When the Unthinkable Becomes Possible: A Short Story

Welcome to this brief bonus extra to episode 279, which featured a very special panel conversation from the recent Regenerating Food Systems conference. 

Now you might ask, why would anyone who wasn’t at the conference want to hear my MC’s introduction to it? Well, if you’re interested in some of the story of the conference, the movement in Western Australia generally, RegenWA in particular, including its moving roots, some of the rest of what became an incredible week of events in WA, from Government House, through the conference, to Grounded Festival and more - and maybe even some of the story of how I came to be connected to all this at about the same time RegenWA started – then here’s the short version for you. All of six or seven  minutes. With the Governor of WA and his wife, former Ministers, current MPs, and 300 others filling the room at Perth Stadium last month.

Recorded 17 September 2025.

Title slide: Introducing the conference, with the Governor of WA in the front row (from the film by Alex Hawkins of Simple Ben Stories).

See more photos on the episode web page, and for more behind the scenes, become a supporting listener below.

Music:

Music by Jeremiah Johnson.

The RegenNarration playlist, music chosen by guests.

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Episode Transcript

AJ (00:00):
Welcome to this brief bonus extra to episode 279, which
featured an incredibly specialpanel conversation from the
recent Regenerating Food SystemsConference.
Now you might ask, why wouldanyone who wasn't at that
conference want to hear my MC'sintroduction to it?
Well, if you're interested insome of the story of the

(00:21):
conference, the movement inWestern Australia generally,
Regen WA in particular,including its moving roots, some
of the rest of what became anincredible week of events here
in WA, from Government Housethrough the conference to
Grounded Festival, and more, andmaybe even some of the story of
how I came to be connected toall this at about the same time
Regen WA started, then here'sthe short version for you.

(00:44):
All of six and a half minutes.
With the Governor of WA and hiswife, former ministers, current
MPs, and 300 others filling theroom at Perth Stadium last
month.
G'day, I'm Anthony James, AJAmongst Friends, host of The
RegenNarration podcast, Substackwriter, and to be honest,
formerly almost a completening nong when it came to food

(01:08):
systems and farming and farmers.
I knew next to nothing reallyuntil I mean a background in
sustainability and holisticthinking, but that's another
story.
And there was a moment whensomeone in this room put Charlie
Massy's Call of the ReedWarbler in my hand and gave me
the tip that there was somethingafoot at Perth NRM.
That was Nick Rose.

(01:29):
Cheers, Nick.
We'll hear from him later.
I gave it a read and gotstraight on the blower to
Charlie and asked him if he'd bepart of a big event I was
organizing in Melbourne.
For which the couple, David andFrances Pollock from Wooleen
Station, came over also.
Out of which, A, Reed Warblergot its global publishing deal,
and B, my family decided to goaround Australia to get to know

(01:52):
our country properly.
And through the lens of youguys, the people that were doing
this sort of work.
For that, I thought I might aswell share some of your great
stories, even though I was acomplete hack at it at that
stage, started a podcast.
It just happened to grow legsand sort of led to me meeting
more and more of you.
And here we are.
On return from that firstjourney in 2018, I got a call

(02:13):
from this new mob, Regen WA.
And it was an honor to host thefirst conference in this very
room, I think, certainly at thisstadium in 2019.
Show of hands, who was here forthat?
Maybe 40%.
That's cool that there's somany more new people coming into
it.
And of course, yeah, we clearlygot more to arrive still.
Now, so much has changed in sixyears, no?

