Beyond Bourke - scenes from forty years ago

In a posting last year I described a trip I had made with my brother and nephew to Bourke and Enngonia. My first visit since 1956. Here are some images from the first trip.

The W. Ross Ashby Digital Archive

Recent message: ‘it is with great pleasure that we can now officially announce that The W. Ross Ashby Digital Archive is available at http://www.rossashby.info We would be delighted if you would take the time to have a look at the digital archive web site, and where appropriate, help to spread awareness of its availability, by mentioning it and linking to it in any mailing lists, newsletters, or web sites that you are involved in.

Heathrow decision - hypocrisy in action

The decision just made by the UK Labour Government to proceed with expansion of Heathrow Airport exemplifies the well known phenomenon in political life of not 'walking the talk'. Or, put another way, it demonstrates the common mismatch between what people espouse and what they do (as explained by Chris Argyris and Donald Shön). The Labour Government has done much, perhaps more than most governments, to espouse policies relating to sustainable development and to climate change mitigation and adaptation. This descison however higlights the extent of the mismatch between espousing and acting - it thus holds itself open to the charge of systematic and entrenched 'greenwashing'.

There is nothing moral, intelligent, courageous, ethical or wise about this decision. I hope that the decision is never enacted - whether by change of government, dissent within the Labour Party or civil, non-violent, protest.

Are the carbon and energy footprints catching up with the networked world?

I was interested to see (at last!) that my friend John Naughton has picked up on issues relating to the carbon footprint of the networked world - or at least that part of it generated by the act of 'Googling'. I would agree with him that this is an issue for which the time has come - I too expect it to run and run during 2009 ... as I hope will all attempts to understand carbon and energy dynamics in whole - of - system analyses associated with any innovation or decision.

This does not seem to have been the case with recent Environmental Impact assessments of the planned desalination plant for Melbourne.

The Rudd Government response to climate change: GetUp sums up the situation pretty well

My email from GetUp said:

'We need to act fast. Hidden in the fine print of Prime Minister Rudd's woefully inadequate 5% climate target announcement on Monday was over $130 million for an 'information campaign' to sell us his sparse climate package. Doesn't it remind you of the kind of climate policy John Howard would have announced?

So we're planning to make waves this Summer by landing the first blow during the Boxing Day cricket Test.

The Boxing Day Test is the biggest TV event of the season, and our team has been working day and night to get our own climate ad ready for it. Watch it now and help us raise the urgent resources we need to get our ad on the air as families around the nation tune in [to]:

GetUp's Spot The Difference campaign!

Kevin Rudd made climate change one of his major points of difference during the election, and was elected on a promise of real climate action. Yet, as John Howard's former Chief of Staff Grahame Morris said "he's not too far away from where Howard would have ended up".

We know it feels like the fight is over for the year - but it's not. The Government has teams of pollsters monitoring public reaction to Monday's announcement. They're hoping, as it's Christmas, people will tune into the cricket and turn off. We need to respond now to show them strong climate action is non-negotiable.'

I hope the adds made some difference. I am off to see my Federal member about the matter.

The trap. What happened to our dream of freedom?

In 2007 I posted a blog about the series of three programs written, directed and filmed by Adam Curtis under this title. If you have not seen them they are worth watching - now accessible on Martin Flanagan's web site (originally aired on the BBC in March 2007, you can now watch the programmes via Google Video).

Systemic understandings, policies and practices could avoid the tragedies of Gaza and Sri Lanka

It is to be hoped that under the new US administration governance and international relations possibilties based on systemic analysis and understandings will be developed and deployed. Two good examples of what I mean appeared in the media during the week.

The first was entitled: 'Why the conflicts in Gaza and Sri Lanka will continue' by Damien Kingsbury of Deakin University.

The other was published posthumously. Unlike Damien Kingsbury the journlist and editor of The Sunday Leader, Lasantha Wickrematunga, who was killed last week, did not live in a state where freedom of speech and protection of life are guaranteed. In fact all the evidence suggests he was the victim of state-based terrorism.

I have been disheartened by the response of the Australian Government in relation to both Gaza and Sri Lanka - the statements seem more attuned to Bush-Howard era doctrine than they do to any renaissance positioning that may, hopefuly will, come to pass. As on many issues of recent times I find the analysis of former PM, Malcolm Fraser, more systemic than most.

