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Five years ago,
I moved to a remote village

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in South West Java, Indonesia.

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imagine, a quiet fishing village

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surrounded by seas of rice fields
and black sand beaches.

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Imagine a place that smells like salt
and tastes like sugar,

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a place where time slows

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and days roll languidly one into another.

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Electricity there was unpredictable,

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we had no television, 
no air conditioning,

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no hot water, no oven,
no washing machine,

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I used to walk 
the long muddy path to the well,

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where local women taught me
how to wash my clothes,

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those same women taught me
how to harvest rice,

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we stood side by side,
our legs sunk in the thick black mud,

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sickle in hand.

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I worked alongside the villagers,
I made beautiful friendships,

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I was adopted by a local family,

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I lived for a long time there 
with very little,

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yet I felt like I lacked nothing.

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For the first time in my life,

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I felt like I had community.

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I fell in love with a local man
and I got married,

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we had a baby,

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and for a while,
we lived that simple village life.

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But things changed.

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In the last year I was there
things became very difficult,

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my best friend tragically died,

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and my marriage failed.

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I returned home to Australia.

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It was two years ago now,
and when I returned home

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I wanted to live in Perth,
the city I had grown up in,

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but I couldn't afford it,

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so I moved to a remote regional town.

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In Indonesia, my daily life
had been steeped in intense relationships.

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I had lived with little,
but I had lacked nothing.

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Now, I was a single isolated mother
in a new place,

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and I had access to everything,

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but I lacked what I needed most:

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Connection, belonging, community.

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So, I went in search of people,

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I went to parks and coffee shops,

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but more than anything,

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I went to the shopping malls,

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because in Australia,
that is where the people are,

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I wasn't there because I wanted to shop,

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I was there because
I didn't want to be alone!

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And it happened on Christmas eve,

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I was shopping in a big department store
that was packed full of people,

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there was a constant stream of jingles
about joy and happiness,

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yet somehow, everywhere I looked
everyone looked miserable.

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People were pushing trolleys
piled high full of plastic junk,

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I watched these two people
pushed past each other

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to grab at the last 
of the gaudy Christmas crackers.

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I was horrified.

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I looked at myself, I looked at my baby,
I looked at my trolley

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and I realized that somehow
I had become a part of this.

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I was disgusted in myself.

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So I stepped out of the queue

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and I traced my way back 
through the labyrinth of aisles,

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and I returned every single item
to its place.

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It was at that moment
that the "nothing new" project was born.

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I decided I would pay it back
on what I would buy,

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in fact, I decided I would buy
nothing new for 12 months,

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except the necessities.

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Could it be done?
I wasn't sure.

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I started by sharing my project online,

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everyone had something
to say about it at first.

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Some people were really enthusiastic,

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though constantly told me
they couldn't possibly do it.

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Other people were curious,
many were doubtful.

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You know, quite a number of people
took my project as a personal attack,

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and instantly defended their own spending.

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Everyone thought it would be difficult,

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so did I!

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But it wasn't.

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First I had to get over the fact
that my clothes did get a few holes,

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and the soles of my sandals
were stuck on with blu-tack,

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but after that, I realized that 
my value as a human being

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has absolutely nothing to do
with what I own or what I wear.

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I realized by living with less
of what we don't need,

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we make all of this space
for the things that we do.

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But what do we need?

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Now, we all know 
that we can live happily

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without designer clothes
and constant upgrades,

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we know this.

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But what we can't live without
is each other.

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At the beginning of this project,
I was an isolated single mother

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in a new place with very few friends,

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and now?

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Now I have community.

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By taking away my ability to buy,

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I had to step out of my comfort zone,

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I had to borrow,
and when I borrowed, I also lent.

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I started exchanging my skills
and trading what I had for what I needed.

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I took everything in my home
that I no longer used

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and I gave it to someone who would use it.

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I exchanged my skills as a photographer
for fresh organic produce.

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Simple things like organizing
a pay-what-you-want garage sale

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became this amazing opportunity
to connect with people.

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People I hardly knew
came and brought coffee,

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kids came and played, everyone
stayed longer than they needed.

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I watched these strangers
sat in my front yard

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and just talked to each other
over a cuppa.

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At about six months into the project,

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I decided to challenge myself further.

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My daughter and I
moved out of our rental home,

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and we started experimenting
with transitional accommodations,

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such as house-sitting and wwoofing.

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We went and lived for a while
on a beautiful organic farm,

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we helped with the mandarin harvest,

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we painted, we baked, we fed chickens,

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and through this very simple transaction,

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we connected with some
of the most beautiful people

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that I have ever had
the opportunity to meet.

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At first, I thought
the "nothing new project"

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was a kind of personal activism,

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a stand against the culture
of consumerism and waste,

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but as it turned out, this project,
it was about something much bigger,

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it really was about something
so much bigger.

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I know that this project,
that this lifestyle,

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it's not for everyone.

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But what I have learned is something
that is valuable for all of us,

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regardless of the way we live our lives.

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I have learned the value
of human connection.

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I have learned that the opportunity
we have every day

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to make real human relationships


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is far more valuable than anything
we could possibly buy.

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In Indonesia, my life 
was steeped in relationships:

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you could find community
in the market place

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where every transaction
was an opportunity for conversation.

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Here in Australia, our market places
are large, sterile malls,

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where there is plenty of transactions,

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but no community.

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Through this project, I have learned
that every day, we have a choice:

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we can choose the kind of world
we want to live in,

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we can choose to prioritize 
product or people.

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If we continue to prioritize product,

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we will surely destroy
the social fabric of our communities.

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We all know that the way
that we live right now is not sustainable.

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We all know that we need an alternative.

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The alternative I propose,
I call

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"the economy of human connection",

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where people come first,

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where communities come before
capital gain,

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where our human need to consume

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serves our greater need
for community and for connection.

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But where can you start?

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You just start where it's simple.

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You can start by getting to know 
your neighbors,

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by giving someone a lift to work,

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you can start by giving some of your time
to a community project,

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or to a local school,
or to a retirement home,

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organize a street party,

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cook someone a meal,

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trust each other,

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when you trust
in the good in people unequivocally,

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you shine a light on the good
that already exists within them.

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Buy locally produced whenever possible,

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take an extra five minutes to talk 
to the people who grow what you eat,

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or make what you buy,

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make every transaction
an opportunity for connection.

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When we extend ourselves,

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when we work for 
the benefit of each other,

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when we share what we have,

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we create communities.

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Together we have the power
to make great and lasting social change.

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Together we have the power to demand
a more human centered economy

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that is driven by the people
for the people,

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the economy of human connection.

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Thank you.

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(Applause)