taking off. So we need to help people understand how they get information, how they discern what’s effective and what’s not and then how they make good decisions that are in their best interests.
But fear, tapping into people’s fear and scaring them, you know, that’s what these right-wing proxies for the Liberal Party, etc. are relying upon, that people will just be scared into submission and voting for them. But that’s why we have got to speak up. This is why having programs like this, this is why talking about this stuff is incredibly important to people, so that they actually know that there’s a lot of good people out there who are doing good work to help them help themselves have a better life in this country.
And that’s why I’m not a political person. I would never belong to a party. But when I was lying on my couch at Christmas 2019, 2020, having my millionth existential crisis as Australia was going up in flames and ScoMo was in a whine and wouldn’t hold a fricking hose, I just thought, what can I do? And then my mate Denise rang me from North Sydney. She was having the same existential crisis. Where’s the accountability? Where’s the action? Where’s the leadership on all the things we need sorted? Well, it wasn’t there.
And so she said, you know what Sue, you’ve got to do in Goldstein and I’ve got to do in North Sydney what Cathy McGowan did in Indi and Zali Steggall did in Warringah. And I went, sure, how do you do that? But here we are. And you know what? Every time I run the volunteer training and we’ve got new people turning up, I just remember that existential crisis. And I thought to myself, you know what? You can do something. So here we are. 38 community independents running at this federal election, more than a fifth seat of the House of Representatives seats. So who knows what will happen? I’m not giving up, I can tell you that right now.
. . .
SONG (at 33:48)
“We Are the Difference”
www.climatesafety.info/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/We-are-the-difference.mp3
Verse 1
We’re out on the street where new voices have risen
We first ask a question and then we listen
We’ve had enough of the old games they play
Of power and lies, of silence, of looking away
Chorus
We are the difference
We feel the heartbeat of the nation
Independence is the difference
For democracy, for community
We protect each other – and our humanity
Intermission
So: Step back! You proxies. We’re calling you out!
We WILL be holding you to account
This is no longer a fight between left and right
This fight is between democracy and authoritarianism
under the false banner of grassroots activism
Spoken
I don’t care if you call me woke
just because I’m actually empathetic
and care about helping people.
If that’s what woke is
then I’m all for that
I stand firm, and support where I can
I’m not giving up, I can tell you that
Verse 2
Old parties crumble, the truth breaks through
real grassroots rising, growing fast
Misinformation, intimidation
We meet the proxies with determination
Chorus
We are the difference
We feel the heartbeat of the nation
Independence is the difference
For democracy, for community
We protect each other – and our humanity
Intermission 2
We won’t be silenced, we are on our way
We are the difference, we won’t be swayed
Bridge
Bring the dark to light
Write it down, call it out
Every fear, every fight
Intimidation is a disgrace
Chorus
We are the difference
We feel the heartbeat of the nation
Independence is the difference
For democracy, for community
We protect each other – and our humanity
. . .
Quotes from Sue Barrett (audio snippets):
I’m here to vote, not to be bullied. Please step down. Intimidation isn’t democracy, it’s a disgrace. Why are you trying to scare voters instead of trusting them to choose for themselves? I have the right to vote for you for more harassment. Please step back!
. . .
Mik:
Our next guest is Peter Vadiveloo, who we’ve had on The Sustainable Hour – I think, Peter, a number of times by now, and many of the times because you are an artist, you’re a musician, and you from time to time create new songs. And we’ll get back to that in a moment. But first of all, you are also very much involved… I can see by the color of your t-shirt that you are involved in campaigning for a political candidate where you live? Tell us about that side of what you’re doing and why you’re doing it!
Peter Vadiveloo:
Thanks, Mik. Yeah, very excited to be on the campaign team for Kath Davies for Chisholm. Independent, Community Independent. It’s been a great journey. We are out there trying to give people as we are all trying to do, you know, another option. You don’t have to write red or green or blue if you don’t want to. Here’s another option. It’s been a great journey. We started off with the Voices-of organisation first, and talked to the community and sorted out what they felt was most important, put an announcement out for a candidate, and we ended up with Kath Davies, who’s just awesome. It’s been the most wonderful process.
