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FoE Australia

Timeline of some significant campaign victories and organisational events

1969

FoE established in the USA by David Brower and others

1971

FoE International established in Sweden, with member groups from France, Great Britain, Sweden and the USA.

Social Action formed on campus at Adelaide University. Its first campaign was on disposable packaging. This lead to the creation of deposit legislation in South Australia.

1972

FoE Adelaide Uni was formed from Social Action.

Through the 1970s, FoE campaigned extensively on Antarctica and in the latter part of that decade, mining and drilling were banned on this continent.

1973

Peter Hayes from FoE Melbourne visits Adelaide. National network starts to form

FoE releases video of BHP dumping steel at sea with resulting national media coverage

FoE Melbourne shares an office with Greenpeace Australia, co-ordinating actions against nuclear testing in the Pacific

FoE draws attention to the environmental consequences of the Concorde

1974

Chain Reaction magazine starts (as Greenpeace Pacific Bulletin)

FoE Sydney established.

First meeting of FoE Australia. The meeting was held on the proposed site of a nuclear reactor on French Island in Westernport Bay, VIC, subsequently defeated.

1975

FoE groups moving off-campus.

Prominent US alternate technology advocate, Amory Lovins, tours Australia hosted by FoE

Until 1978: uranium moratorium; FoE heavily involved in organising mass demonstrations and a broad based campaign to oppose uranium mining

Food co-op founded in Melbourne

1976

FoE Sydney hosts tour by Dale Bridenbaugh, engineer with General Electric in the USA, on GE’s nuclear safety problems.

controversial documents on uranium contracts leaked through FoE.

1977

Ranger inquiry hearings; FoE publishes Red Light for Yellowcake.

Ride against uranium: Melbourne - Canberra

FoE works with local community to oppose extension of Eastern Freeway into inner Melbourne

FoE does extensive work on renewable energy options for Australia

Campaign on health impacts of lead, Port Pirie

Food co-op established in FoE office in Nicholson Street, Carlton.

1978

Formation of Campaign Against Nuclear Energy (CANE) by the Communist Party of Australia, FoE and others.

1979

Due to intense campaigning by many groups, including FoE, the federal government places a total ban on whaling in Australian waters

Food justice centre established

1980

FoE sponsors visit to Australia by US consumer advocate Ralph Nader

FoE hosts the Politics of Food conference in Melbourne

1981

20,000 people march against uranium in Melbourne

a community campaigned spear-headed by FoE leads to a government decision to phase in lead free petrol by 1985

FoE, the Merchant Services Guild and other unions highlight the trial offshore dumping of waste from paper mills. Offshore dumping subsequently banned.

1982

Recycling campaign established in Melbourne, aimed at introducing national beverage container deposit legislation

Victoria goes nuclear free

The atom free embassy established in Canberra

First blockades at the Honeymoon uranium mine, SA

The world bikeride for peace from Canberra to Darwin, highlights Australia’s involvement in the nuclear fuel cycle

Continued work on watch-dogging EIS’s for proposed and existing uranium mines

Through the 1980s, FoE played a significant role in lobbying the ALP successfully over its nuclear policy

FoE Brisbane involved in community protests against retrogressive land rights legislation

FoE helps establish the Coalition for a Nuclear Free Australia (CNFA)

1983

US recycling expert brought to Australia to raise awareness of waste minimisation

With other groups, FoE campaigns successfully against leach mining in western Victoria

FoE campaign on dieback of native forests on New England tablelands, NSW

Fruit and Vegie co-op established in Melbourne as a project of the Food Justice Centre

Blockades start at Roxby Downs (Olympic Dam uranium mine in South Australia) and continue into 1984.