State of the Environment Report - Victoria

Dr Ian McPhail and his staff are to be commended on their excellent State of the Environment Report. I only wish it were moving and shaking policy quicker than seems to be the case. Taking the recommendations in this report on board as quickly as possible seems more urgent than ever given recent headlines such as: Victoria, the dirty state, shamed by emissions scorecard'.

As outlined by Ian:

'In December I released the first Victorian State of The Environment Report...... The material presented in the report will be useful as a resource for environmental educators, and for students.

The Report is a 'stocktake' of Victoria's environment and covers a broad range of contemporary issues including climate change, materials & waste, energy, water and biodiversity. Indicators of environmental health are presented in the context of the drivers of change and direct pressures on the environment. The consequences of the condition of the environment are considered in the context of contemporary economics and government decision making. Current management responses to the issues are described and recommendations for improving Victoria’s environment are made. Under legislation, the Victorian government is required to respond to the recommendations within 12 months. The report received excellent feedback from commentators, academics and environmental NGO's, including this editorial in The Age.'

In addition to the main report, a SUMMARY and a series of FACT SHEETS are also available. In addition to the online resources available at Ian advises that he is ' more than happy to provide presentations to post-graduate seminars, professional development sessions on the structure, content and purposes of the report, delivered by a member of my office. In addition, and subject to the availability of staff, the office may be able to deliver guest lectures to students as part of their course'.

MORE ABOUT THE REPORT

The report is published in five main parts, each available from the website.

• Part 1, Introduction, provides an overview of the content, introduces some key concepts, and describes roles and responsibilities for managing Victoria’s environment.
• Part 2, Driving Forces, considers some of the main drivers that influence environmental change.
• Part 3, Production, Consumption and Waste investigates our consumption patterns and identifies how our use of resources acts as a direct pressure on the environment by examining our use and management of energy, water and materials.
• Part 4, the State of the Environment, presents the current state of the natural environment in four chapters, Atmosphere, Land and Biodiversity, Inland Waters, and Coasts, Estuaries & the Sea.
• Part 5, Living Well Within Our Environment, considers the complex interactions between issues covered throughout the report and presents some recommendations for future action by government and the community.

The Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability is situated at Level 16, Marland House, 570 Bourke St, Melbourne, Vic 3000.

The media reporting on this report has been excellent but too often journalists seem to lack any critical or systemic appreciation of the arguments leading to simplistic spin on the part of ministers and advisers being reported. This is particularly the case on matters pertaining to per capita performance and gross performance. Per capta gains mean little if gross demand or output, of say carbon, continues to grow via population growth, housing expansion etc or in the case of Victoria, there is a failure to move away as quickly as possible from the main carbon pollutant, brown coal.

Back from Blogger leave!

December in this part of the world was one of the coldest for some time. It was also the first time we had been camping in years! Courtesy of friends David and Meredith we had three nights at Wilson's Promontory National Park (Tidal River camping ground in the lee of Mt Oberon). This is the most southerly point on the Australian mainland ...and it felt like it. A beautful spot but good at delivering four seasons every hour! The Rosellas, Superb Blue Wrens and wombats were a particular delight.

Despite some recent rain and the scuddy showers whilst we were there few if any of the streams in the park were flowing and the tree ferns were really stressed. So these ecosystems are still very short of water. Water supplies for Melbourne are still critical with a major campaign being run by the Victorian Government to reduce per capita water consumption to 155 litres per day.

The cool period lasted into the first week of January which we spent at Red Hill on the Mornington Peninsula south of Melbourne. A great spot.

Open University's RAE performance is worth noting

'The Open University has climbed 23 places to 43rd in the UK’s latest Research Assessment Exercise (RAE 2008), securing a place in the UK’s top 50 higher education institutions.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Brenda Gourley said “I am delighted with this major improvement in our research rankings, the second largest improvement in the UK top 50, which provides further evidence of the quality and stature of the University and allows us to celebrate 40 years as a major UK institution that delivers world-leading excellence in teaching, research and knowledge transfer”.

The results show over 50% of the University’s research is ‘internationally excellent’ (3*) and 14% is ‘world-leading’ (4*), as determined by the 2008 RAE’s expert and peer review process. The quality of our research is matched by its breadth - with units submitted from all seven faculties.

Professor Brigid Heywood, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Enterprise, commented “The results justify our strategic decisions to nurture key strengths, build a rich and sustainable research environment and develop and grow centres of excellence across a wide discipline range”.

