{"id":1518,"date":"2019-03-15T09:33:45","date_gmt":"2019-03-15T01:33:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drben.com.au\/?p=1518"},"modified":"2021-02-22T11:56:07","modified_gmt":"2021-02-22T03:56:07","slug":"environment-in-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drben.com.au\/?p=1518","title":{"rendered":"Environment in mind"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>MEDIA RELEASE 15 Mar 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-pullquote\"><blockquote><p>Archived from <em>Australian Mental Health Party<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/drben.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/cyclone.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1520\" width=\"213\" height=\"213\" srcset=\"https:\/\/drben.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/cyclone.png 300w, https:\/\/drben.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/cyclone-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/drben.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/02\/cyclone-100x100.png 100w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 213px) 100vw, 213px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.amhp.org.au\/our-core-values\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">core values<\/a>\u00a0of the\u00a0<em>Australian Mental Health Party<\/em>\u00a0is connection. We believe that our connections to people and places around us shape who we are and what we become. This isn\u2019t just about personal relationships with other people, but also our deeper sense of connection with the world around us. Looking after the environment we live in is one crucial piece of the puzzle on that point. After all, if you don\u2019t have a sense of meaningful connection to the environment, then why would you look after it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today we saw tens of thousands of young Australians attending\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.abc.net.au\/news\/2019-03-15\/students-walk-out-of-class-to-protest-climate-change\/10901978\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Climate Strike<\/a>\u00a0protests right across the country. Personally, I think you\u2019d have to be completely out of your mind not to care about climate change. We human beings are a part of this planet\u2019s story. For now this world is our home. Our immense power to change the environment comes with the responsibility to be gentle. Likewise, our ability to reflect and think about what we do, brings with it a need to take great care and consideration about the impact of our actions. It would be a massive mistake to threaten the fragile balance of life that we all depend upon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\u00a0<em>Australian Mental Health Party<\/em>\u00a0is driven by humanistic and existential philosophies. From this perspective, the core focus is on people, their experiences, and how we can improve our way of living. Our way of looking at this issue raises some really big questions about how important it is for people to live in a healthy world. If we think of our planet across time and generations, we might ask what impact our choices today might have on people tomorrow? There\u2019s a strong case to be made that your choices today will\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/existentialism-a-guiding-philosophy-for-tackling-climate-change-in-cities-108649\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">restrict your freedoms<\/a>\u00a0tomorrow. That\u2019s why we need to think in terms of real people, not just economic theories, when it comes to climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We are calling out the big parties in Australia who are\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.sbs.com.au\/news\/students-hit-back-at-pm-after-less-activism-in-schools-climate-change-comment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">having a go at young people<\/a>\u00a0for speaking up. Our PM says our schools should not be turned into parliaments, but I\u2019m afraid that quite the opposite is going on here. The very nature of this strike arises from a sense of powerlessness at not being heard by our leaders. If young people were more empowered and being heard on this issue, then we would surely see a greater commitment from politicians to address the issue. Our party knows that young people need to have their say and be taken seriously. Anyone with kids knows how important it is to them that we look after this place we call home. We are just looking after it for them and their kids. One day that responsibility will rest on their shoulders. Let\u2019s not make the lives of future generations any harder to live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It fills me with hope to see young people expressing their feelings about the environment. The rest of us grown ups should take that in, explore our own feelings for the world, and do better. Our party wonders, where do the rest of you stand?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MEDIA RELEASE 15 Mar 2019 Archived from Australian Mental Health Party One of the\u00a0core values\u00a0of the\u00a0Australian Mental Health Party\u00a0is connection. We believe that our connections to people and places around us shape who we are and what we become. This isn\u2019t just about personal relationships with other people, but also our deeper sense of connection [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-amhp","category-mental-health-policy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drben.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drben.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drben.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drben.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drben.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1518"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/drben.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1518\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1556,"href":"https:\/\/drben.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1518\/revisions\/1556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drben.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drben.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drben.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}