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Protect land, water, and climate Petition
A recent review has concluded that national environment laws aren't working: in fact things are getting worse.
Friends of the Earth are calling on Scott Morrison to implement the recommendations of that review which says that we need:
- to rebuild and strengthen the national environment laws
- legally enforceable national environment standards
- a strong, independent regulatory body to oversee the laws
Read more about the recent review and why we need to take action.
SIGN THE PETITION: Protect Bass Strait: No New Oil & Gas Petition
Did you know that Bass Strait is at risk from new oil and gas drilling?
Polluting fossil fuels companies are intent on drilling for oil and gas.
New fossil fuel development in the waters of the iconic Bass Strait puts whales, sea lions, birds, turtles, and fish at risk.
Any oil spills in this area would be devastating to local fishing and tourism industries.
Governments must rule out new fossil fuel developments if we're to have any chance of avoiding catastrophic climate change.
SIGN THE PETITION: Call on PM Scott Morrison and Minister for Resources Keith Pitt to cancel the oil and gas licenses.
Scott Morrison, it's time to establish a national Just Transition Authority
Australia has traditionally relied on coal fired power stations to meet its energy needs. This is now rapidly changing, yet the federal government refuses to accept reality.
Up to five of Australia’s remaining 16 coal power plants could be financially unviable by 2025 due to a flood of cheap solar and wind energy entering the electricity grid.
Will the federal government accept the fact and intervene to support affected communities through the transition, or will it continue to pretend there is a role for coal in a climate change future? Choosing to do so will mean they fail coal reliant communities.
The first stage in responding to the inevitable changes will be the establishment of a national Authority to guide a Just and Fair Transition for all affected communities in coal mining and burning regions across Australia.
Please email our PM to urge him to establish a Just Transition Authority.
More information can be found here.
Tell Scott Morrison: We need a national aerial firefighting fleet
Australia’s fires over the summer of 2019/20 were unprecedented in scale and level of destruction. Fuelled by climate change, the hottest and driest year ever recorded resulted in fires that burned through more than 17 million hectares, killed up to 3 billion animals, and affected nearly 80% of Australians. This included the tragic loss of over 450 lives from the fires and smoke.
Aerial firefighting capacity – planes and helicopters - are an essential component of Australia’s ability to respond to bushfires. This was demonstrated in the 2019-2020 bushfire season, when an unprecedented use of aircraft occurred.
However that summer also showed that we simply don’t have enough aircraft to fight fires in a bad season. This puts landscape, people, towns and houses, and fire fighters at risk.
The Bushfire Royal Commission report recommends the creation of a national 'sovereign' aerial firefighting fleet, which can then be allocated to the states "according to greatest national need".
Given Australia currently relies heavily on overseas-based aircraft which are leased for the season, this makes sense. The severity and duration of the 2019-2020 bushfire season placed strain on the existing arrangements for sharing aerial firefighting capabilities between the states and territories. Predicted longer northern and southern hemisphere fire seasons is also likely to cause problems, as planes will be needed for longer in each hemisphere, driving up the cost of hiring them.
The prospect of lengthening and increasingly severe fire seasons will only increase the demand for aerial firefighting services in the future.
We need a publicly owned fleet of planes and aircraft suitable for effectively fighting the fires we will continue to see in a warming world. We should buy aircraft, not just lease them year round. At present Australia only has one Large Air Tanker (LAT) which is owned locally (by the NSW Rural Fire Service or RFS). The federal government has now announced (September 2021) that they have secured an additional LAT to 'provide year round aerial firefighting capability' although it would appear that it is being leased. We need additional LATs, which will be owned by public authorities like the RFS.
Please sign the letter to the PM, calling on the government to allocate funds to establish a publicly owned air fleet.
Image: By Tech. Sgt. Joselito Aribuabo - https://www.dvidshub.net/image/584330, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39573336
Say NO to nuclear submarines Petition
The Morrison government’s decision to build nuclear submarines has shocked communities around the country.
The move, which occurred without any community consultation, undermines Australia’s nuclear-free status and will generate radioactive waste for decades.
The Prime Minister must reverse the decision to build nuclear-powered submarines and commit to keeping Australia’s military nuclear free.
Australia must invest in supporting those hit hardest by the global pandemic, both locally and throughout our region and on urgent action to deal with the climate crisis.
...And read more about the background of this nuclear submarine proposal and why this radical shift in military capability is the wrong decision for those who care about environmental and social justice.
Take Action: No new coal power station in QLD!
Waratah Coal is working to have a new, dirty coal power station approved in Queensland.
The Queensland Government has the ability to refuse Waratah Coal’s proposed 1400 mega-watt coal fired power station, but has yet to do so.
It’s time to take action.
Write to the Queensland Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development Steven Miles and ask him to 'call in' this project and ensure its impacts to our shared climate, the Great Barrier Reef, communities and future generations are properly assessed.
The proposed 1,400 MW ultra-supercritical power station will be built adjacent to the proposed a 40mt/y Galilee Coal Project, near Alpha in west central Queensland. The power station will emit 810 kg of CO2-e/MWh and run for 50 years. Development of new dirty coal power station will limit Australia’s ability to fulfil its international greenhouse gas emissions reductions targets. It will make it impossible for Queensland to meet its Climate Action Plan targets announced in July 2021.