The University’s design group – spanning areas from design thinking, to sustainability and complexity - ranks third in the UK out of a field of 71. The Centre for Research in Computing at the OU has jumped 33 places to joint 19th place, just below York, Bristol and Bath.

The strength and excellence of the research supported by the OU Centre for Earth, Planetary, Space and Astronomical Research was also acknowledged with over 70% of its multidisciplinary submission deemed internationally excellent and world-leading, achieving 3*/4* rankings.

Another strategic success is the placing of Development Studies at equal 4th with Bath University; the work of this group underpins our programme of activities in Africa.

The improved placing of the OU’s Social Work submission, coupled with our signature successes in both Education and Sociology, exemplify the quality and breadth of the University’s research and reinforce our international reputation for innovative and rigorous research that influences policy and enhances practice.

Overall, the University has seen significant improvements in a number of key discipline areas, with notably strong performances in two new subject units and, in the challenging and competitive environment of the last few years, it has enhanced or maintained its 2001 ranked positions in most disciplines. A 75% growth in competitively awarded research income over the last five years is another robust measure of our increasing research excellence. '

Despite the systemic distortions of exercises such as the RAE all those involved in the OU's submission are to be congratulated. Perhaps one day we will have an institution-based model for research quality that cultivates difference and diversity and allows the fostering of inter and transdisiplinary areas such as Systems!

Acknowledging uncertainty is a moral position

Argues Robert Skidelsky in an excellent article in today's Age. I have been arguing for some time now that the best way to deal with 'wicked problems' such as climate change, river catchment management etc ..... is to abandon certainty or to put it another way to acknowledge uncertainty. Skildesky makes the excellent point that 'the key theoretical point in the transition to a debt-fuelled economy was the redefinition of uncertainty as risk. This was the main achievement of mathematical economics. Whereas guarding against uncertanty has traditionally been a moral issue, hedging against risk became a purely technical question. .... The abolution of uncertainty abolishes the need for moral rules'.

He goes on to observe that the 'monstrous conceit of economics has brought the world to the edge of disaster'.

Travelling in the wake of the great financial crash – vignettes

On the second leg of my flight from Hong Kong to London Heathrow I had three seats to stretch out on. It had been years since this had happened. Was it loss of confidence in Qantas or a direct effect of the ‘financial crash’? Later, in my taxi from Paddington to Whitehall I asked the cabbie what impact the crash was having on him. He asked if I had noticed the long queue of cabs and the short queue of passengers outside Paddington Station. No one was travelling he said. Taxi drivers in Milton Keynes reported the same.

Arriving at Heathrow I found many changes around the terminals and their connections…or lack thereof. It was hard to find Heathrow Express – perhaps me, perhaps the signposting. I was struck by the underground network of tunnels that had to be negotiated – a descent to the underworld.

I walked from Simpson to Old Wolverton, mainly along the Grand Union Canal. It took 2.5 hours but well worth it. It was a great autumn day as these photos show.

Getting to Heathrow from Milton Keynes has to be one of the worst journeys in the world. Without traffic it can be done in under an hour. But these days it is never without traffic- it is so unreliable and, on public transport, arduous. Why ever do they want to expand Heathrow?

My scheduled 12 hour flight from Paris to Mexico City was only two hours old when they called for medical assistance. Shortly thereafter it was announced that we were returning to Paris as there was a seriously ill woman on board. Cancelled flight, queues, confusion, cheap hotel, early rise and departure again on 14hour Air Mexico flight then followed. The Chinese foot and back masseurs in the main terminal at Mexico City offered some respite in my 5 hour wait for the connection to Morelia. The 21 km drive from the airport (near midnight local time) and confusion over my hotel booking in Morelia were almost the last straw! The hospitality in subseqent days more then compensated.

Morelia, or more strictly the old centre, has world heritage listing. Settled by the Spanish in the mid-sixteenth century it retains a special charm.

It has been fascinating to see how quickly the David Cameron bubble has burst. Not helped by George Osborne’s indiscretions. The PM’s rise in popularity seems to be built on the forceful articulation of strategies that continue in the attempt to do the wrong thing righter! This strategy seems widespread at the moment!!

I am encouraged to learn that the UK Sustainable Development Commission is sponsoring work under the banner 'Prosperity without Growth'. But equally discoureged to have reports that the thinking of many of the senior civil servants who are also economists have not had their thinking (paradigms?) challenged by recent events.

