That culminated in the precision-irrigation technology company Observant, which he started in 2002 and sold 15 years later. I went to Geelong Grammar in the 80s and witnessed and experienced a lot of injustice. He then moved to Malaysia to work for the family-owned John Holland Group on IT projects. He was very impressed with the Hawke-Keating era and Australia becoming brave on the world stage., Ive always rallied against injustice. I invested a lot of time in Angus Taylor as well, says Holmes Court. I went along to a public meeting and accidently came out as the chairman. But the centre, for me, was attractive because it took the best of both worlds and was pragmatic and there wasnt this roadblock of loyalties., The candidate herself, too, is upfront that she voted for the moderate incumbent, Trent Zimmerman, at the last election. But I think COVID makes it a little bit different. Simon Holmes Court's personal battle with Josh Frydenberg The son of Australia's first billionaire, the man who might help decide the next federal election, says having independents control. But also because he felt like I was investing all of my resources and potential in something that was fascinating but not the main game. I met with him quite a few times, but I havent spoken to him since we had a run-in about four years ago. Climate change. Why arent you running for politics? he shoots back. Again, that disaffection didnt quite carry him to the other side. Simon Holmes Court addresses the National Press Club of Australia on "Independents and Climate - the hope to end the lost decade". Itd be like me becoming Protestant. Disgruntled small-l liberals. Holmes Court points to watching independent Cathy McGowan winning the rural Victorian seat of Indi at the 2013 federal election as another milestone. Simon is the founder of Climate 200, a group of more than 7,300 Australians working to help community-backed independent candidates contest the next federal election. Help using this website - Accessibility statement. From there, he was recruited by Netscape to work as a software engineer in Silicon Valley at the height of the 1990s dotcom boom. Kristoffer Paulsen. I think there are probably 80 electorates [with groups] that are interested, and I would say there are about 10 to 15 active groups that seriously want to run a candidate, but theres still only one candidate [announced], she said in September. Theyd never been engaged, never joined or donated to a political movement. It was shut down in 1934, and has lain dormant ever since. There was a savage culture of physical abuse culture and as we found out in the Royal Commission, a massive sexual abuse problem. Less than 24 hours later, I was kicked out of the Kooyong200 club. He insists, as he did at the National Press Club earlier this year, there are three criteria to fund their candidates: action on climate, integrity, and gender diversity. That he chose a non-aligned path through university politics reflected the very particular conditions of home. On Leonards Hill, just outside the town of Daylesford famed for its natural springs stand two wind turbines that not only power the local area, but have also added substantial power to the community-owned renewable energy movement in Australia. Photo by Kristoffer Paulsen, signed contributor The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age Photos - Simon Holmes Court on his 40-hecatre farm in Daylesford, Victoria, 2021 [16] Another version of the exchange was later released showing Hume calling Holmes Court an "arsehole". We thought, Shit, weve really tapped a nerve here., Indi MP Helen Haines (left) is congratulated by her predecessor, Cathy McGowan.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen. Simon Holmes Court is founder of Climate 200, a group of more than 7,300 Australians working to help community-backed independent candidates contest Australian elections. Rather than deal with requests piecemeal, McGowan ran a two-day Zoom conference, How to Get Elected, in February. DLA Piper Posztl, Nemescsi, Gyrfi-Tth and Partners Law Firm i > Budapest, Hungary > Firm Profile So basically, without spending a dollar, we were able to rely on peer-to-peer communication; people talking to their friends.. Meanwhile, a fortnight ago, The Australia Institute released its annual Climate of the Nation survey of 2626 voters, which found that a record 75 per cent were concerned about climate change, with almost 70 per cent looking to the government for a path to net zero. . Photo by Kristoffer Paulsen, signed contributor The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age Photos - Simon Holmes Court on his 40-hecatre farm in Daylesford, Victoria, 2021 If youre a socially progressive, fiscally conservative voter in Kooyong where do you