The RegenNarration

Bruno Dann is a Traditional Custodian of Nyul Nyul Country, and together with partner Marion, they’ve spent a little over 20 years creating the incredible success story that is Twin Lakes Cultural Park. Lying to the north of Broome on the Dampier Peninsula in far north Western Australia, Twin Lakes had been stripped of its First Peoples, and badly neglected. But Bruno still found a way to learn from the old people on this Country when he was a boy, and later returned as an older man.While facing the heartbreak of loss here, he set about regenerating his Country, its culture, and abundant wild harvest. Together with Marion, and in the face of all kinds of challenges, they’ve forged a successful business selling a growing range of bush products, and employing hundreds of people. And all through a series of unexpected connections with people and companies they regard more as family – doing business in a way where business doesn’t quite feel like the right word. Bruno and Marion haven’t been on a podcast before. So what a privilege this was. Essentially, the three of us just put microphones on while we walked Country on two consecutive mornings. What emerged on both mornings was so distinct, rare and profound, I had to share both with you. So this episode will come to you in two parts. What you’ll hear today is our conversation on the first morning, as this cherished elder guides us through once again thriving Country. It’s an enthralling tour of land, sea, plants, animals, fire, business, politics, life stories and spirit. So join us on Country for more of a sense of what’s at stake here right now, what’s working so well, and how we can back and explore more opportunities like this together – especially in a fraught native products space where new ways are sorely needed.Note: the Jock they refer to is of Master Chef fame. And while the wind plays a little havoc at times, and Bruno was suffering a bit of a cough, I don't think you'll find those things diminish the experience of this one.More on Bruno: he is also an Indigenous Artist, Indigenous Landcare and Culture Specialist and the first Chairperson of Manowan Aboriginal Corporation. This episode was recorded  at Twin Lakes Cultural Park on Nyul Nyul Country, on the Dampier Peninsula in the West Kimberley region of Western Australia, on 5 August 2021.With thanks to filmmaker & podcast subscriber Todd Delfs for introducing us to Bruno & Marion. Title slide: Marion, Anthony & Bruno on the salt flats of Twin Lakes Cultural Park (pic: Olivia Cheng). See more photos on the episode website.Music:The System, by The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra.The tune over the intro & outro isSend us a textSupport the showThe RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road - and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

Eva Orner is an Academy and Emmy award winning filmmaker. While she lives in the US these days, she’s from Australia, and was here when this country burned so horrifically in the bushfires of 2019 and 2020. Like a lot of us, Eva was struck not just by the fires, but by the defensive political intransigence that persists to this day. So she joined forces with a team that includes the production company of fellow countrywoman Cate Blanchett, to produce and direct the new documentary film Burning. It recently premiered in Toronto, Europe, COP26 and Sydney, where it picked up the Sustainable Future Award. The Guardian describes it as: ‘one of those rare documentaries that boils your blood and rattles your bones, leaving viewers longing for and (hopefully) demanding political change…. it is the documentary Australia and – I think it is fair to say – the entire world deserves…’To tell you the truth, I’m often wary of watching films like this. I partly feel like I don’t need to rub my nose in the disasters, given I spend my days immersed in all this. But I found it a brilliant film. Unsurprisingly, I guess. Eva is a master of her craft. But especially for how it emerges from the stories of those involved, to a deepening sense of the humanity and care most people share for each other and their places, and the sheer guts and courage that can inspire us to change our hopelessly detached political culture and related trajectory.I found where we end up here to be particularly powerful and instructive, courtesy of Bruce Pascoe’s place in the film, and its multiple connections to the previous episode with Chris Henggeler. On how we’re all challenged to learn anew now, in a time of degraded landscape and climate, including how to holistically manage burning.The film blurb reads: Burning takes an unflinching look at Australia’s catastrophic ‘Black Summer’ bushfires, as well as government inaction on climate change and media perceptions, posing questions about how we move forward as a nation to ensure this piece of history is never repeated.This episode was recorded at the Derby Media Aboriginal Corporation, with Eva in South Dakota shooting her next film, on 3 November 2021 (Australian time).Title slide: Eva Orner on set (pic: supplied).You'll see a selection of other photos from the film and its making on the episode website (all pics supplied).Music:The System, by The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra.Faraway Castle, by Rae Howell & Sunwrae.Find more:The trailer to Burning.The film launches online on Amazon Prime on 26 November 2021.Send us a textSupport the showThe RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road - and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

