Friends of the Earth (FoE) Melbourne  is a non-for profit organisation working for a socially equitable and environmentally sustainable future. The international Friends of the Earth network is  active in 77 countries with over 2 million members. Read more.

Want to kick off 2020 with a powerful message for climate action that can't be ignored? 

In November 2019, the Andrews government announced a commitment to immediately end logging in remaining Old Growth forests, protecting around 90,000 hectares, with all logging in native forests across the state to stop by 2030.

The announcement includes the release of the Greater Glider Action Statement, which makes another 96,000 hectares of forest across Victoria immediately exempt from logging in order to protect this and other threatened species.

The government also announced a 30-year plan to support the timber sector as it transitions out of native forests. The government allocated $120 million to ensure the industry is fully supported in the transition.

With the overuse of native forests, 2030 was always too late to phase out logging. But now this summer’s fires have added an urgent dimension to the question of when native forest logging will end.

Fresh on the River Country team, this was my first road trip with the collective to learn what’s going on for communities along the Murray River. We reached Wadi Wadi country and the Nyah-Vinifera Park in the late afternoon, and set up camp by the river. River red gums lined the banks, their bare roots exposed by erosion, lead down to the water. The Murray was a beautiful sight, despite the damage it has faced over the years.

In late December 2019, the Federal government quietly announced that they are underwriting a new gas generator plant with APA Group, Dandenong (1), to be co-located with APA Group’s existing Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) storage facility at Greens Rd, Dandenong South.  Some 18 gas-fueled engines are to be installed and 7 kilometres of gas pipelines laid to connect to the existing electricity network. (2)  A similar 320 MW gas-fueled power station plant is in operation at Laverton North covering a land area of 32,726m squared, located 15 kilometres from the CBD. 

Bushfires and climate change

As we know, catastrophic bushfires around Southeast Australia are affecting us all. The burning of coal, oil and gas has increased global temperatures. This climatic change has led to dryer and hotter weather, and frequent droughts have led to extreme fire conditions. In particular, Southeast Australia has had a 25% decline in average rainfall this year. The dry environment has made vegetation more flammable, increasing the severity of the bushfires.

From 2011 until 2017, the Victorian community, especially regional communities in the south of the state, campaigned hard to win the ban on frackingand the moratorium on onshore conventional gas drilling.

While fracking (unconventional gas drilling) was banned permanently, a moratorium was placed on onshore conventional exploration and drilling. This has been in force since 2014, and will expire on June 30, 2020.

In the next few months, the state government will decide whether to extend the moratorium or let it lapse. Over the past year, the Victorian Gas Programhas been investigating what onshore gas resources exist. Once the final report is released (likely to happen within the next 3 months), the government will make a decision about the future of the moratorium. 

Many people would have seen the recent story regarding koala massacre currently occurring in South West Victoria published over the weekend.

We're bringing together community groups who are pushing back against the North East Link toll road.