Oct 7, 2026 8 min read Politics/Activism

Olympics ridiculousness, gas tax centrism, Brisbane's Airbnb misstep and why parties like the Greens should embrace mass online voting

Hi friends,

I hope you're all doing as well as can be expected in these tumultuous times. I was reflecting recently that as a 38-year-old, if I look after my health and avoid serious accidents, I'll be lucky to live another 2200 weeks. Such a short time to be alive on this amazing planet!

It made me think about how many hours I sometimes waste scrolling through reels and timelines on my phone and laptop, but also how grateful I am to be connected to so many people who still have the attention span for longer, richer conversations and more meaningful engagement with the world around us. So thank you for taking an interest in my ideas!

I'm excited to share that I've now hit 1000 subscribers to this writing platform (the vast majority are free subscriptions). But most readers still seem to be finding my work via social media (for those who are interested, my most popular articles are currently read by about 4000 people – please forward this email to friends who might be interested).

I use Ghost to publish my articles (rather than more common platforms like Substack or Patreon) because it's a more ethical, open-source platform that doesn't direct profits to any nefarious industries, and doesn't violate the privacy of you, the reader, with targeted ads and invasive metadata tracking etc.

The awkward downside of having more readers and subscribers is that Ghost is pushing me up to a higher tier for platform hosting fees, meaning it'll now cost me more money to publish articles and send emails. This is a very roundabout way of saying that if you're currently reading my work for free, and would like to support me to continue writing (and doing unpaid work organising community events etc.) it would be freaking amazing if you could upgrade to a paid subscription.

Upgrade to paid subscription

Thanks heaps to those of you who already support me as paid subscribers!

I've got four recent articles to share that I hope you'll enjoy diving into. This email also includes thoughts on a few other issues + some events you might be interested in. Based on feedback I've received from some of ya, in future I'm aiming to send out a shorter email newsletter each time I publish a long-form article (which will probably make this more like a monthly missive) rather than sending out a bunch of article links all at once.

Please do leave your comments on the bottom of the articles! I love reading them!

Recent articles

There's been very little to celebrate on the housing policy front in Brisbane in recent years. One small victory was the LNP succumbing to Greens pressure and agreeing to slightly tighten regulations on short-term accommodation, which would have slowed the rate of homes being converted into Airbnbs. Unfortunately, that policy now appears to be one of the first casualties of Brisbane's 2032 Olympics...

This next article has proven to be extremely popular, reinforcing my view that strong opposition to the Brisbane Olympics would be a winning political message. Contrary to the narrative that's endlessly pushed by the mainstream media and political establishment, it's actually still entirely possible for Queensland to pull out of hosting the Olympics, and doing so at this point would still cost far less than if we pushed ahead.

In recent months, the Greens have been strongly backing a campaign to tax gas exports, and so far that seems likely to continue under the party's new leader, David Shoebridge. This piece interrogates whether that strategic orientation actually gets us any closer to the serious climate action we so desperately need...

I bang on about participatory democracy pretty often in various contexts, so I thought it was time to write about it in more depth. This article sets out why I think embracing participatory systems rather than relying on representative parliamentary governance is so important, and looks at some recent practical case studies, including my voluntary work with the Queensland Greens Participatory Democracy Circle. I'd love to hear what you make of this one!

Oh and since I've had a few new subscribers lately, I thought I might also re-share this article from a couple months back about urban planning approaches for suburban parts of Australia, and the need to focus more on retrofitting and adaptation rather than waiting indefinitely for medium-density redevelopment that may never actually happen...

Upcoming events and other stuff

This Sunday, 11 October, activists across the globe are organising a global day of action for Palestine, marking three years since Israel's horrific genocide in Gaza began. Protest actions are planned this weekend in all major Australian cities and towns. In Brisbane, Justice for Palestine Magan-djin is holding a rally that starts in Queens Gardens at 3pm. Facebook event at this link. Hopefully I'll see you there!

For local readers within range of Brisbane's south side, I co-organise a weekly casual soccer game in Joachim St Park, Holland Park West, on Tuesday afternoons. In the warmer months we kick off at 4:30pm and play until sunset.

We're aiming for a super-relaxed vibe (no soccer boots with spikes please) so even if you haven't played much sport before, you'll be very welcome to come have a kick, or just chill and hang out in the park. Even if it's rained a bit in the morning, if the sun comes out by lunchtime we'll go ahead with a game. Recurring weekly Facebook event at this link.

Our monthly No Phones, No Phascists party is coming up on Friday, 30 October from 4pm to 8:30pm at 30 Joachim Street, Holland Park West. This is a free, all-ages community event featuring local live bands, art-making, radical conversations and home-cooked vego meals. October's event includes a presentation/discussion about the idea of anarchist calisthenics, popularised by the late James Scott.

This event takes place on the last Friday of every month (although we'll probably skip December). It's a great space to meet cool people and connect with other South-East Queensland artists and activists. All the details are here.

My band Rivermouth has a gig coming up at Ipswich/Tulmur on Saturday, 28 November from 7pm at 131 Brisbane Street, Ipswich Central (yes, this gig will be the day after our November No Phones, No Phascists – bonus points for anyone who makes it to both events). We're supporting a very cool rapper/poet from the US named Myles Bullen, alongside local punk musician Jodie Flange.

Rivermouth rarely performs outside Brissie these days, so if you happen to live out around Ipswich or Springfield, or you just feel like a night away from the big city, come join us at Banshees Bar & Artspace. Details and tickets available via this link.

And if you live in Brisbane (or just regularly visit) I'd also greatly appreciate it if you could do me a solid and sign this city council epetition I've started asking for a playground in our local park. Hilariously, there are three pickleball courts in our suburb of Holland Park West, but only two children's playgrounds.

Since becoming a dad, I've realised how important free-entry public playgrounds are as a local community-building node, and I'm becoming a bit of an evangelist for the idea that every neighbourhood should have a playground within walking distance where families can connect and escape the too-common experience of isolation that many parents of young kids grapple with. After you sign, you might have to double-check your inbox to verify via a confirmation email. Thanks in advance for signing!

I'm excited to see David Shoebridge taking on the leadership of the Australian Greens – it already seems to me like his strategic approach is going to make the party a more effective political force in Australia. But I should still emphasise how important I think it is that the Greens shift towards a model of letting members directly elect party leaders on a one-member, one-vote basis rather than leaving this crucial decision up to the politicians alone. I wrote a still-relevant article about this several years ago that Greens political nerds might be interested in.

The Green Institute (led by my good mate Max Chandler-Mather) has recently launched a policy proposal for publicly-owned and operated supermarkets to compete with Coles and Woolworths and put downward pressure on grocery prices. I think this is a really cool idea!

My only minor critique is that centralised government service provision often ends up being very inefficient and inflexible in practice, so it might be better to imagine and call for a society where non-profit supermarkets are run directly by local community groups rather than by the government itself. Such services would still require government funding to get established, but if operated as community-controlled non-profit organisations they would likely benefit from greater autonomy to adapt to local contexts and meet the needs of specific communities.

Wherever possible, essential services should be run democratically by locals, rather than by government departments that tend towards excessive bureaucracy and one-size-fits-all rigidity.

That's pretty much everything I wanted to share for this month. But it would be remiss of me not to use this platform to remind you all how little time we have left to minimise and slow serious global warming. I fear it's going to be a hot, intense summer here in Australia, and I'm outraged that our governments are still approving new fossil fuel projects. But there are lots of people out there doing good stuff to try to turn things around, so don't just sit at home worrying about it all – get active!

See you on the streets!

Warm regards,
Jonno