{"id":21421,"date":"2026-05-30T14:53:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T14:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/21421\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T14:53:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T14:53:21","slug":"new-generation-embraces-permaculture-which-took-root-in-1970s-oil-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/21421\/","title":{"rendered":"New generation embraces permaculture, which took root in 1970s oil crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Kirsty and Bart Whitehouse moved to Margaret River eight years ago, they set about turning a cow paddock into a permaculture paradise.<\/p>\n

“We hardly had any birds here, we hardly had any lizards, there was just no flora or fauna to support that,” Ms Whitehouse said.<\/p>\n

“One of the most satisfying things is to see all the birds come back.”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Kirsty Whitehouse turned a cow paddock into a permaculture garden in Margaret River. (ABC News: Georgia Loney)<\/p>\n

The couple is part of a new generation embracing the principles of sustainability espoused by the permaculture movement.<\/p>\n

Permaculturists say there is renewed interest in the counter-culture, amid rising costs and concerns for food security.<\/p>\n

It is perhaps no surprise, considering the movement’s roots trace back to the last global oil crisis in the 1970s.<\/p>\n

\"Gardens<\/p>\n

Plants in Kirsty Whitehouse’s permaculture garden. (ABC News: Georgia Loney)<\/p>\n

Gardening as a political act<\/p>\n

Permaculture was described by co-founders David Holmgren and Bill Mollison as an agricultural system that was sustainable and self-sufficient<\/a> in the 1978 book Permaculture One.<\/p>\n

Mr Holmgren said the movement was as relevant today as it was 50 years ago.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

David Holmgren with a newly planted and stone mulched fruit tree at Jackeys Marsh, Tasmania in 1977. (Supplied: David Holmgren)<\/p>\n

“There was a huge ferment of ideas around intentional communities, the back-to-the-land movement and a sort of new wave of organic agriculture that was developing,” he said.<\/p>\n

He noted the parallels between the 1970s and today’s political environment.<\/p>\n

“[It] coincided with a period where there was a loss of faith in the mainstream economic processes, and that continuous boom since the Second World War, to that first global recession in affluent countries,” Mr Holmgren said.<\/p>\n

He said the book’s success was inextricably linked to its political context, bracketed between the oil crisis of 1973 and the second oil crisis within the Iranian Revolution in 1979.<\/p>\n

\"David<\/p>\n

David Holmgren building a greenhouse in Hobart in 1978. (Supplied: David Holmgren)<\/p>\n

“I’ve even argued that if permaculture had been launched in the mid-80s \u2026 as the greed-is-good culture got going, it probably would have sunk like a lead balloon.”<\/p>\n

Permaculture for the rich<\/p>\n

University of Newcastle sociologist Terry Leahy has researched the political roots of permaculture, which by the 80s had grown to a large counter-cultural social movement.<\/p>\n

Dr Leahy noted that today’s generation was far more constrained by rising land prices and availability.<\/p>\n

Having enough space for a private permaculture plot is now out of reach for most families, but Dr Leahy noted the movement also espoused communal land and living, and broader societal change.<\/p>\n

Margaret River, 270 kilometres south of Perth, has become a hotspot for permaculture practices.<\/p>\n

A permaculture festival held there earlier this month attracted hundreds of attendees and sold out well in advance.<\/p>\n

These days, plots of land in the regional community are few and far between, fetching a median price of $1 million.<\/p>\n

Permaculture teacher Pippa Buchanan transformed her Margaret River property into an edible oasis after returning from Austria during the COVID pandemic in 2020.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Pippa Buchanan is a permaculture consultant in Margaret River. (ABC News: Georgia Loney)<\/p>\n

“Even as someone who has the luck to have access to land, and who already has a vegetable garden, I’m feeling that, and my personal purchasing has changed in the last six months, just because everything is getting more expensive,” she said.<\/p>\n

She insists the counterculture is not out of reach to the average family.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Pippa Buchanan’s backyard in Margaret River in November 2020. (Supplied: Pippa Buchanan)<\/p>\n

In Austria, Ms Buchanan lived in a 64sqm apartment, where they grew food on window sills and took part in community gardens.<\/p>\n

She said people who rented or lived in apartments could also practise permaculture and construct their own temporary garden.<\/p>\n

“Sometimes it is better to ask for forgiveness rather than permission.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When Kirsty and Bart Whitehouse moved to Margaret River eight years ago, they set about turning a cow…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":21422,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22,21,20385,4362,20384,1859,17165,20389,20388,20387,20383,20386,1686,464],"class_list":["post-21421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-bill-mollison","tag-cost-of-living","tag-david-holmgren","tag-fuel-crisis","tag-gardening","tag-home-gardening","tag-oil-shock","tag-permaculture","tag-permaculture-movement","tag-pippa-buchanan","tag-south-west-news","tag-wa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21421"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21421\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}