Ian Lowe

Can we reinvent The Lucky Country? In 1964, Donald Horne described Australia as 'a lucky country run mainly by second-rate people who share its luck' in his iconic book. Now, more than five decades later, internationally respected scientist and environmentalist Ian Lowe shows that little has changed after generations of short-sighted leadership. In his frank and fearless way, Lowe assesses...

When Kevin Rudd responded to a government forecast that the Australian population could reach 36 million by 2050 by saying he believed in 'a big Australia', there was a strong public reaction. One insider said that 'the focus groups went ballistic'. Julia Gillard renamed the relevant minister's portfolio 'sustainable population', implicitly criticising pro-growth policies of previous governments. Tony Abbott vowed...

In 1996, the first independent national report on the state of Australia’s environment found that we faced serious problems. With increasing urgency, five subsequent reports declared those problems were all getting worse, each calling for immediate action to protect our future. The 2021 report determined that, “Overall, the state and trend of the environment of Australia are poor and deteriorating...

Australia has been directly involved in the nuclear industry for more than a century, but our involvement has never been comprehensively documented. Long Half-Life tells the social and political history of Australia's role, from the first discovery of radioactive ores in 1906 to contemporary contentious questions. Should the next generation of submarines be nuclear powered? Can nuclear energy help to...

Can civilisation survive the 21st century? Ian Lowe thinks we have a chance, but we have to act now, across the board. Here, collected together for the first time, are Lowe's views on the environment, culture, science, politics, education, technology, and Australia's economy, along with new pieces on Copenhagen 2009 and Australia's chance for survival in this new century. Written...

The warnings from scientists are urgent and unequivocal: our civilisation is unwittingly stepping in front of an ecological lorry that is about to flatten us. We are using resources future generations will need, damaging environmental systems and compromising social stability by increasing the gap between rich and poor. Without a radical rethinking of the way we currently live, our society...