G20 – Day 1

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Posted on November 15, 2014

WARNING: This post is a political piece which contains my personal opinions.

My embarrassment is complete.

As the host nation of the G20, Australia had an opportunity to be innovative and forward-thinking. The Prime Minister of this country chose to use this once in a generation opportunity to address the major world leaders as a chance to trumpet his ‘successes’ in government.

The headline item was the abolition of the carbon tax. While this measure was certainly not ideal it was at least an acknowledgement of action on climate change and a step in the right direction. He then continued with his feet planted firmly in his mouth to ‘thank God’ that he had managed to stop the boats. This was in front of the Indonesian President who is less than happy with Australia’s approach to the refugee situation, not to mention the leaders of Germany, France and Canada who have all had 5 – 20 times as many asylum seekers arrive in their countries over the past 5 years as what Australia has had.

The final indignity was then to have a whinge about the fact that he was having trouble passing the budget measures to limit a tertiary education to those who can afford to pay and the proposed $7 GP co-payment.

Last week China and the USA signed an historic agreement to work together on addressing the effects of climate change.

Today, President Obama addressed 2,ooo people at the University of Queensland with a wide-ranging speech which included an impassioned plea to “look squarely at the science…and reach a strong global agreement next year” and United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon told the international media that, “Climate change is the defining issue of our times, therefore it is only natural that the G20 leaders should focus on this.”

Yet Mr Abbott believes that climate change should not be a part of the G20 discussions. His performance has been cringeworthy and it is difficult to imagine that any of the other countries present at the G20 could ever take Australia seriously. Mr Abbott, you have made us an absolute laughing-stock.

G20 – What in the World?

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Posted on November 14, 2014

WARNING: This post is a political piece which contains my personal opinions.

Whether we like it or not the G20 has arrived in Brisbane, the capital city of my home state, Queensland. Today is a declared public holiday for all who work in the Brisbane City Council area. I am included in that number. Even when I was in the city on Monday and Tuesday, there were barricades everywhere and the footpaths were literally swarming with police.

Powerful and influential leaders from nations across the world are descending as I write and the spotlight of the world media will be on Brisbane over the next 3 days. The total influx of people is in excess of 7,000. This includes support and security staff for the world leaders as well as a huge contingent of journalists and other other media staff.

So what is the G20? This link gives a brief, unbiased overview. In reality, Mr Putin is arriving with a flotilla of Russian warships steaming towards Australian waters, the USA and Chinese delegations fly in with the ink barely dry on an agreement to work together on greenhouse gas emissions and David Cameron has come to hang out with his ‘new best friend’.

Who knows what the weekend will bring. The one thing that we will all endure is hot weather. It does not matter whether you are a young child whose home is here or one of the most powerful leaders in the world – it will be hot – probably hotter on Saturday and Sunday than any previous November day on record in our city. This is not a one-off. It is indicative of our changing climate. Already, most of the temperature records are from the past 10 years, despite the fact that records have been kept for well in excess of 100 years in this country.

Mr Abbott does not think that the G20 is the right forum for discussions about climate change. That’s right, just continue to bury your head in the sand. We all know that you do not believe in the science of climate change. You have told us so, yourself.

I will not be protesting this weekend but I am sure that there will be others who do. They will have all sorts of items on their agendas that they want to put in front of this group of powerful and influential leaders.

My weekend will be spent making sure that my garden is kept well-watered and protected from the searing sun and heat as I do my best to ensure the survival of the food crops that I am growing to feed my family. I will also be thinking of those farmers who struggle to make a livelihood while doing battle with the increasingly extreme weather conditions. They do this in order to provide food to you and I. The advertisement below, was one which was banned by the Brisbane Airport Corporation as being “too political” for display during the G20. It features a South Australian grape producer, David Bruer. You can read more here.

While grapes and the end product, wine, may not be essential to our survival, agriculture in the broader sense is most definitely necessary.

Remember, Mr Abbott – without a planet there will be NO economy. Addressing the issues of climate change should be front and centre of any global economic forum.

I was looking for a final quote for this post and amazingly I found this. Need I say more?

