The Sydney Shove is an economics and politics discussion group which had its first embryonic meeting around April 2004. Unlike most other discussion groups, which have a particular left or right lean, we try to have people from over the political spectrum. It's a combination which has impressed many people used to the usual 'lefty' gatherings, for the stimulating ideas which are discussed and examined. There's a bit more on the history here. There's bit more on the motivation behind the Sydney Shove here.
My name is John August, and I convene the Sydney Shove. I've a science background, but have no particular credentials apart from my enthusiasm and interest. I appear on radio 2SER Sydney (107.3) infrequently on "Late Night Radio" - see some details of the last program on the 14th December 2007 here. Some recent radio work appears at Feedburner. This includes a talk I gave on "Alternative Economic Theories" last year. Additional segments from the Tuesday and Wednesday daily programs are archived at www.archive.org (see here).
You'll find links to these archives, and other material on my web page (including articles on Oil & the Future, Nuclear Power, Light Pollution, Voting and Abortions) here.
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Currently in the news, this was originally suggested by Fred. The issue is (at this stage) undecided, though Iemma does seem to have the upper hand (though others may have a better idea of progress than me).
We'll have 20 minutes from each speaker; with a short reply from each, and (assuming an amicable exchange), speakers can ask each other questions, followed by questions from the audience and discussion.
6.30 for 7pm at Humanist House, 10 Shepherd Street Chippendale, not too far from Central Station. Admission $3.
Margaret outlined the position of the Non Smoker's Movement Australia, together with part history of the group and changes to regulations in Australia, together with current challenges.
See The Non Smokers' Movement of Australia
Jim Young, professional engineer and member of the Institution of Engineers Nuclear Panel will outline his case for Nuclear Power. Jim is an interested enthusiast and non-expert in the Nuclear field. See here for some brief comments and references from Jim's talk.
Nola Fraser, one of the nurses who criticised the administration of Camden and Campbelltown hospitals in south-western Sydney in 2002, spoke on her experiences and outline her views on the health system.
Nola also stood as the Liberal Party candidate for the electorate of Macquarie Fields for elections in 2005 and 2007.
Danny Yee, Vice-Chairman of Electronic Frontiers Australia (EFA), talks about Privacy and Censorship in the electronic age, particularly the internet, together with an outline of the EFA, recent campaigns and the impact of Government legislation.
Shan Ali of the Grameen Foundation Australia (a group providing micro-credit loans, associated with Professor Muhammad Yunus who won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize), gave a presentation.
See more about the Grameen Foundation Australia here
Associate Professor Eileen Baldry, spokesperson for "Beyond Bars" and Associate Dean (Education) Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at UNSW, spoke on myths around justice and punishment - "crime waves" and media beat ups vs. taking crime seriously, the cost effectiveness of prisons, alternatives to incarceration and the rising rate of those with mental health disorders and intellectual disability in prison.
A significant trend in sentencing and management of offenders is based on risk assessment which has emerged from the dominance of the risk aversion paradigm and the belief that psychometric testing can predict accurately who will offend and reoffend: shades of the movie "Minority Report", where people are incarcerated before they commit crimes.
Ideally, incarceration should be based in a commitment to justice being done and being seen to be done. Eileen questioned whether incarceration should reduce further crimes, reform the individual, deter others, and punish the offender
Eileen has provided two pages of related material in pdf : Social Factors Post Release, and Throughcare Policy. There are also some papers at AHURI on ex-prisoners and homelessness.
Here's an independent report, put together by one attendee.
This was an EWB Bookworms book discussion group on climate change. See here
Ian Spring detailed his case for increased infrastructure in Australia. See his website
We discussed the book Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures See here for more information
Ian Woolf spoke on the identity card. See here for a link to a radio show Ian and others did on the topic.
Peter Bowden turned up to our forum on the law, and is involved in Whistleblowers Australia. Peter spoke on improving organisational behaviour, whistleblowing and problems with whistleblower protection law in Australia.
This was held at the Royal Exhibition Hotel. Here's my presentation, Brad's presentation, my comment after the meeting, and a comment by Chris.
I delivered a talk on Abolishing the States, partly drawing from work by and in consultation with Mark Drumond. Mark Drummond who will soon complete a PhD at the University of Canberra. The emphasised the cost of the states, along with some reference to previous estimates of the costs and observations on the recent High Court decision. Klaas Woldring, former professor of the Southern Cross University, made a presentation on "Maximal Replicanism", including Abolishing the States.
This was combined with the launch of the First Beyond Federation Commentary. Another previous presentation is available here. Other material is available on the web sites www.beyondfederation.org.au and www.asc.org.au
This was held at the Asfield Hotel beer garden. see here
This was a joint meeting between the Sydney Mechanics' School of the Arts, the Australian Science Communicators, and the Sydney Shove, and was held at the Sydney Mechanics' School of the Arts
Speakers were : Associate Professor Ronald Ripple, Department of Economics Macquarie University, David Ellyard (winner of the Eureka Awards Science Book Prize 2004), John August (me), Convenor Sydney Shove and David Kilsby from the Australian Association for the Study for Peak Oil. We considered the ramifications the ever-diminishing supply of oil will have on the world: economically, ethically and environmentally.
Here's a more detailed flyer
Speakers were Arthur Chesterfield-Evans from the Democrats and Allen Thomas from the Austrlian Medical Association.
We were asking : How are we to relate to the increasing demand for health care, and the increasing expense of health care ? Is a market based or Government based system the best way do it ? How might we change the current system ? How do we deal with problems and their rectification in the health system ?
Here's my report; You'll also find Arthur's piece on fixing the health system on his webpage here
Problems, Effectiveness and Fairness in the Legal System had the following presenters :
John Bentley gave a talk on the nature of growth, and we also discussed some issues emerging from Bjorn Lomborg's book "The Skeptical Environmentalist". see here
Nick Turnbull was our guest speaker. Nick is a co-author of the chapter "Have Australians Embraced Economic Reform ?" in the book "Australian Social Attitudes : The First Report" from UNSW press. It was a fascinating meeting. You should have been there
James Murray chaired the meeting. David Bofinger gave a mostly pro-globalisation presentation and I (John August) gave a mostly anti-globalisation presentation
Here's my report. Peter Kriesler spoke on full employment, John Bentley spoke on full unemployment - here's a link to an earlier talk presented by John at Philorum. Ian Woolf spoke on welfare, and Brad Row spoke on laissez faire.
We have a report, my introduction, Brad Row's talk, David Bofinger's talk, Danielle Celermajer's Earlier Position Paper. Here's some comments on the talk, and some comments on Just War theory and Realpolitik from Graham Hoskin.
We run a mailing list for announcements, let me know if you'd to be on it or otherwise get in touch. My email : johna@babel.nospam.apana.org.au (delete 'nospam' to get the email). My mobile : 0419 683 353.
You'll sometimes see a few shove members at Philorum where I've given a few presentations.
See the Sydney Philosophy Wikia