1984

Victory in seed variety rights campaign; the ALP policy stops short of allowing plant patenting for cereals

FoE campaign to halt sewerage outfall into Wimmera River, Victoria

blockades at Roxby Downs uranium mine

FoE tours international author Jim Harding (Tools for the soft path) to raise awareness of alternative energy sources

1985

campaign against uranium mining in Kakadu

FoE Ryde (Sydney) discovers radioactive waste from CSIRO complex in drains in a recreation park in Sydney

1986

campaign against visits by nuclear powered ships to Victorian ports

FoE Oakleigh saves a 14 ha strip of heathland (part of a system that once spread across Melbourne’s sandbelt region) from being turned into a soccer ground

FoE and MAUM occupy the Uranium Information Centre in Melbourne

FoEI meeting held in a Southern country for the first time, in Malaysia

1987

Des Wilson, international campaign director of FoE England, visits Australia

FoE calls for moratorium on release of GMOs

1988

Australian Bicentenary; FoE supports actions against the celebrations, including the 45,000 strong march in Sydney on Invasion day/ Australia day

FoE campaigns against food irradiation and organises a national tour by Tony Webb, an expert on food irradiation

FoE produced ‘soft energy’ booklet on renewable energy

FoE Collingwood moves to Brunswick st, Fitzroy, where it operates a community arts space for the next 5 years. This gallery provides an early foothold for Indigenous art from central Australia and the western desert region before it is widely available

FoE Australian activists travel to the FoE International meeting in Krakow (Poland) – the first non government international environment conference held in the East Bloc

1989

Working with other groups as the Anti Uranium Coalition, FoE organises a national conference on the threats of nuclear power

Campaign on use of dioxins in paper and other consumer products

Campaign against photo degradable plastics (a short lived fad)

WIM 150: victory against mineral sands mining in Victoria

FoE hosts a series of national waste minimisation conferences during the late 1980s

Campaign lead by FoE leads to the introduction of Australian made recycled paper

1990

year long blockade on Fraser island against logging of old growth forests hosted by FoE Maryborough and RAG plays a significant role in ending logging operations on the island

uranium shipments from Roxby Downs blockaded in Adelaide

First radioactive ‘exposure’ tour held to South Australia. These continue through the rest of the decade and educate many about the reality of uranium mining in Australia

FoE Melbourne starts to Pay the Rent to Aboriginal traditional owners

Soft energy group starts in Melbourne, researching and advocating for renewable energy

Campaign on greenhouse gas/ climate change starts

FoE launches proposal for national waste strategy (aiming at a 50% reduction by 2000)

1991

FoE supports campaign to stop establishment of McDonalds restaurant in Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne

AIDEX; major protests in Canberra against the AIDEX arms exhibition; FoE acts as a supporting organisation of the protests

FoE heavily involved in community mobilisations against Australian involvement in Gulf War (building ransacked in night time break in)

1992

FoE Fitzroy moves to Smith st, Collingwood

FoE Sydney report ‘bring back returnables’ a significant contribution to debate on recycling

FoE campaigns against national electricity grid

Water campaign established at FoE in Melbourne

Coode island review; FoE involved in Commonwealth inquiry into the chemical storage facility

GMO campaign starts in Melbourne

World uranium hearing, Germany

FoE starts to question the idea of ‘wilderness’ as a concept

Campaign to gain world heritage listing for Lake Eyre Basin starts

1993

FoE International meeting held in Indonesia

Century zinc campaign in the Gulf region of QLD, alliances formed with Gungalidda community, actions held outside AGM of CRA in Melbourne

Forests campaign launched in Victoria; blockades launched in East Gippsland through alliance of FoE and other groups

FoE Australia commits to 'Paying the Rent' to Indigenous communities

National waste minimisation strategy launched

1994

FoE calls for labeling of GE food

FoE supports Kerrup Jmara community is establishing a tent embassy in Portland, Vic to expose police treatment and racism in the region

Campaign to stop oil terminal in Western Port Bay, Vic

FoE a pivotal force in CAFÉ – Coalition Against Freeway Extensions, Vic

FoE hosts Shripad Dharmadhikary of Narmada Bachao Andolan (Save Narmada Movement), India as part of the ’50 years are enough’ campaign, aimed at radical reform of the World Bank

FoE launches national wetlands campaign

1995

FoE highlights radioactive spill in Magela Creek, Kakadu

Successful campaign against re-siting of the East Coast Armaments Complex (ECAC)

French tests in Pacific – FoE plays key role in community mobilisations

McCrae’s creek; first court case victory against logging on private land in Victoria

FoE blockades train carrying whole logs to highlight ecological and social costs of the woodchip industry

FoE helps establish Otway Ranges Environment Network (OREN)

1996

Coalition government elected; new alliances formed to oppose expansion of nuclear industry. FoE loses federal government funding

