15/4/26

MEDIA RELEASE: Community members stop destruction of snow gums at Mt Macedon

This morning 20 community members walked onto the site at Mt Macedon where destruction of snow gum forest is underway to halt tree felling and demand an urgent intervention by Victorian Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulos.

The Mount Macedon Memorial Cross Committee has been pushing to cut down Snow Gums to ‘restore’ historic views of Melbourne from the Memorial Cross on the summit of the mountain. 

‘The works will clear almost 0.8 hectares of a nationally significant and highly threatened ecosystem - Montane Grassy Woodland - simply for aesthetics,’ said Anna Langford, Friends of the Earth Melbourne campaigner.

The Federal Government just approved a new gas terminal — and we're furious!

We are deeply disappointed — and frankly furious — at the Federal Government's unjust decision to approve Viva Energy's LNG import terminal in Geelong!

This is a terrible decision, at the worst possible time.

Scientists from leading institutions gathered at the Snow Gum Summit in Jindabyne last weekend March 14-15, 2026 to discuss combating the loss of an iconic tree of the Australian Alps, the Snow Gum. 

Photo credits: Matt Tomkins.

Wednesday January 7, 2026

In what environment group Friends of the Earth Melbourne has called a tone deaf move, the Victorian Coalition has launched a pro fossil gas campaign in the middle of the worst fire conditions the state has experienced since Black Summer. 

In the major advertising campaign, the Victorian Liberals and Nationals have announced that ‘We will reverse Labor's ban on gas’ if elected at the Victorian State Election in November.

Jobs, Affordable Energy, and Local Renewal

Friends of the Earth’s Yes2Renewables campaign has welcomed the State Electricity Commission’s (SEC) announcement of the purchase of the Delburn Wind Farm. The Delburn Wind Farm will overlook the Hazelwood Power Station and mine site, in the Latrobe Valley, which was closed in 2017. The project is scheduled to begin early in 2026. 

Wendy Farmer, Yes2Renewables Gippsland Organiser said “this milestone marks a major step toward and will deliver cheaper, cleaner energy for Victoria while ensuring that Latrobe Valley communities directly share in the benefits”.

“The SEC has a proud history in Victoria, once known for doing things differently—innovative, progressive, and committed to the public good. The privatisation of the Latrobe Valley power stations in the 1990s shifted energy from public ownership to private international control, leaving the Latrobe Valley with deep social and economic scars. Today’s announcement signals a new chapter: one of renewed public ownership, and renewal fairness”.

September 16, 2025

Friends of the Earth is disappointed to learn that the Victorian government’s first offshore wind auction will once again be delayed, as announced this morning by Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio at the Asia Pacific Wind Energy Summit in Melbourne.

MEDIA RELEASE

Victorian environment groups have written a joint letter to Victoria’s Premier Jacinta Allan and leading government ministers welcoming Australia’s first ever Treaty with Indigenous people, and committed to standing alongside First Peoples on the journey to Treaty in Victoria.

‘As organisations that are committed to a healthy environment and a fair, sustainable society, we must play our part in righting the wrongs of the past and creating a better future together,’ says the joint letter, signed by 22 leading climate and environment groups.

In response to the news that the Victorian government is inviting fossil fuel companies to apply for two new petroleum exploration licenses in Gippsland and the Otways, Environment Victoria and Friends of the Earth have today expressed their opposition to inviting new fossil fuel exploration in Victoria.

Friends of the Earth Melbourne offshore gas campaigner Stan Woodhouse said:

"This move from the Allan Government betrays their lack of vision. Victorians want and need electrification, not more gas. The fabled east coast shortfall has sensible solutions and this is not one of them. The Government needs to demonstrate leadership instead of folding to pressure from the fossil fuel industry.

As expected, cost-of-living measures dominated today’s state budget. Priorities included health, education, transport and housing, and ‘law and order’ issues. Climate action and environment were not headline items this year - but transport was. And transport is a climate issue.

With the budget back in surplus this year and debt forecast to drop in the next few years, Victoria is moving beyond the years of post-pandemic austerity.  The government needs to be planning to do more to protect and revitalise the environment and speed up the energy transition in the next budget - the last one before the state election.

December 4, 2024

North East Vic calls for the Victorian Government to fund Community-Led Climate Adaptation

The Victorian government is running an Inquiry into Climate Resilience, which is looking into the preparedness of communities facing climate disasters across the state. The submissions stage of the Resilience Inquiry process is closed, and the committee undertaking the Inquiry is now conducting hearings.

The eighth and last of these hearings was at the Wangaratta Performing Arts and Convention Centre (WPACC) in Wangaratta on 4 December 2024. At the event, local governments from Wangaratta and Moira Shire, local businesses and SES, Benalla Sustainable Future Group, Goulburn Broken CMA, North East Region Sustainability Alliance, and others spoke to the Legislative Council Environment and Planning Committee about local climate resilience.

Before going into the hearing, local community members gathered outside to show support for government funding of community-led climate adaptation. They held up a banner with the words ‘Fund Community Climate Resilience’ on it.

“To prepare for locked-in climate impacts, we need adequate and ongoing funding for community-led adaptation work. This funding will enable communities to fulfil their plans to build resilient communities in a changing climate and keep those most at risk safe,” Vicky Ellmore, Act on Climate Community Organiser, said.

Friends of the Earth Melbourne’s Act on Climate collective has been ensuring community members' voices are heard through this Inquiry, both their concerns and the solutions they want to see enacted. The collective is calling for the committee to recommend a Victorian Community Climate Adaptation Fund (VCCAF). The fund would distribute money annually to community groups that apply to undertake localised adaptation initiatives.

