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Roughly once a year I feel an urgent, burning need to write about optimism, belief and successful progress. Folks, today is that day – I need it, and it turns out you all do too. When I wrote about the concerning data in the 2025 Digital News report, I got a lot of messages from young women explaining why they are tuning out of the news and the recurring theme of almost every message was: it’s so depressing. And man, do I hear that. It sucks to be the person turning up in your inbox every week with important but terrible news!
I’ve written before about how we need to embrace joy as part of trying to make the world more just and fair. I’ve written advice about what to do when you are feeling helpless. But what I haven’t done enough of lately is celebrate the wins. And there are wins to be celebrated!
At a time when our Prime Minister is giving full-throated support to the US illegal and unprovoked attack on Iran; when Australian protesters are still being violently assaulted by police; when important community cultural institutions like fbi radio face an uncertain future*, while the CEO of Spotify Daniel Ek uses the money he’s made off your love of music to invest in a weapons company… It's important to make noise about what’s going right, so we can double down on these efforts and replicate their strategies.
So, here’s the good shit that’s happened in the past few months! All these stories represent a big step in the right direction – not the ‘end’ of the story, not moral perfection, but the type of progress that makes way for the next steps and keeps people in the game.
Second legal challenge to Woodside’s North West Shelf gas extension
Friends of Rock Art (FARA) have commenced a legal challenge against Labor’s approval to allow gas extraction to continue to 2070. They have requested a judicial review of the initial approval granted by WA Environment Minister Reece Whitby in December 2024 (which was the prerequisite for federal Environment Minister Murray Watt’s approval in May 2025). FARA argue that Whitby failed to properly consider the climate impact, specifically the Scope 3 emissions (emissions from Australian fuels burned overseas). This follows another legal challenge by Mardathoonera woman Raelene Cooper, who has filed a Federal Court motion to delay approval of the extension and force the Minister to consider damage to nearby Murujuga rock art. You can read about both legal challenges here.
It’s good news to see legal challenges to Woodside’s “emissions bomb” because court cases are an increasingly successful strategy of disruption. For example…
Lliuya v RWE verdict
Peruvian farmer Saúl Luciano Lliuya sued German energy giant RWE for their contribution to the climate crisis, which has caused galatial melting near his home, increasing the risk of flooding (and, therefore, costing Lliuya money in flood-proofing measures). While Lliuya lost his case, the court’s ruling confirms that companies can be held legally responsible for their contribution to the climate crisis. The ruling states that “If the polluter definitively refuses to [take action to curb emissions], it could be determined, even before actual costs are incurred, that the polluter must bear the costs in proportion to their share of the emissions”. It’s a landmark precedent that opens up the door for the courts to enforce climate action. Read more here.
Rough sleeping to be decriminalised in UK
The UK government is repealing the Vagrancy Act, which has made rough sleeping and begging illegal since 1824. This will come into effect from ‘spring 2026’ (I have no idea why they’re going by season rather than a specific month, but anyway). Decriminalisation alone won’t solve homelessness, but it’s a crucial step forward – not having access to housing should never be a crime. Read more here.
Vatican City is powered by 100% renewable energy
The late Pope Francis' vision for a renewable-powered Vatican City is now a reality, as the country officially transitioned to solar power. It was able to do so thanks to the installation of a solar farm at Santa Maria di Galeria, north of Rome, to supply power for the City – an especially cool move as the Italian government tried to ban it, but as a self-governing state Pope Francis went ahead and did it anyway. Vatican City is the eighth country to go 100% renewables. Read more here.
Antoinette Lattouf wins unlawful termination case against ABC
In December 2023, a group of Zionists ran a coordinated campaign to have journalist Antoinette Lattouf removed from her five-day radio hosting contract with the ABC. I cannot understate the courage Lattouf has shown in taking the ABC to court over this, risking her own reputation to do so. She won, and the landmark judgement delivered this week is a huge one for all Australian journalists – it protects our right to have an express a political opinion, and calls out media executives (who have often never been journalists themselves) for failing to uphold the tenets of journalism by caving to politically-motivated lobby groups. It’s why staff at the ABC were actually celebrating the fact that the ABC lost.
*PS: Donate to fbi radio! It is a listener-owned and funded Sydney radio station, which plays 50% Australian music handpicked by people, not algorithms. I’ve been a frequent guest on Backchat, and the team are incredibly talented, smart people producing a Walkley-nominated politics show. Community radio is the antidote to corporate dominance of arts & culture, let’s support it <3
Smart stuff on the Internet 💭
All the stuff I found on the web that made me think, smile, or have an ‘aha!’ moment. Spend your Sunday reading them – you'll be better off for it:
Playing music with Lorde at my house! on Solid Air
If you’ve been here for a while, you’ll know I fucking love Derrick Gee and his thoughtful music commentary. He recently had Lorde on his independent music YouTubeshow ‘Solid Air’ and it’s such an incredible interview, talking about the process behind her music and playing songs that inspired her new album, Virgin. My sister Chelsea is a Lorde superfan and we both agree: this is the best interview she has done to promote Virgin.
An ode to Antoinette Lattouf’s meaningful courtroom fashion on Crikey
I wrote this! The story of Iranian designer Shiva Yousefpour is incredibly moving. “[Lattouf’s outfits] were clearly meant to be discussed, deliberately provoking the question: “Who is she wearing?” We are meant to ask, because the answers point to the story of identity tangled up in her case. Every single look is connected to the Middle Eastern-Australian experience. Lattouf posted on Instagram that these designers didn’t merely dress her, but “armoured” her … One can only imagine how it would have felt to listen to the ABC’s lawyers explain it no longer disputes the existence of “a Lebanese, Arab, or Middle Eastern race”, while literally wearing Middle Eastern success stories on your shoulders.”
Losing Control on What We Lost substack
“Control. This is the biggest thing that the technology industry has stolen from us. A person’s intent, or their desire, has little-to-no influence on how something works, because our agency has been usurped by algorithms and AI which don’t work to advance our interests, but to mediate our interactions to produce the best financial outcome for the company that built them.”