Lesley Howard’s (@adropex) #ActiveDemocracy looks at grassroots movements and participatory democracy for #ausvotes.

Woulda, coulda, but didn’t: walking the #ClimateAction talk

COMMENT: Before jetting off to Glasgow via Rome, Scott Morrison was in full ‘fatherhood’ mode. As prime minister he pledged to shield the nation from the nasty side effects of committing to net zero emissions; and the cherry on top is that we’ll benefit from all the economic opportunities on offer. Maybe we’re even front […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, #ausvotes, #ClimateAction, #IndependentsDay, #IndiStory, #IndiVotes, #MalleeVotes, #WarringahVotes, #WentworthVotes, Climate Change, Democracy, Federal Election, Front Page, Grass roots politics, Lesley Howard | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

From Indi to #IndependentsDay: my #ActiveDemocracy journey

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, #ausvotes, #IndependentsDay, #IndiStory, #IndiVotes, Democracy, Federal Election, Front Page, Grass roots politics, Lesley Howard, NoFibs | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on From Indi to #IndependentsDay: my #ActiveDemocracy journey

An #AusVotes student and first time voter in #HigginsVotes: @adropex reports #ActiveDemocracy #YouthForFuture

Imi is 18 and a first-time federal election voter. She is currently completing Year 12 and is studying Australian Politics for VCE. She will be voting in the inner metropolitan seat of Higgins, in Melbourne. Imi has kindly agreed to answer some questions about the upcoming federal election. With no assumptions as to her knowledge […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, #ausvotes, #ClimateAction, #Columns, #YouthForFuture, Asylum Seekers, Authors, Climate Change, Democracy, Federal Election, Front Page, Higgins, Lesley Howard, Youth Vote | 1 Comment

Dark clouds and silver linings, the ICAN #ClimateAction vision: @adropex reports #ActiveDemocracy

Distinctive campaign battle lines were defined long before Scott Morrison’s belated April 11 announcement that we would be going to the polls on May 18. For months the Coalition had insisted the election was going to be about the economy, security and putting locals first, “to keep our economy strong, to keep Australians safe and […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #ausvotes, #ClimateAction, #Columns, #IndependentsDay, #SenateVotes, Democracy, Economy, Front Page, Grass roots politics, human rights, Ideology, Issues, Lesley Howard | Comments Off on Dark clouds and silver linings, the ICAN #ClimateAction vision: @adropex reports #ActiveDemocracy

The Liberal campaign in #KooyongVotes an #AusVotes dinosaur: @adropex reports #ActiveDemocracy

Cutting his parliamentary teeth in the Tony Abbott opposition of the 43rd Parliament, Josh Frydenberg could be excused for thinking that with a blue-ribbon seat and a bit of judicious backing in the leadership spills he was set for life. Certainly, since winning the seat of Kooyong in 2010, his rise through the Liberal Party […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, #ausvotes, #ausvotes2016, #ClimateAction, #ClimateStrike, #Columns, #IndependentsDay, #IndiVotes, #KooyongVotes, #MackellarVotes, #SchoolsStrike4Climate, #stopAdani, Climate Change, Democracy, Economy, Energy, Environment, Federal Election, Front Page, Grass roots politics, Lesley Howard | Comments Off on The Liberal campaign in #KooyongVotes an #AusVotes dinosaur: @adropex reports #ActiveDemocracy

An #AusVotes first timer talks #YouthForFuture and #ActiveDemocracy: @adropex reports

Tom is 19 and a first-time federal election voter. After completing school in 2017 he worked for a year doing whatever came his way. He is now at university, studying media and communications in the politics stream, and working nights on weekends at a pub. He will vote in the inner metropolitan seat of Macnamara, […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #ausvotes, #ClimateAction, #Columns, #ReefNotCoal, #VicVotes, #YouthForFuture, Authors, Climate Change, Democracy, Energy, Environment, Federal Election, Front Page, Issues, Lesley Howard, Youth Vote | 2 Comments