This is an excerpt from episode 100 (part 2) featuring the last 15 minutes or so of my conversation with pioneering regenerative pastoralist, Chris Henggeler, on-location at Kachana Station. In some senses, our entire visit to Kachana is distilled into this excerpt. We pick up our conversation where I ask Chris what he needs. A nice initial exchange gives way to some profoundly moving reflections on the value of a life. And that sets up the last minutes of our time together, talking about the temporary stay-of-execution on the donkeys, and how excited he remains about the opportunities for the next generations of land doctors.Title slide: the incredible before and after photographs of the homestead and surrounds at Kachana Station (pic: from a booklet compiled by the family when Allan Savory visited).Music: Stones & Bones, by Owls of the Swamp.Find more:You can hear the rest of our conversation starting with the main episode, ‘Wanted Land Doctors: Rehydrating landscapes, reversing desertification and rebuilding the wealth of country’. You can follow the rest of our time together on this visit with the special Extra out to where the donkeys do their work. And with the rest of the second and final part of episode 100.Send us a textSupport the showThe RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road - and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

Today’s final stanza from our visit to Kachana Station features a very personal conversation with the pioneering regenerative pastoralist, Chris Henggeler. It felt akin to a kind of life statement in the end. It wasn’t scripted that way, of course. It just seemed to be the culmination of having spent ten rich days together, which also included the looming deadline to shoot the donkeys, Chris’s birthday, and the birth of his third grandchild Ava. We end up talking about things like the viability of regeneration, true wealth, and changing tack. And as Chris looks to hand over the reins, he invites the next generations of land doctors to realise the ultimate potential of the restoration of life’s self-organising processes everywhere.Join us, as we sit down at the homestead and press record on our last conversation from this visit - a portrait of abundance against a profile of extinction.Dedicated to Ava, the third grandchild of Chris and Jacqueline, who was born while we were at Kachana. Title slide: Chris Henggeler, as a younger bloke (supplied).Music:Stones & Bones, by Owls of the Swamp.Find more:You can hear more of Chris and I in conversation in the main episode: ‘Wanted Land Doctors: Re-hydrating landscapes, reversing desertification & rebuilding wealth’. You’ll find a series of links in the show notes there too (including to a special Extra out where the donkeys do their work). And an extensive selection of photos.Send us a textSupport the showThe RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road - and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

The day after our extended conversation in the gorge, featured in the main episode, we headed out to where the donkeys do their work. As mentioned in that main episode, it’s crunch time in many ways for this great story of regeneration. And by extension, for all of us, as a shoot order hangs over the donkeys’ heads. So we head out to take a closer look for ourselves at how the Henggelers are managing these wild donkeys for regeneration.It’s a fascinating deep dive into how this works, with some moving exchanges on the sentience of these creatures, and the possibilities available to us if we can find a way to work differently with them. And with each other.Let’s jump in the beat up old ute, and head over to the upper ranges for a walk.Dedicated to Ava, Chris and Jacqueline’s third grandchild, who was born on the morning of this conversation.Title slide: Chris Henggeler and Anthony James on an upper range where the donkeys do their work (pic: Olivia Cheng).Find more:You can hear more of Chris and I in conversation, from the days prior to this journey to the donkeys, in the main episode: ‘Wanted Land Doctors: Re-hydrating landscapes, reversing desertification & rebuilding wealth’. You’ll find a series of links in the show notes there too. And an extensive selection of photos (I’ve added a few more today too, from where we were talking in this Extra).You can also hear the 2nd and final part to this series at Kachana, out next week.Send us a textSupport the showThe RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road - and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