park your vote? He is the son of Australia's first billionaire Robert Holmes Court, and convenor of Climate 200. If anything were like a political venture capitalist, your readers would understand that, he says. Through a mutual friend, Kelly ended up spending New Years Eve with Steggall and her husband, Tim, both of whom peppered him with questions. I dont even know if its a 50/50. Louis Trerise. Climate 200 founder Simon Holmes a Court addresses the National Press Club. Its because the traditional base has been abandoned. But Hepburn Wind cooperative figured they could refurbish it, and pour even more clean energy into the grid. It borrows the idea from a long tradition of community-owned power that was forgotten in Australia, but lives on strongly in Denmark. But there are no more strings attached. Holmes Court was a driving force behind the country's first community-owned wind farm, Hepburn Wind. Work with usPresent in 2023Share your ideas. Kooyong under [Frydenbergs predecessor] Petro Georgiou had been a progressive, positive force within the party. ). It was not a pleasant time at all. Frydenberg in turn questions why, in 2020, Holmes Court turned up daily to a court case seeking to challenge Frydenbergs citizenship (the case was dismissed) and what that says about him. The mayor of Hepburn Shire, Sebastian Klein agrees. Kooyong 200 and feud with Josh Frydenberg, "Economic, Education, Jobs and Skills Committee: Inquiry into community energy projects", "Simon Holmes Court's personal battle with Josh Frydenberg", "Simon Holmes Court: 'If it works, the payoff will be enormous', "Clean, green and rich: Wealthy donors bankrolling politicians who support climate action", "Media Watch Dog: Simon Holmes Court's Q+A takeover", "Holmes a Court sues media outlets, mulls defamation suit against Sharma over Nazi reference", "Meaning of 'crumb maiden' smear used against Liberal Senator explored", "Climate 200 founder is 'Palmer of left': Mundine", "Climate 200 founder could benefit from investments if independents are elected", "Holmes Court attempting 'takeover': Falinski", "Election 2022: Simon Holmes a Court 'bullied me online', says UK activist", "Birmingham calls on Holmes a Court to apologise for confrontation", "Democracy? And then we got COVID, and COVID absolutely fundamentally showed us that you need your community around you.. I joined the Liberal Party because I was interested in reform. Hepburn Wind began construction in 2010 and started selling power in 2011. - FXB1285472 Simon Holmes Court photographed for Good Weekend around his his 40-hectare farm in Daylesford, Victoria, October 2021. Simon owns a farm half way between Daylesford and Leonards Hill, the location of the two turbines erected in . Holmes Court also funded a series of ads supporting the Medevac bill. VTO founder, businessman and Global Surf Industries owner Mark Kelly, 57, had been a classic swinging voter, backing the Liberals at state level but unable to support Abbott, he says. [2], Holmes Court was a driving force behind Australia's first community-owned wind farm, Hepburn Wind, near Daylesford in Central Victoria. Listen/Buy: https://SimonAndKatie.lnk.to/AerialOb. He is famous for these calls. In the lead up to the 2019 Australian federal election, Climate200 raised nearly half a million dollars[6] for the campaign. He is an energy analyst, clean technology investor, climate philanthropist, director of the Smart Energy Council and the Australian Environmental Grantmakers Network, senior advisor to the Climate and Energy College at Melbourne University, and writes regularly about the transformation of Australias energy sector. From here Ill be working the Rolodex again to try to convince philanthropists that this is a really effective form of philanthropy. Give me two months to see the campaigns, because if you dont have the candidates and the campaigns, Simons funding is going to make no difference at all., Even the woman dubbed the godmother of the movement, Cathy McGowan, counsels caution. simon holmes a court daylesford. It kept the lake area electrified, says Lane. The VTO Facebook page Kelly started attracted a couple of thousand people. Its all still a work in progress. Alex Ellinghausen, It won the World Wind Energy Award in 2012 and got me hooked on the space. [7], In 2022 Holmes Court released 'The Big Teal' as part of Monash University Publishing's 'In The National Interest' series. He also believes the opportunity for the independents to control the balance of power is within reach. I found myself standing on the footpath with a glass of wine, Simon Holmes Court says. When he launched the Climate200 fund he did so on Twitter and raised $1.4 million in two weeks. Both of them [Frydenberg and Energy Minister Angus Taylor] are a bit obsessed