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.

BHP is planning to expand the Olympic Dam Tailings dump to be larger than the CBD of Adelaide AND to be up to 30 metres high at the centre of the tailings pile – around the height of a 10 story building. 

All BHP Olympic Dam radioactive toxic mine tailings waste must be isolated from the environment for over 10,000 years.

Please consider making a submission to the federal government who are inviting comments on the BHP Olympic Dam Tailings Storage Facility (TSF) 6 project – but only up to cob Friday 28th June, with no extensions.

Tell the federal government they must not approve this expansion! 

The Herald Sun and The Age have reported that the Yallourn coal fired power station could close earlier than expected, possibly within six years. 

This is a wakeup call: Victoria needs a real transition plan for the Latrobe Valley that delivers good sustainable jobs for the community.

 
The following Sample Responses have been prepared by members of the FOE Forest Collective to assist forest lovers and activists to complete the Survey on Regional Forest Agreements which forms part of the consultation phase on the Modernisation of the Victorian Regional Forest Agreements.

Your response must be completed by midnight Sunday, 30 June 2019.

Use the following Sample Responses to guide your completion of the survey (in your own words). Alternatively you may use the Sample survey responses prepared by the Wilderness Society.

Please respond to the RFA Survey here.

People Power Wins!

In the lead up to the federal election, thousands of people like you rallied alongside school strikers and their clear demands for action and their calls to stop the Adani coal mine, for no new coal, oil and gas projects, and for 100% renewable energy by 2030.

Unsurprisingly, since the return of the Morrison government, energy at Friends of the Earth has swelled significantly, with more people seeking a place to turn ideas into action in the face of the climate crisis.

Please consider a one-off tax-deductible donation before June 30.

Given the election result, our work in Victoria is more important than ever.

We are working with local groups along the breadth of Victoria’s pristine coastline to stop planned oil and gas exploration in the Otway Basin and an experimental coal-to-hydrogen production facility and associated waste-carbon injection project in Gippsland.

An additional donation this tax time will ensure we can advocate alongside communities for an end to new fossil fuel projects in Victoria.
 
 

Kalbar Resources, a company that has no mining experience, has proposed a mineral sands and rare earths mine at Glenaladale, near Bairnsdale in East Gippsland.

The Fingerboards mine has not yet been approved by the Victorian Government, but after several years of investigation, Kalbar believes the site is suitable for an open cut mine to extract minerals including zircon, rutile and ilmenite — a titanium mineral, and rare earths.

On Wednesday 19th June, concerned East Gippsland residents will be travelling to Melbourne for a peaceful protest on the steps of Parliament. With the Lindenow Valley vegetable growing area only 500m downwind from a proposed mineral sands mine in Glenaladale (near Bairnsdale), organisers of the event say the time has come to accelerate the level of awareness about this mine. They will be calling on Richard Wynne, the Minister for Planning, to rule out the final approvals for the mine.

From the polls to the punters, the re-election of the Morrison Government came as a shock to all of us. As the Government gets down to business, who is there to look out for the rivers?

Ministerial Portfolios affecting water management and environment have changed. The water ministry is no longer positioned with agriculture; instead its paired with drought, natural disasters and emergency response.

Likewise the pairing with the environment ministry has changed. Prior to the 2019 election, the environment ministry was held with the energy portfolio. It now stands on its own.

Victorian coastlines are at risk from new fossil fuel developments.

Victorians overwhelmingly want to see action on the climate crisis and environmental  protection. Yet efforts to reign in emissions and ensure healthy ecosystems are threatened by two new local fossil fuel projects.

Earlier this year, Friends of the Earth launched a campaign to stop them.

Please support our work with a donation to keep fossil fuels in the ground - where they belong!

In a secretive and highly political move the Morrison Government approved the controversial Yeelirrie uranium project in WA’s Mid West despite an ongoing legal challenge by senior Tjiwarl Traditional Owners and conservationists. The approval was made despite the Federal Environment Minister last year committing to wait for the outcome of the legal proceedings in the Supreme Court, which are still ongoing.