I’ve lived in this Chisholm electorate on and off for over 50 years, and I’ve just met so many lovely people. And I always think, if this came to nothing, I’ve just met beautiful people in our community. And for a lot of us, so many of us have this feeling that things are not right in politics. and yet we feel a little bit like we’re isolated, like we’re yelling into the wind and no one’s listening. And then you start something like this and all of a sudden, and you feel a bit lonely and you start something like this and all of sudden people are saying, oh, this is great. And people are coming up to us and saying, this is fantastic. I’ve been waiting for a community independent in Chisholm because this is the first time Chisholm’s had one. So it’s been really really heartwarming to see that we’re tapping into a strong community sentiment and that we’re not all alone as we might feel in terms of thinking that Australian politics, while we do have a democracy, it’s a democracy that is requiring a lot of adjustments to make it a fairer democracy.
Colin:
Hey look, Peter, in your campaigning, have you, you heard earlier on Sue talking about the confrontational aspect of the right wing of politics at the moment. Have you experienced that in your electorate?
Peter:
There’s nothing as full on as Sue has talked about. I suspect that’s a reflection of that. Kath is probably not seen as our candidate. Kath Davies is probably not seen as a huge challenge because she’s fairly new and the battle is between the red and the blue. But we have seen some. There’s a very… We sometimes remark that how come all the blue people have such scowly faces? You know, it’s really very strange. They don’t have open friendly faces.
So we make, we actually make a point, know, we support our volleys by going around giving them, you know, if they, little lollies, know, jelly lollies and things like that to keep their energy up. But we of course make a point of sharing them with everybody. The blue ones, the blue people, the red people. And they look kind of shocked that we’re being friendly and generous because you actually can be like that as a human being. And you can have different political views, very strongly held, but still be a nice, generous, considerate person along the way. It doesn’t mean we have to hate each other because we have very different views.
We did have one fellow, there’s one fellow in one of the booths down in Mulgrave who would switch shirts. So he wasn’t a liberal guy. He’d switch a half a day he’d spend in a family first shirt and then half the day he’d spend in a One Nation t-shirt. And he’s been very difficult at times, including when he approached a Labor volunteer who had a Middle Eastern sounding name. And he essentially called him a terrorist. And we, you know, he said something like, ‘How many people have you bombed?’ Right?
Colin:
Sue gave you a few ideas on how to defend yourself.
Peter:
Yeah, it sort of just comes so out of the blue that you just can’t believe I mean, I do suspect this person has some cognitive issues at the same time. And I don’t mean that in a, you know, insulting or pejorative way. And so we had to call the AEC person and everybody stood around this poor options called poor, but the person who was the target of his attack, and they stood around him and supported him and told this person to get lost and this is not the way we do things and that’s appalling what you’ve just said. So he’s called out and the AEC person was called in to report this incident.
Mik:
So apart from being involved on the street as you are with a t-shirt on, can we hear some of the music that you’re making?
Peter:
For sure. Yeah. Well, you can always hear it on… I’ve got a YouTube channel, Peter Vadiveloo music. But we’ve just created a song for this election. And as one of my mates, a wonderful singer songwriter, Annie Kennedy from Naarm, Melbourne, got in touch with me and said, you know, this business of getting Australia back on track, says the liberals, you know, Australia back on track. And she and her friends were sitting around going, ‘a track to where?’ Like, ‘where are they actually taking us?’ And so, then she and her mates go, we should write a song about that, know, a track to wear. And so they crafted one and then they, she’s a more of a folky singer as kind of, more like indie folk. But she said, oh, I’ve got to, we’ve got to have a bit more energy and intensity about it. So they wanted a harder edge to it. And so more of a rock sort of treatment. So I’m also a drummer and a guitarist and all those sorts of things and singers.
She said to me, would you like to take this song that we’ve started to formulate and produce it as a rock song? I said, all right, I would love to. I had absolutely no time because I’m so busy with the Kath Fertuzum and also I still work, I’m not retired. I said, I have absolutely no time. It’s ridiculous of me to say yes, but I’m going to say yes and do this. So with her, I wrote some verses and some choruses.
