Blog

Labor is still supporting new coal mines

If there are any Labor supporters out there who are still genuinely concerned about climate justice, please understand that Queensland Labor is part of the problem, and will not shift unless it l...

Is this the utopia we're fighting for? Submission against Aria's 'Green' Highrise Development Proposal

At first glance, Aria’s recently-proposed highrise development for 23 to 25 Glenelg St, South Brisbane looks like the kind of development that Greens councillors like me should be cheerleading for:...

Call for Expressions of Interest from Mural Artists

Expressions of interest for various mural locations in the Gabba Ward close on Monday, 12 October, 2020 Instead of spending it all on concrete and bitumen, we’re allocating a chunk of my local publ...

Brisbane City Council Budget Update - 2020/21

Brisbane City Council’s annual budget looks a little different for the 2020/21 financial year, but in many respects, it embodies the same trends and values as previous council budgets. The budget i...

Fully Automated Luxury Colonialism

A couple of months ago, the Queensland Greens announced a campaign initiative to increase mining royalties, which would direct a much larger share of mining profits back into paying for public infr...

Rethinking the 40-Hour Work Week

Right now, many of us are forced to lead lives that are economically precarious and environmentally and socially unsustainable. We work long hours to pay the bills, while not having enough time to ...

Gabba Ward Shutdown Album 2020: The Art of Hibernation

We’ve produced a compilation album of songs recorded during the shutdown by bands and solo artists with strong connections to the Gabba Ward on Brisbane's inner-south side (i.e. the suburbs of West...

Was Keneally’s migration diatribe fair dinkum racist?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, a few people have taken issue with my suggestion that Labor Senator Kristina Keneally’s opinion piece about immigration was advancing racist arguments. I shouldn’t need to s...

Building size, density, affordability and sustainability

Let’s compare these two buildings shall we?   The tower on Scott St, Kangaroo Point in the first picture is over 15 storeys tall, and yet contains only 14 dwellings. They are large, high-end apartm...

So how much power does the leader of the Australian Greens actually have?

Greens members are currently deciding how we should select the leader of the Australian Greens. Should all members have a direct vote in choosing the leader, like in many other progressive parties ...

Learning from the big Greens swing on Brisbane City Council

In the past few weeks, I’ve had quite a few Greens supporters – particularly from interstate – ask me how we pulled off such big swings in the Brisbane City Council election on 28 March, despite a ...

New Park for Highgate Hill/South Brisbane

Here’s another innovative yet common-sense solution to create more public green space in the inner-city… Let’s cover over the stretch of train line near Gloucester St and Frith St in Highgate Hill ...

Grey Street Park

We've had some important wins with the Brisbane Metro project, including convincing council to make sure the new vehicles run on electricity rather than diesel. As I've explained previously, Brisba...

Rallies are great, but don't forget to reach beyond the bubble

Last Friday, I spoke at a massive climate justice rally in the city. Somewhere between 6000 and 7000 people took to the streets. There was a crackling energy in the crowd. It felt powerful and reju...