Can you put a price on nature? | Bob Brown
Nature is priceless. It’s Monty Pythonesque to think that pricing nature will stop extinctions or protect the planet.
On this episode of What’s the Big Idea?, former senator Bob Brown joins Paul Barclay to discuss the ‘price of extinction’, how monetising the environment won’t save it, the corporate capture of democracy and the failure of the major parties to truly protect the environment.
This discussion was recorded on 5 February 2025 and things may have changed since the recording.
Order What’s the Big Idea? 32 Big Ideas for a Better Australia now via the Australia Institute website.
Guest: Bob Brown, Co-Founder, Bob Brown Foundation // @BobBrownFndn
Host: Paul Barclay, Walkley Award winning journalist and broadcaster // @PaulBarclay
Show notes:
Shorting the Environment by Polly Hemming, Rod Campbell and Richard Denniss, the Australia Institute (September 2022)
Carbon credits no excuse for NSW Government to stall on saving koalas, the Australia Institute (April 2024)
“Nature Positive” summit can’t conceal nature negative policies, the Australia Institute (October 2024)
Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions
We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to podcasts@australiainstitute.org.au.
Between the Lines Newsletter
The biggest stories and the best analysis from the team at the Australia Institute, delivered to your inbox every fortnight.
You might also like
Defending nature with Bob Brown
Protecting Australia’s incredible natural environment from bad policy, spurred on corporate interests and a hostile media, can sometimes feel like an impossible task. But sometimes, people power wins out.
In Trump we trust? | Between the Lines
The Wrap with Bill Browne Prime Minister Anthony Albanese returns from a meeting with the mercurial US President Donald Trump, a great diplomatic success by the usual measures. Trump said without hedging that Australia would get nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS pact and inked a critical minerals deal to “unlock” private investment. The media lapped
We need Labor’s Mr Fixit to fix the environment, not the politics
Environment Minister Murray Watt is known as Labor’s political “fixer” – Australians have given him the opportunity to fix something for us, and our planet. The Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) was enacted in 2000 as the country’s first attempt at a holistic approach to balance the desire for growth with the need