Writer
Bob Douglas
Em Prof Bob Douglas, AO is a retired Public Health Academic and a committee member of The Council for The Human Future (CHF) and The Canberra Alliance for Participatory Democracy (CAPaD).
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BOB DOUGLAS. Would Australian politicians contemplate a strategy for human survival?
Why are governments around the world avoiding the constellation of threats to survival of humans on the planet? Continue reading »
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BOB DOUGLAS. My Unsolicited Advice to Australia’s political leaders.
This week I cheekily wrote to the leader of the Federal Opposition seeking an urgent appointment before he embarks on his party’s convention this weekend. Because I doubt that I will get to meet with him, here is what I would like to say to him and to the leaders of each of the other Continue reading »
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BOB DOUGLAS. Homelessness, a sign of increasing Australian Inequality that we must now address.
The growing number of people sleeping rough on the streets of our cities has alerted many Australians to the fact that Australia is no longer the egalitarian society we once were, and that, as in other western democracies, inequality is on the rise. Continue reading »
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BOB DOUGLAS. What will it take to restore governance to its rightful owners?
Around the world, and also here in Australia, voters are turning away from the political process, alarmed at the capture of political parties by vested interests, and alienated by the fact that the issues which concern and affect ordinary people, are being ignored. Our social and economic system is moving both funds and influence away Continue reading »
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BOB DOUGLAS. Changing drug law and practice to help rather than harm.
Last week Australia21, (www.australia21.org.au ), hosted a summit of experts on drug treatment, drug law and the social impact of drug use in Australia. The signatories included a former Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, people who have been actively engaged in research into alcohol and drug Continue reading »
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BOB DOUGLAS. Time for Australia to lead in building a safer future
A combination of hazards threatens the continued survival of human civilization on Planet Earth. They are all man-made – and most are being systematically ignored or under-rated by political decision makers everywhere and especially, here in Australia. Continue reading »
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BOB DOUGLAS. Towards social and political transformation.
British writer and columnist, George Monbiot, has recently published an important book about national and global politics and the need for radical, cultural and political transformation. Entitled “Out of the wreckage: a new politics for an age of crisis”, the book boldly tackles economics, environmental threats, widespread voter alienation and the political corruption that pervades Continue reading »
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BOB DOUGLAS. Changing the Economic Narrative. How Feasible and How Soon?
What will it take to develop a new economy in Australia that seriously addresses the problems of human inequality and environmental degradation? What is required to place radical economic reform properly on the Australian political agenda? Continue reading »
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BOB DOUGLAS. How will we change the human story?
What do we need to do to make it likely that our children and theirs will inherit a flourishing, rather than a collapsing human world? Our politicians must surely be starting to realise that large numbers of Australians are thoroughly fed up with the fact that the wellbeing of all (not just some) humans, and Continue reading »
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BOB DOUGLAS An algal industry ready to bloom
A high level Roundtable held in Canberra in November 2017 concluded that algal technology can help to protect the Great Barrier Reef and create new jobs and growth for regional areas. Continue reading »
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BOB DOUGLAS. Are humans headed for early extinction?
Observing the national and international political scene, one could be forgiven for believing that all we need to do is promote economic growth and jobs and everything will be okay. We have become besotted with the idea that money and markets will solve all of our problems. Nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed, Continue reading »
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Bob Douglas and Claire Higgins. Beyond Operation Sovereign Borders.
Recently in The Saturday Paper Max Opray reported on the harrowing story of two 16 year-old Vietnamese asylum seekers, who have been removed from their Adelaide school without warning, and placed in closed detention in Darwin. The boys are among around 30,000 asylum seekers who are currently in Australia awaiting resolution of their protection claims. Many Continue reading »
