Business

July 30, 2018

Berry Punnets From Timber Offcuts. Waste Free ‘Circularity’

Not easy, getting rid of plastic packaging for fruit and veg, or meat! Allen Short is doing his bit in making more than 3,000 punnets from timber offcuts for his neighbour who grows strawberries near Daylesford in Victoria. Plastic Is […]
July 17, 2018
Man drinking camel milk

The Australian Camel Milk Industry To Meet Global Demand?

Back in June 2006, given the large numbers of wild camels in Australia and the purported health benefits of camel milk, PWF asked: “Any Entrepreneurs Interested In Camel Milk?” The idea of rounding up and milking camels was daunting, but […]
September 9, 2016

Cooperative Medical Clinic Success And National Expansion

The Canberra Times reports that the National Health Co-op, founded six years ago as Canberra’s West Belconnen Health Cooperative, now has seven medical clinics across the ACT, with another about to open in Higgins and then Yass. 33,000 patients have […]
August 28, 2016

This Farm Needs A Farmer…Community Project Kyneton Vic

‘This Farm Needs A Farmer’ is a fledgling community project getting off the ground in central Victoria. It brings together tree-changers with little or no on-farm experience and retired farmers who appreciate the friendship that grows as well the pleasure […]
August 4, 2016

Why DON’T Policymakers LISTEN To Aboriginal Advice?

“Take an Aboriginal-designed program and allow Aboriginal people to deliver it to their people. They know what is needed. Work alongside Government but let us drive it!” We have heard this advice time and time again….but it NEVER happens! Yes, […]
July 1, 2016

Policies That Face Reality? A Coherent Vision For Our Future?

“At the core of a robust democracy is the integrity and transparency of its institutions. Elections do not a democracy make, but they are a fundamental institution that we disrespect at our peril. It is incumbent upon us to demand […]
June 21, 2016

Participatory Democracy, Transition Towns And ‘The Major Parties’

Around 10 years ago, people who care about their grandkids’ Australia, started collaborating locally so towns would become sustainable and resilient – re-localising and transition towns were the terms used. Many Australian towns have joined the transition network and Yackandandah, […]
May 22, 2016

Grassroots Community Leadership…Australia’s Future?

Totally Renewable Yackandandah – TRY – is a NE Victorian grassroots community organisation aiming to to produce more electricity than it uses, by 2022. The group is proud to be ‘doing something visionary’. Economist Dr John Hewson who these days […]
May 11, 2016

Empty Houses, Affordability. Addressing A Complex Problem

QUESTION: On the complex topics of housing affordability, homelessness and housing supply why doesn’t Government spend more time investigating the fact of so many empty houses? In February this year a local Melbourne newspaper reported more than 3000 vacant homes […]
May 9, 2016

Permaculture Property For 2-3 Families To Share? An Intentional Community?

Maureen Corbett from Hepburn Springs, central Victoria, wants to contact people likely to be interested in her 2.25 acre permaculture property ‘Birrith Birrith’, possibly a group looking for land to set up an intentional community. She really doesn’t want the […]
March 12, 2016

An Evening Harmony Day Celebration In Wangaratta

Harmony Day on 21 March, celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity, and hopefully our inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone, the central message being ‘everyone belongs’. Lots of places run events and Wangaratta, in Victoria’s lovely north-east, will run […]
February 16, 2016

‘Ownership Matters In The Sharing Economy’: A Debate, Carlton 18 Feb

Thursday evening at Melbourne Uni Law School there’ll a debate around defining the ‘Sharing Economy‘, a term associated with companies such as TaskRabbit, AirbnB and Uber, which operate by providing platforms for people to rent-out, or rent, resources such as […]