On Friday 23 January, I gave a talk about the OpenAustralia Foundation at EverythingOpen. I'm currently chair of the board. We run Five services that help people engage more fully in Australia's special and unique Democracy. 

They are:

30 years ago, I lead the youth contingent at the Horizons Network 2121 forum held at the Mt Eliza business school.  Back then, we imagined a shared vision for a reconciled Australia. 

The walk for truth will show us the way

Part II - See Part I

Incredible. Everything Open is an evolution of linux.conf.au, an event I first attended 20 years ago in Dunedin. Whilst I've not been every year since then, I've been to most, and it was wonderful to say so many hellos to familiar faces yesterday.

Democracy, anarchy, and tyranny are three very different organising principles people use to make decisions, allocate resources, and define culture.  There are others. Wikipedia's list of forms of government has many more.

"I could have just been six million and one" 

My Oma's words.

These words have been coming back to me in recent days. Not even a week has passed since shots shattered Chanukah celebrations in Bondi last week.

Anti-semitism. Hatred of Jews. It's unfathomable to me, and yet, and yet? It's here, and made all too tangible in blood on the beach.

And yet conflict churns in my broken heart - what makes this hatred different to the other kinds of murderous insanity? Is it different?

I do not understand, I want to understand, I will never understand.

Transactional Analysis helps us understand how we communicate. 

If we assume everyone is ok, including, and especially ourselves, we can relate calmly, openly, and with positive intent. Too often we get caught out assuming that's not the case in one way or another, letting our worst fears manifest in the world.
Learn more
 

In a recent LinkedIn post, Katherine McLennan has perfectly articulated something that has been bubbling in my mind since the Government announced it was holding an economic reform roundtable, which has been informally dubbed the "productivity summit."  But what is productivity? The productivity commission definition says:

"Productivity measures how good we are at producing output.

30 June 2025 - End of the financial year, 9 days past the solstice. 

Earth - Turning on its access, orbiting around the sun.

Humans - Connections of care and consideration.

The moment is always now, here, with us.