This week’s landmark agreement between the US and China to reduce carbon emissions has increased pressure on Australia – the only developed country to have gone backwards in fighting climate change – to put the issue on the summit’s agenda.

However, Mr Abbott – who has scrapped a carbon tax and is trying to reduce renewable energy targets – insisted that the G20 was the wrong forum. “This is the world’s premier economic conference, and I… expect the focus will be on economic reform, economic growth, how we drive growth and jobs,” he said.

The agreement by the world’s two biggest polluters, on Wednesday at the Apec (Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation) summit in Beijing, reportedly took Australia by surprise. Veteran political commentator Michelle Grattan said the government had been “ambushed almost on the eve” of the long-anticipated Brisbane conference.

Under the deal, the US has pledged to slash its emissions by 26 per cent to 28 per cent of their 2005 levels by 2025, while China has said its emissions will peak by 2030, at the latest, and then decrease.

Next to those goals, Australia’s plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 5 per cent of their 2000 levels by 2020 looks inconsequential. Few believe the government will meet even that modest target.

One of the world’s biggest per capita polluters, thanks to its reliance on fossil fuels, Australia is also the world’s largest coal exporter. Mr Abbott – who once dismissed climate change science as “absolute crap” – horrified scientists and environmentalists last month when he described coal as “good for humanity” while opening a new mine in Queensland.

The government has reportedly been fending off last-minute attempts by the US, France and other European nations to have climate change discussed by G20 leaders.

The meeting is seen by many as an important opportunity to build momentum before next year’s Paris conference on climate change, where it is hoped a new global pact will be hammered out.

Australia’s opposition leader, Bill Shorten, warned that if Mr Abbott persisted in his refusal to allow climate change to be discussed in Brisbane, “he will embarrass Australia in front of the rest of the world”. Mr Shorten accused the Prime Minister of holding “flat Earth” views.

Other critics dismissed Mr Abbott’s claim that the G20 was not an appropriate forum. Ms Grattan, a professorial fellow at the University of Canberra, noted that the joint communique issued by the US President, Barack Obama, and the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, referred to climate change “already harming economies around the world”.

With the European Union agreeing last month to reduce carbon emissions by at least 40 per cent of their 1990 levels by 2030, Australia is looking increasingly out of step with the developed world.

Open Your Eyes

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Posted on November 4, 2014

Today I was reminded of how often we really do not take notice of what is going on around us. I read this post by Zoë Boccabella. I had never heard of Little Free Libraries but worst of all this one is actually located in the closest small town to where I live. Why is that bad? I go to town usually once each week and I have seen the Little Free Library and know exactly where it is but I had never bothered to investigate what it was or its purpose. Now I have found out, thanks to a blog by someone who does not even live here.

Little Free Library also has a Facebook page if you are interested.

Thanks, Zoë, for opening my eyes.

Why Blog?

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Posted on October 31, 2014

It is not that many years ago that most of us had never heard of a blog, let alone read one, or heaven forbid, actual written a blog post. Some days now, it seems as though everyone is writing. All of this got me to thinking about what made me start and why I continue to blog.

My blog is not an advertising vehicle. It is not a money-making exercise.

My blog is a diary. I am able to share my thoughts and ideas on a wide range of topics. It allows me to connect with others who share similar values and interests. It is me. Pure and simple.

The More You Spend…………

Mini Moments

A Dose of Inspiration

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Posted on July 12, 2014

The Duke and I went to the Queensland Garden Expo today. It is a huge event which is held annually in Nambour which is a major town about 30 km from where we live. We do not go every year, usually about every 3 years.

We checked the program of speakers before we left home so had a definite plan for our visit. First, we wandered around some of the many exhibits to see what was on offer. There are so many stalls that it is difficult to take it all in. We bought 2 nets which are suitable for fruit trees or vegetable gardens. They are small enough mesh to eliminate fruit fly so we will be using one on the peach tree this year.

Our other purchase was 5 hibiscus plants which we will plant in the garden in front of the house. We already have 1 hibiscus and are keen to remove some of the other shrubs and make the hibiscus a feature in this bed.

