Friends of the Earth is seeking a passionate, skilled and self motivated person to work in the Gippsland region of Victoria to empower local community members to build support for the transition to renewable energy in the Latrobe Valley and throughout Gippsland. 

Victoria is beginning to undertake an unprecedented shift to renewable energy, a key solution to the climate crisis. The transition to renewable energy underway in Gippsland will shape the future of the state’s energy system, with the region currently home to the state’s three remaining ageing coal fired power stations. With the highly polluting Yallourn coal fired power station set to close by 2028, and action on the climate crisis becoming more urgent, it’s essential that governments deliver a fair and just transition to renewable energy that prioritises the needs of the community and workers.

This is a 3 days/ week position, being offered for 8 months.

Are you tired of long wait times and crowded trains? 

Guess what!? By 2050 transport use in Melbourne will more than double, filling up our trains and causing more delays. Serious action must be taken now.

The state government logging agency, VicForests, intends to log a total of 11 “coupes”, or sections, of mature forest, much of it dominated by Alpine Ash, in the headwaters of the Little Dargo River, an area of state forest that lies right next to the Alpine National Park. These coupes are located in a series of clusters, where separate sections of bush will be harvested, creating a large zone of cleared land over time.

One coupe has already been logged. The remaining coupes have not yet been scheduled for harvesting. There is still time to stop this ecological disaster – if we act now.

The Little Dargo is roughly 15 kilometres south of the Mt Hotham ski resort in the mountains of north eastern Victoria. Background on the logging can be found here.

What is happening in the Little Dargo catchment is emblematic of a much wider threat occurring across the mountain environments of south eastern Australia.

This week on our radio show, Katherine Cunningham from Earthworker Cooperative joins Phil on the phone to talk about how worker owned cooperatives are engaging the resistance and dismantling patriarchal, corporate power.

Dr. Lea Jellinek: ‘Why we need to Save the Rubicon Forest?’ at the Kathleen Syme Library, 251 Faraday St, Carlton for 7 - 9:30pm, Wed 14 April 2021.

You are invited to come with Lea on a journey into our precious forest on Dry Creek Hill, above Snobs Creek Waterfall. 

This area, just above the spectacular Snobs Creek Waterfall, has one of the most pristine and intact forests in Murrindindi Shire. Local campaigners want to see them removed from logging schedules and declared an extension of the existing "Snobs Creek Wildlife Reserve”. 

Today, EnergyAustralia, the owner of the coal-burning Yallourn power plant in Victoria, announced that the facility will close in mid 2028.

Friends of the Earth say the proposed 2028 closure date for Australia's most polluting power plant is "too little too late" on climate:  

"The best available science tells us that countries such Australia must reach zero emissions as soon as possible," said Leigh Ewbank, Friends of the Earth’s campaigns coordinator.

"In the context of the climate emergency, EnergyAustralia's proposed 2028 closure date is too little too late."

The disability and public transport community this morning linked arms to demand action on more accessible trams.

At 12 noon on Thursday 4 March the coalition of campaigners took to the streets from the State Library to call out for a public transport system that works for everyone.

Testament to the strength of the community campaign to protect Victoria from fracking and unconventional gas, today the Andrews government’s bill to enshrine existing legislated bans on fracking and coal seam gas drilling into Victoria’s Constitution passed the upper house.

Friends of the Earth campaigned from 2011 until 2016 to help win the ban on fracking and unconventional gas drilling.

Friends of the Earth is delighted to see the ban enshrined in the state’s constitution and says the outcome is an acknowledgment of the powerful community campaign against gas:

“This was a campaign that was driven – and won – by regional communities. It is a reminder that strategic and determined community campaigning gets results,” said Cam Walker. 

No doubt you've noticed our streets return to the congestion we know all too well, affecting our health and the health of our planet. Polluting cars now fill the streets, that only months ago were occupied by children riding, joggers running and people walking. Without significant investment in accessible public and active transport, we're likely to see this trend continue.