As the strongest remaining 'family', DTE Victoria rose from the ashes of ADTEN.24 With fluctuating interest and commitment the Melbourne based group evolved over this period preoccupied with operating successful, co-operative and financially viable events. Having been involved in the earlier DTE experiments (especially the paradigmatic Berri event), DTE Vic,25 determined to develop an effective structure, became incorporated as a Co-operative Society Limited in March 1979 and was later registered as a Community Advancement Society under the Co-operation Act of 1981. Though crucial additions and amendments have been made to its constitution in recent times, the basic faculties of the Co-operative remain largely unchanged to this day. Required to operate in accordance with the Co-operative Societies Regulations 1982,26 the Society has seven elected directors, a secretary, a treasurer (now a committee), weekly board and general meetings (minuted), AGMs (accounts and elections) and a newsletter (produced somewhat randomly, depending on input). All members, including the 'core group' or board, are unpaid volunteers.27 Though this section investigates the period 1981 - 1994, a small DTE 'family' emerged in Victoria in 1977 which, after a small post-Cotter gathering in the Dandenongs in January, took up shopfront residence in Bridge Rd Richmond and began issuing a monthly news sheet. In the following year small local festivals (at La Trobe University - 'Urban Alternatives Conference' - and the Burnley Oval) were organised, Mollison and Stephen Gaskin were sponsored to present lectures ('workshops'), a weekly Radio show was aired on 3CR, and the newsletter entered print. In the same year, the Melbourne based group hosted the first DTE national meeting at Earth Haven, where for nine months George Schmidt ran personal growth weekends. A new office opened at Fitzroy's Universal Workshop28 in November 1978 where a small festival was held in January 1979 and where a range of courses were offered in the skill sharing adult education program Open Mind (for instance Cairns ran a course on 'the psychology of change').29

Initially the Co-operative laboured to pursue Cairns' 'new society'. In 1979, in the first Annual Report (there were only ever two) Peter White argued 'unless we get a sound alternative society developed, then we'll all go down with the social ship. There must be a fundamental change in human attitudes about how we live if we are to survive. Scrabbling for profit as the catchcry of our present society will only lead to social death' (DTE Annual Report 1979:7). In the earliest set of aims I have located (in a document signed 'G. Schmidt Secretary DTE (Vic) Co-op Soc Ltd' circa 1979) Schmidt stated 'DTE Vic is in existence for one reason: to assist in the development of an alternative society'. Such would be achieved by promoting personal growth and human awareness programs and developing communications networks. Schmidt's rather loose aims were listed as follows:

a) Concern for people and the environment.

b) Creation of more meaningful, fulfilling, balanced, peaceful and happy lifestyles, in harmony with nature, ourselves and fellow human beings.

c) Fostering of a consciousness which will enable people to distinguish between real needs and repressive, artificial values of existing social systems.

d) Co-operation and co-ordination with allied organisations.

DTE's constitution was also formulated in 1979 with a list of objectives (a charter) which has not been altered substantially since. Those objectives considered most important were reproduced on a more recent ConFest hand out.

(i) to examine and develop philosophies and practices related to Education, Agriculture, Energy production and storage, Architecture and building, Health and diet, Social structures, Community welfare systems, Religion, Food preparation, Conservation and Law; (ii) To carry out or sponsor research into such matters; (iii) To carry out public education programs regarding such matters by the production and dissemination of written material, films and audio and video tape recordings; (iv) To hold festivals, conferences, seminars and public meetings to further these aims; (v) To acquire and maintain lands and buildings for education, recreation, or other community purposes, and to promote and assist clubs, societies or other organisations for any such purposes. (from ConFest 1994/95 handout)

Cumbersome and decidedly vague, the DTE project has become difficult to accomplish (and the few who are today aware of this charter, are concerned that many of the goals have never been achieved).

As a lesson acquired from the first phase, it was understood that survival was dependent upon the Society taking a 'co-operative path' (White and Carter 1980). One simple practical philosophy which took hold early was 'Loving Action' (indeed the theme of Glenlyon II was 'Viable Futures Through Loving Action'). This basic ethic of human agency was disseminated and discussed at a DTE research weekend at Lang Lang in 1980 (Schmidt 1980). It consisted of five basic ethical standards: sharing, caring, honesty, respect and patience.30 In the build up to the Co-operative's first ConFest the message was simple:

[that] our actions have an impact upon everyone else in the world, and if we want it to be a better place to live, then our actions have to be loving and positive. Thus changing yourself means changing the world. And if enough people who believe and work in this fashion co-operate, the changes can become...? (White and Carter 1980:8)

Early forming the bedrock of the Co-operative, a strong message of the 'spirit' of selfless service, co-operation and responsibility is present here. The open-endedness of this passage is critical. The future is not set, the reader can participate in its emergence.

One critical factor in DTE's evolution is its avoidance of master narratives, political or religious. I suspect that, since one dominant discourse could not represent this melting pot of alternative philosophy and practice successfully, the organisation came to adopt a stance of neutrality. In contrast to the welter of manifestos, critiques, and predictions erupting in the mid to late seventies, the second phase is characterised by a dearth of commentary on and support for social, political, economic or ecological issues. Indeed, since Cairns, individuals pushing ideologies, objectives and solutions to contemporaneous social conditions and environmental problems have not achieved much status (directorship) in the Co-operative. A non-allegiance or alliance with any specific political groups or movements arose as such attracts the greatest diversity of people and interests, and provides DTE with the necessary support (from local councils, police and residents) to operate its events successfully. However, though the Society may be neutral, its members are far from apolitical or irreligious, a contradiction which is perhaps best conveyed in an early statement that DTE:

is made up of people who all have different solutions to different problems ... [It] is non-politically aligned, yet I believe everything we do is political. Certainly a lot of people in DTE are politically aware and committed to political action as individuals. DTE is non-religiously aligned, yet again most people in DTE are searching for spiritual awareness. (J. Hobson DTE Canberra 3, Dec. 1979:12)