I will tell you more about our purchases in future posts.

We took our drink bottles of water and some mandarins for a snack but we bought some lunch from one of the many food stalls. We had satay chicken skewers with spiced cous cous.

Then it was time to join the queue for a very popular speaker – Costa Georgiadis from Gardening Australia. The title of the presentation was, “Growing our food future. Simple ways to participate that bring us all along for the ride. So hang on!” – and hang on we did. Costa is a passionate and entertaining presenter – even more so in real-life than on television.

It was difficult to capture a photograph as standing still is clearly not one of Costa’s strong points.

He really did wear that beanie!

Warming to his theme…………

And finally, presenting the ‘evidence’ to the judges.

This was the beginning of the presentation, where Costa showed the audience pre-packed, hard-boiled and peeled eggs packaged in a hard plastic case. The one hour presentation absolutely flew and we really did have to hang on. This was not a formal, staid lecture but more like a wild ride.

Some of the messages I came away with were:

We can all make a difference
Be positive
Engage with your community
Be innovative

It can sometimes be difficult to maintain your enthusiasm and passion in the face of the negativity that so often surrounds us but a dose of Costa was just what I needed get get me inspired to continue to push to grow and share food, reduce waste and packaging and encourage others to do the same.

Housekeeping – How To?

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Posted on June 23, 2014

What is housekeeping? The literal definition would be ‘keeping house’. According to the wonders of Google it is ‘the management of household affairs’. This is a fairly broad definition but allows for everything from shopping, cooking, providing meals to cleaning, organisation, paying bills and filing. Does this sound familiar?

I am not planning on getting into a debate over the merits of mothers who stay at home versus those who do paid work or male versus female workload within the home.

My interest is more about what you do, how to do it and where you learned the skills/methods that you use. Today I was at home and it was a sunny winter day here. I took the towels and bathmat from the bathroom and hung them on the line where they could air thoroughly and dry.

This got me thinking about how often I wash the towels and why. We have one towel each and a bathmat and these are washed once a week. I do this because this was the routine my mother used when I was growing up, and I suspect, her mother before that. That is not to say that that I have religiously followed everything my mother did. An example is the 3 pegs on the towel: I do this because I can’t stand the way the towels go out of shape if you just peg them with a peg at each corner.

We have a climate where it is possible to line dry the washing virtually all the year round. As you can see from the photo the line is undercover which gives protection from the rain and when it is cold we generally have the fire on at night so the washing is finished off indoors.

So, where did you learn your housekeeping routines and skills? Have they changed and evolved over the years? Do you ever discuss things of this nature with others – friends or family? Have you intentionally taught your children or do you just expect that they will work it out for themselves.

Pause and Reflect

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Posted on June 11, 2014

In the midst of our busy lives it can be useful to take take some time out. Stop, and savor this 10 minute interview with some pretty amazing sentiments.

Clean & Green

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Posted on May 21, 2014

In an online discussion group of which I am a member, the challenge this week was to make some changes in your routine to make your life a little greener. It was noted that actions that are good for the environment can also be beneficial to your purse.

When I stopped and thought about this, I realised that most of how I choose to live is a result of making the best choice I can in the prevailing circumstances. Some of these things are what I have always done and others are changes I have made but it is so long ago that I do not even consider them as particularly green.

Here are some of our household patterns.

Use locally-made, environmentally-friendly washing liquid, laundry soaker, dishwashing liquid and dishwasher powder from Kin Kin Naturals.

Make my own wool wash and cream cleanser.

Use bicarb and vinegar to clean most surfaces.

Hang clothes outdoors to dry or in front of the fire. Use clothes dryer rarely.

Run our home on tank water, grid-connected solar power and solar hot water service.

Grow some of our own fruit and vegetables. This week I have picked lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, radishes, pak choy, lemons, oranges, mandarins. grapefruit and avocadoes.

Compost all our scraps or feed them to the chickens.

Keep chickens for our own supply of eggs.

Catch public transport to work.

Complete multiple errands when making a trip in the car.

Re-use as many resources as possible.