18/06/2026

The Parliament of Victoria’s Legislative Council Environment and Planning Committee has released the report from its Inquiry into decommissioning oil and gas infrastructure. 

Friends of the Earth Melbourne commends the report for recommending that significant obligations be placed on fossil fuel companies to clean up their old offshore oil and gas infrastructure.

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.