Kimberley Appropriate Economics Interim Report - Australian ...

If you look at
the Earth from
space, you can’t
see the economy
In this very special region, it is hard not to feel
the spirits of those who have gone before us.
As a scientist, I know the significance of this
region. The Fitzroy basin alone has 37 fish
species, half of them found only in this region,
and a remarkable 67 known species of water
birds. The wetlands are replenished by the
annual wet season flood.
The region is important to the whole world
because of its people and their culture, the land
and the sea, the plants and the animals. But
coming to this place has reminded me that it
is more than a physical region with important
biological features. It is a place of belonging,
of physical and spiritual sustenance. If we don’t
look after this country, sooner or later it will
bite us on the backside. In southern parts of
Australia, the teeth-marks are now visible, the
inevitable consequences of failing to look after
the country.
I don’t need to remind Indigenous communities
of the importance of getting our priorities
right and putting economic development in
perspective. The Western model puts undue
emphasis on the economy at the expense of
social and ecological considerations. This
model concludes that social and environmental
problems can always be solved if the economy is
strong.
But this model
isn’t working.
Successive
reports show
that we are
not using
natural
resources
sustainably.
We need a
new model.
If you look
at the Earth from space, you can’t see the
economy; you see the thin membrane that
supports life and some of the physical features
that separate different human societies, like
oceans and mountain ranges.
The natural systems give us the things we
really need: breathable air, drinkable water,
the capacity to produce our food, our sense of
cultural identity and spiritual sustenance. So
this Roundtable is not just important for the
Kimberley. It is the way we should think about
economic development for the whole country.
The vision of a sustainable future is utopian,
but that has been said of all important reform
movements. Change happens because
determined people worked for a better world.
Professor Ian Lowe, President, Australian Conservation Foundation
Taken from his Roundtable purpose speech
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