Month: April 2015

Should communities design their own currencies?

National Speaking tour with Tim Jenkin and Karel Boele Brisbane, 27th April 2015: Imagine going shopping without cash or a credit card. Globally, in thousands of communities, people participate in some form of complementary currency exchange, and manage to do just that. Tim Jenkin,who will be in Australia in May to talk about complementary currencies, says: “I can go to Australia and get accommodation, food and transport and whatever I need. And I don’t have to take a credit card with me or convert dollars. I don’t have to understand anything about the exchange rate. I simply go there...

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The Farmers Come To Boundary Street

Consumer research consistently shows that the overwhelming majority of Australians prefer to buy Australian produced food. The recent frozen berry contamination scare underlined the risk of consumers being exposed to imported foodstuffs from countries that do not share Australia’s strict quality control regime, or our comparatively clean environment. Packaging and labeling are not always a reliable guide, either. They won’t tell you the country of origin of an individual ingredient in a foodstuff if it comprises less than half the total value of the finished product. It’s still considered “Made in Australia”, according to the Food Safety Council, as...

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West End speaks out for Peace

You are all no doubt aware of the vast sums of money the government has spent on commemorating the centenary of the Gallipoli battle. The message from political leaders is this battle in the 1st world war is central to our national identity. Just Peace as well as the organisations who came together to form the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network consider this narrative must be challenged. With this is mind Just Peace and the Brisbane IPAN groups have organised a number of events in the next few months to make the case for our national identity being shaped...

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Lest We Forget Our Soldiers

An ANZAC Day Reflection by Dave Andrews  We need to celebrate courage and comradeship wherever we find it. Wherever we find it among our soldiers in combat we need to celebrate it loud and clear. But if we choose to celebrate ANZAC day, we need to do it with extreme caution, lest we forget that our celebration of those legends can be used to victimize succeeding generations of soldiers. A well-known Aussie Vietnam Vet who died recently was Bill ‘Kookaburra’ Coolburra. As a 19-year-old indigenous volunteer, Bill was among the first Australian combat troops into Vietnam. He was a...

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TWO WHEELED FUNDRAISERS

On May 3rd community development workers Julia and Christel from the West End Community House will be riding around Brisbane as part of the Great Brisbane Bike Ride, to raise much needed funds for Community Plus+. Community Plus+ is a community development organisation working across Brisbane’s inner South, and which includes the West End Community House, Annerley Community Hub and the Yeronga Community Centre. “We are so lucky to be working with the people of West End, there is so much diversity and enthusiasm to keep creating and developing a more resilient and even more vibrant West End,” says...

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