I like Brussels. Mainly it is the memories of the good work we have done there. This time preparing a Framework 7 bid.

Andelst is nestled between the Waal and the Rhine. This visit we had a new walking companion – a recent arrival in the household of my colleagues. A fresh, not unpleasant dynamic.

Seizing opportunity amongst crisis and chaos: can political leaders do what is required?

There is much that can be said about the events of the last few weeks from a systemic perspective. What has happened should make it abundantly clear to everyone that the global financial system is highly interconnected. There have been examples of runaway positive feedback processes, vicious circles, and above all else, massive systemic failure:

"Intensifying solvency concerns about a number of the largest US-based and European financial institutions have pushed the global financial system to the brink of systemic meltdown," IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said."

And we have not seen the end of it yet. So far it has been largely confined to the world of global finance but the effects will begin to appear in all our lives soon enough.

The dynamics of what has happened in the global meltdown are not that different from what has been happening for a long time in our relationship with the environment, but the financial crash has been easier to appreciate because the dynamics have been compressed over a shorter time frame and, for most people, it is easier to perceive. Disconcertingly, most people also probably consider this more important than what has been happening with the environment - something that seems also true of the media.

For this reason this EU-commissioned study deserves to be on all newspaper front pages, displacing stories about the financial crash. The main points in the report are that:

'The global economy is losing more money from the disappearance of forests than through the current banking crisis, according to an EU-commissioned study.

It puts the annual cost of forest loss at between $2 trillion and $5 trillion.

The figure comes from adding the value of the various services that forests perform, such as providing clean water and absorbing carbon dioxide.

The study, headed by a Deutsche Bank economist, parallels the Stern Review into the economics of climate change. '

Worthy though this study is it could have the effect of continuing a business as usual approach to the way we understand and manage our economic system. It arises from a line of argument that says we should value all of the ecosystems services provided by 'nature' but ultimately this is not possible in a definitive sense because nature is neither static nor ultimately completely knowable.

It would be good to think that amongst the current chaos and uncertainty smart people are acting to seize the opportunity presented by the financial meltdown to refashion capitalism and international governance regimes so that it is fit for our current circumstances i.e. human induced climate change, environmental and biodiversity destruction as well as poverty and loss of human well-being. For a start we could introduce a global carbon tax, dematerialise much more of our economic activity and throw out distorting measures of performance such as GDP. Perhaps at the same time we could begin to reduce the focus of human ingenuity on developing new financial and accounting products and services of the type that have contributed to the crash as well as advertising of the sort that drives consumerism.

Others are also thinking along these lines including Nicholas Stern, some more radically than others!

A report commissioned by the National Trust (UK) outlines the sort of practical measures that will be needed in the 'new economy':

'The UK's current water policy will fail to cope with extreme weather events that are projected to affect the nation in the future, a report has warned.

A study by the National Trust said the prospect of more frequent droughts and floods meant an urgent rethink was needed to update existing measures.

Paying farmers to restore wetlands or using land to store water were among the ideas suggested by the authors.'

These are among the sorts of goods and services we should be paying for in the future.

A view from every track - Lord Howe has much to offer

In a world in meltdown on a range of fronts a week out on Lord Howe Island offers an experience of how it ought to be.

The curb on development and success in eradicating many of the feral animals introduced by early Europeans are particularly heartening.

In search of a cohesive narrative for Australians .....and beyond

The recent switch of leader by the opposition Liberal Party has galvanised dinner party conversations about the future of Kevin Rudd and his government. In many of these conversations people point to the complete absence of any coherent narrative that connects Australians with our changing global circumstances. In today's Age Ross Gittins describes this as the absence of an ideology. In reference to the PM he says:

'It's when you observe the performance of a man who professes not to have any that you realise its value.

Ideology is a word that, in modern times, has taken on almost exclusively negative connotations. We never admit having one of our own, but condemn others for being "ideological". What we usually mean is merely that their ideology does not agree with ours.....

Everyone needs their own ideology because they need a set of values — about the meaning of life, why we are here and how we should treat others — to set a standard for their behaviour.'

Of course this does not only apply to Kevin Rudd. Gordon Brown too has missed an important historical and political opportunity to provide a narrative for UK citizens - but in the end he seems to have had little to say!

