The Dirty Politics of Climate Change
THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE The Dirty Politics of Climate Change Speech to the Climate Change and Business Conference Hilton Hotel, Adelaide, 20 February 2006 Clive Hamilton1 Behind the daily news reports there is a secret world of politics in Canberra, the world in which the real business is transacted. It’s a world of powerful lobbyists who […]
Growth Fetishism and the New Politics of Wellbeing
A Speech to Cogito, Parliament House, Stockholm 24th November 2005 Clive Hamilton1 I am very pleased to be addressing you today, especially in this august place. Let me thank Claudio Aguirre-Bianchi especially for inviting me to travel to Sweden to talk to you about the ideas I have set out in my book Growth Fetish,2 […]
Poverty in Australia
A talk to the Canberra Writers’ Festival, 8 October 2005 Clive Hamilton The poverty debate In May this year the St Vincent de Paul Society published a paper arguing that income inequality has been increasing in Australia. It was a well-researched paper drawing on ABS statistics showing that by most measures income inequality has worsened […]
A New Politics of Wellbeing
A Speech to ‘Politics in the Pub’ Gaelic Club, Sydney, 22nd July 2005 Clive Hamilton1 Let me begin with some background to the thinking that led to the development of the Wellbeing Manifesto. Over the last two or three decades, the neoliberal revolution – which in Australia we call economic rationalism – has swept all […]
Speech at the launch of the Wellbeing Manifesto
THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE Speech at the launch of the Wellbeing Manifesto Edge Theatre, Federation Square, Melbourne, 14th June 2005 Clive Hamilton, Executive Director, The Australia Institute Let me begin with some background to the thinking that led to the development of the Wellbeing Manifesto that we are launching today. Over the last two or three […]
In Defense of Public Education
Speech to a Dinner for Public Education Day Canberra, 19th May 2005 Clive Hamilton It’s a tough time for public schools in Australia. The consensus that once joined all parties in strong support for the public system has broken down with conservatives on the war-path against public schools and what they stand for. Like most […]
Can Humans Survive Automation?
Speech to the Manning Clark House conference Science and Ethics: Can homo sapiens survive? Academy of Science, Canberra, 17 May 2005 Clive Hamilton1 Let me begin with an anecdote. A young man studying engineering at university said to a young women studying sociology: ‘The social sciences are useless; only maths and engineering and the hard […]
Consumption, Debt and the Environment
Speech to a public forum on organised by ACF BMW Edge Theatre, Federation Square, Melbourne 18 February 2005 Clive Hamilton1 One of the more profound changes in Australia over the last decade has been the extraordinary rise in personal debt. In the last ten years personal debt has increased from a little over $6,000 per […]
In search of sustainability
THE AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE Speech at the launch of In search of sustainability edited by Jenny Goldie, Bob Douglas and Bryan Furnass NSW Parliament House, Sydney 18 January 2005 Clive Hamilton1 It’s a pleasure to be here to help launch this new book on sustainability. I think its publication provides an opportunity to reflect on where […]
Climate Change Policy in Australia
Isolating the Great Southern Land National Institute for Environment Public Lecture Manning Clark Centre, ANU 1st September 2004 Clive Hamilton Executive Director The Australia Institute1 The debate about the implications of climate change is spreading to new areas. Most recently attention has focussed on the security implications of global climate change. Earlier this year The […]