Posted at the request of The Rationalist Society of Australia -
Brisbane Chapter

June 2006 meeting: The Politics of Sustainability

Our speaker for June is Rachel Nolan, Labor MP for Ipswich. Do not
miss this opportunity! Rachel is rare indeed among politicians, being
keenly conscious of placing long term need over short term greed.
As a leading member of a new generation of MPs, she will offer her
thoughts on the way in which politics is about to change.

Specifically she will argue that climate change and the challenge of
resource depletion will change the political debate from a short term
focus on divvying up the spoils of growth to the substantial social
change required to achieve a sustainable environment, economy and society.

Rachel Genevieve Nolan has been the State Member for Ipswich since
2001 and currently also serves as Deputy Government Whip. She is the
youngest woman ever to have been elected to the Queensland Parliament
and is the first Labor woman to hold a whips� position.
Rachel is passionately committed to Ipswich, having been born in the
Ipswich Hospital and educated at Silkstone State Pre-school, Ipswich
East State School and Ipswich Girls� Grammar School. While she has
lived in the United States, Scotland, Sydney and Darwin, Rachel
considers Ipswich her home and has always returned.

Rachel holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Government from the
University of Queensland and is nearing completion of a Bachelor of
Economics degree. She participated in Oxfam�s Community Leadership
Program conducted in India in 1999 and in 2005 she was selected by the
Australian Political Exchange Council to lead a cross-party delegation
of young Australian political leaders to Vietnam.

Rachel's broad policy interests centre around social, economic and
environmental sustainability. Rachel believes that vision and ideas
are important in politics and she has published articles on, among
other things, urban planning in light of rising energy costs and the
need to protect green space. While her background is in economic
policy, she also holds interests in education and Aboriginal issues.

Rachel is a keen bushwalker, veggie gardener and runner, having run
her first marathon in 2005.

Date & time: Wednesday 14 June 2006
5.30pm- biscuits, coffee/tea
6.00pm- presentation commences

Venue: Sullivan Nicolaides Pathology, 134 Whitmore St (Swann Rd end),
Taringa. Go to reception (off upper car park) & signs will direct from
there.

Parking is available on site (upper car park- anywhere there is a
space or lower car parks in the non reserved spaces).There's also
plenty of close on street parking (with no meters/time limit) at that
time of day.

Who should attend: Any intelligent person interested in the common good.

Cost: FREE!