I’m writing to do something we don’t normally do too much, and that’s talk about ourselves as the people here behind the Australia reMADE team. Because after five wonderful years, I’m going to be moving on from my role as Communications Director in this remarkable organisation.

Housing is a human right. So how do we reMAKE our housing system, and make our society more equal? Rachel Hay puts a personal and generational struggle into the context of some big picture solutions and reforms for our future.

How do we transform our economic system to value what we value? Part three in our series on economic systems change explores the role of government and a few key policies that would change how we live and work.

Australia reMADE supported the First Nations’ Voice to Parliament. Yet we know it was but one pathway, not the only one, for Voice, Treaty and Truth. The First Peoples of Australia extended a generous invitation, and it was rejected. But it is still possible for all of us who want to receive that invitation, to answer back, with our own Yes.  Let us be the change we wish to see.

On Oct 14, our country has a critically important decision to make: whether to enshrine a First Nations Voice to Parliament in our Constitution. As we reflect on this question, we go back to the Vision for an Australia reMADE and its wisdom, words that came from conversations with hundreds of Australians from different walks of life.

What does an economy for the people even look like? How is that even possible, and what are some of the systemic changes that get us there? In part 2, we take a bird’s eye view of the landmarks on the road to wellbeing.

We can’t keep acting like the economy operates ‘over here’ and the issues we care about are ‘over there’.  It’s time to get as confident talking about and working on economic change as we are talking about and working on climate change — so we can reMAKE an economy in service of life itself.

After the success of Alone Australia, I’ve had a great idea for a new reality TV show.

It’s called “Alone Australian” and we get to watch ten plucky people dropped, completely alone, into the middle of a housing crisis and rely only on their wits and a dodgy internet connection to access the services they need to survive.

PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) has finally released the names of the 67 partners and employees who were privy to the confidential government information leaked by their former international tax expert, Peter-John Collins. The fact that they only did this after sustained public outcry is just another example of how they, and other big consulting firms receiving government contracts, act for their own self-interest and profit – not the public good. 

Two things I know to be true: without individuals making time to care and be cared for, our society would crumble. And our carers need more support – a whole new “infrastructure of care”. 

One of the major critiques of politics and politicians is the short-term nature of the election cycle and the short term nature of political visions and decisions. There are a lot of different ways to address this — from banning corporate donations, to extending the electoral cycle, to increasing lobbyist transparency, etc.

What would it take to make the Vision for an Australia reMADE our new normal? Before the pandemic, under a Morrison Government, Australia reMADE convened a small gathering of leaders to have a crack at this very big question.

A functional public service with integrity has to be about more than policing personal power and profit. What do we want from our public service, and how can we reclaim it as something for all of us?

Like most people, I find the mere thought of surviving a global pandemic only to enter into a global war too horrid to deeply contemplate. But a war involving nuclear-armed superpowers would certainly impact us all, whether we feel inclined to contemplate it or not…. 

Has the public service lost its mojo? Are we too caught up in judging policy by its short-term effect on the budget bottom line, instead of its holistic effect on society? And do public servants exist to serve the government of the day, or the Australian public? Millie had the pleasure of listening to some of our country’s most senior current and retired public servants air these ideas, in a fascinating and candid conversation about public service for the public good.

Meet Dr Wesley Watkins. He calls jazz a philosophy, a way of life. Like democracy, it’s one that strives to reconcile the tension between our differences into some kind of greater whole.

A summary of the key themes from a fantastic panel discussion on care where Beth Thornber, Arnagretta Hunter and Matt Grogan explored questions such as ‘How do we value care and recognise how essential it is to our existence?’ And, ‘what sort of infrastructure do we need to put in place to care for each other and to be cared for?’

Dr Joëlle Gergis is an author, lecturer and one of the world’s leading climate scientists. She stopped by to chat with Lily on the reMAKERS podcast about the state of the world, humanity’s moment of healing, and her philosophy for living a meaningful life in uncertain times. Here are three things that Lily’s learnt from Jëelle…