As ELRR moves into its fourth decade, we begin Volume 31 with a celebration of the life’s work of our first Patron, Joe Isaac AO, in an extended obituary written by two eminent members of our Advisory Board, Keith Hancock AO and Russell Lansbury AO.

We are honoured and delighted to welcome John Nevile AM as new ELRR Patron. John Nevile and David Plowman were the founding editors of ELRR. The Editorial Board continues to be guided and inspired by John’s ongoing advocacy of social justice, poverty reduction and decent work.

John Nevile was Professor of Economics at UNSW from 1965 to 1992 and is now Emeritus Professor and Visiting Professor at this University. He was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in 1972 and was President of the Economic Society of Australia from 1980 to 1984. John has been a member of government advisory bodies and has also been a consultant for major Australian Government enquiries and for the International Monetary Fund.

In recent years, John’s research interests have been in the fields of macroeconomic policy, unemployment and history of economic thought, with also an interest in economics and ethics. In 2000, he was made a Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Society of Australia. While this was predominantly in recognition of his own research and publication record, mention was also made of his encouragement of large numbers of other economic researchers. In 2016, he was made a member of the Order of Australia (AM) in recognition of his significant service to tertiary education, particularly economics, as an academic and author, and also to professional organisations more generally.

John has expressed his delight that the proposed annual prize for best ELRR article is to be named the Nevile-Plowman award.

As 2020 unfolds, Volume 31 is being published during a year of grief at the species devastation being wrought by social system-induced climate change. ELRR is pledged to publish responses to the global heating crisis, and we have a call for papers (https://journals.sagepub.com/page/elr/call-for-papers) on Green New Deal approaches.