In July news, thanks for your support, fundraiser concert to clean up the Strait, have your say on Victoria’s Adaptation Action Plans, Snow Gum campaign and Backcountry festival film, National Indigenous Disaster Resilience gathering, Sustainable Cities update, critical minerals versus farms, plus more!
Thank you for your support! Like many grassroots environmental groups, FoE is feeling the financial pinch due to cost of living pressures impacting many of our supporters. While we didn’t quite meet our $100,000 EOFY target (we received $90,144) we were really appreciative of the support we received from so many of you. EOFY is a vital time for all community based organisations and we just wanted to say thanks to everyone who donated – your donation helps to keep us doing the campaign work we need to. Many thanks from everyone at Friends of the Earth.
Backcountry Film Festival screening Mordialloc 16 July
Backcountry Film Festival will be re-screening at Wolf of the Willows in Mordialloc on the evening of 16 July get your tickets & details here.
Fundraiser concert to Clean up the Strait 26 July
We're teaming up with our mates at the Maritime Union of Australia and Victorian Trades Hall Council to put on a gig that will raise funds for our vital offshore oil and gas decommissioning campaign. Join us for an afternoon of music, a raffle, solidarity and action as we raise funds for the campaign to ensure that the retired rigs are completely removed and recycled in Victoria. Two amazing bands will be performing: our very own campaigner and local legend Skyscraper Stan and the Commission Flats, and fresh off the back of touring their new album, Steel City Sue and the Smoke Stacks.
Grab your tix here.
Check out our media release Clean Up Your Rigs And Pay For It, Fossil Fuel Companies Told here.
Have your say on Victoria’s Adaptation Action Plans by 15 July
Climate change is affecting communities right now. Whether in response to heat, bushfires, floods, changing environmental conditions or the compounding of all of this, many community-led groups are taking action to support each other and adapt. Still, adaptation to climate change is too often left up to individuals and personal initiative while institutions have been slow to respond to the polycrisis we are facing across the world.
Through your work in a grassroots organisation or as an individual taking initiative, you have the kind of crucial, hands-on experience the government is often lacking. That’s why the Victorian Government must hear from as many community and climate justice-related groups, organisations and individuals to send the message that support is needed for the people and organisations on the frontlines of the impacts of climate change.
Your submissions are important to:
- Make the connection between social justice and climate adaptation so the AAPs centre justice, hands-on climate action, and self-determination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and take initiative with these principles at the centre.
- Provide feedback on key asks for actions contained in the plans.
- Make the case for funding for implementation that focuses on climate justice and community-led solutions.
Have your say here by 15 July.
We want to know about your Home Gas usage. Share your experience of using gas and/or electricity in your home. Take our short survey (2-5 minutes) here.
Check out our VIC election platform 2026, let's maintain the momentum & sign the petition here.
Update from Sustainable Cities collective
It's been five years since the state government released the Victorian Bus Plan, yet meaningful network reform has not been achieved. Without meeting the objectives laid out in Labor's 2021 Bus Plan, those living in Melbourne's western suburbs are left out of a crucial essential service, and disconnected from the fabric of their own city. On this five year anniversary of the Bus Plan, community members from the western suburbs joined Sustainable Cities on Parliament steps to demand transformational network change, and for the government to fulfil its promises. Check out Sean Mortell's news article here about the Auditor-General's report on the failing implementation of the Bus Plan.
A huge thank you to all of the attendees for your energy and passion, and especially to the speakers who told stories about just how impactful transformational bus reform is on Melbourne's communities. Watch their rally reel here!
Snow Gum campaign action
Snow gums are the iconic vegetation species of the Australian High country. They are beautiful, vital for biodiversity and tourism, help hold snow pack which is released into river catchments, and hold deep cultural value for many people. However, we are now seeing the beginning of ecosystem collapse across these forests – drought, dieback and successive fires have altered the structure, composition, and condition of snow gum woodlands dramatically. We must intervene and develop a robust recovery plan if these ecological communities are to remain viable into the future. Read more & get involved.
National Indigenous Disaster Resilience Gathering 2026 reflections
Reflections on this year's National Indigenous Disaster Resilience Gathering by Act on Climate Collective Member Kimmi.On behalf of Friends of the Earth Melbourne, I had the privilege of attending the National Indigenous Disaster Resilience (NIDR) Gathering 2026 on Gunaikurnai Country in Gippsland last month, May 2026. The gathering showcased First Nations leadership and excellence in disaster resilience, emergency management, community recovery, and caring for Country.
Uncle Wayne Thorpe, Elder, songman and member of the Elders' Council of the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GLaWAC), welcomed us to Country in the beautiful Wangun Amphitheatre, on a crisp morning. He set the stage for an event in which delegates were asked to listen carefully, and those of non-Aboriginal heritage were to interrogate their ways of working with First Peoples in disaster resilience and response. Read here for a more detailed retelling of the gathering by NIDR. Read more & photos.
A majority of Australian local councils vote to make fossil fuel giants pay!
Local Councils from across so-called Australia voted to support a Climate Compensation Fund, paid for by big polluters, at the Australian Local Government Association general assembly.
The motion, led by the City of Sydney, is part of the Polluters Pay for Climate Compensation campaign that advocates for the Federal Government to put a levy on coal, oil and gas corporations to be used as a compensation fund for adaptation, resilience, recovery and relief before, during and after climate disasters occur. Read more.
Report from the north west – critical minerals boom threatens food production
We recently visited Horsham in north western Victoria to meet with farmers who are, or will be, impacted by the massive critical minerals developments planned for the NW of the state. The meeting was organised through Mine Free Wimmera Farms. There are five main projects currently planned. There are also legacy issues from older projects, which have not been properly rehabilitated.
We also toured around the edge of some of the Avonbank Mineral Sands Project, located just 10 km northeast of Horsham, which is a large-scale open-cut mining project proposed by WIM Resource Pty Ltd. What we heard from the impacted people was shocking. Firstly the scale of the projects. Each one is assessed separately, yet they will have an enormous cumulative impact on landscapes, water and farming economies across the region. Read more.
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