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By Kevin Rennie<\/a>,<\/p>\n 23 October, 2013<\/p>\n Tony Abbott wants us to repent. Well here\u2019s my confession. I have sinned by:<\/p>\n \u2022 chipping in for the Climate Council It all seems very passive and dispiriting – not saving the planet, not even the backyard, but at least it keeps some of us off the streets. Or is that the problem? These are dark days indeed for progressive activists in Australia as we are rolled back to the Howard and Menzies years. Time to ask the experts.<\/p>\n For all is not lost. There is light in the hall. Melbourne Town Hall, that is. The Progress 2013 conference<\/a> in Melbourne on 7 & 8 November is beckoning:<\/p>\n \u2018Progress 2013 is about what\u2019s next: the issues, the people, and the strategies that will define Australia\u2019s non-profits and social movements for years to come.\u2019<\/p>\n It\u2019s a very catholic gathering with specialists in: human rights law, the environment in all its manifestations, Asia, refugees, cancer, disability, indigenous peoples, film, the Middle East, public health, population, participatory democracy, international aid, the web, wilderness, women, workplaces. To paste but a slice, and that\u2019s just the speakers.<\/p>\n As you would expect at this kind of get together, there are plenty of process people on the agenda: researchers, social entrepreneurs, communications nurds and social media geeks, digital natives [not my terminology], community organisers and campaigners, crowd funders, political campaigners.<\/p>\n There is at least one: singer\/songwriter, union organiser, NGO CEO, refugee activist, charities, journalist, LGBTI advocate, columnist, feminist, digital strategist, marriage equality, youth group, philanthropist, academic, political sociologist, economist, publisher, B-Corporation (had to look that one up!], pastor and at least one citizen journalist. Some shade under multiple hats.<\/p>\n There are even a couple of parliamentarians coming: Wayne Swan and Scott Ludlam. The conference is not cheap, unless an organisation is sponsoring you, but it might be tax deductible. The pollies normally cover these events through their parliamentary allowances but that\u2019s another story.<\/p>\n The OurSay<\/a> \u00a0participatory democracy platform has 3 forums operating before the conference. The top questions will be asked of speakers during their sessions.<\/p>\n OurSay is also giving away three tickets to the winning question at each forum. There is still time to post a question as voting closes on 2 November. It is very democratic. You get 7 votes to spread around or give to one question. [Confession: I\u2019m in the running]. So vote early and vote often, as was oft heard around the Collingwood or Richmond town halls of yesteryear.<\/p>\n One of the forums is Words Count. The questions are for \u2018Messaging guru and author\u2019, Anat Shenker-Osorio.<\/p>\n @Kevin_Rennie<\/a> @OurSayAust<\/a> thrilled to be grilled by the Aussies! Bring it on<\/p>\n \u2014 Anat Shenker-Osorio (@anatosaurus) October 15, 2013<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n\u2022 signing GetUp! and Change.org petitions about asylum seekers, the Great Barrier Reef and Burger Off\u2019s campaign against McDonald\u2019s in Tecoma.
\n\u2022 voting for @Albo and agitating for Labor party reform
\n\u2022 joining Blog Action Day with a human rights post about Tony\u2019s confessor Cardinal Pell
\n\u2022 posting questions on Our Say Australia\u2019s forums
\n\u2022 commenting on stories at Guardian Australia and the Conversation
\n\u2022 retweeting whether it is insensitive, nay unpatriotic to use \u2018bushfires\u2019 and \u2018climate\u2019 in the same tweet
\n\u2022 sharing rabble-rousing republican propaganda
\n\u2022 adding to the Sumofus.org
\n\u2022 having boorish thoughts about Barnaby Joyce on QandA<\/p>\n![\"Progress](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/progress-logo-300x45.png?resize=300%2C45\"){kind=logo}
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\nThere will be lots of the usual suspects coming: Jane Caro, Tim Flannery, Robert Manne, Sam McLean, Miriam Lyons, Anna Rose, Rachel Perkins, Will Stefen, Tim Costello.<\/p>\n![\"Our](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nofibs.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/OurSay-1024x498.png?w=700\")
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