Tens of millions of ‘pests’ degrade lands and waters in Australia alone – pigs, goats, camels, buffalos, donkeys. Cruel, wasteful, expensive, mostly futile and often counter-productive culling programs are no solution. But what if it didn’t have to be this way? What if some of those large wild herbivores could be harnessed towards regeneration? This is the story of a family that has regenerated an incredible patch of country, and for 20 years that has incorporated and relied on wild donkeys. The bond these animals share with this Station family is clear. But the state department recently ordered the family to gun them down. It’s a painful flashpoint. One of the great stories of regeneration is on the line, and by extension, the potential for next generations to build on it, further restoring landscapes at scale for all our benefit.Chris Henggeler and his family manage Kachana Station in a remote pocket of the East Kimberley, only accessible by foot or air. They took responsibility for this desertified and abandoned country, and have achieved so much. Yet with still vast lands desertifying around them, and so much opportunity to build on models like Kachana, Chris gave a presentation earlier this year called ‘Wanted Land Doctors’. It was a powerful invitation for the next generations to join the fray, and how rest of us can help them do it.The model areas at Kachana feel like an oasis. But imagine this being the norm.  As Judith Schwartz, renowned author of The Reindeer Chronicles, says: we could be a world leader off the back of developments like this. My family spent a couple of days here back in 2018, and felt transformed. We spent ten days this time, to delve more deeply and see for myself whether the donkey shoot order is a necessary evil, or as Chris argues, an enormous error in regeneration, at a time when we can least afford it. We start here heading out in the old Cessna light plane, before a short evening stroll on arrival &, come morning, an extended walk in the gorge behind the homestead. This episode was recorded at Kachana Station in the East Kimberley, in the far north east of Western Australia, throughout the week of 13 September 2021. Title slide: Chris Henggeler on our gorge walk at Kachana Station (pic: Anthony James). See more photos on the episode web page. Music:The System, by the Public Opinion Afro Orchestra.The tune with the intro is by Jeremiah Johnson.Find more:Tune in to the special Extra out shortly, and the closing chapter to our time at Kachana, out next week.For our first visit to Kachana Station back in 2018, tune Send us a textSupport the showThe RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road - and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

Momentum continues to build in our efforts to gear economies towards shared quality of life, rather than sheer quantity of stuff. With COP 26 starting in Glasgow next week, I reached out to Dr Katherine Trebeck for a sense of how it feels on the ground there, along with how the event might leverage more of that broader momentum. That’s our take-off point for looking at some of the significant shifts happening around the world in this space. And we’re joined again by Mike Salvaris, with a major update on the West Australian Development Index that featured in his Ministerial presentation in episode 55.Dr Katherine Trebeck is a Senior Strategic Advisor for the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (or WEAll) – a global collaboration she co-founded in 2018, the same year she co-founded WEAll Scotland. She has also instigated the group of Wellbeing Economy Governments, previously developed Oxfam’s Humankind Index, and led Oxfam’s work downscaling Kate Raworth’s ‘doughnut economics’ for various countries. Katherine’s book The Economics of Arrival: Ideas for a Grown-Up Economy (co-authored with Jeremy Williams) was published in early 2019. The last time we spoke on this podcast was at one of the Australian events launching that book. And one of our guests that night was Mike Salvaris, a global leader in the development of wellbeing measures, and Director of the Australian National Development Index. So what’s happened in the two years since that event in the development of ‘wellbeing economies’, and this prospective pilot Development Index in WA?This conversation was recorded online at the Derby Media Aboriginal Corporation on Nyikina Country in the West Kimberley, with Katherine at home in Glasgow and Mike in Melbourne, 12 October 2021.Title slide: Katherine and Mike against a Scottish backdrop (pics of Katherine and Scotland are from Katherine's website, and the one of Mike is from our Zoom conversation).Music:The System, by the Public Opinion Afro Orchestra. Find more:Wellbeing Economy Alliance. Australian National Development Index (ANDI). Katherine’s website. You can hear my first conversation with Katherine in episode 29, and on stage with Mike for Katherine’s book launch in episode 48. Mike’s other previous appearances, on a panel and in his pivotal Ministerial presentation, are featured in episodes 6 & Send us a textSupport the showThe RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road - and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

This is a very special episode, a live conversation event with Nyikina Warrwa elder, Dr Anne Poelina. We last spoke on the podcast for episode 84 back in May, on the launch of Regenerative Songlines Australia, and resolved to catch up on her Country here in the Kimberley later in the year. We ended up doing that at this live event I was honoured to host the Q&A for - a screening of the film we also talked about in May, The Serpent’s Tale. The film features the story of the Martuwarra Fitzroy River, its ancient Country, its First Peoples, its First Law, its need for recognition and protection, and its abundant opportunities for new economies, and as Anne puts it, the overarching need for sustainable lifeways on Country for Aboriginal people.I wasn’t sure if this would turn into a podcast episode. But when the previous episode with Alessandro Pelizzon revealed such profound and significant global implications stemming from Anne’s work and what’s happening here, it had to be. All the more, given the quality and consequence of the dialogue that night. Given, then, that this is in addition to the usual weekly releases, I initially thought I’d produce a shorter summary version of the conversation. I did edit it down a little, partly due to sound issues, but the conversation gets more profound as it goes, and it’s so connected and applicable to dialogue happening right around this country and elsewhere. We’re so in this together.More on Anne: Anne is Chair of the esteemed Martuwarra Fitzroy River Council, an international award winner, has multiple postgraduate degrees, and over 30 years’ experience in Indigenous health, education, language and community development.This episode was recorded live at the Sporties in Derby, on Nyikina Country, 9 October 2021.With thanks to the Red Shed Derby Women’s Collective, Harry Jakamarra & 6DBY Larrkardi Radio.CORRECTION: Where Anne talks about the sacred site on her country as being 100 million years old, she later corrected this – it’s a ridge that is 20 million years old, on bedrock that is 200 million years old.Title slide: Dr Anne Poelina, live on the night (pic: Chris Lean). See more photos on the episode website.Music:River Feeling, at the top, & Liyan at the end, both by Anne’s son Mark Coles-Smith, composing as Kalaji (joined in Liyan by Ursula Yovich).Find more:Dr Anne Poelina. You’re invited to a special event on 26 October 2021, for Regenerative Songlines Australia, featuring Anne.Send us a textSupport the showThe RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road - and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