(02:33):
The West Coast Eagles were thereigning premiers.
Shouldn't laugh though.
I'm a bombers fan, it happensto us all, we get our turn,
don't we?
And Ian and Dianne Haggertyweren't West Australians of the
year.
Cheer, cheer.
Now, I wonder what was moreunthinkable.
The Eagles being a basket casetoday, or these guys being West

(02:57):
Australians of the year?
First touchstone.
The unthinkable will happen inthe next six years.
And there is possibility andperil in that.
I wonder what we might dare toaim for in that period.
Now, six years ago, it wasaudacious to set up RegenWA and
to have a one-day conferencehere.
Symbolic of the call, indeed,at this stadium, of investing at

(03:21):
a similar scale, financially,culturally, even, in this space.
What if that happened?
What could things look like ifthat was to happen?
These years on, the money hasstarted to flow, but still so
marginal, and that's somethingwe'll go at in the next couple
of days, too.
Regen WA went on to help stagethe Margaret River Conference a
couple of years ago.
So we heard someone was atbefore.

(03:41):
In a regional area for twodays, its own triumph and
breakthrough.
And today we're back here onNoongar, Wajak Noongar Buja, the
land of the Noongar Nation, forover 40,000 years, a presence
so key to all we're here for.
As we overlook too, DerbilYerrigan, the Swan River, this

(04:02):
ancient river carved a canyonthe size of the Grand Canyon
just off Rottnest when it wasland all the way out.
And it continues to underpinlife in this city and beyond.
We're being audacious againhere, too.
Two days this time, blessedwith His Excellency and Mrs.
Dawson's presence and yours.
With a heck of a lineup too tohelp take things to the next

(04:24):
level, where we come togetherfor collective impact like never
before.
Indeed, this is also implicitin the full week of satellite
events we've already heard a bitabout as well.
So thanks to those satellitepartners, Grounded Festival,
Mulloon Institute, NaturalIntelligence Farming, Carbon
Link, Common Land, JoelWilliams, tickets are still
available for some of thoseevents to come.

(04:45):
These are such rare, wonderful,and important times.
So a hearty welcome to you all,to Boorloo Perth, from wherever
you've come from around thiscountry and the world for the
Regenerating Food SystemsConference.
With its pointed subtitle,Collective Responsibility for
Soil Health, Human Well-beingand Food Security.

(05:05):
Now, collective impact is ouroverarching theme here, really,
an approach Regen WA hasobserved to be effective in
other sectors in helping peoplecome together for impact at
scale, as we seek to ultimatelyconnect with people in all parts
of our food system to the endsthat we've been so eloquently

(05:25):
describing already here today.
Finding ways to build trusttogether, as the chair of
RegenWA, Stuart McAlpine said tome the other day.
And it's fitting that RegenWAshould lead on this, given the
power of work it's been doing onthis space in those last couple
of years, and given its roots,which I'd like to return to.
This farmer-led network, withits thousands of members now,

(05:46):
was born from that very mission,from when the very first seed
was planted by the late MaureenDiver, a farmer from Dandaragan,
who credited her experiencewith cancer for opening her eyes
to her surrounding environment.
She set about looking for waysto produce food that didn't rely
on chemicals or synthetics, andalso that didn't jeopardize the

(06:07):
farming operation or theirrelationships.
But she struggled to know whatto trust when everything she was
hearing was someone trying tosell her a product.
Maureen sadly died before thatfirst conference in 2019, but
she planted a seed that sproutedRegen WA via co-founders Justin
Wolfgang and current CEO KeithPekin, who I believe is right

(06:29):
there, to build trust together.
So here we are, extending ourunderstanding from soil through
to all parts of the food systemfor everyone here to become more
of an advocate slash listener,and they're not exclusive
concepts.
To generate widespread backingtowards our secure food future
and by extension the health ofpeople, communities, and the

(06:50):
rest of the living world.
And given what I've heard frommany of you since recently
returning from some time abroad,and I'm talking from farmers
and conservationists, there arealarm bells ringing everywhere.
We need to be here, and I'mvery glad we are.
So I'm really looking forwardto this.
Not just a couple of days thatinspire, as I'm sure they will,
but to what we might recall inanother six years as a trigger

(07:13):
point.
Whether or not it's the Eagles'resurgence, but what might be
the next lot of unthinkable,previously unthinkable outcomes
of this nature that we mighthelp bring about?