Climate change tipping point: graphic animation with systemic perspective

Pille Bunnell has drawn my attention to an excellent animation which brings home in simple and graphic form the situation we appear to face in relation to human-induced climate change. She was prompted to send this in response to my claim that:

"The acceptance that humans are changing the climate of the earth is the most compelling of reasons, amongst a long litany of reasons, as to why collectively we have to change our ways of thinking and acting."

Yet in today's Age the Kew branch of the Liberal party are reported as having a climate skeptic as their only guest speaker in a science focused discussion of climate change! This is a far cry from Australia's leading climate scientists who have just written to the PM calling for quicker action and more stringent cuts to CO2 emissions.

The duality of responsibility and response-ability: lessons from Gerard Fairtlough's last book

We live in a world where leaders and bureaucrats seem increasingly preoccupied with 'behaviour change'. All too often though the discourse is about changing someone else's behaviour without consideration of the ethical dimensions of their actions. Nor do they seem aware of the responsibility/response-ability duality. In a climate-change world this is unfortunate. What is sought is that individual citizens take more responsibility - what is not realised is that the circumstances for response-ability need to be created as part of the same process i.e responsibilty and response-ability together form a whole.

Creating the circumstances for response-ability often involves some form of organisational change (given so much of our life is spent within an organisation or in inter-organisational transactions). In his book ‘The Three Ways of Getting Things Done’, the late Gerard Fairtlough, based on his extensive experience of organisational life, argued that ‘sustainable organizational change can only take place in a non-hierarchical manner. Imposed change, which ignores the need for learning and overrides personal values, cannot work for long. Worthwhile change only emerges from reflective practice and has to be fully embraced by all concerned. (p. 83, 2007). He proposes that there are ‘three and only three, fundamental ways of getting things done: hierarchy, heterarchy and responsible autonomy’. I outline what he means by these terms below where I also contrast them with John Heron's three types of power in decision making. I find them remarkably compatible.

Hierarchy is captured in a classical organogram – it usually starts with a single supreme ruler, e.g. a CEO who passes authority onto a series of lesser rulers.

Heterarchy means ‘multiple rule’ and is thus concerned with a balance of powers rather than the single rule of hierarchy (e.g. a legal firm partnership).

With responsible autonomy a group decides what to do, but is accountable for the outcome. Accountability is what makes responsible autonomy different from anarchy.

John Heron’s (1989) three forms of power in decision making align with these three forms of getting things done. These are:

Deciding for … a hierarchical form of power

Deciding with ……a heterarchical form of power

Delegating deciding to ….a responsible autonomy form of power.

Although Gerard's terms may be unfamiliar to many his book is easy to read and his ideas are easy to grasp. The reader should expect to grasp the framework of ideas, but not an exhaustive set of 'how to'. The challenge he leaves those who accept his arguments is to invent 'how to' for current circumstances. In a climate-change world we need to understand processes of co-evolution which are best 'managed' through heterarchical and responsible autonomy modes of practice.

He makes a good point which speaks to my own experience when he says the advantages particular to autonomy are the 'removal of delays and distortions that occur when a large organization tries to control everything from the centre. '

Gerard suggests that the time is ripe to abandon hierarchy...'there is a mass of evidence to suggest that, in the twenty-first century, the time is ripe for sustainable change in the methods organizations use to get things done. This will probably result in continuing moves away from hierarchy in organizations.' (p. 82) I hope he is right - it would be a great legacy.

To the back of Bourke: a 'road trip' exploring experiences of 1958

I recently went on what one friend described as a 'road trip' with my brother and nephew. At his invitation I joined them to visit Enngonia, north of Bourke, where he and I had lived in a caravan with our parents for about three months. It was in 1958 when I was six and he was three. This was his first visit to 'Bourke and beyond' since 1958 and the very first for my 13 year old nephew. In contrast I had been back in the early 199os though not to Enngonia.

Nether my brother or I could remember the name of the place where we were camped at Enngonia though I could remember how to get there. I sent an email to the Bourke Shire Council with the following request:

'we are retracing steps that we covered as young boys when our father had road building contracts in the Enngonia and Ford's Bridge areas. For about three months we camped in a caravan with the families of men sub-contracting with trucks to my father, Clive Ison (of Bathurst). This was just outside Enngonia at a shearers quarters/shearing shed complex - one turned right near the hotel and went out just past the race course. We have some photos of that time but very few details or records. '

Within hours the proverbial bush telegraph was functioning. I soon received emails with the following information:

' We think the place you are referring to is called ‘Thurmylae’. It is about 7 miles from the town to the turnoff and you go past the race course to get to it. The road from town to Thurmylae was completed in 1950 and the road extended to Glenalbyn in the later 1950’s. At present it is owned by the Cullen-Ward family. In the 1950’s it was owned by Kate and Richard Egan who would have passed it on to Val and Shirley Egan. Shirley now lives in Dubbo.'