A successful #IndependentsDay is like winning Eurovision: @adropex reviews #GetElected #ActiveDemocracy

Pale, male and stale The political class ‘is on the nose’ and trust in our politicians is going into a deep dive. Parliament is seen as being dominated by “personalities, parties and pecuniary interests”. People are tired of the scandals, the factional power struggles and the revolving door of leadership and prime ministers. With each […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #ausvotes, #Columns, #IndependentsDay, #IndiVotes, #NewEnglandVotes, #WentworthVotes, Democracy, Federal Election, Front Page, Grass roots politics, Lesley Howard, State Politics | Comments Off on A successful #IndependentsDay is like winning Eurovision: @adropex reviews #GetElected #ActiveDemocracy

I felt she was speaking directly to me: @digitdave reflects on @indigocathy and #ActiveDemocracy with @adropex

Like the waters of the Murray-Darling Basin, communities run deep in regional and rural Australia. From the Hawkesbury River and the central coast of New South Wales to the Murray River and the valleys and ranges of north east Victoria, people gathered at Parliament House overlooking Canberra’s Lake Burley Griffin to listen to Cathy McGowan’s […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, #ausvotes, #ausvotes2019 Candidate, #IndependentsDay, #IndiVotes, Democracy, Federal Election, Front Page, Grass roots politics, Lesley Howard | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on I felt she was speaking directly to me: @digitdave reflects on @indigocathy and #ActiveDemocracy with @adropex

Shouting at the television and planting gardens: #ActiveDemocracy stories by @adropex

What do shouting at the television and gardening have in common? From little things big things have grown. Gather ’round people, let me tell you a story… or two. Whilst a television was not one of the perks of an Aboriginal stockman’s life in the Northern Territory in 1966, the story of Vincent Lingiari and […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, #ausvotes, #ClimateAction, #HumeVotes, #IndependentsDay, #IndiStory, #IndiVotes, #MalleeVotes, #NichollsVotes, #RecentlyPopular, #SenateVotes, #WarringahVotes, Democracy, Federal Election, Front Page, Grass roots politics, Lesley Howard | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Shouting at the television and planting gardens: #ActiveDemocracy stories by @adropex

The #AusVotes preference system or choosing sides when your team can’t make the Grand Final: @adropex stops #ShoutingAtTheTV and comments

The closest I have come to an election campaign was handing out How-to-Vote cards in the Victorian state election last year, but I must admit to being an interested observer of #Auspol since the 2013 federal election which saw a local independent unseat a major party incumbent in the hitherto safe Liberal seat of Indi. […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, #ausvotes, #Columns, #IndiVotes, #RecentlyPopular, Democracy, Federal Election, Front Page, Indi, Lesley Howard, NoFibs | Tagged , , , , | Comments Off on The #AusVotes preference system or choosing sides when your team can’t make the Grand Final: @adropex stops #ShoutingAtTheTV and comments

The @NoFibs #IndependentsDay Twitter mission at #ausvotes: @margokingston1 comments

The way I see it, every safe Coalition seat must be in play in the sense that quality indies ask tough questions incumbents are forced to answer. That requires courageous indies & committed, creative citizens because a weakened local media can’t do it. Ready to play? #ausvotes — Margo Kingston (@margokingston1) February 22, 2019 Hi. […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, #ausvotes, #ausvotes2016, #CanningVotes, #ClimateElection, #Columns, #CowperVotes, #CurtinVotes, #FarrerVotes, #HumeVotes, #IndependentsDay, #IndiStory, #IndiVotes, #KingstonReports, #KooyongVotes, #LyneVotes, #MackellarVotes, #MalleeVotes, #MayoVotes, #NewEnglandVotes, #NichollsVotes, #Qgame, #RecentlyPopular, #SenateVotes, #SmashingAvocado, #TheReefReport, #ViewFromTheCrossbench, #WarringahVotes, #WentworthVotes, Asylum Seekers, Climate Change, Front Page, ICAC, Indi, Margo Kingston, MargoFrontPagePin, NoFibs, Refugees | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Burnt bridges: A reflection on the demise of Sophie Mirabella by @adropex

