What’s the development debate like in Australia? [ September 2nd, 2008 ] Posted in » Aid, Climate change, General
I’ve just finished a week of debates, seminars and book launches in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. My overall impressions include firstly the huge importance of policy debates over Australia’s Indigenous peoples on wider development thinking, not least because meetings in government, academia and NGOs now begin with the chair intoning variations on the formula ‘I acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which we are meeting and pay respects to their elders both past and present.’ At first this seemed a bit tokenistic, but it accumulated over the course of my visit and must impinge in some subtle way. Read More …

This blog is written and maintained by Duncan Green, Head of Research for Oxfam GB and author of 'From Poverty to Power'. More information on Duncan and the book is available on the 