Then from Shirley via her daughter who just happened to work in the Shire office:

'Mum is certain it would have been the Thurmylae huts, a lot of people came and stayed in the 50’s and 60’s. The owner of the property back then was Richard and Kate Egan (mum’s parents), they then handed the property Val and Shirley Egan. The Current owner is Mick Cullenward.'

They were right. It was Thurmylae as can be seen from the then and now photos. It was good to return but of course it seemed much diminished to that experienced through six year old eyes. Where there was once one station the need to remain viable, meant there were now three amalgamated into one. The racecourse still functioned - the annual picnic races were the weekend after our visit. It would on one day transform a sleepy village into a vibrant centre of far west social life ..at least for some of the inhabitants. On the road back into town travellers are greeted with the sign: 'Slow down. Drop your dust before entering the town'!

I am not sure where the name of the property came from. There are records in 1895 for

BYRNE John Joseph of Bourke - Culgoa - Enngonia, Thurmylae for 5204 acres with a rental of £19-10-4.

I used memories of my time in the area in 1958 to open a chapter I wrote for our book 'Agricultural Extension and Rural Development. Breaking out of Knowledge Transfer Traditions'. Our visit brought these back and exposed more - highlighting the importance of context, particularly place, in our ways of knowing. Here is the extract:

West of the Darling where crows fly backwards
'I had not been to the Western Division of New South Wales since I was seven. At that time we were camped near Enngonia, north-west of Bourke where my father was building roads and sinking tanks, large earthen dams, with his dozer and truck and aided by a group of sub-contractors. We were camped in a cluster of caravans around a local shearing shed. I remember stories of mythical shearer's cooks and other characters of the sheds - but no stories of the road builders or tank sinkers. And our pet kangaroo, a baby or joey, the result of an evenings spotlight hunting, an event both enthralling and appalling to a young boy. Also the moving sea of kangaroos that we regularly encountered on the racetrack on our way to town. The only green grass for miles. The Enngonia pub, since burnt down [1959], was the social centre of the district. Its verandah was designed for the dangling legs of a boy, on the edge, ever eager to be part of an adult world. It provided a vantage point for watching every detail over a sarsaparilla and lemonade. Some events moved me from my vantage point - it was around the back for the pig's demise and transformation into ham: the sharp squeal, the blooding, the boiling water, razor sharp knife and scraping. It was a time of good humour; we had a 1927 Overland car, something of an antique even then but at a time when "antique" meant "old". In other words we could afford no better. We suffered the dust and corrugations of the unpaved roads. The car had to be hand cranked. Experiences were always filtered by the context; distance, dust and with rain, the thick mud which clung to boots, made it impossible for small boys to lift their shoes and for vehicles to move. Rain and mud gave yet another meaning to distance. Our research project in the Western Division, and planned visit, drew these memories to the surface and shaped my anticipation. We were concerned with the so called "failure of graziers to adopt technology" which had been developed by research funded partly with their money. This was a major concern of researchers and extension people, particularly in the local NSW Department of Agriculture. This explained the location of our project. As a group of researchers we had been critical of much of what had been done in agricultural R&D because, as with much of science, it was conducted out of context. We felt it necessary therefore to immerse ourselves in the context of the semi-arid rangelands, where our research was to be conducted. This explained my presence on Murtamena station, not far from Wilcannia, early in December 1990. It was over thirty years since I had been west of the Darling or into "the outback".

From: Ison, R.L. (2000) Technology: transforming grazier experience. In Ison, R.L. & Russell, D.B. eds Agricultural Extension and Rural Development: Breaking out of Traditions. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. pp. 52-76.

The photos are (i) the entrance to Thurmylae off the Enngonia to Walget Road; (ii) what is left of the old shearing complex; (iii) the Warrego River just outside Enngonia; (iv) sitting on the shearer's hut veranadah; (v) the Darling River at Bourke - water held back by the local weir.