with me, Holmes Court offers. It is a very, very important pivot pointhaving seen us go through the cultural energy wars, and seen three prime ministers change because of that pressureits a pretty significant step., First-term Liberal senator Andrew Bragg, whos been the governments point man on the Voices Of, Voices For and non-aligned groups, including asking the Australian Electoral Commission to ensure they comply with funding-disclosure requirements reinforces this point. Frydenberg has called Holmes Court gutless for founding the Climate200 fund, which has raised more than $9 million (he is at pains to say that is from more than 9000 donors) to fund 22 election candidates, mostly in inner-city Liberal seats, but not putting his own hand up to run for political office. Your question to Simon on the AZ election results and Simon's response provided some in-depth knowledge on AZ and GA results. It will be the greatest piece of philanthropy we could do.Credit:Kristoffer Paulsen. Its an entirely private setting, the backside of the familys beaglier, Kingston, heaving into view on my computer screen occasionally, or Katrina, down a hallway, cleaning windows. Their model this way of owning your own energy generator locally emerged in the late 70s, so they have been doing it for decades. . The confrontation was filmed by Josh Frydenberg on his phone and was posted to Twitter. Simon Holmes Court, the son of one of Australia's great mining entrepreneurs, is currently senior advisor to the Energy Transition Hub at Melbourne University and a board member of the Smart Energy Council. They both felt that if something was wrong you fixed it, and you dont complain, you just made it happen.. One of the things that made him confident that the project was a good investment, he says, was the level of community support it received, and the passion of the people running it. Or setting up a primitive internet communication system in our basement when he was 10 or 11; Robert and I always thought hed be an engineer.. The majority of the investors are from the local region, something the cooperative has written into its rules. Its an emergency and we have to be really strategic, he says. I was swamped by people ringing me and saying, I liked your book, but how do we do it? she says. Connecting, networking, making things happen. [14] The following day Holmes Court was accused again of bullying by British climate activist Zion Lights. To read more from Good Weekend magazine, visit our page at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times. In title and substance, C200 was Holmes Courts reply, even the font and colour of its initial logo a riff on Kooyong 200s. The group spearheading the Tink candidature, North Sydney Independents (NSI), for instance, was created by Kristen Lock, a former nurse, Young Liberal and staffer for former Liberal senator Bill Heffernan, whose disaffection with her former party was mounting in the lead-up to the last election. Hes talented. How? Their focus? Please try again later. But also because we thought it was a good and wise investment for our super fund. He writes on news, business and leadership. Simon Holmes Court is founder of Climate 200, a group of more than 7,300 Australians working to help community-backed independent candidates contest Australian elections. Instead, theyre giving up jobs, taking career breaks to get involved in politics, often for the first time, bypassing parties and party machines with which theyve lost faith. His AIESEC experience led to networking the Asian offices of the then family-owned company John Holland, before completing an artificial intelligence and cognitive science degree at Americas Ivy League Dartmouth College. So, I ask: what do you think that is? From CIP to all the Voices For, Voices Of, Vote Out and independent groups, the enabler has been technology. In recent years he has written opinion pieces on climate for The Guardian, emerging occasionally to talk about energy transition. I think theyre lost as well, he says of the federal Labor Party. Its my responsibility to do something., Simon Holmes Court; But if it does work, the payoff for Australia will be enormous. That was the way electricity was first introduced into much of the country, with smaller decentralised generators, owned by the local communities. The hostess said, You have to leave now. I said, Can I finish my drink? She said, No, the Treasurer says you have to leave now.. The Liberal Party has a minority in government, and they need the Nationals to form government. Its against the government; anything other than the existing major parties, he says. Simon Holmes Court (born 30 May 1972) is an Australian entrepreneur, cleantech investor, climate philanthropist and convenor of Climate 200. . For those