My name is Toni.

I live in a creaky old house in inner-city Melbourne with a serious lack of right-angles and a garden I don’t get enough time for. I work in the intersection of water and agriculture, aiming to support food production that will keep regional towns going in balance with protecting the environment. My job is to balance environmental, social, economic and cultural needs and values in the frameworks used to manage irrigated agriculture across Victoria. It’s  my kind of gig.

Work is what keeps me tied to the big city, a place that never quite feels like home. As much as I can, I get out of the city to go adventuring in the mountains, forests, coasts and cliffs that nourish my spirit and feed a deep connection with nature and our human place in it.

I worry for the future: climate change distresses me and the failures of our current socio-economic systems are self-evident yet those with power aim to keep us on this self-destructive path. The current politics of late-stage neoliberal capitalism makes it harder than ever to find meaningful ways to make a difference. That doesn’t stop me trying.

Over the last 5 years or so I’ve been exploring ways to try to leave this incredible planet in a better state than when I arrived on it. From personal changes through to political action I’m learning about what the issues are and where the power lies to effect change. I also try to balance this with living a full life and accepting that I too am part of the system that is overtaxing Earth’s ecosystems.

I want to help create new ways of being; a culture, and economy and a society that is more communal, more joyful and ultimately sustainable. I’d love for you to join me.