Ramsar conference on wetlands held in Brisbane; marks beginning of much greater involvement in FoEI network

North East Conservation Alliance (NECA) launched in Victoria after FoE initiative

Streets for people – transport campaign launched. Campaign analysis shows need for more inner city bike paths; when local governments refuse, FoE paints its own; quickly followed by formal recognition

FoE lobbies for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

Paper boycott starts to build pressure for the production of Australian made 100% recycled paper

1997

First Indigenous solidarity conference held: ground breaking gathering of Indigenous and non-Indigenous activists from around Australia

Direct action pledge campaign gathers support for Jabiluka campaign

Community ballots held in shopping centres to determine the publics opinion on uranium mining (overwhelmingly opposed)

Alliance Against Uranium mining formed in Alice Springs

FoE and other groups oppose sand mining on Minjeribah/ North Stradbroke Island, QLD

Goolengook forest in East Gippsland ‘discovered’ by FoE activists and becomes focus of national campaign

First action camp held at Jabiluka

Roxstop festival held in SA to highlight community opposition to uranium mining

FoE has success with ozone protection. The international campaign helps secure an increased phase out of methyl bromide

FoE hosts tour by exiled Ogoni person Komene Famaa from Nigeria, highlighting impact of Shells oil operations on the Niger delta

1998

Jabiluka campaign; FoE works with traditional owners, ACF, Environment Centre of the Northern Territory and the Wilderness Society on national and international campaign; major blockade at mine site, with 5,000 people attending. FoE is responsible for a resolution on Jabuiluka in the European parliament

Reverse Garbage established in Brisbane, diverting a tonne of ‘waste’ a week away from landfill

Earthworker, an alliance of trade unionists and environmental groups, established in Victoria

International community campaign against the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) successful

FoE hosts FoE International meeting in Melbourne – more than 40 countries represented

Resistance of Kupa Piti Kungka Tjutas, senior traditional women from Coober Pedy region in SA against proposed radioactive waste dump, gains profile and contacts through FoE Indigenous solidarity conference

FoE organises the third ever reclaim the streets outside of the UK

Victorian Plantation Corporation privatised: FoE starts new era in corporate campaigning with launch of Hancock watch website and monitoring of forestry operations

1999

Nuclear Freeway Project launched to generate awareness of proposed radioactive waste shipments through NSW and SA

Water campaign focuses on logging in Melbourne’s domestic drinking water catchments

FoE supports traditional owners in blockading logging operations in the Cobboboonnee forests, western Victoria

Railtrack, the company responsible for railways in England, cancels millions of dollars of contracts for Jarrah timber following FoE report showing that forestry operations were unsustainable

FoE initiates work on herbicides and plantation forestry

FoE co-ordinates global campaign to de-alert strategic nuclear weapons

2000

Wildspaces film festival becomes a FoE event

World Economic Forum meeting in Melbourne, 15,000 people demonstrate against it

climate justice campaign launched; FoE starts to raise human rights dimensions of global warming

FoE involved in non proliferation treaty review conference

2001

FoE organises radiothon and other fundraising for communities impacted by earthquake in El Salvador

Barmah Millewa campaign launched

Kirthar National Park court case held in Pakistan – Shell withdraws from oil and gas project

Whites creek wetlands start to be re-established in inner Sydney after FoE campaign

2002

Pangea leaves Australia after attempting to establish a high-level radioactive waste dump. The proposal came into the public domain after a promotional video was leaked to FoE in the Uk

FoE joins with other groups to commission report into probable impacts of climate change on Victoria

Reactor alliance formed to oppose new nuclear reactor in south western Sydney

Dharnya Alliance formed as a result of FoE campaign, linking Indigenous, social justice and green groups working for protection of the Barmah – Millewa, the largest Redgum forest system on the planet

FoE plays key role in UK, Brazilian and Canadian parliaments urging India and Pakistan to negotiate over nuclear escalation

2003

Jabiluka uranium mine closed and re-filled

NSW parliamentary inquiry launched into Commonwealth shipment of radioactive materials

Hancocks gains first ever independent certification of a forestry operation in Australia (through Forest Stewardship Council) after FoE campaigning

2004

Climate justice tour visits east coast of Australia, highlighting the impacts of global warming on Pacific communities