“May you live in interesting times” say the ancient elders - but we’re always living in interesting times if you’re tapped into the zeitgeist.
Unfortunately, politics is usually incredible boring, because it is rooted in old ways of thinking. Left vs Right. Revolutionary vs Conservative. Capitalism vs Communism. Business as usual. These dichotomies are artificial. The truth is that the most interesting ideas are not black and white, they come from the grey areas between and the rainbow of human experience. The new growth that blooms from the desert of ignorance. It starts green but blooms into flowers of every colour in the spectrum.
I'm a Darwin artist, film-maker and business owner who is passionate about the potential create solutions to local and global problems. I believe that the role of Government is to create fair, equal models for us all to flourish and prosper both as a community and through sustainable economic models that will harness the potential within us all. As a vital part of my film-making career, I founded the Transitions Film Festival - an international film festival dedicated to exploring the environmental and social challenges of moving towards a sustainable economy. I strongly believe that, by putting our collective human genius to work, we can figure out how to address the climate challenges we are facing.
I was born and raised in Darwin and my parents helped rebuild the city after Cyclone Tracy when the whole town had to work together as a community. I believe strongly in the resilience of Territorians and our can-do attitude to when it comes to working out the practical ideas that are needed to solve our most important issues. I’m passionate about seeing the Territory grow sustainably. We are one of the world’s best regions for harnessing solar energy. That’s why we need solar instead of fracking. If we want to protect our communities, our climate and our water in the long term, we need to transition to a resilient sustainable economy and that means renewable technologies.
I’ve worked all over the Territory as a filmmaker, including teaching media art and video making in Aboriginal communities from Arnhem Land to Wadeye. These experience have given me a deep respect for Indigenous cultural knowledge. I acknowledge the need for us to confront our colonial history and achieve reconciliation with our first peoples - and that includes investing a sustainable Indigenous communities with sustainable land management, regenerative economics and renewable energy as a foundation for long term resilience.
I’m standing because I believe there has never been a more urgent time to protect our planet and our communities from corporate greed and small minded politics. For too long, our governments have been under the spell of big donors who don’t contribute their fair share of tax and who are wrecking the planet and our livelihoods. Beyond the challenges of Covid-19 which has revealed just how vulnerable our economic structures are, we are facing a planetary climate emergency that requires significant transformational change in order to ensure our land and people are safe and resilient now and into the future.
As cynical as I am about politics, I believe in democracy and I know the only solution is to elect people to Government with different ways of thinking. We need people who are open to listening to the community and seeking out truly visionary ideas that will transform our political system and our economy for the better.
If I am elected to Seat of Port Darwin, I’m keen to work with politicians of any party and any persuasion as long as they have the collective benefit in their heart. Too often politics is about partisan arguments that prevent real discussion. I believe there’s always a way through, a solution or a better idea that can work through the mess of opinions. That is the role of a politician: balancing the power structures and the community concerns for the benefit of all.
Let’s embrace the transition toward a sustainable, thriving economy that supports innovative new ideas and a culture that respects the Earth and supports our community to make the world a better place. If we are brave to meet this challenge we will make the world far more interesting and beautiful for ourselves, our children and future generations.
Let me know if you like the way I’m thinking. I hope we can work together to make a better future for us all.
