It feels like the right time to spare a thought for our politicians. We’re particularly focused on local government at the moment. They’re often front and centre of dealing with the most immediate impact of climate change disasters, our first responders in many ways. And yet so badly funded.
This was particularly clear in the interview we did with Chris Bradshaw from Bentley Systems, published this week, which has collaborated on a guide in the US that helps local councils with their ability to improve resilience for their infrastructure. This, through ways that are not costly but using data that is readily available, if you know where to look.
We will hear more about that from Bradshaw’s colleague Rory Linehan who will front our upcoming Nature First & Resilient Cities event on 24 November.
And yes when it comes to local government, we know that corruption is rife – the old brown paper bags under the table and worse, periodically entertaining readers in the tabloids but also the broadsheets.
It happens. You can get a laugh out of this with Philip Bull’s series of remembrances of times past of his career as an urban planner working in a few Sydney councils.
Generally, you will find that a lot of the corruption is around property. How strange you might think. Or not. There is so much of our future (and value) invested in this sector that makes this no surprise and certainly takes a lot of our attention.
We don’t so much focus on corruption of the brown paper kind but on the endemic corruption that is built into our cities, urban planning, design, development and materials –manufacturing that robs us of the beauty of this planet we call home.
That’s the kind of corruption that really gets our back up.
So politicians. Yes, okay, some of them might go into the job because they have a personal axe to grind or a personal fortune they want to make.
But most care; really care. They tend to be drawn into the game by idealism; or some burning ambition that leads them to think they can shift the dial, even a bit.
Right or wrong. And please spare us the power corrupts cliches.
One of the problems some learned people have said is that we don’t pay them very well and then expect them to work their butts off – always with a smile on their face.
No wonder some of them fail to make it to that bright green finish line in one idealised piece.
And then there is what happened to Helen Haines. So many people are deeply shaken by the horrific attack that’s left her fighting for her life and losing two of her limbs.
And yet in what is clearly a marker of a remarkable woman we read yesterday that the first words she said to the first responders to her side was to thank them. Calling them “beautiful” people. Honestly. And then her husband Phil, with a speech to melt hearts.
It is so easy to focus on the negatives in life and politics.
They soak up so much oxygen. But the beautiful people are out there everywhere, helping to balance those negative forces. And that’s whether they’re in town hall, state or federal politics, or our sustainability community.
Pollies and in particular women deserve to be supported in the work they do. NSW Premier Chris Minns this week was clear and frank. He’d not felt attacked or threatened in his work and interactions with the public but he didn’t know a female politician who hadn’t been attacked either in person or online.
Well said, Minns. We may not like everything you do and say in government but that’s just earned you a big brownie point.
Rage has a place
We are not ones to say don’t get angry. There are many times that rage is called for. Especially when it comes to horrible inequities and destruction of life on Earth.
How we express that anger is another thing altogether.
We need not go soft on the people who deliberately oppose equity and justice and cloud it in obfuscation and lies.
What we need is clear headed and powerful intelligence to find the best ways to change the status quo.
It’s not always data and facts, sometimes it’s intuition and the understanding of emotion and language. See how Stiebel Eltron is using the words “balanced ventilation” to demonstrate that clean filtered air in an airtight building is not a greenie conspiracy to deprive occupants of their God-given right to opening windows, but a way to make their life better.
That’s both subversive and effective.
Self interest. Again. Thanks Paul Keating.
But it can’t come from a lackadaisical attitude.
Maintain the rage but use it nicely.
Some new jobs in local government
We got to know Melbourne Lord Mayor Nick Reece during our Transition Risk masterclass and can say his passion for sustainability certainly convinced us. But then that’s Melbourne where a few people have explained there must be “something in the water” when we ask how is there such passion and innovation in several metro hotspots, such as the inner north.
Now he’s taking his susty work offshore with a role as Global North Co-Chair for C40, a global network of mayors which comprises “96 cities representing 920 million people and 23 per cent of the world’s economy” that want to drive “the future of city climate action.”
He will succeed London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan from next year, taking the role with Global South co-chair Mayor Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr of Freetown in Sierra Leone.
C40 acknowledged Reece’s past roles as Vice Chair and a member of its Steering Committee, with his work to champion “innovative, practical city action to improve people’s lives while cutting emissions, with Melbourne leading work on electrification, sustainable buildings and sustainable data centre development.”
And in local notes
We were disappointed to see Jess Miller was no longer Deputy Lord Mayor at City of Sydney, because she brings so much energy, intelligence and a challenging engagement style (all perfectly visible at our recent Carbon Triggers Big Debate) to serious issues that many other people pay lip service to.
Such as trying to tame the rampant short term accommodation boom in the city by getting pollies to tag along with her as she points out all the key locks on door after door of premium Sydney real estate. Another of her campaigns was fighting the widespread incidence of “lazy” or unused spaces as she termed them at a time of dire need for more housing.
With her background on greening as well, we’re happy to confess to a slight bias for Miller’s work. The good news is that we understand she intends to continue campaigning as always (even without the staff and with less financial recompense – what did we say about paying our pollies more). Check out the podcast we did with Miller earlier this year.
Her role now is in the hands of Olly Arkins who of course looks set to likewise bring big energy to the role.
The Star Observer said Arkin was “first openly trans person elected to the City of Sydney” and that “despite Arkins’ election marking a tremendous victory for the LGBTQ+ community, the councillor has made clear that her commitment is to Sydney, and her election will be a win for all who call the vibrant city home.”
“I ran for council because I have lived in Sydney at its best; fun, welcoming, diverse and affordable,” said Arkins. “I have also lived it at its worst; lockout laws, eye-watering rents and policing policies that attempted to put music festivals out of business”.