There has been a rush this year of landmark court decisions on climate change, ruling on duties of care, emissions reductions, and other actions for corporations and governments, in Australia and around the world. It’s another sign this generation is changing things, and fast. And some of the broader change afoot is even more powerful than what’s hitting the headlines. This is one of those rapid systemic developments we can easily take for granted. In just over a decade we have witnessed the incredible rise in ecological jurisprudence and the rights of nature. The notion of ecocide is now being officially tabled, there are a number of famous instances of rivers being granted legal rights, and all this is just the tip of the iceberg. In just twelve years it’s gone from whether this could happen, to how it can best happen. And just a few years ago, out of a conversation between today’s guest and Nyikina elder Dr Anne Poelina, a concept was landed upon that just might unlock the door to colonial law finally recognising First Law. And more profoundly still, in a way that involves us all in understanding the depths of what that means, the enormous gifts it offers, and how it might just end up transforming everything.Dr Alessandro Pelizzon is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Law and Justice at Southern Cross University. He is one of the founding members of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Nature and the Australian Earth Laws Alliance, he has been an expert member of the UN Harmony with Nature programme, and supported the drafting of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Geneva. Alessandro has been exploring the emerging phenomenon of rights of nature, Wild Law and Earth Jurisprudence since its inception. This conversation was recorded on 2 September 2021, with thanks to the team at the Derby Media Aboriginal Corporation for the use of their studio.Title slide: Alessandro Pelizzon (supplied).Music:The System, by the Public Opinion Afro Orchestra.The tune accompanying the introduction is by Jeremiah Johnson.Stones & Bones, by Owls of the Swamp.Find more:On Dr Alessandro Pelizzon. For an hilarious and poignant connection with this episode, listen back from about the 28-minute mark of my conversation with Margo Neale in episode 93, ‘Songlines’, on how First Law was made.Alessandro’s music choices were Souad Massi & Faun. Send us a textSupport the showThe RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road - and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!

This is a very special extra to episode 96 with Paul Hawken, the globally renowned environmentalist, author, entrepreneur and activist. I say extra, but it’s really a second part, a whole conversation in its own right. Some of the story behind the story. This is essentially the middle hour and a bit of our conversation, where we deep-dove into some of the keystone themes, if you like, of Regeneration - the themes that enable all the other themes. Or disable them, if absent or mis-placed. Some of this is based on what’s in the book, some on what I noted isn’t in it.We pick up with a profound story Paul tells of an encounter he had with a Yupik woman from the Bering Strait region. This stemmed from where we spoke in the main episode of what gripped each of us most in Regeneration. We go on to delve into those keystone themes (mapped out below), before closing with some beautiful and revealing personal musings. Firstly, on how Paul approaches his days with Regeneration in mind. And then he offers us a rare glimpse ahead to his next book.In case you want to hit up particular parts of our conversation, here’s a mapping of it (though the inter-weaving of each topic comes from listening in sequence):Title slide: from the extraordinary Solutions page on the Regeneration website.Music:By Jeremiah Johnson.Find more:You can hear the rest of our conversation in the main episode (along with access to links in the show notes), ‘Regeneration: Ending the climate crisis in one generation’.Send us a textSupport the showThe RegenNarration is independent, ad-free and freely available, thanks to the generous support of listeners like you. Please consider becoming a paid subscriber to help keep the show on the road - and gain access to a great community and some exclusive benefits - on Patreon or Substack (where you'll find my writing). You can also donate directly via the website (avoiding fees) or PayPal. I hope to see you at an event, and even The RegenNarration shop. And thanks for sharing with friends!