In August news, Peace Walk Against AUKUS, Energy Justice petition & electrify event, fungacide & peticides in the waters update, data centre boom webinar, Koalathon 2026, Dingo film half-price tix, moratorium on critical minerals, Snow Gums citizen science events, Yes2Reneweables Community Toolkit plus more!
Peace Walk against AUKUS 2026
Friends of the Earth & Beyond Uranium Canberra’s Peace Walk Against AUKUS: Port Augusta to Port Adelaide 19 Aug - 23 Sept 2026. Join us as we walk against AUKUS, whether its for a day, a week or the whole month! Full details here.
Energy Justice collective’s Electrify the Lodge petition
Did you know that both residences of the Prime Minister (The Lodge in Canberra and Kirribilli House in Sydney) are both still using expensive, dirty gas? While the rest of the country is working hard to get out of gas, Albo was on Kitchen Cabinet with Annabel Crabb last week lighting a gas stove in the Lodge. Both residences cost the Australian Public $111k in energy bills each year and gas prices are rising fast! Will you send this letter to the Prime Minister asking him to electrify both residences as soon as possible? In a climate and cost-of-living crisis, we need leaders who can lead, not just ask the Australian people to transition while they sit back. Feel free to personalise this letter, or just send it as is ... we need to highlight this issue to the government and let them know that we expect more of their leadership on the energy transition. Sign our Electrify the Lodge petition here thanks!
Electrify Karingal 3199 event 20 Aug
As the price of gas continues to rise, have you wondered about electrifying your home? Join your neighbours at Karingal Place to learn about why now is the time to get your home off gas, and how to do it! Hear from local residents, Frankston Council, community campaigners and industry experts. Full details & event rego.
Data Centre Boom We Pay, They Profit webinar 12 Aug
Join this timely free online session co-hosted by Yes 2 Renewables & Getup, on the data centre boom, Labor's regulation plan, and the new gas demand it could lock in. Wed 12 Aug from 6pm AEST online via zoom link RSVP at Getup event page here
Call for a moratorium on critical minereals
Across north western Victoria, massive critical minerals developments threaten farming, landscapes, local economies and ground and water supplies. There are five main projects currently planned. More than 42,000 hectares of farm land are currently under retention licences. There are also legacy issues from older projects, which have not been properly rehabilitated. There has been no attempt by the regulator or the state government to understand the cumulative impacts of these projects combined across an important food production area. We ask you to support the call for the state government to announce an immediate halt on any further assessment or approval of any aspect of critical minerals projects until there has been an independent and comprehensive analysis done of the cumulative impacts of these projects. You can sign the letter here.
Snow Gum Citizen Science in August with the Forests Collective
During August 2026, and culminating with events across the last weekend of August 29 & 30, FoE Forests Collective have invited resort and mountain loving communities to join us for a couple of hours of citizen science to better understand the health of local snow gums. This will involve walking (or snow shoeing) through an area of forest and recording the health of individual trees. Local organisers will host events at resorts and mountains in Vic, NSW & ACT. Full list of events & to get involved here.
Save the date for SKAT's annual fundraiser Koalathon on 25 Oct, details here and more to come.
Join us for the Melbourne screening of Moort: Calling Dingo Back to Country, followed by a special second screening of Landholders for Dingoes Film Wooleen: Utilising Dingoes as a Management Tool, a discussion panel, and audience Q&A. Active FoE members can get 1/2 price tickets using the code TEAMDINGO, so don't miss out! More info & tickets here.
Forests Collective art auction at Fitzroy Public Gallery 13 Sept
Forests Collective art auction evening will raise critical funds for our work, featuring stunning paintings and photography (like this gang gang cockatoo painting by Kudra Falla) and short films. We will have a physical auction and online via Galabid platform. Save the date 13 Sept & watch this space for more details.
Yes2Renewables is officially on the road with our Y2R Community Toolkit!
We have developed the toolkit to help communities campaign download here for more renewable power in their regions. We have been taking it straight to the communities who need it most - those who are hosting large scale renewables. Our road trip is helping communities learn how to combat mis- and disinformation, understand how renewable energy would benefit their region, and develop strategies to share a positive vision of renewable power. We are collaborating with local community groups to build workshops that address their local needs, help them hold the conversations that matter locally, and build momentum for a future where communities enjoy clean air, local investment, and long-term benefits. We have visited Orange, Gloucester, Bathurst, and Newcastle in NSW, and Moe in Gippsland with several more workshops booked for the reminder of 2026. If you live in or near a Renewable Energy Zone and would like us to visit you please email [email protected]
FoE welcomes new Vic Minister for Energy & Climate
Friends of the Earth welcomes the appointment of Jaclyn Symes as the state’s new Minister for Energy, Climate and Environment, saying her appointment as a senior minister maintains Victoria’s leadership position at a critical time for climate and energy policy in the leadup to the state election. As a minister who has lived and worked in the regions with a wide range of stakeholders as former minister for Agriculture, Regional Development and Emergency Services, Symes brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the role. Read more.
Farewell to Lily D’Ambrosio
The Hon. Lily D’Ambrosio, the Victorian Minister for Climate Action, Energy and Resources and the State Electricity Commission (SEC) has announced today that she is retiring from politics. Friends of the Earth acknowledges her vision, her remarkable commitment to her portfolios and her achievements in transforming energy supply in the state. Her achievements have ensured that the Victorian government has been a national leader in energy policy and climate action. Read more.
Banned fungicide in drinking water update
A fungicide, banned by the Australian pesticide regulator 20 years ago has been detected in drinking water supplies across northern Victoria over the past decade. Benomyl was banned by the APVMA in 2006. It had been marketed under the trade name Benlate and manufactured by notorious company DuPont. Benlate had been surrounded in controversy including a class action undertaken in Australia due to widespread crop damage. Legal action by 1900 farmers against Dupont also occurred in the United States, Puerto Rico and Costa Rica in the early 1990's regarding widespread crop damage costing DuPont almost $1billion. The fungicide was also linked to a boy born blind (micropthalmia) in Florida after his mother claimed she had been exposed to the chemical when pregnant. Similar cases had apparently been reported in England. In 2008 DuPont paid confidential settlements to two New Zealand families whose families were born with birth defects. Read more.
Pesticide risk to Vic waterways report
Is Metolachlor the biggest pesticide risk to Victorian waterways? Recent information obtained by Friends of the Earth via Freedom of Information (FoI) requests to Victorian water authorities reveal that the herbicide Metolachlor was detected over 110 times in 30 water supplies between 2017 and 2025 with an average detection level of 0.05µg/L (mean 0.02µg/L). µg/L=parts per billion. In Australia the drinking water guideline for Metolachlor is 300µg/L which in terms of pesticide health guidelines, is on the higher end of the guidelines.
Metolachlor's lowest ecological guideline however, known as the ANZECC 99% Default Guideline Value (DGV) is almost 36,000 times lower and set at 0.0084µg/L and in terms of herbicides is the second lowest 99% DGV guideline in Australia. Friends of the Earth is concerned that all 110 detections breached the 99% Default Guideline Value (DGV). The average Metolachlor detection was 600% higher than the 99% DGV. Read more.
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