In October news, annual Membership Drive, AGM, support Treaty, rapid response network, Hike for the High Country, Planting, Stories and Climate Conversations event, new protected forests in Western Victoria, koala surveys completed, climate actions & band night fundraiser, reef rigs spin, plus more!
This year our Membership Drive is all about Adapt, Repair, Care. Tend to your lapsed membership or join us as a new member. Visit our website for more on member benefits. Sign up to support our essential campaigning work and become an ‘Active Friend’ today! Supporter organisations aligned with Friends of the Earth's work can sign up for an ‘Active Friend Membership’ with a recurring donation (donations over $2 are tax deductible). Find out more and become a member of Friends of the Earth.
FoE Melbourne invites members to our in person AGM 2025 from 6pm - 7.45pm on Thursday 13 November at Friends of the Earth Melbourne Food Co-op and Cafe, 312 Smith St, Collingwood. Please join us as we look back over the last year of grassroots organising at Friends of the Earth Melbourne. Special guest speakers to be confirmed. Details & RSVP here.
FoE Melb rapid response network is up and running, join in the action here.
Treaty debate in Parliament
This is a big week for Treaty in Victoria, with the state-wide Treaty being debated in the Victorian Parliament from Tuesday morning. This a key time for ally organisations to activate in support of Treaty. The following information comes from the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria (FPAV) and explains how you can show your active support for the Treaty process. While the ALP, Greens, Animal Justice Party and Legalise Cannabis Victoria all support Treaty it is important that we pressure the Coalition to also show support for the process in parliament. Here’s how you can show your support for Treaty.
Hike for the High Country
Globally, Alpine Ecosystems are in trouble. Right now our snow gums, an iconic feature of the Australian alps, are facing a mass mortality event and are at risk of ecological collapse due to dieback and the impact of repeated bush fire. You can help save our snow gums by planning a hike through the Australian alps this walking season. While you are walking, record your observations of snow gum dieback and fire impact via our citizen science initiatives. Read more & plan your hike!
Planting, Stories and Climate Conversations event at Bright Brewery Monday 17 November 2pm - 8pm info & tix here.
Western Forests new protected areas
Friends of the Earth Melbourne welcomes the long-awaited creation of protected areas via Minister Dimopoulos' Parks and Public Land Bill 2025. New legislation introduced into Victorian Parliament yesterday will deliver the Mount Buangor, Pyrenees and Wombat-Lerderderg national parks, the Cobaw and Hepburn conservation parks and expand the Bendigo regional park. Mirboo North Immediate Protection Area, identified for priority protection back in 2019, will also be permanently protected as a new conservation park.
Congratulations to the many community groups, including Wombat Forest Care, Wombat Action Group, Preserve Our Forests Mirboo North and the Victorian National Parks Association for securing this win. After long-running campaigns to protect the forests of Western Victoria and Mirboo North, these groups have also been instrumental in securing the legislation of these reserves since Labor’s 2021 announcement. Read more & get involved.
SKAT koala surveys completed at Won Wron state forest
Friends of the Earth's SKAT collective has just completed koala scat surveys in the 7,000 hectare Won Wron State Forest, near Yarram. Won Wron is definately a stronghold of the Strzelecki koala, with perhaps as many as 500 koalas in the forest. The intensive winter surveys took approximately 2 years to complete, following 3 years of similar work at Mullungdung State Forest. This is the first time that such intensive koala surveys have occurred in these forests. Almost all of the surveys were conducted by Anthony Amis. Thanks for everyone who has donated to SKAT, without your donations the surveys probably wouldn't have occurred.
SKAT intends of complete a report on the survey data by the end of October and this blog just gives a brief overview. SKAT will also be paying for night drone surveys in October to more accurately determine koala populations in key areas of Won Wron and Mullungdung. The drone surveys aren't cheap and any donations to help cover these costs are greatly appreciated. Read more.
Save the date! 5 Dec Act on Climate band night fundraiser
The climate risks are clear but so are the solutions
While the National Climate Risk Assessment (NCRA) has confirmed the climate risks we face now and in the future, Victorian communities are already working on local climate adaptation solutions. It’s the money to make these happen that is missing! The National Adaptation Plan has also been released, but it has been described as more of a guiding framework than an actual plan, again showing that we need to push for more action on climate adaptation and for the solutions we want. Read more & show your support.
Take climate adaptation action and email your MP here.
Rig reefs helpful habitat or cynical spin?
From the Gippsland coast, ageing oil and gas rigs are hidden by the curvature of the Earth. Locals and holiday makers walk the beaches largely oblivious to the immense volume of steel and concrete anchored beyond the horizon. An even greater tonnage of metal crisscrosses the continental shelf in the 840km of pipelines carrying hydrocarbons from subsea facilities to platforms and then shoreward to the Longford Plant for processing. As oil and gas production in the Bass Strait winds down, the future of this infrastructure hangs in the balance. Its owners, ExxonMobil Australia and Woodside (the Joint Venture), are legally obliged to remove it but a clause buried in the guidelines might offer them a way out. Read more.
Community groups respond to delay of Victorian offshore wind auction
Friends of the Earth is disappointed to learn that the Victorian government’s first offshore wind auction will once again be delayed, as announced 16 September by Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio at the Asia Pacific Wind Energy Summit in Melbourne. The auction - which will award contracts to developers so they can proceed to construction on Australia’s first offshore wind farms - was due to take place in September 2025. However, its going ahead relies on a funding commitment from the federal government.
“It’s disappointing that the Albanese government has not yet partnered with the Victorian government to deliver the country’s first offshore wind auction. Communities in future offshore wind regions deserve greater certainty after hearing the benefits of offshore wind talked up for so many years,” said Friends of the Earth offshore wind campaigner Anna Langford.
“We remain hopeful that the Albanese government will commit the funding needed for Victoria to hold its first offshore wind auction by the end of the year.” Read more.
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