    The result in the seat of Indi is final. Only in the last few weeks, as her 2016 campaign collapsed, has the topic of Sophie Mirabella not rekindled in me the upset and anxiety of the last decade. Rather the emotion was one of grudging compassion. With hindsight, the similarity in the unrelenting […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, #ausvotes, #ausvotes2016, #IndiStory, #IndiVotes, Front Page, Indi, Lesley Howard | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

So @martycorboynats v @mirabellasophie at #indivotes, how will @Barnaby_Joyce play? @adropex reports

The Coalition ‘Cupid Shuffle? What was Warren Truss thinking when at a recent media doorstop he singlehandedly emasculated the National Party in Victoria? For that matter, what was Sophie Mirabella thinking when, during this same media event, she deposited six years of her career in the ”can’t actually deliver” bin? Warren Truss, in the final […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, #IndiTalks, #IndiVotes, Federal Election, Front Page, Indi, Lesley Howard | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on So @martycorboynats v @mirabellasophie at #indivotes, how will @Barnaby_Joyce play? @adropex reports

The #indivotes movie: @adropex review and musings on how Indi is changing politics

INDI: The Road to Canberra — CROWDFUNDING TRAILER from David Estcourt on Vimeo. INDI: The Road to Canberra  “More than a year has passed since the campaign, so it was interesting seeing our emotions on the big screen…Obviously there are a lot of nuances that can’t be conveyed in a 90 minute film, but [the […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, #ausvotes, #IndiStory, #IndiVotes, Democracy, Federal Election, Front Page, Grass roots politics, Indi, Lesley Howard | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The #indivotes movie: @adropex review and musings on how Indi is changing politics

Participation an antidote to #Auspol cynicism: the #IndiVotes democratic revolution, by @adropex

“What do rowers and politicians have in common?” asked Dr Simon Longstaff AO, Executive Director of the St James Ethics Centre. “They both look one way and go another.” This resonated with the 265 attendees at the  “Indi talks Democracy” event who came to listen to Simon Longstaff and, “the warhorse from the inside”, former […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, #ausvotes, #CurrentFibs, #IndependentsDay, #IndiStory, #IndiTalks, #IndiVotes, #VicVotes, Democracy, Federal Election, Front Page, Grass roots politics, Indi, Lesley Howard, Victoria | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Innumerate or deceptive: @adropex dissects @TheIPA ‘report’ into ABC coal coverage #leardblockade

Innumerate Ignorance or Calculated Deception It is unfortunate that the IPA, and in particular James Paterson, did not take note of the ‘scholarship’ referred to in their recent report of the ABC’s coverage of ‘Australia’s energy choices’ and apply it to their own publication. It would undoubtedly have saved them the embarrassment of making public […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, #leardblockade, ABC, Climate Change, Environment, Front Page, Ideology, Liberal Party | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The business of risk: @adropex on values exposed by Credit Suisse @SantosLtd #Pilliga #csg report

On 3 July Credit Suisse, published a report on the Narrabri Gas Project (NGP). The NGP is a coal seam gas (CSG) operation in the Pillaga State Forest in northwestern NSW, owned and operated by Australian company Santos Ltd. The purpose of the report was: “To assess the risks to the NGP due to the […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, #Pilliga, CSG, Environment, Front Page | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The business of risk: @adropex on values exposed by Credit Suisse @SantosLtd #Pilliga #csg report

Civil rights and wrongs at #leardblockade: @adropex comments

[clear] [clear] Most Australians would take for granted that in a democracy such as ours certain human rights and freedoms are a given. In fact, the Australian constitution is limited in its articulation of human rights to the point of barely referencing them. We do not have an equivalent to the United States Bill of […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, #leardblockade, Activism, Front Page | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Civil disobedience and the #leardblockade: @adropex comments