And I recorded the drums, my drum track, and Jim Swainston, another fantastic musician friend of ours, he did the guitars and bass and stuff. And so we’ve got this track out. It’s called A Track to Where? And it’s a bit of an 80s rock romp. And it’s really just calling out Tutton and the craziness of a track to like, a track, well, the basic line is a track to a multi-generational nightmare, which because it’s all about climate, where, you know, we’re just ending, his taking us on a track to a multi-generational nightmare with his ridiculous, inept and almost non-existent climate action policies. And then the only one he’s got is this ridiculous nuclear suggestion, which we all know is just rubbish at so many levels. So we, yeah, we wrote this song called ‘A Track to Where’. So I hope people enjoy it.
. . .
SONG: (at 45:04)
The Joans featuring Peter Vadiveloo:
‘A Track to Where’
Lyrics by The Joans, Annie Kennedy and Peter Vadiveloo
Intro
A track to where?
A track to where?
It’s just a track to your multigenerational nightmare
Verse 1
You say you want to get Australia Back On Track,
Is that a joke, you climate maniac,
They’re here right now, the Fires and floods,
Your negligent hands are covered in blood.
Bridge
Can’t see the forest for the burning trees
It’ll be too late when we’re on our knees
You could be a leader, you could make it right.
But you play politics, while we’re losing the fight
Prechorus
It’s just your track for power and control
While we’re staring down the barrel of a climate change black hole.
Chorus
A track to where?
A track to where?
It’s just a track to your multigenerational nightmare
Verse 2
Your nuclear solution, well you got schooled
Too costly, too slow, do you take us for fools
The crisis here, Can’t you read the front page
Catastrophic climate change
Bridge
Can’t see the forest for the burning trees
It’ll be too late when we’re on our knees
You could be a leader, you could make it right.
But you play politics, while we’re losing the fight
Prechorus
It’s just your track for power and control
While we’re staring down the barrel of a climate change black hole.
Chorus
A track to where ?
A track to where ?
It’s just a track to your multigenerational nightmare
Pre-Chorus
It’s just your track for power and control
While we’re staring down the barrel of a climate change black hole.
Chorus
A track to where?
A track to where?
It’s just a track to your multigenerational nightmare
Outro
Your multigenerational nightmare
A track to where?
A track to where?
It’s just a track to your multigenerational nightmare.
. . .
Mik:
That’s all we could fit into one Sustainable Hour, a very political Sustainable Hour, obviously, because on Saturday is polling day, it’s the big day of voting, but it’s not as big as it used to be… I think it’s only about half of the voters who will go on Saturday, because everyone else has already voted.
Anyway, there will be some sausages here and there at the schools, and hopefully it will be a nice and peaceful day. And thank you to you, Sue Barrett, very much for your advice in terms of what to do if you’re meeting people who are in one way or the other intimidating you to vote as they think you should and so on. So your last comments now also that you’ve heard Peter as we’re leaving the program?
Sue:
Yeah, I think that this groundswell of community activism in the sense of wanting to have better representation is demonstrated by, you know, the likes of Chisholm now having a candidate. And yes, they may not get very far this time, but they’ll make a dent. And then the next time they make a bigger dent or get it across the line. But human beings, democracy is a team sport. They’ve got to turn up and we’ve got to do the work. You can’t just sit back and let other people do it for you because they might take you in a direction that is actually not good for you. So the fact that we can have this conversation, talk about what’s possible, hopefully ignites some interest with others in terms of what they can do. So don’t ever feel helpless, that’s all I want to tell you, because this gives us hope, the work that we’re doing, and we will make our future better. Just come and join whatever community group that’s working for you and in your best interests.
It’s an amazing way to meet incredible people and do incredibly powerful work. So good on you, Peter, for having a crack at it across there. And thank you, Mik. And thank you, Colin, for having me on board again. And as I always sign off with what I do is: Onward We Press. Thank you.
Mik: (at 49:34)
And also you have a badge on your shirt there, I can see. And it says something about ‘being the difference’, is that right?