'Blue Covenant': A review of Maud Barlow's book

For those interested to follow-up my earlier posting about this book there is a review, somewhat critical, in the August issue of Australian Literary Review. It was written by John Langford who is an internationally recognised water expert with 35 years of experience in the public sector water industry, including 15 at chief executive level. He is director of Uniwater, an interdisciplinary strategic water research centre attached to Melbourne and Monash universities.

Are there cracks appearing in the neo-classical stranglehold on Australian policy development?

I would like to think the answer is yes but it may be too early to tell. On a recent trip to Canberra I met up with a scholar, recently arrived in Australia, whose work I knew. I had not met him before and naturally enough the conversation turned to how he was faring in Australia. I had genuine concerns, well-founded it seems, that he as an individual and his form of economics might not be receiving a warm welcome! It turns out he was receiving a warm welcome but not in the sense of Australian friendliness and conviviality.

He told me how he, as a heterodox economist, had been subjected to harassing emails, phone calls and letters from a group of young liberals who were systematically attacking academics who taught or embraced alternatives to the neo-classical or rationalist economic position. This I felt was totally unacceptable, but it was only part of what was happening. The following national advertisement to recruit a heterodox economist attracted an attack by a former Treasury Secretary in a letter to the Canberra Times:

We are seeking an enthusiastic researcher with a strong background in heterodox institutional economics to work as a part of an interdisciplinary team on the application of institutional analysis to the understanding of markets, their spread and the articulation of environmental values.

You will apply old institutional approaches to the impacts which market institutions have on environmental and social values. Non-price making markets would be analysed using an anthropological-historical-institutional economic approach. The development of new institutions for articulating environmental values in the policy process would be explored with empirical testing expected as part of team work. History of thought research would also be conducted with respect to ecological economics.

I interpret the action by the former Treasury Secretary as symptomatic of the gate keeping behaviour of many in the economics profession in Australia. It is also a reflection on their ideological commitments to particular orthodoxies.

I was frankly appalled by the story told to me, particularly given how different it is in Europe. I am gratified that this week a few chinks in the armour of the mainstream view are becoming apparent. David Spratt in today's Age explores why we should not be seduced by the modelling outcomes that will be used to inform climate change policy. Modelling, particularly econometric modelling is one of the main tools within the neo-classical paradigm as practised in Australia. He makes the point that:

'The nature of the modelling process means many issues that should be part of rational decision-making will be excluded, because only market events with strictly quantifiable prices will be included.

Garnaut has recognised the "conventional economic effects that are not currently measurable, the possibility of much larger costs from extreme outcomes, and costs that aren't manifested through markets". For example, Garnaut explicitly says the multibillion-dollar impact on the tourism industry in northern Australia from the loss of most of the Barrier Reef (now inevitable) and of Kakadu (through salination) will not be modelled.'

Earlier in the week in The Australian, Luke Slattery in an article entitled 'Abstraction to application' explores the divisions within the economics profession which are strangely similar to that of the Systems field i.e., ' between the soft and the hard; between economics with a social orientation and economics that aspires to the status of value-free science'. He goes on to make the following well-founded observations:

'...the discipline's mainstream appears vulnerable to criticism of a disconnect between its scholarly enthusiasms and real-world economic ills.

Mark Dodgson, director of the University of Queensland's Technology and Innovation Management Centre, argues, along with McKinsey & Co economic adviser Eric Beinhocker, author of The Origins of Wealth, that the intellectual field of economics is on the cusp of a big transformation. "Mainstream economics is increasingly being seen to be detached from reality," Dodgson says. "It's assumptions about equilibrium, rationality in human behaviour and the primacy of market forces that are mysteriously asocial make its predictive power extremely limited.'

"The way many academic economists are concerned primarily with the mathematic purity of their models, rather than their usefulness, and economic policymakers are so tied to an orthodoxy that fails to answer the important problems that confront them, are sure signs of a failing discipline.

"New approaches, such as evolutionary economics and the study of economies as complex, adaptive systems, are much more useful in addressing the big economic challenges of generating growth and productivity through innovation in ways that are sustainable and socially equitable." '

Slattery engages with a set of important issues that are vital to how Garnaut and the government respond to climate change. From my perspective I see little heterodox economic thinking informing either. Given the story at the beginning of my post I cannot share Slattery's conclusion that 'these interdisciplinary disputes suggest that the discipline of economics, despite appearances to the contrary, is enjoying a period of robust good health'. He seems to me to miss the point - it is our health and wellbeing and that of the planet that is at stake - not the future of economics!