[clear]   It was in January, whilst on a family beach holiday, that I first became aware of the protest happening at the Leard State Forest. I had not heard of the Leard before, however the words ‘Maules Creek’ and ‘Whitehaven’ vaguely floated into my consciousness as I read a Twitter report of the action […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, #leardblockade, Activism, Civil Disobedience, Democracy, Front Page, Lesley Howard | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Why ‘inadvertent incursion’ won’t wash: @adropex analyses Sovereign Borders inquiry

By Lesley Howard  @adropex On January 17, 2014, the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection, Scott Morrison, reported that Australian vessels had entered Indonesian territorial waters during operations conducted in association with Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB). On January 21, 2014, terms of reference were given for an internal review to be conducted by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, Asylum Seekers, Front Page, Lesley Howard, Refugees | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Operation Sovereign Borders: an @adropex fact check

By Lesley Howard @adropex 21st February 2014 No matter what you think of the ALP or the LNP policy on asylum seekers, regardless of whether you voted for this government or not, the riots, the violence and social unrest, the fear, the death and the injuries happened on our watch. Ours. Us. Australia. Australia is a signatory […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, Asylum Seekers, Front Page, Lesley Howard, Monthly Newsletter, Refugees | Tagged , , | 15 Comments

Fact-checking @coles and @woolworths for #SPCsunday, by @adropex

By Lesley Howard @adropex 9th February 2014 (Updated 11 February 2014) BACKGROUND  In a tweet to me @Coles said, “around 90{17ac88c265afb328fa89088ab635a2a63864fdefdd7caa0964376053e8ea14b3} of our Coles Brand Food and drink is Australian made”. I asked them to “confirm for me that about 90{17ac88c265afb328fa89088ab635a2a63864fdefdd7caa0964376053e8ea14b3} of Coles own brands are 100{17ac88c265afb328fa89088ab635a2a63864fdefdd7caa0964376053e8ea14b3} Aus product.” In response they politely referred me to their […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, #SPCsunday, Front Page, Lesley Howard | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

Tasmanian wilderness under ‘friendly’ fire: @adropex comments

By Lesley Howard @adropex 4th February 2014 On February 1, 2013, the Australian federal government submitted a proposal to the World Heritage Committee for a minor boundary modification to the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. The World Heritage Committee reviewed and accepted the submission in June 2013 and the extension of approximately 170,000 hectares was duly listed. […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, Environment, Front Page, Lesley Howard | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Cory’s book: Part 3 of a blow-by-blow fact check series by @adropex

By Lesley Howard @adropex 30th January 2014 Cory Bernardi opens the third chapter of his book, The Conservative Revolution, by stating the obvious: that children learn from their home environment and the people directly around them, generally through observation and participation; the better the environment and the role models, the better the lessons the child will carry […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, Book Reviews, Front Page, Lesley Howard | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Cory’s book: Part 2 of a blow-by-blow fact check series by @adropex

[clear] [clear] By Lesley Howard @adropex 19 January 2014 In Chapter 2 “The First Pillar: Faith” Bernardi presents a strong and considered study of the historical contribution Christianity has made to Australia’s national development and how this heritage is represented in the laws and moral codes of Australian society today. Bernardi proposes that faith is fundamental to […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, Astroturfing, Book Reviews, Conservative Revolution, Front Page, Ideology, Lesley Howard, Liberal Party | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 12 Comments

Cory’s book: Part 1 of a blow-by-blow fact check series by @adropex

By Lesley Howard @adropex 13 January 2014 Intro: in part one of a @NoFibs series, Lesley Howard examines and fact-checks the preface and Chapter 1 of Cory Bernardi’s book The Conservative Revolution. A lot has been said in recent days about Cory Bernardi and about statements he makes in his book The Conservative Revolution.  It seems that Bernardi’s […]

Posted in #ActiveDemocracy, #auspol, Book Reviews, Conservative Revolution, Front Page, Ideology, Lesley Howard, Liberal Party | Tagged , , , , , , , | 37 Comments