Sue:
No, it says ‘Independence is the difference’. And so our messaging from Zoe’s campaign is that independence fights for you, independence works for you, independence acts for you. So it’s really important that people know that we are making a huge difference in Parliament. If people go, ‘What has she done or what have they done?’ I always say, ‘How long have you got?’
Colin:
It’s a very odd type of election in that those who think about it are now hoping for a hung parliament with the independents and the Greens and people like Senator Pocock holding the balance of power. But actually gaining that is a very difficult thing to do, isn’t it?
Well, mean, we like to call it a balanced parliament, that’s what Zoe likes to call it. And in fact, parliaments actually force everyone in a good way to actually consult with each other and discuss things and collaborate and negotiate, which is actually what happens in good, healthy relationships of any kind, rather than people lauding their view over everyone else and everyone just having to cop it.
So, you know, even in this parliament, the community independence and the crossbench have been able to really push the dial on a whole host of areas incredibly well, create a lot of positive outcomes that people should investigate.
And so they are incredibly active, which is why the Liberal Party is terrified of the community independence, because we actually do the work, we turn up and we actually do the work and we actually get stuff done and we take it away from vested interests, and actually bring people back into the people’s house, which is what it’s called.
The House of Reps is the People’s House. So we are doing representative democracy at scale and that’s what we’re planning on to keep on doing. So keep going everyone.
Mik:
And Peter, over to you as well. What are you leaving us with?
Peter:
Well, again, I agree with all the things that Sue has said. It’s really important now that we are more than ever engaged in democracy. And particularly, there’s a lot of big money forces around that. And it has been a most wonderful process for us as well in the Chisholm electorate and the voices of Chisholm and now Cath Davies for Chisholm. I’ve often said to people a bit like… As soon as I said it: even if all this fell over tomorrow for one reason or other, I have met so many wonderful people in my community. People I’ve lived here for 50 years on and off, but my family’s been here for 50 years and I’ve met people I’ve never met before in that 50 years. So it’s all about community in the end. It’s all about community. And this is one way that we create community is by getting involved in democracy. And also, you know, the other big thing I say, you know, Colin was saying how
We’re sharing our… I made a comment, we’re sharing our lollies to everybody, all the other volunteers who are on the handing out how to vote cards. And of course, why wouldn’t you, if you have resources, if you have things that can make other people feel good and better, why wouldn’t you share them? And that’s kind of the simplest philosophy of myself and many people in this area is that there’s actually on this planet, there’s enough for everybody. There’s enough food.
There’s enough water, there’s housing, there’s enough for everybody. So why aren’t we just letting everybody have access to it? It’s a, as we know, it’s a problem of distribution, sharing mentality, you know, there’s enough everybody. Let’s just make sure everybody’s looked after. It’s a pretty simple kind of concept, isn’t it?
Colin: (at 53:30)
Exactly.
Mik:
Independence is the difference. Well, that brings us back to our good old slogan here in The Sustainable Hour where we have for years and years been saying, ‘Be the difference’.
Colin:
‘Be the difference on Saturday!’ Actually, I have an idea that I’m going to be the only person queuing up for an awful lot of sausages.
. . .
SONG (at 54:18)
‘We Are the Voices’
A song for Voices of Corangamite – mp3 audio
[Verse 1]
They told us this is how it’s always been,
That power belongs to the few, not to us, not to them.
But we’re standing up, we know what’s right,
This election, we’re ready to fight.
[Pre-Chorus]
We’re not bought, we’re not sold,
We stand for truth, for stories untold.
No more lies, no more games,
We’re bringing real change.
[Chorus]
We are the voices – rising strong,
Speaking truth, righting wrongs.
No more whispers, no more fear,
We are the voices – loud and clear.
[Verse 2]
Integrity’s not just a word to say,
It’s how we lead, it’s how we stay.
No backroom deals, no hidden ties,
Just honest hands and open eyes.
[Pre-Chorus]
Respect for all, dignity too,
A Parliament that fights for you.
No culture wars, no divide,
Just a future we can build with pride.