Over three quarters (83.75%) of submissions to the Inquiry called for increased funding in climate adaptation, with half (49.58%) calling for ongoing funding and over a third (39.58%) calling for Act on Climate’s VCCAF specifically.

In their submissions to the Inquiry into Climate Resilience, people from North East Victoria shared their concerns around floods, fire, extreme temperatures, higher rates of UV exposure, landslides, pressure on the healthcare sector, and food security. 

Changes in rainfall patterns along with increased temperatures and fewer frosts significantly impacting the agricultural sector is also a concern. In addition, there is concern about home and business insurance becoming prohibitive or simply unobtainable and significant losses in property value due to increasing climate change impacts. Another local concern mentioned is the ski industry being at risk of collapse due to climate change, with the snow season potentially reduced to half due to increased temperatures.

Quotes from local submissions include:

“Governments must … consult, seek feedback, work respectfully with the members of communities who will be most impacted, and designing and implementing tailored flexible solutions, with long term goals and no ‘quick fixes’, including investing money and resources into relocating extremely vulnerable populations who have been impacted and will continue to be irreversibly impacted, who could not afford to do this on their own.”

“Floodplains such as the Broken River will be subject to more severe flood impacts, with major direct consequences for communities such as Benalla. An indirect but severe consequence is the likelihood that home and business insurance will become prohibitive or simply unobtainable for property located within a designated flood area, even if parts of such localities are themselves flood-free. Associated with this impact is the strong likelihood of significant losses in property value. Events in Lismore NSW after the devastating floods of 2022 bear stark witness to this impact on individuals and the local community.”

“Abundant evidence indicates that excessive heat is a silent but deadly killer, exacerbated by age and socioeconomic status. Benalla’s relatively aged and poorer standard housing stock coupled with few places to retreat to in extreme heat means that we are particularly exposed to likely impacts from this aspect of climate change. In terms of thermal comfort for this region: - 

• 46% reported that their house was too hot last summer (state average 44%) 
• 36% reported their house being too cold (state average 39%); 
• 20% had to leave their house due to extreme heat or cold (state average 18%)”

“A destabilised climate is going to put pressure on our health care sector and we should be supported to do the easy things, such as protecting our skin from UV exposure, in order to make sure that it is not overwhelmed treating future cancers that are easily prevented today. An increasing number of hot days in summer is going to increase heat-related illnesses and disease, so providing public access to drinking water in rural communities will be essential to future health and wellbeing in rural Victoria.”

In their submissions, the actions and solutions locals are calling for include:

• stop further development in places that are highly likely to be impacted by climate breakdown, for example through improved flood mapping,
• build new infrastructure to withstand or avoid climate impacts,
• update infrastructure such as public transport, water and electricity supplies to withstand climate impacts,
• remove the major impediments to the uptake of home batteries (principally cost) and to implementation of community batteries,
• better controls on subdivision and associated land clearance, and on dwelling type,
• much higher building standards and retrofit older buildings to improve survivability,
• create, upgrade and maintain plant, tree and outdoor ‘green’ environments and streetscapes in urban areas,
• encourage the use of more indigenous trees and plants as they tend to need less water,
• educate the public about the risks of climate change and provide training and support to deal with the risks and impacts,
• strong community consultation with those who will be most impacted, 
• plan and provide more and better health and mental health support for the increasing number of people whose health and mental health will be impacted,
• free access to sunscreen which is easily accessible and sunscreen available through food banks,
• improved public access to drinking water through more drinking taps,
• provide refuges in every community for each type of climate impact so the poor and vulnerable especially have somewhere to shelter,
• design and implement tailored flexible solutions, with long term goals and no ‘quick fixes’, 
• provide funding for local adaptation initiatives that focus on building community resilience to withstand climate impacts,
• establish a permanent Victorian Community Climate Adaptation Fund (VCCAF), and
• relocate extremely vulnerable populations.

“Communities know what climate adaptation plans and projects are most needed and relevant for them, but they are not getting the support they urgently need to implement them. They are looking to the state government for leadership and assistance to adapt to climate impacts,” said Ms Ellmore.

“Building resilience to climate disasters in our communities demands centering the needs of those most at risk in our disaster preparation, planning and response. In preparing for climate impacts the Government must follow a just adaptation framework that addresses multiple and intersecting injustices. This includes integrating learnings from the ancestral knowledges and ongoing adaptive practices of Indigenous Peoples.”

“While the Vic Government has undertaken adaptation planning work, this has not been sufficiently acted on and has not been backed up with ongoing funding to prepare communities for the climate impacts forecast to affect Victoria. Every step we take to help communities adapt to now unavoidable climate impacts secures a safer future and builds resilience, protecting people and Country.”

IMAGES: Community photo taken outside the Wangaratta Resilience Inquiry hearing with Act on Climate’s Fund Community Climate Resilience banner

MORE INFORMATION ON AoC’s VCCAF: https://www.melbournefoe.org.au/budget_2025-26_proposals_climate_adaptation 

CONTACTS:

Vicky Ellmore

Community Organiser, Act on Climate collective, Friends of the Earth Melbourne 

0424687809

[email protected] 

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India Rowles

Community Organiser, Act on Climate collective, Friends of the Earth Melbourne 

0434 269 777

[email protected]

Join the call for A Community Climate Adaptation Fund for Victoria by adding your name to our petition