who do, it will be a seat-by-seat fight, determined by the microclimate of each electorate, the calibre of the candidate and the stature and performance of the incumbent (the polarising Abbott, and Sophie Mirabella in Indi, were seen as pivotal to previous success by independents in those seats). What the voting data is saying is when one-quarter of voters arent voting for the majors, the political system itself adjusts.. Ltd. attempting to improve the efficiency of their eight cattle stations in the Northern Territory. Once again, the rallying cry is that the voting records on climate of moderate Liberals is no different from those of conservative Queenslander George Christensen or National Party leader Barnaby Joyce. We used to have our own generator in the main street of Daylesford [and] we used to have our own hydro station down at the lake, he says. Now he will turn his focus to his third interest, Embark Australia, which helps other communities develop their own renewable-energy projects. I remember thinking, If we could get 500 people to sign up, that would be great, but weve now hit 1500, which is pretty considerable, he says. While Voices of Hume was good for getting to know a diffuse and disparate electorate, it was also enormously time- and resource-heavy, he says. She says that will be enough to power about eight to 12 houses not a huge amount, but its an easy win. This is a win-win for both the environment [and] the community.. Im not just a follower any more. Political and corporate researcher Tony Mitchelmore has traced the electorates growing disaffection via qualitative surveying of marginal voters over recent years. Why is the narrative that the election was won and lost in Queensland? An Instagram account featuring local celebrities wearing the T-shirt peaked at 20,000 followers. Steggall bought VTO T-shirts for her husband and parents two days before Christmas 2018. This was in reference to a quote by a Liberal insider from The Saturday Paper who said "I look at John Howard as the angel of death. Simon Holmes Court was the founding chairman of Hepburn Wind. It helped support the campaigns of Zali Steggall, Helen Haines and Rebekha Sharkie. But it means I dont want or need anything, except good policy.. Of course, how many of these burgeoning groups end up mounting compelling campaigns and finding the kind of authentically local, centrist candidates that all agree will be the key to success remains to be seen. Hepburn actually used to own its own power generating sources. It was not a pleasant time at all. On Thursday 14 October 2021 Holmes Court appeared on Q+A alongside Liberal MP Tim Wilson, Labor MP Chris Bowen, Amelia Telford (Director of SEED Indigenous Youth Climate Network) and Anne Baker (Mayor of Issac Regional Council). I think people are very angry with regards to lockdown, Higgins Katie Allen says of the results, which she doesnt see as related to climate or other independent hot-button issues. Main Menu. Its getting to be almost the most likely outcome. Hepburn Wind, near Daylesford in Central Victoria. It seems almost as personal for Holmes Court when it comes to Taylor, with whom he had a disagreement at a Politics at the Pub event in Taylors home town of Goulburn, NSW. These are incredibly powerful organisms and if you do something to threaten them you can expect a swift immune system response, he says. To me, it just provides the electorate with even greater opportunity to observe that this government is still out of step with community wishes and whats going on in the rest of the world. But if it does work, the payoff for Australia will be enormous. bud factor x vs; It was at a community meeting for a large corporate-owned windfarm, like the one near Hepburn, that the idea for Hepburn Wind emerged. Because while Holmes Court is a quintessential brahmin, his motivations dont differ fundamentally from a cross-section of activists Good Weekend speaks to for this piece. On one side of that equation has been the international pressure the government faced to announce a 2050 net zero goal as the price of entry to the Glasgow climate summit that starts this weekend, mirrored locally by everyone from the Business Council of Australia to mining billionaire Andrew Forrest. [2], After completing his degree, Holmes Court spent five years working in Silicon Valley, including for Netscape, before returning to Australia in 2001. [10], Holmes Court has been described by Warren Mundine as the "Clive Palmer but on the left" and that he is "just one of those filthy-rich spoiled brats who think they influence elections by spending millions and millions of dollars.[11], There was speculation in the News Corp press that Holmes Court and his family could make a profit out of a "potential boom in clean energy.