Climate & Energy Justice
ESSO dumps ‘rigs to reef’ option
Huge win for the environment
Friends of the Earth Australia (FoEA) is congratulating Esso Australia for saying it has rejected the idea of dumping retired oil and gas platforms into the ocean to form fishing reefs.
In Melbourne consultations today, Esso told FoEA the good environmental news that they would now remove the platforms — including the long steel support structures or ‘jackets’ — from the ocean.
In doing so, Esso (a company owned by ExxonMobil) said it acknowledged the science that does not support the artificial reefs idea. Esso is planning to remove 13 retired oil and gas platforms from Bass Strait in coming years.
Land & water
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Humans Rights visits Australia
On the 30th of August I presented information at the Tasmania session of the United Nation's Special Rapporteur on Toxics and Humans Rights. The Rapporteur, Marcus A. Orellana has a busy schedule in Australia, visiting most states and speaking with a variety of community groups, individuals and government authorities.
Land & water
Take action to protect the Snowy Mountains
The alpine regions of the Snowy Mountains are in one of Australia's most loved national parks.
However, feral horses are damaging sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals like the critically endangered southern corroboree frog. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee recently stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.
With the feral horse population so high, thousands need to be removed annually to stop this national park becoming a horse paddock. Now the NSW government is one step away from allowing aerial control of feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park. This is huge news and a crucial step for our threatened native wildlife and the fragile alpine ecosystems they call home. But we need the community to back this move by the government.
Climate & Energy Justice
World Overshoot Day - A Rally for Change
Yesterday on 2 August, was World Overshoot day.
It is a day that many people dread. World Overshoot day signals the day that the world uses up all its resources that it can regenerate. Beyond that day, the resources we consume are, in effect, stealing from the future. It's the day when we put our planet under even more pressure than it was.
Indigenous Land & Rights
Our Statement on the Voice to Parliament Referendum
Friends of the Earth would like to acknowledge that our work and lives across so-called Australia play out on lands that were stolen, and have been illegally occupied by the colonial state for over 200 years. This statement clarifies our position on the Voice, as the Referendum approaches and more groups take public stances on it.
Indigenous Land & Rights
Resources for change beyond the Referendum
First Nations people have fought for real, material, system change for 250+ years and this will continue beyond the Voice referendum.
Non-indigenous people must listen deeply and find ways to support the resistance on-the-ground. Some of those ways are listed below.
Please get in contact with us via [email protected] if you have suggestions to add to this list of groups.
Indigenous Land & Rights
History of FoE's First Nations Solidarity
Friends of the Earth Australia is turning 50 next year. During its first five decades, the federation has constantly changed and evolved as new generations of activists have joined the organisation, external politics have changed, and new issues have emerged. But from its inception, it has seen itself as being a radical ecology group that recognises the need to transform our cultural, political and economic systems to sustainable and equitable social systems, if we are going to be able to protect the environment in the long term.
Anti-nuclear
Prime Minister Albanese must abandon SA nuclear waste dump
Media Release ‒ Friends of the Earth Australia ‒ 18 July 2023
The Federal Court has today quashed the declaration of a proposed nuclear waste dump site near Kimba in SA, citing ‘pre-judgement’ and ‘apprehended bias’. The court case was initiated by Barngarla Traditional Owners, who are unanimous in their opposition to the proposed nuclear dump.
Dr. Jim Green, national nuclear campaigner with Friends of the Earth Australia, said:
“Today’s decision is an incredible victory for Barngarla Traditional Owners. Now Prime Minister Albanese must kill the nuclear dump plan stone dead".
Climate & Energy Justice
Hunter offshore wind zone declared
In a welcome move, the federal government has declared the Hunter offshore wind zone in New South Wales. Friends of the Earth (FoE) has been campaigning for years for governments to get on with facilitating the development of offshore wind, and the creation of designated zones for development is an important step in the process of seeing wind farms built. With a zone already declared in Gippsland, and one expected in the Illawarra, the industry will play a key role in decarbonising the grid while creating new jobs for coal regions like the Hunter, Wollongong and the Latrobe Valley.
A number of projects are proposed for the Hunter-Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone, which was announced by the federal Energy minister, Chris Bowen, in February this year.
Land & water
Are Queenslanders "Microdosing" on Weedkillers in their drinking water?
The answer to this question, is probably yes depending on where you live.
Pesticides in waterways are a common occurrence. Pesticides can wash off land particularly during rainfall events. If a community’s drinking water supply is located on a waterway downstream of where these chemicals are applied, there is a risk that the water could contain pesticide residues. Pesticides can also pollute groundwater. Some communities rely on bore water for drinking water. Pesticides can also move on air currents through a phenomenon called spray drift and end up in water supplies.