I am Philip Machanick, Greens (preselected) candidate for Moggill, for the Queensland state election, 2009.
I work at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, at The University of Queensland as a researcher (the University of course is not politically affiliated and I have neither asked it to nor expect it to endorse my campaign). I hold a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Cape Town, and various degrees in Physics and Computer Science from other universities in South Africa. I also have a graduate certificate in Education from The University of Queensland. I’ve worked as a researcher at Stanford University, and as an academic at three universities in South Africa as well as The University of Queensland. I’ve consulted for large businesses and government, and provided professional opinions on legal matters.
In addition to my academic work, I have published a novel, No Tomorrow, with a climate change theme, and have written articles for newspapers and magazines.
While I was in South Africa, in the apartheid years I supported a free press and as an academic, supported the right of students and others to freedom of speech. I was a founder member of the Union of Democratic University Staff Associations, which lobbied for basic rights at universities. In the post-apartheid era, I have campaigned for efficient, accountable government. Since moving to Australia, I have focused more on environmental issues, as it started to become clear to me through my science background that the major parties were operating to the agenda of industry rather than the public good – not least in the matter of climate change. I have also argued the case for better public education (good teaching cannot be replaced by trucking in computers) and believe strongly that a good public health system is an essential component of a civilised society.
I’m a member of The Wilderness Society, and several major professional bodies including IEEE (senior member), ACM (senior member), Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility and the South African Institute for Computer Scientists and Information Technologists (fellow).
As a South African Australian, with experience of living in not only Australia but also South Africa (up to 2002) and the United States (in the 1990s), I bring a global perspective to Moggill. My commitment to justice and the best use of science for the betterment of humanity goes back a long way. I believe that not only do animals and plants in nature have habitats worth preserving, but so too do people – even if our habitat is largely of our own creation. Our habitat is increasingly being threatened by narrow commercial interests; climate change is not being dealt with adequately, urban planning is all too often at the behest of developers rather than designed to improve our lifestyles, and too much politics is short-term, based around shallow polling and the short-term news cycle.
My experience of life in very different societies gives me the background and insights to see past what conventional wisdom holds to be possible. South Africa transformed from a racially divided society in my lifetime, something many thought impossible. All it takes is the imagination to see how things could be different, and the will to see things through the possibly hard transition to get there. We can achieve big things together in Moggill. I look forward to working with all of you.
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