[Chorus]
We are the voices – rising strong,
Speaking truth, righting wrongs.
No more whispers, no more fear,
We are the voices – loud and clear.
[Bridge – Action Mode]
No gas in the Otways, no nuclear lies,
No drilling, no burning – it’s time to rise!
Fairness and climate, a future to share,
This is our moment – we know that we care!
[Final Chorus – Community Power]
We are the voices – standing tall,
For a future fair for all.
No more waiting, time is now,
We are the voices – hear us loud!
Audio clips:
Sir David Attenborough:
This is going to happen.
Dr Sophie Scamps:
My speech on the Community Independent Movement
This powerful and positive movement, the community independent movement has reinvigorated
Zoe Daniel, Press Club Speech excerpts:
Business is ready.
Forcing accountability.
Taking action.
Telling lies.
And they keep on coming.
I say to our young people…
Let’s go.
The answer is to become the politics of hope.
We commit to renewable energy transition.
Ordinary Australians have been feeling cut out and shut out of their democracy.
Genuinely represent the views and values of their community
Business is ready.
I’m inviting you to rise to this moment too.
It’s clear: the old way of doing things is done.
. . .
Damon Gameau from Regenerators on Instagram: (at 57:31)
www.instagram.com/reel/DI2fnEySkD3
“Let’s take the power back”
This video is for any Australian who wants to take back their power.
“It is a nuclear gamble.”
“Using expensive coal and gas for another 10 to 15 years.”
“Cuts to health, cuts to education to pay for his nuclear fantasy.”
As the debate rages around the future of energy, what’s not being discussed is the issue of who owns our energy. There is a reason why renewables are being attacked right now. The issue is power, but it’s not the power you’re led to believe. A well-planned and community-consulted renewable network offers each of us the chance of decentralised, citizen-owned energy on our rooftops and in our neighbourhoods.
“We don’t have to rely on external power sources.”
I’ve seen first hand how this can be done in some of the poorest countries in the world.
“We interconnect all of them, enabling energy-sharing between them.”
It keeps costs down, it builds resilience, and it keeps the money within the community instead of going off to the government or big business.
And that’s why the Liberal Party hates renewables so much. It strips them of their control and power. Remember, the Liberal Party is supposed to be the party of small government, the party of free marketeers, yet they want to spend $600 billion of taxpayer money on nuclear energy, on centralised energy. They want to lock in their power over our power and deny us our energy sovereignty. Deny us the ability to buy, sell or even share our energy in the future. There is zero chance of rooftop or community-owned nuclear.
“Nuclear power in Australia is not a serious policy option. It’s a distraction from real energy solutions.”
It’s hard to emphasise just how captured the Liberal Party is by the mining and fossil fuel industries in this country.
Dutton: “A Coalition government will be the best friend that the mining and resources sector will ever have.”
They know that building a nuclear reactor will take at least 20 years. So this is the perfect delay tactic to keep your money flowing to their donors.
Gina Reinhart: “Make our bank accounts great again.”
And some of these donors that have got stinking rich off coal mining are the same donors that are now pushing for nuclear energy. So in this election, consider whether you want Australia to continue down the path of Oligarchy, where our richest people control our government and our energy, or if you want to push for local candidates who can help your family and your community own their own energy. Let’s take the power back. Bye everybody.
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Events we have talked about in The Sustainable Hour
Events in Victoria
The following is a collation of Victorian climate change events, activities, seminars, exhibitions, meetings and protests. Most are free, many ask for RSVP (which lets the organising group know how many to expect), some ask for donations to cover expenses, and a few require registration and fees. This calendar is provided as a free service by volunteers of the Victorian Climate Action Network. Information is as accurate as possible, but changes may occur.
Petitions
→ List of running petitions where we encourage you to add your name
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Live-streaming on Wednesdays
The Sustainable Hour is streamed live on the Internet and broadcasted on FM airwaves in the Geelong region every Wednesday from 11am to 12pm (Melbourne time).
→ To listen to the program on your computer or phone, click here – or go to www.947thepulse.com where you then click on ‘Listen Live’ on the right.
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Podcast archive
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